Authors Electric

It’s that post-Christmas period and as I sit on my sick-bed suffering from a bout of seasonal tonsilitis (or should that be TINSEListis?), one eye on  Call the Midwife  and docu-telly provoking fancy hotel envy, I reflect on the past month.   In my previous instalment of Author’s Electric, I was just about to go to Amsterdam, having got Christmas all wrapped up, along with all my last minute jobs preceding the launch of my fourth book and debut novel. And I had promised to share the aftermath of both. So firstly, I thought I’d share with you some fun facts about ‘going Dutch’.   You probably don’t know, but I spent a good deal of time in Holland when I was younger and I still understand and speak reasonable Dutch. I am particularly proud of my pronunciation, which is quite tricky for an English person. The last time I was in Amsterdam was relatively recent, when I took my son there in March 2019 for his 18 th  birthday. We got do pack in some amazing things, and...

 Sol Invictus. The Sun Invincible. The Unconquerable Sun. However cold and grey our winters... However dense, depressing and thick the darkness that enfolds us by afternoon... Sol Invictus will return. Today is Yule. The Mid-Winter Feast. Today we celebrate that, however dark, however cold and however long the darkness of each night, each day will now be an eye-blink longer. And brighter. The Earth now turns towards mid-summer.   The leaves, the flowers, warm sunshine and long, light midsummer nights will come again. Sol Invictus.       All images from Wikimedia Commons   First Image: French stained glass   This file was donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art . See the Image and Data Resources Open Access Policy   Second Image: Rochester Cathedral, Kent, UK Green Man, roof boss, Rochester Cathedral, Kent https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RochesterCathedral_Boss1.JPG Third Imag...

On the first day of Christmas my smartphone sent to me A large mast in a fir tree. On the second day of Christmas my smartphone sent to me Two service texts, and a large mast in a fir tree. On the third day of Christmas my smartphone sent to me Three whats-apps, two service texts, and a large mast in a fir tree. On the fourth day of Christmas my smartphone sent to me Four calling mates, three whats-apps, two service texts, and a large mast in a fir tree, On the fifth day of Christmas my smartphone sent to me Five ri-i-ng tones... On the sixth day of Christmas my smartphone sent to me Six apps alerting... On the seventh day of Christmas my smartphone sent to me Seven sites a-scrolling... On the eighth day of Christmas my smartphone sent to me Eight friends a-liking... On the ninth day of Christmas my smartphone sent to me Nine e-cards playing... On the tenth day of Christmas my smartphone sent to me Ten orders pending... On the eleventh day of Christmas my smartphone sent to me Eleven s...

Yellowhammer The other day - maybe due to my advanced age, or upon hearing that I've been writing a memoir - a friend asked me how I would choose to come back in the next life, if there is one.  "As a busker," I responded. I didn't give my answer much thought, except that I've always liked street performers. "Maybe as a great orchestra conductor, like Toscanini, maybe a pianist too, or Arthur Fiedler . My mother took me to see the legendary Fiedler lead the Boston Pops at the Shell in the summer of 1941 beside the Charles River. I recall the outdoor spectacle vividly though the mists of early memories. After that, I took to conducting radio music with a yellow pencil. One of my aunts gave me a baton, real or perhaps a toy one.  Beethoven  That began my childhood busking career. Housing was scarce. For a while, my parents and I lived at the house of my paternal grandparents in the then toney, Boston district of Brighton. It was a spacious three-floor affair fo...