Authors Electric

Some years ago I did a significant research project into therapeutic work with traumatised children - so not a topic to be taken lightly. Before setting the whole thing up I needed to do a thorough literature review and familiarise myself with research methods. It was work to take seriously. I had a proper study, all the trappings of an academic. I had to give lectures. And then my supervisor asked me how much work I was likely to get done over the summer. 'That depends on the weather,' I said. I knew from the look on his face it was the wrong answer. He'd expected me to utilise all those days with less official work to knuckle down and get the reading done. After all, it wasn't as if I wasn't interested in it. Well, I can't admit to being interested in research methods. I've learned a lot, but goodness, how tedious most of those books are! But the rest of it was fascinating. But it was work. It belonged in the study. And when the sun shone - how ...

As I write this, my ebook about Cuba, entitled Vultures Overhead, is with the copy editor. But by the time this post is published on the Authors Electric blog, I'll have the manuscript back and know the worst - or the best. The first time I let a copy editor loose on anything I bit my nails and wept into my pillow as I waited for it to come back. Would she like it? Not like it? Would it be so covered with alterations my words would be unrecognisable? (All those days waiting for exam results came flooding back.) I think I'm a little more sanguine now. For it doesn't matter whether the copy editor likes it or not - as long as she does her job. I know I can be a bit dash-happy, and she'll sort some of those. She'll find any mis-spelled place names (I'm ashamed how many of those I send her). She'll stumble over clunkiness because she'll see what I've actually written and not what I think I've written. Even so, these are waiting days. I'v...

     As some of you know, I'm just back from Cuba. I've never been so aware of catching just a snippet of a country. I can (and probably will) write about the Cuba I met, but cannot extrapolate to assume it's the Cuba anyone else might meet, or make any assumptions about the lives of the Cubans themselves.      Which is unusual. And why? One reason (among many) is the complex political situation in Cuba, with a socialist government firmly in control but the teeth of capitalism are gnawing away at the edges of society - and ready to take great bites should America lift the trade embargo. As a result some people are already looking forward to the possibility of being able to buy bread without queueing, while others will continue to live on farms and eat what they grow.      Just in case you need a picture to make the point, here is a crooked picture of Che Guevara - on the wall in a bus station:    ...