hope

Signs of Spring

Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa, offer the early signs of spring, and hope that we will move out of lockdown before too long and can perhaps look forward to a return to new life.

Green and Blue Walks in a Time of Waiting

Just a few images from nature to lift our spirits at this time of anxiety and fear for many during the UK Lockdown. The streets and lanes are quiet and dreamlike with just a few people taking their one piece of exercise a day during this Covid 19 crisis. These photos were taken in theContinue reading “Green and Blue Walks in a Time of Waiting”

I Have a New Book Coming Out Soon

I’m pleased to announce I have a new book coming out soon, this time non-fiction. It will be a short one, 100 pages, and will be available in paperback as well as an ebook. I’ve written it for all those who’d love to know about the process of writing novels: whether they be aspiring writers,Continue reading “I Have a New Book Coming Out Soon”

Book Review: Born Survivors by Wendy Holden

This is the story of how three young women – Anka, Rachel and Priska – hid their pregnancies from Dr Josef Mengele on the ramp at Auschwitz, and went on to suffer in the concentration camps and give birth to their babies just before Liberation in April 1945. All three of those babies then metContinue reading “Book Review: Born Survivors by Wendy Holden”

Hope That Eurovision Might Value Performers for Their Own Sake and Not for Their Country’s Politics

I was pleased to see Austria’s win in the Eurovision Song contest 2014. Not only was there the pleasure in seeing a country win that had not seen success at Eurovision for 49 years, but also I thought it a genuinely good song, performed beautifully by Conchita Wurst who has a wonderful voice. The standardContinue reading “Hope That Eurovision Might Value Performers for Their Own Sake and Not for Their Country’s Politics”

Loyalty, Hope and Keeping Faith, in the Greatest Film I’ve Ever Seen: The Shawshank Redemption

We love listing “The 50 Top … Films, Books, Magic Tricks, Comedians”, etc. etc. And a list of the top films will always change from year to year. But to my mind, The Shawshank Redemption makes the top of the list. And I saw it again very recently on TV. I watched it for the first timeContinue reading “Loyalty, Hope and Keeping Faith, in the Greatest Film I’ve Ever Seen: The Shawshank Redemption”

A Review of JK Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy

I’m a great admirer of JK Rowling both as an author, and on a personal level. So when I knew she’d published her first adult novel, I was keen to read it. When I began to read The Casual Vacancy several months ago, I found it a struggle to get through the unrelenting nastiness ofContinue reading “A Review of JK Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy”

Gazing Out to Sea: The Beauty of the English Coastline

I recently visited Beachy Head, East Sussex, with a friend and my two teenage children. As we walked along the cliftop, we all agreed: Where in the world could we go that’s more beautiful than this? Beachy Head, together with the Seven Sisters Country Park and Birling Gap are all protected by The National Trust and theyContinue reading “Gazing Out to Sea: The Beauty of the English Coastline”