The Pram in the Hall
‘There is no more sombre enemy of good art than the pram in the hall.’ There is some truth in this famous statement by Cyril Connolly. I guess that Connolly was thinking more of male writers and the necessity to support a family and the need to write for money. Still it is worth noting that […]
A Book by its Cover
Some of the problem of deciding which books to pack for a trip away has been solved by having an e-reader. One can take any number. I’ve got the latest Bryant and May by Chrisopher Fowler, the new Fred Vargas, and the latest Sue Grafton all stacked up. I’ve also got The Mangle Street Murders […]
Download a Story
There’s a free podcast of the first story I ever had published on http://crimecitycentral.com. It’s ‘The Lammergeier Vulture’ very ably read by Jonathan Danz. Do visit the web-site, run by Jack Calverley. There are lots of other stories there by well-known crime-writers.
Crime-writer Margaret Murphy: Truth, Lies, and Creative Collaboration
Every now and then I like to invite one of my crime-writing friends to be a guest on my blog. This time it’s the turn of Margaret Murphy. I really wanted to know more about Margaret’s colloboration with forensic scientist, Dave Barclay, and how that works. This is what I learned: A.D. Garrett is the […]
Her Brilliant Career
The full title is Her Brilliant Career: Ten Extraordinary Women of the Fifties and it’s by Rachel Cooke. It’s had some very good reviews and I must admit that it is a terrific read and that I gobbled it up. But – you knew there was going to be a ‘but’, didn’t you? – I […]
Three Singles to Adventure
These days there are plenty of books aimed at the thirteen to fourteen year old female market, but when I was that age, books weren’t categorised in the same way. There was no Judy Blume or – these days – Louise Rennison and I’m not really sorry. I didn’t want to read books that reflected […]
Gender-specific books? No thanks . . .
The Independent on Sunday has declared its intention not to review any children’s books that are marketed in such a way as to exclude either gender. My feeling too is that children’s books should be available to whoever wants to read them. This chimes in with a comment on my previous post from Moira at […]
The First Book I Ever Bought
It was The Borrowers by Mary Norton. Though perhaps I ought to amend that and say that it is the first book I remember chosing for myself in a bookshop. My grandparents – I think – actually paid for it. My memory is hazy. I am sure it was W. H. Smith’s in Redcar, but […]
Another Early Love
Few of the books that I read as a child have survived all the house moves over the years. Looking on my shelves just now I found only What Katy Did at School, Anne of Avonlea, The Count of Monte Cristo, an abridged Alice in Wonderland (given to my mother by Chesterfield Congregational Sunday School) […]
The first book that you remember?
One of the pleasures of parenthood is the excuse to buy children’s books. There are wonderful picture books for children these days, and I loved reading and looking at them with my daughter. It’s strange, looking back, that I don’t remember any picture books from my own childhood. Of course there were far fewer books […]