The other day, I was talking to someone about a recent discussion that had taken place at her book group.  The novel under discussion was written about 20 years ago and was a remarkable success story at the time, going on to launch the writer’s notable literary career. I remember loving it when I read it soon after it came out. This friend from the book group, however, commented that other members said they found the book ‘challenging’ – ‘not easy to get into’ – ‘too slow – things move more quickly these days and we’re used to a faster...

…which is why getting the cover right for a book is so important.  It is, after all, the very first hook for a potential reader or, alternatively, an immediate sign that the contents is of absolutely no interest to them.  When I published my first novel, ‘Counting the Ways,’ the few sketchy ideas that I gave the cover designer produced something I instantly liked and felt captured exactly what I was trying to suggest about the story and its tone.  Job swiftly, easily done!  ‘The Legacy of Mr Jarvis,’ however, my second novel coming out at the end of the...

There are simply too many books to read;  too many I have always meant to read and am ashamed that I haven’t (Vanity Fair heads that list and all of Trollope …) let alone the number appearing weekly that are there on my mental list to catch up with one day. Yet for the past few weeks, I have been re-reading much loved novels instead of embarking on a new writer, a new title.  I’ve been looking at my book shelves and taking down copies and searching for a particular favourite phrase or section where the writing is particularly extraordinary...

Is it ‘a wonderful story of true love’ as the poster suggests?  Not my choice of wording, but the phrase suggested by the marketing people  who designed it, making use of a review comment, and I suppose they should know what attracts …but so many people look at that and ask me, ‘so do you write romance?’ And, of course, I don’t.  But it’s back to the category problem of people seemingly wanting a definition  – although reading the blurb on the back of the novel or the first page or two would surely clarify this.  Yes, I write about...

My next novel, THE LEGACY OF MR JARVIS, is now with my publisher and has an official publication date of 28th January 2020.  Copies will, in fact, be available about 2 months before this once they have left the printers and the novel could prove an ideal Christmas present for that troublesome and hard to please relative! So what is the novel about? People always ask, “what sort of books do you write?”  And what they want is a clearly defined genre: crime, fantasy, gothic, historic …and my writing falls into none of these.  THE LEGACY OF MR JARVIS concerns...

…except when I am at our house in Crete! And then, suddenly, the days seem to offer spare hours when simply reading begins to feel like a pleasurable obligation.  So what did I read during my recent visit? John Boyne’s latest novel, LADDER TO THE SKY. I’ve loved all his novels and this was compelling with fascinating characters – there was just one aspect of the story that I felt was disappointing(a middle section)but perhaps that was just me – I didn’t see any negative comments on the usual sites  His writing is so good. Adam Kay’s THIS IS GOING...

At the beginning of April, I spent five days attempting to learn Greek. Or rather, I spent a week trying to begin to be ready to start learning Greek. I think, truly, that was my goal:  to break down the sense of total panic and sheer, inhibiting frustration that rose up every time I tried even to remember a phrase.  Or a letter. Or how to say ‘yes’ without saying ‘no.’  (to non-Greek speakers, this is not nearly as easy and idiotic as it sounds …) I arrived in the third floor classroom of the City Lit Institute, a lovely...