A very short blog today - sorry, but I'm battling with time and really have to watch "Lark Rise to Candleford" in 10 minutes or my brain will explode.

Anyway, Lord H and I popped into church today, which was okay actually - even though the vicar's hands were so cold that we feared he might be dead. Or an alien. One of the two. Mind you, if he is either of these, it'll certainly save the church money in salaries ...

Read Full Post

In "Sailing ships and heavy gold" I was thinking about why we bother to research facts that no one will notice, and in "Carracks, kerseymere and other last straws" I was thinking about how you deploy and write those facts so that they're at once new and interesting, and not so baffling that the reader trips up or, worse still, gives up. But in many ways the facts of shoes and ships and sealing way - and even cabbages and kings - are the easy bit. What's much harder is pinning down how people think, and how that makes them act.

Fiction of the time helps if you're setting a novel when contemporary narratives portrayed life naturalistically. But of course it's not that simple, because so much of what we know must have been going on wasn't written about.

Read Full Post

Had a lovely time with Jane W last night in London and Lord H enjoyed his art session too. We even managed to meet up at Waterloo before catching the train home. Bloody hell but it's good when things work out without too much effort or angst. Bloody amazing actually.

This morning, I still feel rather low, so have taken one De-stress pill - it seems to be helping, thank the Lord! I've also psyched myself up for the weekly Godalming shopping experience and got through it by talking to as few people as possible. Hurrah! Managed to get most things on my ever-growing list, but gave myself a break by not bothering with Easter stuff just yet. That can be next week's worry. Hell, it's good to have a hobby and hey worrying is cheap ...

Read Full Post

Dear Kitty

What is the deal with my colleagues? I've just been dumped by the love of my life but let's not even go into that right now. Anyway, yesterday as usual I dragged myself into work looking like Methuselah and feeling a soupcon martyrlike when I bumped into Sandra from accounts who has been divorced twice and so knows my pain.

How's it going? She asked. Fine, I said, getting ready to continue in just a little more detail about the sleepless nights and the endless crying and the urge to keep driving past his house and did I mention the stomach cramp….when she said fantastic! and sashayed off to the coffee machine.

Is that all I get? I mean, really? Because it’s been less than three weeks and I’m only just back on solid food. Surely I don't have to pretend I'm okay already?

Robbed, Berkshire.




Read Full Post

The lovely Nik Perring has included an interview featuring Sally Nicholls and me on his blog dated 6 March (see full post for links). It's a nice author/mad author mix for sure - no prizes for guessing which way round Sally and I are! Many thanks, Nik, for asking the questions.

Am feeling a little better today, thank goodness (and thanks also for the good wishes - much appreciated), though still a bit low. Have taken a De-stress pill (just the one - honest!) so am hoping that will see me through for a while. I could probably do with another nap, but unfortunately I don't have the time. Dammit ...

Read Full Post

I'm going to go on a bit here, so you might want to grab a coffee and get comfy.

About three weeks ago, I was emailed by one of the editors at Comma Press, who'd been reading my review of the CWA Anthology, ID: Crimes of Identity at The Short Review. He liked the review and, after reading my bio, invited me to submit a selection of stories for the next CWA Anthology, MO: Crimes of Practice. This was a terrific opportunity; not only are Comma Press one of the best short story publishers around (hugely respected, lauded by the broadsheets and critics) but inclusion in the CWA Anthology is generally limited to published authors of full length crime novels. The drawback was the schedule, there was no time to write something new, it had to be 'in a drawer', fitting their theme.


Read Full Post

Not a great day health-wise today - feeling rather fragile, so haven't done as much of my read-through of The Gifting as I would have liked. Cue the usual stab of that well-known Writers' Guilt ... Ah well, I have managed to get to p226 so am at the last chapter of Part Two. A concept not to be sniffed at, I suppose.

And my publicity flyers for Thorn in the Flesh have finally (after much to-ings and fro-ings) been delivered and very nice they look too. I'm extremely pleased with them. Now all I have to do is find the energy to send some out to my less email-friendly friends, and any other contact I can think of! I was also delighted to see a small article about me and Thorn in Writers' News magazine, which was delivered today. Almost makes me sound like a real writer, ho ho ...

Read Full Post

How did you feel about Metronome's response, "If people want it, they can go to the ICA." to Waterstones request to stock Remainder?

Metronome Press was an art project, run by two curators, launched firmly from within the art world and its networks. Having one foot in that world myself, I'd noticed that that was the environment in which people actually read proper literature rather than the latest Booker/Richard-and-Judy crap. So I was happy for them to take that stance. Perhaps at the time I wasn't, but in retrospect I thought it was pretty cool; and as it worked out, bigger publishers would bring out their own editions of Remainder later and put them in Waterstones and every other shop. The Metronome edition was just a limited run thing anyway.


The title of your first book "Remainder", is the same term used for books returned by retailers that are not sold. Was this an intentional joke on your behalf and how confident were you that the book would sell?

Read more ...

Read Full Post

How was your Mother's Day? Middle and Youngest Sisters and I - plus the three youngest nephews - gathered at Mother's on Sunday afternoon for a Family Tea. Husbands three were all working and unable to make it (well, that was their story!) - but it was actually really nice - just the four of us (the three boys ran about like bombs on legs all afternoon, howling, giggling and squealing)enjoying each other's company. We sat round Mother's little kitchen table, picking at the giganticus buffet Mother had put on (despite being told not to and that we'd all bring a contribution) which concluded with a spoon a piece diving into the chocolate gateaux - and oh, it was scrummy! It made a pleasant change and Mother enjoyed it which was the main thing - although she did complain a bit about the amount of food left over (her fault entirely, she should have just let us bring our contributions!) - and the gateaux was to die for, so who's complaining?

Read Full Post

Ooh gosh, I actually seem to have sold one or two more copies of Thorn in the Flesh – so huge thanks to the University Health Centre for their enthusiasm! I’ve also managed to get the book news onto the University intranet and the commercial noticeboard, so I feel I’m PR-ed out now. For a while.

This morning, I’ve carried out a VDU assessment for a new employee and discovered that my assessee (is that a word even?) has been given so short an extension lead to her keyboard that she can barely reach the thing when in the correct typing position. And if she does manage to get the keyboard where it should be, then it slowly pings back to the wall. I’m hoping the powers that be will grant us a longer lead soon – it’s certainly the merciful option!...

Read Full Post