Authors Electric

What did we do before that Chap NGT (Not Got Talent*) entered the room and answered our every question? I suppose there was Google… just how many times do we say… “Let’s Google that!” It’s common parlance, usually when watching something on TV. “What’s he been in?” “How old is Joan Collins now?” No body knows, or you are on your own, and Google becomes your best friend with every answer at your fingertips! Oh, how I pity the people of yesteryear before the internet was even thought of. Then again, maybe they didn’t need the answer to the question                 “Was he in an episode of Casualty? The one with the train crash.”** In the good old day you would reach for a trusted book. Printed matter cannot be questioned, it can be relied upon to provide good advice. Especially when said tome is called Everybody’s Best Friend. Edited by Harold Wheeler Hon.D,Litt, F.R.Hist.S (The man has so many le...

The other day I was re-reading an old online review of a book by Olga Tokarczuk, in which I encouraged new readers to start instead with my favourite book of hers, Primeval and Other Times . When I checked on Amazon, I found it was now out of print - a second-hand copy was available for about £75 - and the Kindle edition had vanished completely. How is it possible for the best book (IMHO) by a recent winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature to disappear like this? And how can it be possible for an e-book to go out of print? And why is it that so many of the books I want to recommend to people are now available only at silly prices, or not at all? Is it just me?  My current literary enthusiasm - my wife might say obsession   - is for José Eduardo Agualusa, who was born in Angola and writes in Portuguese. The first novel of his that I read was A General Theory of Oblivion , which was shortlisted for the International Booker in 2016. Ever since, I have been reading everything by...

What do you do with books you no longer need? I’m not talking about more recent paperback novels which can be taken to a charity shop. I’m an avid fan of searching the bookshelves for a bargain. I’m talking about non-fiction books that are no longer relevant. Or multiple copies of “best sellers” that have fallen out of fashion. And what about self-published books that have been printed but then you find too many typos, or formatting errors and releasing them into the wild could potentially damage your overall brand? This is what happened to a friend recently – despite all the checks and balances before printing when his novel was republished, he still found issues that needed to be addressed, so rather than selling the stock that had already been printed he made the bold decision to throw them away. “But I still have seventeen copies to sell and an event this weekend?” “Just put them in the recycling.” He said. With a heavy heart I did just that. In they went with the emp...

 An atlas was once considered an essential reference book for anyone’s bookcase. Remember that beautiful scene in the Ang Lee’s adaptation of Sense and Sensibility where young Margaret Dashwood sits under the table, perusing an oversized atlas, planning her adventures? Later it is given to as a gift to her by the very handsome Edward Ferrers played Hugh Grant. While searching for an apt literary quote, I discovered that scene was never actually written by Miss Austen, but added to the film to flesh out Edward’s character. Nevertheless, I think my premise still stands, that once upon a time a world atlas was an important tome in almost every household. Along with a family Bible, dictionary and perhaps the complete works of Shakespeare. Nowadays they become obsolete almost as quickly as they are printed. Few of us rely on road atlases in our cars any more as they have been superseded by satnavs and Goggle maps, much less fiddly to use en route , potentially causing less argum...

   I like to think I have a good memory - you wouldn’t want me on your quiz team - I don’t remember facts, but I have a good episodic memory. I remember moments, feelings, clothes, interiors, conversation; the light on the field where my husband proposed, the colour of the curtains in the maternity suite - transient things. Then tonight I was looking through the chaos of my old photos - and I saw just how much I have forgotten.       I don’t remember the day that this photograph was taken and it is full of mysteries:   I am wearing a blouse of my mother’s which is odd. I am also wearing a long skirt and court shoes when everyone else is in shorts. Why? What am I doing with my legs and was it entirely wise when balancing a four year old on my hip? Who is taking this shot? Why are we all looking in different directions? I look miserable, but I know that this was a happy time, full of nappies, and milk, bedtime stories, incomprehensible childhood p...