misc.
Chatting with murderers.
I spent a few hours in Holloway Women’s Prison last week (famous inmates have included Myra Hindley, Maxine Carr, Ruth Ellis and an illustrious rollcall of suffragettes) talking to a group of female prisoners. Some of my group of sixteen were murderers, others minor drug offenders. One looked as if she could be at school with [...]
It feels so good when it stops.
I sent the draft in about three weeks ago and the response was not at all bad. Since then, I’ve done a bit of broadcasting, a bit of reviewing and a lot of reading while waiting for detailed notes from my editor. I’ve done a little of this and a modicum of that; some tidying, [...]
La Bete
I would never have been brave enough to get tickets for opening night. They cost a fortune, and what if it turned out to be a complete dog? But a friend courageously bought four –and what a night it was. Mark Rylance, the Lionel Messi of the acting world, gave a mind-boggling performance. Poor Niles [...]
Adjectives I do not particularly want applied to my book.
1. Interesting (as in, “I found it extremely…um…interesting.” Translation: Dull.) 2. Thought-provoking (as in, “It was terribly thought-provoking.” Translation: It was terrible.) 3. Zany (as in, “You crack me up! Your writing is so damned zany.” Translation: How did you ever get anyone to publish these stupid books?) 4. Different (as in, “Well, it certainly [...]
As if I needed a reminder that advertising is not brain surgery….
“Bath time has just become a whole lot easier with the arrival of the new Hand-I-Dry Towelling Greyhound Jacket!!! Made of top grade Towelling, this spacious jacket is specifically designed for controlled drying and keeping your animal content after bathing! Deep pockets on each flank allow vigorous rubbing to dry your dog, and a large [...]
Writers are not quite like normal people.
I’m always telling people that there’s nothing magical about writers. We have a skill — if we’re lucky — the way people who can make coins disappear have a skill. And our skill needs as much practice as theirs. But recently I’ve been experiencing some strange inexplicable occurrences — not ghosts, exactly, but…somethings. Odd somethings [...]
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