How the house I live in was a huge influence in The Witch's Tree
Category: My first novel
My top ten reasons why I love writing novels…
I’m an avid reader. I’m the sort of person who will read everything: all genres, crisp packets, adverts on buses. I have my preferences, of course – I love anything by Gerard Manley Hopkins, Shakespeare, Jeanette Winterson, Ian Hancock, Roddy Doyle, Sarah Winman, the Brontë’s, Zola, Turgenev, Cecelia Woloch, Kamila Shamsie and lots more. Reading …
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Why some of my protagonists are older people..
I’ve been asked the question a couple of times in interviews: why do you write about older protagonists? My first reaction is that I don’t – I write about people, all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds. I’m comfortable doing that, as long as I know what I’m writing about. This in itself …
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My novel is out today! But how should I celebrate?
In complete harmony with my rock and roll lifestyle, I'm keen to celebrate my novel coming out in paperback today. Available at Waterstones, Tesco, Amazon, at all good bookshops throughout the UK, 'A Grand Old Time' has finally hit the shelves. I have been on book tours, had radio interviews, been featured in newspapers, on …
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How I became a novelist – the journey so far
Like most writers, I started young, with a pen and any paper I could find to scribble on. I wrote my name on the kitchen walls when I was two and had a slap for my efforts. I penned poems on empty Corn Flakes boxes. I filled jotters with an assortment of stories. In my …
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Campervans, cherry clafoutis and my novel…
Last night was lovely. Perfect ingredients: London skyline, champagne, a real home-made cherry clafoutis (baked with love,) a giant cut-out campervan. A team of Avon angels, lots of smart independent booksellers and hundreds of great books. Wine. Canapes. Speeches. And me. My first Indie event with HarperCollins Avon was such great fun. I met the …
My top ten to bring us in from the January cold
January isn't most people's favourite month. I've heard a lot of people complaining about it. It's cold. Christmas has gone and won't be back for a long time so it seems like there's nothing to celebrate. It hasn't snowed. It probably won't. A holiday to somewhere warm would be nice but.... So, with a brief …
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Three authors, three ‘Russians’ and my own novel
I am fascinated by etymology and I enjoy juggling with words but, as a writer, I try not to create blatant stereotypes in my characters. The word stereotype comes from the 1798 French adjective, stéréotype, which is a "method of printing from a plate." It has come to mean a set idea that people have about what someone or something …
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When my novel is an unweeded garden that grows to seed
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world! Fie on ’t, ah fie! 'Tis an unweeded garden That grows to seed. Things rank and gross in nature Possess it merely. That it should come to this. In actual fact, I am now on 81,000 words and coming to …
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On writing my novel: ‘Older, Wiser, Wilder.’
My novel, Older, Wiser, Wilder is up to 57,000 words. My protagonist, Evelyn, is at a point where she has a life changing decision to make about what she will do in France. Her son, Brendan, is still trying to track her down but he has been temporarily held up; his wife, Maura, is not …
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That quintessence of dust 