Authors Electric

  Apologies for contacting you when we have never met or been in touch before. I am trying to trace a Julia Jones who lived in Writtle as a child, and wondered if this might be you? I run a removals and clearance company and have this week been clearing the property of a book publisher called Arne Soova. Within the contents, I came across a portrait sketch by Brenda Moore and on the back of the frame is written “Julia Jones as a child…[something beginning with N] Hall, Writtle, Essex”. Apologies if this is not you but if it is, I am just really interested in the story behind the portrait and would love to know more. I can also send a picture of the portrait if you wished. This unexpected email came from Alexa MacDonald and her husband Johnney, whose removals and clearance company is in Newmarket, Suffolk.   When a house is almost empty, Alexa explained that they often find some remaining letters, photos, small items which seem likely to have a personal significance to someo...

I had been mulling over what to blog this month and my mullings were tending towards telling you about a new man in my life called Max Bear. Then, yesterday's post about Winnie the Pooh confirmed my intention. Bears, your star is in the ascendent - this week. Aliida, age 4 I have a lovely goddaughter called Aliida. Yes, two i-s, it's an Estonian name. Her maternal grandmother is Estonian, her mother Scottish and her father Ghanaian. A year ago, her mother, one of my best friends for many years, sadly died quite suddenly. Since then, I have been ramping up the godmother efforts. A few weeks ago, I picked her up from school and we hit the nearest shopping mall, it being wintry, dark and cold in the late afternoon. A very cool bear is Max I had promised her a special treat for winning a poetry competition (she is only six). So it was I found myself, for the first time, in a Build a Bear shop. Quite an experience! Half an hour later and £40 lighter, we were the owners/...