Those of you who read this blog know that what makes up most of my reading these days are short stories, both for pleasure and for review for The Short Review. I write short stories and I love them, but, as I argue whenever I get the chance, I also love a good novel, something that keeps me up at night, something that pulls me into its world.

Fiona Robyn's The Letters, published by Snowbooks, did just that. A story about love, family, parenting, friendships, isolation, community, creativity, history, society, and so much more. I was surprised by how much I took to Violet, the main character, from the first page. I think what attracted me and then kept me reading was that Violet is a very real character, she is flawed and she - and the author - don't make any attempt to hide her imperfections, be they in the realm of motherhood, as a daughter, a wife, a sister, a friend, a member of the local community. Everything here feels genuine, and not only that, there are no pat answers, no simple solutions. This is all of life's messiness, in these pages, and there is something both beautiful and compelling about that.

I am delighted to be hosting Fiona today as part of her "The Letters" Virtual Book Tour as she (virtually) travels around in her little red bus. A little bit about Fiona: she is a writer and blogger living in rural Hampshire, UK, with her partner and two cats (Silver and Fatty) and her vegetable patch.

Read Full Post

Imogen Robertson was born in Darlington in 1973 and is a TV, film and radio director. Her first novel, 'Instruments of Darkness', is a historical thriller set in 1780 and will be published by Headline in May 2009. The opening section of the book was chosen as one of the winners in the Daily Telegraph's 'First thousand words of a novel' competition in 2007, which inspired her to write the rest of it. She also received a commendation in the National Poetry Competition in 2005. She lives in London with a lot of books and a cello and is currently writing full time.


Longhand first or straight to computer?
Computer for prose and longhand for poetry. I'd never have a writing career without spellcheck and the cut and paste function.

Poetry or prose?
I like both. Same way I like pies and cakes. Never, never make me choose.

The hardest thing about writing is…
Starting. After that the hardest thing is stopping.

First drafts are…
The fun bit.

My underlying themes are…
Sex and death, same as everyone else!


Read Full Post

Featuring two best friends and one wild day out, Extreme Kissing is a story about friendship, love, risks and secrets. It's set on a day the girls call "Extreme Saturday" - the day the clocks go forward and British Summer Time begins - which just happens to be this Saturday, 28th March.

In honour of this, Luisa Plaja will be signing copies of Extreme Kissing at the Torbay Bookshop, Devon on Extreme Saturday 28th March from 10.30am.

But if that's too far for you to travel, then please enter our giveaway!

Read Full Post

I'm twittering as well now. Just when I thought I was getting a handle on my social networking habit (it's just the odd status update [sniff], I can handle it), I've gone and joined Twitter. I justified this on the basis that it should take so little of my time that I'd be able to do an SAS on it: get in, get the job done, and get out again.


It's bloody addictive though.


I went on this morning with the

Read Full Post

Well, I'd like to pretend that the reason I haven't posted here for so long is something large and amazing - a burst of literary inspiration, a passionate affair, a killing on the stock market - but of course it isn't, it's the usual accumulation of dull but urgent stuff which domestic and freelance life attracts as a drain attracts dead leaves. Most of those leaves are terribly boring (did you think that if the oven door you were trying to mend slipped one inch to touch the floor, it would shatter? No, neither did I, but now a new oven door is one more thing on the To Do List). But a few are interesting:



Read Full Post

Had a meeting yesterday at a local church who are holding a craft fair on 11 July. I spotted the sign on the gate last Saturday and - being the new ultra-confident me - instantly saw the potential. I rang the number straight away and left a message. By five pm, I'd been invited for an informal chat. "What do you do?" asked Jackie the organiser. "I write children's books," I replied. There was a moment of silence before she said "That's different! Usually people tell me they make birthday cards!" Got to meet her yesterday and paid my £10.00 deposit for a table. The plan is to set it up as 'local writer makes good' and obviously to sell - and sign - as many books as I possibly can! I have already spoken to Sarah the Publisher about obtaining a stock of Yucketypoo books, and she has also graciously agreed to supply me with any posters and flyers I need. It is all extremely exciting! So - if you can get to St Michael and All Angels Church in Poplar Walk, Croydon (there is a car park next door), on Saturday 11 July between 10.00 and 2.30, then come along, say hello - and meet Yucketypoo!


Read Full Post

Respecting one’s elders does work in the adult world too as a general rule, with the exception on some occasions of the workplace where the elders in question are behaving with all the logic of a hormone-crazed baboon set loose from a winter of solitary confinement into a compound of fecund and spring-ready fellow primates.

Read Full Post

Ah, wouldn't it be lovely to go on a writing retreat? A week alone in a wilderness-y location, free to tap away on my laptop, scribble in a pretty notebook or spread out the pages of my work in progress across the crisp, non-dog-haired linen of a comfy bed. I'd go out for solitary, silent walks in the sunshine, and return inspired by the sea breeze hushing through the grasses and the lonely cries of eagles in the cerulean sky.

Not for me one of those writers' retreats in a venue shared with Other People. Yuk! For a start, I'm a nutter-magnet, so judging by past experience I'd probably get someone following me around saying my surname was making them channel visions of the Norman Conquest or something ...


Read Full Post

Rooted in a pagan tradition that has been all but eradicated by Christianity, the idea of dancing at Lughnasa is the dramatic equivalent of Chekhov's sisters' yearning for Moscow, i.e. it ain't gonna happen.

Read Full Post

Okay, so here I am tattoo free. Yup you guessed it, I buckled to peer pressure and bottled it. Still I don't have to hide it from Dad now so that is a plus. Anyway I have a little puzzle that seems to be consuming ten minutes of my life every morning. My kids like to eat Ready-Brek for their breakfast - has anyone actually made this without spilling the escaping flakes over the work top? No matter how hard I try they seem to have a will of their own.