misc.
Too Dead To Care.
It’s list time again. This week it’s for everyone thinking that publishing a book will solve your financial, career and self-esteem issues and cause your nearest and dearest to treat you with respect and awe. The reality is… Getting published will not write your second novel for you. Or entice laundry fairies to come live in [...]
Experimenting on your children.
Years ago, before I even contemplated having children, I noticed that parents seemed to divide up into two groups. Group One parents were responsible and cautious. They put plastic covers on all the plugs, did criminal record checks on the nannies and researched primary schools exhaustively. They talked a lot about having the best for [...]
Coincidence? Maybe.
One of the great mysteries of the universe is the birthday phenomenon. You know, the one that says that if you’re in a group of twenty-three people, there’s a 50% chance that two of you will have the same birthday. OK, that’s interesting. But what’s more interesting is how likely you are to discover that two [...]
How to write a brilliant anything
I was looking for the quote about letting the audience add up two plus two themselves (it turns out not to be Wilder, but Ernst Lubitsch), and I found this fantastic list. Although it’s written for screenwriters, if there’s anything on it that doesn’t apply to writing novels, I’ll eat my hat. Yes, the famous [...]
What sticks in your head?
Lately I’ve been comparing human brains to colanders, which, if you know me at all, you’ll find extremely apt. I forget almost everything. But not everything. Some things I remember almost forever. Like Alice Thomas Ellis on Desert Island Disks (Or was it Woman’s Hour? Or In The Psychiatrist’s Chair?) in about 1990, talking about [...]
How I Live Now film news
The thing I kept saying was, “We’ll be shooting this summer.” And then a minute or two ago I looked around and realized it WAS summer. Isn’t time sneaky? So it turns out we won’t be shooting this summer. Spring 2012 is the new estimate. In the meantime, casting is continuing apace and Edmond is [...]
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