Hazel on January 26th, 2012

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, [...]

Continue reading about The Iron Lady

Hazel on October 20th, 2011

I’ve been chortling quietly to myself this week as the Man Booker process has reached its grand finale with the announcement of the winner. First there was the criticism levelled at the panel of judges. How dare they dumb down the competition by choosing readable books? How dare they?  I mean! Then, the winner, Julian [...]

Continue reading about What makes a book good?

Hazel on January 13th, 2011

I confess I’ve been feeling rather less perky than usual this week. Two causes: a. our trusty chariot has been written off after 7+ years of valiant service b. the beautiful cast iron railings at the front of our property which looked like this two weeks ago have been crushed to pieces by a vehicle [...]

Continue reading about Mixed reviews

Hazel on January 6th, 2011

Well, it’s here! 2011. And a very happy New Year to you all. The bells rang, the pipes skirled, 80,000 people partied in the streets of Edinburgh to the thunder and shimmer of thousands of pounds worth of fireworks … and yes, it is worth saying, because the official celebrations have been cancelled before, and [...]

Continue reading about New Year, new impetus

Hazel on December 9th, 2010

OK, OK, OK. Enough is enough. It was pretty to start with, incredible after a few days, but a major inconvenience now. Huge mounds of snow being shovelled out of the way day after day; access to roads constantly in question; transport by any means chaotic; enormous icicles an ongoing risk to life and limb [...]

Continue reading about Healthy criticism

Hazel on October 28th, 2010

-

Continue reading about Best laid plans gang agley

Hazel on June 17th, 2010

Wahey, Remember Remember is now officially launched – a mere three months after publication date. Last week, as I wrote my blog, you may remember, I was cooking wee delicacies for the nibbles (the very ones pictured below), and juggling several other competing demands (humdrum domestic as well as professional ones), wondering if I’d ever [...]

Continue reading about Launch day!

Hazel on June 10th, 2010

In the course of moving things about to accommodate several groups of guests, I’ve become aware of a number of largish objects which are cluttering up space in our house without too much in the way of useful returns. One is an exercise machine. It was bought at the time I started the sedentary life [...]

Continue reading about Use it or lose it

Hazel on April 8th, 2010

When I was little I had an irritating habit of starting things and then getting bored and moving on to something else, leaving a scattering of unfinished projects in my wake. Then as I grew up I swung the other way and became quite obsessionally Mastermind-ish (‘I’ve started so I’ll finish’). Witness my compulsion to [...]

Continue reading about Making the most of memories

Hazel on March 18th, 2010

Well, it’s been a weird experience bringing out Remember Remember. After missing publication day because I was with my mother in hospital in Devon, I returned home for a few days to a pile of copies of the book. I felt strangely disconnected from it. And there was no space to just savour the moment. [...]

Continue reading about Being all you can be