Authors Electric

The covid19 scare is affecting even normally socially-isolated authors like me. Activities essential for our mental health and wellbeing, such as meeting other socially-isolated authors for coffee in a halfway cafe (often tens of miles away) are now almost impossible... either the cafe itself has closed, or the other authors are too afraid to venture out. Both of my local National Trust properties, which provide valuable respite from all the wireless radiation in town, as well as being a source of creative inspiration, have also closed for an indefinite period - possibly all summer - and further flung NT places that are kindly keeping their parks open for free during the crisis (but not their cafes, sadly!) are too far for me to reach on my bicycle without planning an overnight stay, which is now difficult because most hotels and B&Bs are shut. Pretty much all of my summer activities have been cancelled, including an authors' conference in rural Oxfordshire I always look forwar...

          Happy New Year everyone. It's nice to be back. Feeling a bit rusty, so if I repeat myself or talk about something someone has already covered, then I apologise upfront! But I'll do my best. Been an eventful last twelve months while I've been absent with leave. My amazing musician partner has beaten cancer again for the second time in three years and I've got super new eye sight thanks to a successful operation. So at least I can see to drive in the dark again and street lamps no longer look like giant orange chrysanthemums, looming out of the shadows and waiting to leap across the road in front of the car.      Sad start to the New Year with the loss of two well-loved famous names. The wonderful, one-half of The Everly Brothers, Phil Everly, and brilliant actor, Roger Lloyd Pack, who will be forever Trigger in my mind. I'm loath to use the word celebrities as it conjures up images of Katy Price a...