Got myself in a flat spin today about the online booking system meeting - I was supposed to know something about it but really didn’t have a clue. And it seemed to be sprung upon me at the last minute last week so I was rather peed off about it. To say the least. My Mondays are bad enough without having to cope with things I know nothing about! Anyway, it was all pretty traumatic and I was so pleased when it ended. As well as being terrorised by the fact that I have another lot of stuff to research into because of it, and once again it’s stuff I know nothing about. Double groan!...

Read Full Post

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
by any other name would smell as sweet.”
(Romeo & Juliet, Act II sc 2)

Would it really, though? Consider, for example, the fearless ‘John’ and the Argonauts. Hmm. Not quite such an impressive band, after all, are they? Similarly, one might judge King ‘Roy’ the Lionheart to lack a certain amount of the requisite gravitas. And, one has to ask, would the whole “we will fight them on the beaches” speech have been so well received if delivered by our brave Prime Minister, ‘Wendel’ Churchill? Would ‘Hercules’ Potter have become an international publishing phenomenon? Or the plucky, Dickensian urchin, ‘Orville’ Twist, have tugged on quite so many heartstrings? Possibly not.

Generally speaking, it’s as unlikely that the 19th Century Lady Farquharson at the centre of one story would be named ‘Stacey’, as it is that the genial bricklayer starring in another tale might be called ‘Algernon’.


Read Full Post

If you caught Radio Four’s Broadcasting House last Sunday (Jan 20), you’ll have heard the actress Vera Filatova speaking about further cultural fallout from the current diplomatic problems between Russia and Great Britain. It seems that her Russian directing team were mysteriously denied visas, so that at the last minute she had to revert to a piece she had originally performed in 2006, an adaptation of an obscure Dostoevsky fragment. I happened to be there for the first night at the New End Theatre Hampstead.

Produced by Luminous Arts and Russian Nights, Netochka Nezvanova – Nameless Nobody is a one-woman show astonishingly performed by Filatova. The staging is a simple black set, which at first sight seems sealed on its three sides. I wondered where the performer would make her entrance, which introduced a strange, musing tension even before the play began. But just as there was no obvious entrance point, there was no way out too. Whoever set foot on that stage, however they arrived upon it, would be trapped there. All very Dostoevskyan, I thought.

Read Full Post

A nice, leisurely start to the morning today and then Lord H and I had a wander along the River Wey at Stoke Park to admire the birds. Which included swans, great crested grebes just coming into their spring plumage, a crowd of long-tailed tits and a host of house sparrows. I do have to admit to having a soft spot for the humble house sparrow - I did a project on them when I was at primary school and my poor father sat for hours outside the house trying to get a photograph of one. Needless to say, he failed, but I always admired the determination. These days of course, we'd just download a picture from the web. Not really the Empire Spirit, but there you go ...

Read Full Post

I have long suspected that I am not really a team player, especially when the team is 'doubles'. For example, when I've played doubles tennis the biggest effort has been restraining myself from belting my own partner, and when I was giving birth I screamed 'GET AWAY GET AWAY DON'T TOUCH ME' at The Australian (on both occasions - you'd think he'd have learnt the first time), and when I started to collaborate on a novel with my mother last November I deteriorated into such depression that I aged about a decade and had to invest in copious amounts of Ulay. Olay? Ulay. Whatever. And finally, a few years ago, when a university friend and I decided to write an article together about our chronically low opinion of a book called The Rules, we spent two whole days writing four whole paragraphs - arguing over every 'and' 'but' and 'comma' until we realised our friendship was at risk and ditched the idea...

Read Full Post

Have finished editing The Canal for Mighty Erudite and sent the completed text back to Juli. I really loved it - so dark and such a powerful and strangely uplifting ending. Fab. I've always loved Wagstaff's stuff and this is a cracker.

I've also - shock! horror! - actually had to go into work today to help for an hour or so with the International Open Day. Groan. It was a bit of a pain - no, I lie, it was a huge pain! - having to go in on a Saturday, but at least it wasn't for too long. We didn't have a great deal of enquiries either, but it is the first time the University has held an open day with an international emphasis, so slackness of trade is only to be expected. Still, I'm not great at these meet & smile events, so I was glad to get out into the sun and be home again ...

Read Full Post

Have spent most of the day editing Mark Wagstaff's The Canal for Mighty Erudite. He's a really wonderful writer - so dark and bitter, and so very "London". I love it. And he's polished it so much that the edit is delightful. I'm about halfway through now, so should get it finished by early next week. Then it'll be back to The Gifting Part Two of Four ...

Read Full Post

The Storytellers' Cafe is a wonderful intiative from my writing friend Felicity Cowie. Here is how she describes it:

You have to bring your own cup of tea or coffee but come inside and take part in Cafe Improv where you can write the next installment of a group story. Or heckle.

You are also very welcome to submit your own new fiction writing to the site. Or advice about writing. The cafe is also keen to showcase bands, comedians and still or moving pictures. Work is published regularly. Guidelines are available by clicking on the Submit work button.

If you visit Chatter you can post and read any messages asking for or offering help or work. You can post whatever you like although The Management will frown on anything including the words 'bigger', 'satisfied', 'left to you in a will', 'just days to go'. ....

Read Full Post

Had a blissful couple of hours having a Clarins facial and back massage today. Really enjoyed it. People's lives are always more than you think though - my new Clarins therapist was telling me her boyfriend is in the army and has been in Iraq, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone. Horrific. I can't imagine it - I don't think I could handle it if it were me. Either being there (obviously) or being the one left waiting. Apparently the unit he was with was blown up at one stage and the therapist was driving somewhere when she heard the news and had to stop and ring his family just in case. Apparently, they always tell the family before it's on the news anyway, so she knew he must be okay, but still, the shock of it. I was glad to hear he's coming out into civilian life this year - a relief for both of them ...

Read Full Post

On her marvellous site and blog, which are a must for any writer, Kelly Spitzer has begun a series called Get Real, where she asks writers and editors to talk about different aspects of writing and publishing. The first round was "Get Real: Writers and Editors discuss the Publishing Process", more specifically, The Rejection Letter. The second Get Real round has just gone up, a fascinating look at writers' views on Online vs. Print Publishing. I am one of the writers participating in this, and it's been interesting to examine the process, as well as to read what everyone else has to say. Check it out.

Read Full Post