Toast
I must have been feeling hungry the other morning while I was lying half asleep in bed, as I was dreaming about my home-made bread and eating a slice of toast with honey or butter (but not both – one […]
The Colours of Lockdown
In many cultures rainbows are a symbol of hope. They appear sometimes as perfect arcs, often during a rainstorm, when the sun shines onto water droplets, shattering its white light into an array of brilliant colours. Everyone loves a rainbow. It produces that frisson of […]
Keep up the Good Read
As a writer and a reader, I was saddened in particular by the closure of bookshops during the summer lockdown, but I don’t think this meant that people read less. Although we were denied the enjoyment of browsing in our […]
Say it Aloud
I am full of admiration for the fortitude of individuals who have been on their own this summer, confined to their homes and gardens. Solitude can be a blessing if it is a choice, but enforced isolation is not congenial […]
Painted Birds
I love owls. We live in the countryside, surrounded by fields with sheep, rabbits, mice and the occasional fox, and woods with deer, a few badgers and masses of birds which also inhabit our garden. Sometimes at dusk, we listen to owls […]
CoronaSpring
Spring 2020. We are living in strange times. Coronavirus, more deadly than any terrorist, has attacked our world and is undermining hope. People feel threatened, frightened, challenged. Our physical horizons are dwindling but our mental horizons are expanding – people are more aware […]
Take a Leap
There are about 5 million people in the world who have their ‘real’ birthday every fourth year on 29th February. People born on 29 February are sometimes known as “leapers” or “leaplings.” The odds of being born on a leap […]
Magpies took off a Month ago
So my book, my new novel, my fourth book, Dear Magpies, has been out for a month. It was published as a paperback by SilverWood Books on 18th November – and, it seems, people are reading it. Amazing! I’ve been running […]
Book Launch in Sherborne
Two weeks tomorrow, on Thursday 21st November at 6.30pm for 7pm, I am having a Book Launch for my new book Dear Magpies, at Winstones Books in Cheap […]
Dear Magpies
Creating a book and getting it out into the world is a little like having a baby – though it usually takes far longer. It grows more erratically and more slowly and its birth involves many people of different skills. […]