My thoughts about books, writing, life and so many other things….Judy Leigh/ Elena Collins.
A few days ago, I began reading a book which didn't immediately grab my attention. Like all readers, I encounter novels which work for me and some which don't. Even among novelists whose work I love, there are books which don't do it for me. Donna Tartt is a great example- I loved The Goldfinch and The …
Continue reading When to stop and when to read on until the bitter end?
I'd just been out with friends to The Star, my local pub, for a very lively evening and we came back home and chose a movie. What better than to settle down and watch 'Third Star'? We were all in the mood for a strong plot, with an actor who always delivers a fine performance, and the film has …
Continue reading Cumberbatch’s ‘Third Star’ left me startled
Last night, for about 45 minutes, Liverpool FC looked like they might just win the Europa League final against Sevilla after a world-class goal by Daniel Sturridge put them ahead. Then, as soon as the second half started, Sevilla came back with a real intention to make the game theirs and scored. The Liverpool players' …
Stephen King famously said 'Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.' He followed William Faulkner in this idea: in order to become the greatest writer you can be, you must get rid of all your self- indulgent passages and your precious, unfeasible characters for …
Continue reading On identifying the darlings and then killing them
So, here I am in the middle of rural Brittany, up a very vibey hill which has legends of elves and korrigans and spirits and all sorts. The wind is moaning and dark clouds hang. Someone has just taken a photo of someone else and they have come out twice on the picture, no gadgets …
Continue reading Up a hill in the middle of nowhere. What would you miss most?
David Mitchell's novel, The Bone Clocks, passed me by last year although several of my writer friends raved about it. But I am on a writer's quest to read even more widely than I used to. Everything is inspiration: popular novels, YA, book club novels, clever writing, predictable writing, and - above all - successful …
In a previous blog, I hinted that Shakespeare's plays may have been early soap operas for the thousands of groundlings who cheered and hissed and threw missiles at the stage when the tragedy was notched up a gear. They would have paid a penny, these butchers and tanners, seamen, shop keepers, wig makers, to stand …
Continue reading Concerning Corrie: we need more grit and less suds
'... we will draw the curtain and show you the picture.' I loved Shakespeare when I was at school, despite my English teachers. They were not the enthusiastic pedagogues of today, striving to make the bard accessible because every child mattered. My teachers were dry pecking birds who wanted to perpetuate a class system in …
Continue reading Sublime Shakespeare: ‘Tis Beauty Truly Blent
Dancing is such a great way to celebrate and to enjoy how our bodies react when we're enveloped in the rhythm and the emotion of music. I have decided this summer is all about spontaneous dancing. When no one expects it. Unplanned. Grab someone by the hand or just leap onto the table by yourself, …
Continue reading We should dance more! Join me – become a crazy dancer..
This weekend, four of us bundled ourselves in an old Peugeot Estate with heated seats and we hurtled up to Loughborough for the Wordsmith Award Ceremony. It didn't take us too long to get there from the sunny South West, but there was an exciting whirl of a snowstorm in Tamworth and by the time we …
