A Fresh Start
It is years, quite literally years, since my desk looked like this. In fact, has it ever looked like this? Today I at last got to work, vacummed cobwebs off the windowsill and washed the window. I took all the papers and miscellaneous stuff off my desk and sorted them and then I cleaned it. […]
Shortlisted for a CWA Dagger!
I was delighted to learn tonight that my story, ‘Accounting for Murder’ in the CWA Anthology, Mystery Tour, has been shortlisted for the CWA Short Story Dagger. Here is the announcement of the Dagger Short Lists in full. CWA Dagger Shortlists 2018 25/07/2018 by The CWA Latest news The Crime Writers’ Association announced the shortlists […]
My best ever buy in an Oxfam shop
It’s forty years since I bought the first of many books in an Oxfam shop. I know that because I have the book open beside me and the date is written inside: ‘July 1978’ along with the place: ‘Birmingham.’ It was a new book, The Oxfam Vegetable Cookbook by Rose Elliot, and it cost 75 pence. Did […]
The Case of the Missing Editor
Recently I was reading a novel by a well-known writer and came across the phrase ‘tyres hissing on the blacktop.’ That was fine, but then it was used again a few pages later. Similarly someone was described as ‘all squared away’ and soon after that someone else was also described as ‘all squared away.’ Am […]
The Thrill of It All
The life of a writer is pretty dull. That is almost a necessity. You can’t write a novel without spending a lot of time on your own and it is best if your daily life is not too exciting or distracting. It’s not only that you have to spend a lot of time alone in […]
The Long and the Short of it
Today I am delighted to be a guest on the splendid blog, http://Typem4murder.blogspot.co.uk. I’m written a post called The Long and the Short of It about the perfect length for a crime novel. I hope you’ll visit and explore some of the other offerings too.
The charm of the unexpected
On holiday in France a couple of weeks ago we were strolling around the lovely little town of Le Crotoy on the Bay of the Somme, when we came across this: a redundant phone box that had become a book exchange. There was nothing that tempted me, but it was nice to see a copy […]
Terrible Titles; or, What’s in a Name?
The Good Wife is not a good title. I feel confident in saying that as it put me off watching the series when it was first on TV. Later, sampling it on Netflix, I loved it and I am now on series 5. It’s not easy to put my finger on why the title put […]
Highlight of my month
I love my book group. It is one of a number attached to Sheffield University and as well as a core of longstanding members, we also have a shifting membership of visiting academics and postgrads. Just to mention a few nationalities, we have or have had in the group women from France, Ireland, Italy, Germany, […]