February notebook

‘The whole culture is telling you to hurry, while the art tells you to take your time. Always listen to … More

The how of it

I was having a coffee with a new writer friend the other day. Not having known each other for … More

[…] you write because you know them not because you understand them because you don’t you are … More

An Angel His people spoke to our people, contracts were exchanged, and the gig was on. Hush hush, … More

Dear Friends Here are the blog posts which you read most often in 2017, according to my WordPress stats: … More

There’s a problem with that title, isn’t there? While I have not been completely silent (fifteen blog posts at most? … More

I was on the phone to a writer friend the other week. In itself this is a rare occurrence: normally … More

His real name was Crispin. Bespectacled, quiffed, bandy legged, Ken wore the aloof expression of the terminally lonely, a tilt of … More

A Tuesday, appropriately. (Tuesday being the day I was formally diagnosed.) Poetic, it strikes me now. But at the time, … More

I was having a coffee with a new writer friend the other day. Not having known each other for very … More

Smith Objectionable, mercurial, fierce, wise, bandaged, solitary and irresistible, Phil Smith and I were not close. Only in our … More

One of the more interesting paradoxes of analysing the interviews of professional writers during the Teachers as Writers (TaW) … More

For a number of reasons –too much grief in my life, too sedentary, too much television, too out … More

Rupert Loydell is shouting at the countryside. I have got up at sparrow-fart to drive him to the Blandford … More

Today is the last day of NaBloPoMo, that month in the year when someone decides it is a nice idea … More

Dear God Do you think you could fix it so that I might have some of Martin’s playfulness, his … More

As we draw to the end of NaBloPoMo, I have invited Josephine Corcoran to collaborate with me on a joint-interview. … More

It wasn’t much of a day. I was in noodle-mode, sticking things into my day book, quotes and articles and … More