misc.
I’ve been to a marvellous party.
It felt as if all the stars in the universe aligned at Voewood this weekend. And I don’t mean literary or music stars, though there were plenty of those too. Voewood House, a stunning Arts and Crafts pile in deepest Norfolk, was last weekend the site of the first annual Voewood literary/music/art festival and garden [...]
Writer’s Secret Revealed: The Muse is a Bastard.
Sure, finding a voice is difficult. Sure, getting published can be a real trial. Sure, all the stumping around for publicity (or worse, lack thereof) can wear you out. But at least the writing gets easier after the first few books, right? Pshaw. Not just any writer would tell you this (it’s an admission of [...]
My Friend Chester.
My father’s name was Chester. But this is another Chester, a big chestnut Irish Sport x Thoroughbred. He’s keen and willing and sane, which makes a nice change from one or two of the other horses I’ve ridden over the past few years, and better yet, he’s mine till the end of the summer. Last [...]
The Good Life.
Remember Tom and Barbara (Richard Briers and Felicity Kendall) who gave up their lucrative city life to set up a smallholding in Surbiton? If you’re not English, The Good Life (or Good Neighbors as it was retitled for the U.S.) was a British sitcom from the 1970s about a middle aged man who quits his [...]
Edinburgh, ho.
The train ride beckons (I love the train from London to Edinburgh — very scenic and dreamy), as does the yurt (will they have reinstated the 10am whiskey? I can only hope…) and the chance to talk about new books with old friends. Last year at the Edinburgh festival I stood on a street corner [...]
And then you read a review that makes you really happy.
I’ve had some very nice early reviews in the British press, and more to come I hope (the lovely sort, that is). But sometimes you just come across a reader who makes you want to fly over to Canada and deliver a great huge kiss. Not only because what she’s said is lovely, but because [...]
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