The Literary Sofa

It’s been bothering me for a long time that so many of the books I read never get a mention on the Sofa, always including some I’ve really loved (although those do at least make my Books of the Year.) This is the first of what (I hope) will be a regular catch-up to rectify … Continue reading →

When is a travel post a geography lesson? This feels like a bit of both on my family’s recent trip to Senegal in west Africa, but if I only post lovely pictures and talk about touristy things it would give a false impression, not only of the little we saw of the country but also … Continue reading →

There was a really enthusiastic response to my First Sofa Spotlight of 2019 a couple of weeks ago – many thanks to everyone who got in touch, shared it on social media and entered my one day competition on Twitter.  I hope the winners and the rest of you are enjoying the books you chose! … Continue reading →

Moving on from a near-exclusive focus on new releases has been great for my reading but I still love making exciting discoveries in the constant flow of new titles. My first selection of 2019 consists of six novels set between the 18th century and the present day via several decades of the twentieth, plus a … Continue reading →

It’s time to reveal my Books of 2018, a post I always relish writing, but this year it’s more complicated than usual.  It’s been a strange reading year for me, frustrating in some ways and very rewarding in others. I’ve ‘only’ read 80 books, slightly down on my usual average, as was the proportion written … Continue reading →

Like many novelists, I get asked a lot of tricky questions and that’s not likely to change when my next book comes out. (Yes, I’m saying ‘when’ because I have to believe that to put myself through this.)  Today’s post – by popular demand! – looks at some of those questions and my experience of … Continue reading →

This week I am delighted to be featuring The Word for Freedom, an anthology just published to celebrate the centenary of female suffrage in the UK.  Amanda Saint, founder of Retreat West, joined forces with fellow author Rose McGinty to bring together these 24 stories, all donated by the authors to raise funds for London … Continue reading →

As always at this time of year, this is an informal round-up of the books I read during my summer blog shutdown (as distinct from my Summer Reads selection of recommended new releases, where I’m delighted to hear that many of you found something of interest).  To be precise, it’s my verdict on half of … Continue reading →

Back to my Summer Reads and I’m declaring this week’s post a Special Edition, partly because it’s a change from the normal format but mostly because I am so thrilled to be hosting the talented and lovely Catherine McNamara, whose second solo short story collection The Cartography of Others was recently crowdfunded by many and … Continue reading →

I’m delighted to be bringing you my Summer Reads 2018.  I’ve been hard to impress recently but the outcome is a selection of compelling and powerful titles which I really loved and for each one I tell you why! As always, there is a wide variety of settings – Italy [1], Australia [4], Chicago/Paris [8], … Continue reading →

Literary culture (as in: everything to do with books) is under threat.  Libraries are closing, media coverage is shrinking, book prizes and literacy initiatives like Quick Reads (please somebody save Quick Reads) struggle and disappear, most authors earn next to nothing.  Will Self has a regular gig on the Death of the Novel.  As an author, … Continue reading →

Hosting today’s guest author and featuring her debut novel, another of my Spring Sofa Spotlight titles, feels like a special occasion and not only because until now I’m the only one who’s written about Paris here. That was destined to change the moment Alicia Drake stood up to read from I love you too much … Continue reading →

As Hemingway famously said, ‘the first draft of anything is garbage.’ (I always thought he said ‘shit’ but anyway.) And as he also famously said, ‘writing is rewriting’. Now I am not a particular fan of Hemingway nor of writing aphorisms, which I have learned to approach on a ‘pick your own’ basis, (as in … Continue reading →

It’s been a busy and exciting time lately, with wonderful reviews of Paris Mon Amour appearing all over the place – one reader wrote to me when she finished it at 2am! It’s so interesting and rewarding hearing what people make of it (and everyone sees something a bit different), so a very big thank you to everyone … Continue reading →

In view of the appreciative response to the above piece I wrote for the Writers’ Workshop (York Festival of Writing) blog, I thought I’d also post the link here on the Literary Sofa. Thanks again to WW for hosting me and for their important role on the journey to publication of my debut novel Paris Mon Amour.   … Continue reading →

It’s nearly a week since my debut novel Paris Mon Amour came out and I’ll be writing about that incredible experience very soon… But in the meantime – and because I was way too busy to post this week – here are some of the pieces I’ve written elsewhere to coincide with the release.  Given the longevity and popularity … Continue reading →

I recently wrote this article about rejection for a competition and rather fittingly, it didn’t get anywhere. When I was telling some writer friends about this over lunch a few days ago (I had to see the funny side), they said I should post it on the blog so I’m doing it before I can … Continue reading →