World Book Day 2023
Classic FM informed me that today, 2nd March 2023, is world book day. Perhaps as an author I should have known that. What is world book day anyway? UNESCO created world book day on 23rd April 1995, and it is now celebrated in over a hundred countries. The Scotsman...
Red Herrings March 2023
The latest edition of Red Herrings arrived today. It’s the bulletin of the Crime Writers’ Association, or CWA for short. I love that crime writers have a bulletin rather than a newsletter, how appropriate. There are some interesting articles. Anne Penketh has written...
Book 5 – Main Research Stage Complete
Today I finished reading The Young Richelieu. Elizabeth Marvik wrote a magnificent psychoanalytical biography of Cardinal Richelieu, chief advisor to Louis XIII. Having now read her biographies of both men, I feel equipped to move onto the next stage of Book 5 in the...
Book 5 – Research Update – Richelieu
I have reached page 169 of 213 of Young Richelieu, by Elizabeth Marvik. You will remember that I read her biography of Louis XIII last year. Her biography of his prime minister is equally useful. So far I have learnt that Richelieu inherited a sharp legal brain from...
The Piano, Playing, and Writing
We watched episode 1 of The Piano last night on Channel 4. Claudia Winkleman is the host, Lang Lang and Mika are the judges. The format is that a piano is placed in a public place and people can have a go at playing it. Everyone played excellently. I don’t know how...
Valentine’s Day & Saint Valentine
For the thirty-fifth time, I think, Claire and I exchanged Valentine’s Day cards today. Valentine’s Day is a huge industry, worth around $20 billion dollars a year I read, but where does the association of Saint Valentine with lovers come from? From the academic...
Figaro, Footballers, and Factotum.
In my post at the weekend, I said I’d let you know how we got on when we got home. Getting home wasn’t as straightforward as we’d assumed, there was a rail replacement coach service from Reading. I’ll get around to Figaro, but we’ll start with footballers. Blue Harlem...
EV Range Anxiety? How about 27,000KM?
I have posted about my new Electric Vehicle (EV) and had comments from friends about range anxiety, and how hydrogen might be a better solution. Well, a newsletter from ZapMap alerted me to this phenomenal adventure. Chris and Julie Ramsey are planning to set off in...
Something Hidden & Publishing
Bridge House published my short story, There Must Be More, in an anthology called Something Hidden. They published it in 2013, and it was the first piece of my fiction to reach the market. Gill James runs Bridge House Publishing. I always enjoy reading her...
World Book Day 2023
Classic FM informed me that today, 2nd March 2023, is world book day. Perhaps as an author I should have known that. What is world book day anyway? UNESCO created world book day on 23rd April 1995, and it is now celebrated in over a hundred countries. The Scotsman...
Red Herrings March 2023
The latest edition of Red Herrings arrived today. It’s the bulletin of the Crime Writers’ Association, or CWA for short. I love that crime writers have a bulletin rather than a newsletter, how appropriate. There are some interesting articles. Anne Penketh has written...
Book 5 – Main Research Stage Complete
Today I finished reading The Young Richelieu. Elizabeth Marvik wrote a magnificent psychoanalytical biography of Cardinal Richelieu, chief advisor to Louis XIII. Having now read her biographies of both men, I feel equipped to move onto the next stage of Book 5 in the...
Book 5 – Research Update – Richelieu
I have reached page 169 of 213 of Young Richelieu, by Elizabeth Marvik. You will remember that I read her biography of Louis XIII last year. Her biography of his prime minister is equally useful. So far I have learnt that Richelieu inherited a sharp legal brain from...
The Piano, Playing, and Writing
We watched episode 1 of The Piano last night on Channel 4. Claudia Winkleman is the host, Lang Lang and Mika are the judges. The format is that a piano is placed in a public place and people can have a go at playing it. Everyone played excellently. I don’t know how...
Valentine’s Day & Saint Valentine
For the thirty-fifth time, I think, Claire and I exchanged Valentine’s Day cards today. Valentine’s Day is a huge industry, worth around $20 billion dollars a year I read, but where does the association of Saint Valentine with lovers come from? From the academic...
Figaro, Footballers, and Factotum.
In my post at the weekend, I said I’d let you know how we got on when we got home. Getting home wasn’t as straightforward as we’d assumed, there was a rail replacement coach service from Reading. I’ll get around to Figaro, but we’ll start with footballers. Blue Harlem...
EV Range Anxiety? How about 27,000KM?
I have posted about my new Electric Vehicle (EV) and had comments from friends about range anxiety, and how hydrogen might be a better solution. Well, a newsletter from ZapMap alerted me to this phenomenal adventure. Chris and Julie Ramsey are planning to set off in...
Something Hidden & Publishing
Bridge House published my short story, There Must Be More, in an anthology called Something Hidden. They published it in 2013, and it was the first piece of my fiction to reach the market. Gill James runs Bridge House Publishing. I always enjoy reading her...