I hate television with a passion rivalled only by my views on the Daily Mail. Were it not for my husband, who would suffer delirium tremens a mere hour or two after the withdrawal of sports coverage, I would gladly rid the house of them. Television absorbs one’s attention in a way radio, books […]
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My children cannot close doors
I have identified a major problem in all of my children. They appear to be physically incapable of closing doors, cupboards and drawers. It’s possible they may have something terribly wrong with them. After all, they can certainly open the coat cupboard, the playroom drawers and the cupboard in which we keep the cereal. They […]
School holidays: what kind of mother are you?
Parents at the start of the school holidays fall into one of three camps. The first can be identified by the social media updates packed with references to gin, urgent play-date requests and confirmation that the children do go back on 5 September, don’t they? What’s that? An inset day? Oh give me strength! […]
Changing perspective
I am midway through a rewrite of book one: a novel which, as yet, has no name. As part of the changes, I am rewriting the protagonist’s story from third person to first person, and have been amazed by the difference it makes. It is, of course, far more than simply amending ‘she said,’ to […]
Don't turn your back on books.
The threat to society presented by the closure of libraries is as real as that faced by the destruction of the rain forests, or the extinction of the honey bee. In addition to issuing books, libraries support local writers; introduce children to books; run parent-and-toddler sessions; host author talks; run workshops; offer access to IT […]
J K Rowling has done women a disservice
The news that Robert Galbraith, author of The Cuckoo’s Calling, is actually J. K. Rowling, has overnight propelled the crime title from 5,076th position to the top of Amazon’s sales charts. Amazing what a name can do. I applaud Joanne Rowling, not just for her writing (chapter one of The Cuckoo’s Calling reads beautifully) but […]