I am a member of a closed Facebook group Women Reading Great Books. https://www.facebook.com/groups/967350739957023/ We swap titles of books we have enjoyed and join the chat such as ‘What is the longest book you have ever read?’ or ‘What is the most difficult book you have ever read?’ I had more than one answer to … Continue reading A Dark Path
Anyone out there who has read my memoir, The Baby Box, could be forgiven for assuming that I am an only child. One friend certainly did and said that being an only child explained why my mother was so harsh with me. No, my mother was harsh because I upset the middle-class, domestic apple-cart big … Continue reading Whose Memory?
In my last blog I described two of the book groups I’ve talked to and discussed the various questions which were put to me. Although this is putting the cart before the horse, (I am about to write several blogs devoted to writing a memoir) I said I’d deal with the question about a memoir … Continue reading Writing a Memoir – How a memoir is a Construct.
As all writers and readers know, the idea of book groups appealed widely and now there are countless numbers of groups across the country as well as, no doubt, other countries. Years ago, I was a member of an online book group. It was run the same as other groups: one member suggested a book, … Continue reading Book Group Discussions
To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the publication of A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf, The Royal Society of Literature are staging a Dalloway Day with events taking place in Fitzroy Square (No 29 was home to Virginia and her brother in 1907), The National Portrait Gallery (paintings associated with the Bloomsbury Group) … Continue reading A Table of Your Own
I've been away from London taking a break from daily life and the publishing world. I've been in Russia, a place which brings to mind those books and short stories set in that far away country. Years ago, Radio 4 broadcast Tolstoy's War and Peace as a serialised drama. Newly married, we had no TV … Continue reading Crossing Continents
We usually take self-catering holidays, often to places we have been to before. We know exactly what we can look forward to, whom we hope we'll run into, to share a drink or a meal, and what we need to take in the way of clothes, shoes, swimwear. Add to that the fact that we … Continue reading Writing and Going on Holiday
If this is a 'Wednesday Post' then it's moved to Thursday. Blame either other aspects of family life taking over or inertia cos I seem to be stuck in commercial mode rather than creative mode. However, if selling and posting copies of my memoir, The Baby Box, have come to a halt then the other … Continue reading Online publicity and Pod Casts
I’m organising my papers – newspapers, downloaded articles, book and film reviews – you know the kind of things. A year later, or even a couple of months later, that article we ripped out of a magazine or downloaded and printed, doesn’t seem quite as interesting as we thought it was and what with the … Continue reading Memoir and Memory
I thought I'd post a 'writing quickie' in the middle of the week. The Baby Box has been selling well but the market is slowing down. Which is a media phrase for 'need to make a bit more effort'. I've had many encouraging reviews but this one, sent by a writer colleague, is particularly welcoming. … Continue reading A Wednesday Post
