misc.
Getting into Oxford
Well, don’t ask me. I’ve only lived here 22 years, which isn’t nearly long enough to figure out how the university entrance system works. The Oxford Literary festival, however, merely requires that you buy a ticket. If you’re willing to spend £6,000 on tickets, you probably could learn just about everything about everything in a [...]
How to write. I mean ride. No, write.
I’ve been writing There Is No Dog for almost as long as I’ve been learning to ride, and if I’d known how long either would take, I’m not sure I’d have embarked on the journeys. How often does this happen in life? If I’d known how long it would take to sort out my career [...]
Help! My book is a toad.
I’ve been feeling very guilty because I needed a lot of help with this book. Editors, agents, husband, secret weapon Sally Gardner, and anyone else I’ve been able to rope in to tell me which bits still…aren’t…quite….working. It just hasn’t wanted to come right. For one thing, it’s structurally more complex than my previous books. [...]
True Stories Told Live
I blame Kerry Shale. He and I were both invited to do a special Mark Twain Night Waves on Radio 3 a few months ago, and I made the mistake of accepting a ride home in his chic little two seater Mercedes. Think “spider” and “web.” “A couple of friends and I started a storytelling [...]
Nose to Tail eating, I mean writing
There are plenty of things to complain about when you’re a writer. Not being shortlisted for the Booker (yet again, damn it!), sales figures that don’t allow the purchase of houses in the south of France or being woken every morning by a full-body massage, which, I’m sorry to admit, has always been my fantasy. [...]
Are we there yet?
It’s a big moment here at Rosoff acres. I’ve just printed out the latest draft of There Is No Dog, and I’m hoping against hope that this one actually works. But I won’t know until I read it. If you’re not a writer, that probably sounds strange. How can I not know whether it works [...]
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