Authors Electric

IDEAL MOTHER'S DAY GIFT!!!  She gave birth to you, so show her you care with this thing for removing the dead skin off her poor peeling old feet. Yes, it’s Mother’s Day on Sunday in the UK, so there’s been an outbreak of ‘suitable gift’ ads, this one was on TV. I have seen in shop windows such things as kitchen waste bins, washing up bowls, and aprons displayed with ‘FOR MOTHERS DAY!’ signs, as if we’ve not suffered enough. On the other hand, when not scrubbing or throwing out rubbish, Mums are delicate creatures who can’t use anything unless it’s covered in pink flowers, even tools. Flowery secateurs from M&S for when someone's about to be 'all thumbs'  Like these secateurs: very useful, because when torturing one of your henchmen who’s been caught skimming off the top, it’s nice to have something dainty-looking to do it with. Of course there are masses of flower (though the prices are hiked up to their armpits for that weekend) and chocolate ads. Wimmi...

How do you like to relax when you're not writing? I love watching the cookery programmes on telly. Masterchef has just started again, James Martin's Saturday Morning programme gets recorded so I can watch it at some point on a Sunday; and the Great British Bake Off and the Great British Menu are all compelling programmes as far as I'm concerned. The amount of cooking programmes I watch you'd think would be turning me into a super adventurous cook, but no, I just like watching and seeing how the experts can mess up just like me. But watching these programmes has certainly improved my knowledge of food and ingredients, which is pretty important if you're going to write about food. My 13 years at the Coventry Telegraph as a feature writer included being the Food and Drink writer. This really used to make friends and family laugh, because there was a saying in my house that you knew when dinner was ready because the smoke alarm would go off. And at wor...

             As I've mentioned before, this blog that you see is merely the facade, the face that Authors Electric present to the world. Behind it, on private posting boards and email, there is a continual chatter between members.           So what is that talk about? Serious, writerly stuff about Alienation and Narrative Arcs? Discussion of sales figures and marketing ploys? I stumbled into the A-E Salon the other day, into the middle of a conversation. It was about the various browsers you can use to get onto the net - how some won't load some sites, others are very slow. One, in particular, causes 'meltdown.'         Apt enough, for Electric Authors. I thought I'd let everyone in on this essential topic for our age.         So plant your virtual glass firmly against the wall and listen... Ruby Barnes Ruby Barne...