Authors Electric

I've been trying to find a new cat ever since our very old cat died earlier this year. The younger one, Jacques, has been quite depressed to find himself the only feline left in the household. As he grew up with two other cats and a dog, I can see it must have been a shock to his system. He has demonstrated this state of mind by becoming unbelievably clingy. When I go out to work at my day job he is either peering round the banister with big sad eyes as I disappear through the front door, or sitting on my son's bedroom window-sill staring at me with big sad eyes as I get into the car. At night he likes to lie on top of me or alongside me, which is all very well in winter but now that the slightly less icy weather is here, is a bit annoying.  During the day he goes in and out quite a bit but keeps coming back to make sure we are still here, and if he's indoors he tends to follow me around in that cat way of walking just ahead of where he thinks I'm going. Unfor...

Whenever I finish writing a book I carry out a frenzied tidy-up of the area where I work, and for a day or two it looks neat and organized. Within a couple of days it's back to the usual mess: it seems I'm incapable of working in a clutter-free environment. But even when I've had one of those big clear-outs, there are certain things that stay; little objects, pictures or cuttings which have accumulated over many years and which for various reasons, will never be consigned to the rubbish bin or stuffed in the back of a drawer. As well as taking over desk space, surrounding walls and cupboard doors aren't spared from the general clutter build-up. Blu-tacked to the cupboard next to my computer for example, is my one remaining business card from the days when I was a magazine editor, a photo taken at my dog's first Agility competition, a couple of flukily won archery medals, a sighthound tassel, old press passes - and one of my favourite newspaper clippings. ...