When in doubt, go to the library
It’s not often that you’ll find me giving advice in a blog. Or indeed, anywhere. I know some stuff, but the longer I live, the more I realise that really, my sum of wisdom is as tiny as a grain of sparkling sand on a white, sun-drenched beach lapped by an azure ocean. (My goodness, you can tell I’m a writer. How about that for a poetic image?) Anyway, today’s advice, such as it is, is this. Go to the library. As often as you can. And make sure you tell the librarians what a cracking job they’re doing. When eventually I ascend to the heavenly realms, I am reasonably sure that there will be a vast, well-stocked library somewhere about the place, with lots of cosy seating by sunny windows, good coffee, non-fattening cakes (it is heaven, after all) and perhaps some of the authors themselves ready for a nice long chat about their inspiration and their world view. There are all kinds of libraries out there and last week I found out about one which I will probably never visit. ...