Authors Electric

 Do you remember a time when we believed that all the new-fangled modern devices would save us time? We seem to be busier than ever – especially as writers. We have become slaves to our phones, with algorithms that suck us into rabbit holes. It’s research we protest – who are we kidding? If we’ve actually reached the dizzy heights of publishing a book, we have to promote it, find ways to market it and of course sell it – these days being an author demands we wear so many other hats – publicist, bookseller, inspirational speaker. This is the stage I am at. My first book, my memoir, was out in January. “You can’t be a one hit wonder!” said my brother at the time – Cue Chesney Hawkes singing “The One and Only” – if you are of a certain vintage you will understand. But when do I find time to write? What better plan that to take a retreat and carve out some dedicated writing time. No dishes to wash, no meals to plan, no distractions. I’ve taken a retreat in November befo...

                                                                              Japanese Novels Newton after Blake by Eduardo Palozzi I really enjoyed teaching a course on Japanese novels with my WEA students a few years ago, so you can imagine how pleased I was when my friend Chris, who had lived and worked in Japan as a teacher, sent me a text to say that  The Guardian  had just published an article about Japanese fiction.  Reading through it I immediately hit upon one of the books we had studied -  Convenience Store Woman  by Sayaka Murata. There was also an interview with one of the authors of another book that we had read -  Norwegian Wood  by Haruki Murakami - who says that he always likes to leave his readers with something to think about.   Chris and...