Dementia

Dementia

It’s a terrible shock to discover someone you love has dementia. It doesn’t arrive with a herald of trumpets, it sneaks up unannounced. Not long after my father died in 1999, I took my mother to a hospital appointment for her eyes. I was shocked that she couldn’t read...
Barbecue

Barbecue

As I write I’m watching the Hairy Bikers Route 66 road trip. There’s a barbecue competition taking place between two teams of firemen. Naturally, as a writer I’m interested in words, so I looked up barbecue. It comes from barbacoa the Arawak for a raised wooden...
Historical Fiction

Historical Fiction

I mentioned in my post Practice Makes Progress that I will be on a panel at the Dartmouth Book Festival. I will be on the historical fiction panel with Tim Pears, an award winning writer, who has had an amazingly diverse career. I’m one chapter into his book The...
Step by Step

Step by Step

My last post was practice makes progress. Today’s is of a similar nature. Some goals seem unachievable, when viewed from a distance. Writing a book is a daunting task. But if you write five hundred words a day, let’s say four days a week, then in just under a year you...
Practice Makes Progress

Practice Makes Progress

The proverb practice makes perfect has in my mind been superseded by practice makes progress, which the Strictly star dancer Katya Jones uses. It’s just more accurate. However much time I spend at the driving range, my golf is never going to be perfect, but it is...