I’ve always been a bit of a recluse in my heart of hearts. I don’t like social occasions much, and only just about find them tolerable with a drink or two inside me. I don’t like big crowds and noise. I prefer to connect with just one or two people at a time and, even… Continue reading Company in my Solitude
Well, here we are again. The season to be merry has come and gone (indeed, and as I can testify, if you were in Britain this Christmas it probably swept past, borne along by flood waters). Crackers have been pulled, embarrassing Christmas jumpers have been worn, and unwanted presents have been stowed in the attic.… Continue reading Getting into the New Year With a Swing! (Sort of…)
Re-blogged from Authors Electric. It’s that time of year again, when pumpkins are carved out, horror films dominate the TV schedules, and kids don Frankenstein masks and flit around their neighbourhoods asking for sweets. Well, technically speaking, I am of course a few days late, but my Authors Electric slot falls on the second of… Continue reading Things that Go Bump in the Night
One of the good things about living in Italy is the general consensus that, from June onward, the weather is much too hot and sticky to keep students locked in school. By now, then, school is well and truly out, and the once-crowded school corridors are a spectral place of lone cleaners mopping the floor… Continue reading The Living is Easy
If I weren’t a writer I’d probably be about the most anonymous person in the modern Western world. I wouldn’t be on Twitter and Facebook. I wouldn’t have a blog. I’d probably never even have heard of Pinterest or Instagram. In fact – oh, the irony! – if I weren’t a writer I’d probably just… Continue reading Twitface and the Curse of Social Media
Last month, Authors Electric’s Bill Kirton wrote this very interesting post. He was talking specifically about the fantasy genre, but he made a point that I think is relevant to all fiction: “We carry all these race memories, dreams, imaginings; we can release people and things from their restricted functions. Maybe fantasy is simply a… Continue reading It’s Not Real, but it’s Definitely True
It’s that time of year again, when office workers everywhere get drunk and photocopy their most intimate parts, when TV audiences can look forward to endless repeats of The Sound of Music and Zulu, and it’s impossible to walk into a shop without hearing the strains of “Feed the World” or “Jingle Bell Rock”. Yes, as… Continue reading Season’s Greetings and all That…
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