January was a cracker of a month as far as books were concerned for me this year. And in their different ways they’ve contributed greatly to my own writing (a novel about organ donation) which has taken off again now that other deadlines have been met. The one I want to tell you about this [...]
Commiserations to all of you who’ve pre-ordered Saving Sebastian from Amazon but still not received it. I’ve done my best to find out what the delay is but action hasn’t followed promises, I’m afraid. It’s available from The Book Depository and Luath Press but somehow has only this morning been processed at Amazon. Believe me, [...]
It’s a bit like buses. After waiting ages for a book to come out, two come out in one week! Yes, Saving Sebastian is actually in my hand. Looking beautiful too. A rousing cheer for Tom Bee the cover designer. Dr Justin Blaydon-Green has his hands full. Three teenage daughters at home, one of whom [...]
A friend sent me this – beautiful photography, excellent sentiments – and I thought I’d share it with you in this first post of 2012. It says what I’d like to say so much better than I could say it (spelling mistakes excepted). A wish for world peace, wisdom, courage, happiness; what more could we [...]
One of the things about being freelance is there’s nobody to give you official permission to take a holiday. But I’ve granted myself time out to celebrate this week. Dominating the Christmas period for me was, of course, the grandchildren’s story. It duly went ahead on 27th and parts of our house became a magical [...]
Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me. Blessings of the season to you all, whatever your beliefs, creeds or circumstances. To those whose hearts ache today, I pray you will in time find a measure of peace. For those who are lonely and troubled, in conflict or terror, may 2012 [...]
As you know I have an ambivalent relationship with Jodi Picoult‘s books. But I confess I had a bit of a revival of interest when I read House Rules (reviewed on this blog back in February). Super book about autism. So, when I was deciding which books to sample on the Kindle – just to [...]
Not much novel writing going on here this week, I’m afraid. But I have been writing for hours and hours. Most fun has been composing the now-traditional annual story for my grandchildren for 27 December. Each year it presents more of a challenge as the youngsters become increasingly discerning and sophisticated. (They’re now aged almost [...]