My thoughts about books, writing, life and so many other things….Judy Leigh/ Elena Collins.
I belong to a great writing group. Once a month we meet and share all sorts of different writing, and all of it's wonderful. They're a special group of people and I always come away feeling inspired. But this month, I was so busy with writing and editing, I nearly didn't get anything done. I …
Continue reading A short poem, because I didn’t have time for a longer one…
Those of you who know me might recall the blog I used to write a few years ago, under the name of Tuppence (*) Cataldo, called Dream Catching, in which I interpreted people’s dreams. Well, here’s the one I had the other night. I’m eighteen, a student again, and it’s almost the summer. But I …
The things we do for art… In the name of researching a book, I have to check my facts. And most of the time, fact checking is very pleasurable. Take going on location, for instance. Research trips have taken me to France, Scotland, The Isle of Skye, Cornwall, East Anglia, St Albans, Dublin. It’s only …
I recently did an author’s talk at a library. I love these events, and it’s always a great opportunity to meet readers and talk about my books. People are fascinating and an inspiration, ad it's always good to get positive feedback. Often, people tell me that one thing they like about my ‘golden girls’ novels …
A frined of mine runs a brilliant writing group where she teaches others to improve their skills. Another friend runs a great monthly group where people share what they've written, offering supportive comments. They are an exceptionally nice and talented group of writers. Quite often, I'm busy putting novels together so I'm pushed for time …
You know that feeling, when you are indoors and suddenly you become aware of the four walls around you being a bit narrow. I am blessed in the house I live in as that happens less nowadays, but in previous homes, I’ve walked around the place like a caged animal. A sudden voice calls, bidding …
On Friday, I had a lovely evening out with fourteen other people, friends, family. There was food, laughter, much hugging and kissing. On Saturday I went speed dating. With foreign language students. So not dating exactly. And definitely no hugging and kissing. On Sunday, I went to see my brother and his wife and we …
I’m no great mathematician, but I loved Venn diagrams at school. I enjoyed looking at the universal set, which is everything, and the overlapping circles or other shapes within that illustrated the logical relationships between two or more sets of items. I was fascinated by how things overlapped; how certain things appear in only one …
When I started thinking about writing The Wicked Lady, the dual timeline was a central focus. I knew what I wanted to write about Katherine Ferrers. Her story has been sketchily recorded in history, with plenty of gaps for me to fill with creative speculation. But I needed a modern character to parallel her story. …
It’s a question we’re often asked, as a light moment of humorous reflection. If you hosted a dinner party, which famous celebrities, living or otherwise, would you invite? I’ve researched a few of the top answers. I suppose people's responses tell us something about the host. After all, if we’re inviting them to our table, …
Continue reading Which Celebrity Would You Invite to a Dinner Party?
That quintessence of dust 