Authors Electric

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman "3 million copies sold" boasts the cover of this book, which makes me wonder why I've taken so long to read it, considering it was first published in 2017 and comes with a glowing collection of positive reviews. Well, I confess I have  come across a few of those reviews over the years, and for some unknown reason formed the opinion that it's a Young Adult (YA) issues title, which as a fantasy/historical fan I don't normally enjoy. That's partly why I am doing this year of reading at Authors Electric, allowing different types of books to cross my path and sampling authors and genres more widely than I used to, in the hope I'll discover a new author and/or genre to enjoy. Within a few pages, I was rooting for the heroine. Eleanor Oliphant (not her real name - she has grown up in care) has an office job in accounts that she seems to be good at, lives alone in a small flat, runs her life to a strict routine ...

“Splendid Isolation,” a song written by Warren Zevon is about the difference between being alone and being lonely. I’ve featured it on the Music Monday segment of my blog today. Being alone is spending time with oneself; being lonely is a state of mind. Though the two are distinctly different, we can slip in and out between them. Many of us have probably done just that, more so this past week than any other time. Life with the COVID-19 pandemic has meant self-imposed isolation for us here in Canada. Like most countries, we are asked to “social distance” and to isolate ourselves physically from others for fear of spreading the virus.   I believe it’s the right thing to do, and whether you are living on your own or with others, you must reconcile how to do this.   Social distancing is a misnomer, really, as we’re not being asked to socially cut ourselves off from others. A more accurate description would be physical distancing. As writers, many of us are ...

I’ve always known that libraries are important. I’ve retweeted posts that insist they are kept open, liked FB pages that support those that are struggling. Like millions of us, I recall many happy hours in my childhood spent in libraries, and they kept me sane when I was without money to buy any books at all. But it wasn’t until I volunteered for my local library that I truly realised just how important they are. I feel strongly that everyone who works in libraries should be paid. But cut after cut after cut means that many libraries can only function with volunteers. Should the money ever be found, I’ll be the first to move aside so someone can have a job. Meanwhile, I help keep the show on the road. I love it. It’s ‘only’ shelving - but it’s oddly satisfying taking a heavy trolley full of books and finding a home for them all. But it’s while I’m tucking the latest Katie Fforde back into place that I become aware that the library does much more than lend books. The t...

Cover art by Matt Zanetti  You know that question somebody always asks you, sooner or later, when you're a writer?  The one that makes you want to shriek and run away instead of smiling politely, which is what you always do? The 'where do you get your ideas from?' question. Because let's face it, ideas are almost never the problem. Time, personal space, money, application and luck may be problems. But not ideas. Well, this is an attempt to answer that - but only about one particular project. Because in the case of  my new novel, Bird of Passage , now available on Kindle, even I'm not sure where I got my ideas from! This book  has been a very long time in the writing - probably the longest of anything I've ever written, if you count the time from the smallest germ of an idea to the finished book. In fact, I can remember that first little bit  of inspiration. When I was twelve years old, we moved from Leeds to the West o...