The Wo – Man Booker Prize

I’m giving three resounding cheers for Hilary Mantel, throwing my  cap in the air and cheering to the rafters.The first cheer is because Bring up the Bodies is skeined like silk and woven into a literary tapestry as fine and detailed as any 16th century...

How to Get Published? Think Big!

What with the recession and the de-stabilising effects of digital publishing, writers are finding it harder than ever before to get their books conventionally published by one of the traditional houses. Editors’ hands are tied by the marketing departments, who...

Turn, Turn, Turn…

I’m up against a deadline today, so forgive me if my post is rather brief, but with a nip in the air and the summer on the turn, I thought this fascinating remark made by the inestimable Hilary Mantel in the Guardian on 16th of August might provide food for...
Re-Imagining Material – How to Use Research in Your Writing

Re-Imagining Material – How to Use Research in Your Writing

The allure of an interesting doorway is very similar to  that of a gripping book; it is to me, at any rate. Both provide a portal to a vivid new world and every time I pick up a book, even a dog-eared paperback, the literary equivalent of the battered old door above,...
Bring up the Bodies — Old Books Laid to Rest in Cuisery

Bring up the Bodies — Old Books Laid to Rest in Cuisery

As promised, here is another ravishing bookshop from the enchanting book village of Cuisery in the Saone et Loire department of France. We wandered around the ancient streets peering at irresistible doors, including the one to the 13th century chapel, with its...

Losing my E Book Virginity

Windswept with the weather on the Saone – wind, and then when you think it can’t blow harder, more wind, making the light dance on the water.But I’m breathless with excitement anyway as I’ve just downloaded my first ever ebook: it had to happen...