Authors Electric

Over the weekend I took several train journeys and everyone around me had their heads bowed in reverence over their phone. It happens everywhere – on a train, a bus, even in a restaurant. Are they doomscrolling, catching up with social media gossip, maybe reading the news, answering work emails, sending cheeky texts to loved ones, playing a game, or checking their connection is running on time? Of course, they could be reading something more substantial – although reading a novel on a small phone screen is very taxing on the eyes. It’s far easier to read on a Kindle, because that is what it was designed for, but I much prefer a REAL book. In many ways I'm advertising the book in my hand and long for conversations with strangers about my choice of reading material. "Is that any good?" "Have you read their other novels?"  "Such a great storyteller."  "I cried at the end and the story has never left me"  Anecdotally I heard once that erotic ...

A couple of months ago I promised you a particularly intriguing example of a false cultural memory , before being derailed by discovering that this phenomenon has been labelled the Mandela Effect.  Well, it can just get relabelled, because I refuse to trivialise that great man by association with a group of dopey people with a shaky grasp of real life events.  Instead, I give you the Casablanca Effect ( see here if you don’t immediately get why), followed by my contribution to this rich field of research.  Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, beautifully restored. My husband and I visited Paris recently, and, after having admired the astonishing restoration of Notre Dame, retired to a café. The great cathedral bells began to ring, prompting me to squawk, ‘The bells, THE BELLS!’, in a mock-heroic tone, a tired old joke that still appeals. (My children will tell you how much tired old jokes still appeal to me, and by the way, that wasn’t an intentional pun. A good one though.) No...

                                                                      I consider the ups and downs of being a freelance businesswoman and creative, and why it is sometimes a battle to be taken seriously. It’s a stormy day in what promises to be a sweltering summer, and am I relaxing with my feet up on this ‘day of rest’? Don’t be silly, I’m self-employed! Time off? You must be joking! Whilst you nine-to-fivers can make plans for the weekends and evenings, every time I do something other than my actual job, I lose money. So, I work seven days a week, every evening and a bit of Saturday and Sunday morning. Yes, I love what I do, and you know what they say – if you love what you do you never work a day in your life. Well, it sure feels like hard work sometimes, I can tell you. ...

    The hosta that grows in a pot near my kitchen door. The pink petals have fallen from the climbing rose above. I was told that hostas grow best in damp, shady places and don't like growing in pots. I suspect I was told wrong because this hosta is living its best life-- in a pot, in the sunniest, warmest spot in my garden.  It's starting shooting up arcs of delicate, bell-shaped, lavender coloured flowers.  Another view of my garden in all its scruffyness. Seed trays piled on the bench. A watering bucket making the place look untidy.    This peaony -- paeony -- peony is called 'Bowl of Beauty.' No argument from me. And it's a sight easier to spell than 'peony'.     The herb trough - marjoram, thyme, sage -- and a tiny olive tree poking up at far right. It is now covered in miniscule yellow flowers.  The yellow flag in the pond.  The roses, hanging in swags from their broken arch. Light through hazel leaves, and the roses... Writing? I ...

To mark the halfway stage of my reading year and Derby month, I'm reviewing not one but TWO titles by Clare Balding. Both are for young readers and inspired by horses, which fits perfectly with the author's background as the daughter of a racehorse trainer. First up is fiction, and it's a fun read for ages 7+. T he Racehorse Who Wouldn't Gallop by Clare Balding illustrated by Tony Ross 10-year-old Charlie Bass lives on the family farm with her annoying brothers Harry and Larry, a dog called Boris, and a herd of milking cows named after celebrities. When their farm is in financial trouble, the whole family is invited to think of ways to raise some cash. So Charlie buys a racehorse entered for the Derby... bear with me, this is fiction! The only problem is, Noble Warrior ('Noddy' for short) won't go anywhere without his pony friend Percy, and the Bass family can only afford to buy him because several trainers have already given up on him. To be fair to our plu...

Image Credit:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images. Do you have favourite themes in writing, whether this is in your work or someone else’s? I’ve always wanted to see justice done in stories. This is one reason I still love the classic fairytales, as well as the more obvious home for this topic, crime fiction. Even as a child, in the fairytale world I knew the rotters wouldn’t get away with it. Pity that’s not more true in life! I will often use themes as my way into creating characters and stories. If I know my theme is going to be honesty, say, I will create a dishonest character and show them not getting away with it, or I will show a truthful creation being rewarded for their honesty (not necessarily in money).   I lead an online flash fiction group for a Christian writing organisation I’ve been a member of for years. It’s fun to do and this has led me to rediscover the joys (and otherwise) of PowerPoint after a break of many years from it.  But I’ve fou...