My thoughts about books, writing, life and so many other things….Judy Leigh/ Elena Collins.
Let’s start this blog post by saying that our sense of smell is a gift. I’m fascinated by smells; I have a keen sense of smell. I can often smell things others can’t. And I love to include smells as an integral part of my writing. It’s evocative.It's beautiful. Or it's powerful. While walking in …
A few weeks ago, I blogged about an audio play that was recorded in my living room. It was no amateur jaunt though. Many of the cast had performed before, in various plays on stage and screen, and the writer is a gifted professional with several published books to her credit. We recorded the play …
I loved writing The Silver Ladies Do Lunch, and the stand-alone follow-up, The Silver Ladies Seize the Day. I enjoy writing every novel, immersing myself in characters and plots and emotions, and I suppose there are different reasons why each novel feels just a little bit different. This one is number twenty four, but I …
Continue reading The Silver Ladies Seize the Day. (And why we should all do the same.)
I’ve been catching up on reading, researching and discovering new books that inspire. Reading outside, in the sunshine, is such a lovely way to spend lazy time, the body resting and rocking in a hammock, the mind travelling to a place far, far away. The two books I've recently read come under the category of …
Continue reading Two Recommended Reads, for Different Reasons.
I have to share this with you. I had some great fun the other weekend. A friend wrote a radio play, a comedy full of zany characters, and she wanted to record it. Her intention was to do a quality demo that might one day land on the desk of someone of influence, who’d recognise …
This week I went to the RNA Awards Ceremony as a nominee for Historical Romantic Novel. The Wicked Lady. It’s the first time I’ve been nominated, so I had no idea what to expect. I’d seen The BAFTAS on TV and I assumed that’s what it would be like. It was. Pretty much. A really …
Continue reading The Speech That I Should Have Made At The RNA Awards
I’ve been working hard, writing and editing novels this year, and there’s not been enough time for reading. I have an enviable skyscraper of a TBR pile that I can’t wait to dip into. Summer time is perfect for dipping into exciting new reads and posting a few recommendations. Watch this space. So, I need …
I can hear most of my friends reading the title of this blog post aloud and saying they don’t care about football. Fair enough. But this post is not just about Trent Alexander Arnold leaving Liverpool to join Real Madrid at the end of this season, and whether he should play the final two league …
The summer’s almost here, and hopefully we all feel a little more energised, thanks to the great outdoors, the longer daylight hours and warmer temperatures, which positively influence sleep patterns and circadian rhythms. I love the summer. Every drop of it. And I love the feeling of lightness, brightness, the energy. Being awake and alive. …
Abraham Lincoln said, ‘Think of strangers as friends you haven’t met yet.’ The other day, Keir Starmer said that the UK risks becoming ‘island of strangers’ without more immigration curbs. Some politicians claimed that his words had echoed Enoch Powell’s notorious rivers of blood speech, which imagined a future multicultural Britain where the white population …
That quintessence of dust 