How young, innocent, and naive they were, aged in their early twenties: cheeky and endearing. As Paul McCartney puts it, “At the beginning it was all very simple. By the end it had become very complicated.” And in the Beatles new documentary “8 Days a Week: The Touring Years” we saw a transformation rather similarContinue reading “Beatles Shine with Passion and Energy in New Documentary “8 Days a Week: the Touring Years””
Category Archives: UK
“Dream” Book Buyers at Festival of Crafts, Coombe Abbey
Thank you to the “dream buyers” who bought my books on Saturday at the Coombe Abbey Festival of Crafts. They needed no promotional chat of any kind from me, (which I’ve discovered is counter-productive), studied my banner, reviews and blurbs closely, and recognised that the stories were just their type of thing. Abigail, Jamie and IContinue reading ““Dream” Book Buyers at Festival of Crafts, Coombe Abbey”
What does Eadfrith, artist-scribe of the Lindisfarne Gospels, have to teach creative writers and artists today?
Nothing much, you may think – because Eadfrith was a seventh century monk in a monastery on an island, and we live in the fast, materialistic, time-pressured world of 2016. I’ve just spent three days on Lindisfarne (otherwise known as Holy Island), just off the Northumberland coast, where Eadfrith sat in the monastery scriptorium and scribedContinue reading “What does Eadfrith, artist-scribe of the Lindisfarne Gospels, have to teach creative writers and artists today?”
Writing Stories That Grow Legs and Run Away From You
In my creative writing class at Lancaster University years ago, our tutor said to us: Once written and completed, your work is A Thing on the Table. The world can make what it likes of it. It doesn’t belong to you any more.” More recently, novelist Susan Hill, speaking at a local author event,Continue reading “Writing Stories That Grow Legs and Run Away From You”
Thrilling Holiday Reading: Mystical Circles and A Passionate Spirit
Looking for gripping novels to fill up your ereader with? Want to while away the time at the airport? Include A Passionate Spirit on your holiday reading list. If you like thrillers with more than a touch of the paranormal this is for you! Janice an Amazon reviewer, took A Passionate Spirit on holiday withContinue reading “Thrilling Holiday Reading: Mystical Circles and A Passionate Spirit”
Heatwave Inspiration – The View From Broadway Tower in Bright Sunshine
What do you do in a heatwave? We headed for the Cotwolds and one of our favourite places, Broadway Tower. The last time I was there a cold gusty wind and a heavy damp mist greeted us. But on this visit, the sun blazed out of an azure sky, and it was an idealContinue reading “Heatwave Inspiration – The View From Broadway Tower in Bright Sunshine”
Amateur Actors, No Rehearsal, Disorganised Direction, Disappearing Props – A Dream for Shakespeare
This weekend I joined a cast in a drama – at St Mark’s Church in Leamington Spa – which I think Shakespeare would have loved. Why? because we were rather like the little band of local workmen in that Athenian wood in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. But we were not playing “Pyramus and Thisbe”. Instead,Continue reading “Amateur Actors, No Rehearsal, Disorganised Direction, Disappearing Props – A Dream for Shakespeare”
New Book About Writing, For Aspiring Writers
I’m currently working on a new book about writing, which has the working title of Perilous Path: a Writer’s Journey. The book contains 30 short pieces I’ve published online over the past 6 years, both on ezine articles and on this blog, all on the subject of writing a novel. Here’s a taster from theContinue reading “New Book About Writing, For Aspiring Writers”
Wildflower Inspiration from Highgrove
One of the loveliest things about England is the sight of our native wildflowers. For some it may be possible to take these things for granted, but to me, cow-parsley growing in the hedgerows, and bluebells appearing in unexpected places, is something miraculous – along with the oxeye daisy, the meadow buttercup, viper’s bugloss, redContinue reading “Wildflower Inspiration from Highgrove”
I’ll Be at Costa Coffee Royal Priors Leamington Spa on Friday 24th June 2016 Signing Copies of Mystical Circles and A Passionate Spirit
Please do join me in Costa Coffee if you’re in the Royal Priors Shopping Centre, Leamington Spa, on Saturday 24th June. I’ll be there between 11am and 2pm on that day handing out free bookmarks and postcards as well as signing copies of my two thriller / suspense novels Mystical Circles and A Passionate Spirit. CostaContinue reading “I’ll Be at Costa Coffee Royal Priors Leamington Spa on Friday 24th June 2016 Signing Copies of Mystical Circles and A Passionate Spirit”
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