Authors Electric

That time of year again. Mwouhahahahaha it’s that time of year again. (Ghostly laugh, in case you didn’t realise. Please be chilled.) Death’s heads and giant spiders’ webs festooning perfectly respectable garden walls, glow-in-the-dark stickers and beetles lighting up ceilings, shops groaning with a sugar fest the Like of Witch No Sane Adult Would Deem Suitable for their Little Darlings, and everywhere, everywhere, orange. Pumpkins, masks, tee shirts, costumes, all in the ghastly colour combination of dayglo orange and midnight black. Spiders' webs festoon garden walls. follow link for licence  You may glean from this – and from my odd previous mention of the subject – that I’m not a fan of Halloween.  When I was young, ooh, I dunno, a couple of centuries ago, Halloween in Britain barely existed. We made toffee apples and played apple bobbing, and my mother did something clever with apple peel, throwing it over my 5 year old shoulder to see the letter shape it made where it f...

Seasonal reads by Debbie Young - some novels, some short stories, but all good fun One of the many reasons I love writing contemporary fiction is that it means I don't have to bother much with research. In this respect, I'm in good company, because as my friend T E Shepherd , who writes compelling magical realism novels, told me over the weekend, Philip Pullman says: One of the pleasures of writing fiction is that you can sit at your desk and just make up what you are too lazy to go and find out. This is especially true for me because my current series of cosy mystery novels is set in a little Cotswold village much like the one I've lived in for over a quarter of a century. During that time, I've been a member of countless clubs, served on various committees, founded an annual fun run and a literary festival, and volunteered in the village community shop. There's not much about daily life in Cotswold villages that has passed me by. Having fun in H...