Chloroform
I spent Thursday to Sunday last week at Crimefest, where I moderated a couple of panels. Linda Stratmann was on one of them. She is the author of a book entitled CHLOROFORM which I’d heard was good – and it is. As far as I’d thought at all about it, I’d been aware of chloroform […]
The Surgeon of Crowthorne
I am working full tilt on the first draft of a new novel and that makes it hard to find time to blog. It also makes it hard to find time to read fiction, or rather, it’s not so much a matter of time, more there is something about being deep in my own narrative […]
Night of the Jabberwock
Martin Edwards’ blog with the wonderful title: ‘Do You Write Under Your own Name?’ is a favourite of mine and I often pick up tips for books I might enjoy, especially in his forgotten books section. Not long ago he wrote a review of a novel by Fredric Brown which made me think that I’d […]
A little break from blogging
I’ll be back in ten days or so. I’m having a holiday and will let you know what I’ve been reading when I get back.
Anna Karenina
I’d intended to spread reading this over several months, but in the event it took a lot less. I was just enjoying it so much that I wanted to keep on reading, though maybe at some points enjoyment isn’t the word, cathartic may be better. One of the fascinating things about rereading a great work […]
Thrilled to Bits
Last week I was surprised and delighted to get a letter from the editor of ELLERY QUEEN MYSTERY MAGAZINE telling me that my short story, ‘A Tour of the Tower’ has been nominated for the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s Derringer Award for the Best Long Short Story. It appeared in the March/April 2010 edition. I’ve […]
Read All About It
There were several things that I thought of blogging about today – including that fact that I have finished reading ANNA KARENINA – but in the end there is only thing to write about: the earthquake in Japan. These days many of us will know someone affected in some degree. My son’s brother-in-law lives in […]
Ex Libris
“‘Alas,’ wrote Henry Beecher Ward, ‘Where is human nature so weak as in the book store?’” Where indeed? (Unless it is while browsing on Amazon, finger hovering over ‘Buy with One Click’?) This, from an essay on second-hand book shops, is just one gem from Anne Fadiman’s delightful little book, EX LIBRIS: CONFESSIONS OF A […]