The Literary Sofa
Isabel Costello
On the Couch – my protagonist Alexandra talks to Vicky Newham
Not surprisingly, people associate me with sofas. Some think I am a sofa, or a Sofia. Well anyway, this week I swapped my Literary Sofa for a therapist’s couch and my head for that of Alexandra Folgate, protagonist of my novel Paris Mon Amour – click here to read the post. Alexandra was interviewed by … Continue reading
Guest Author – Anna Mazzola on Writing Prisons
Today’s post by Anna Mazzola, author of The Unseeing, concludes the coverage of titles on my Summer Reads 2016 selection. My picks have been going down well – it’s great to hear that many of you are enjoying them as much as I did. Some of these books are rightly getting a lot of attention, … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Catherine Dunne on Extremadura, Spain
With scorching weather and the start of the school holidays here in the UK, this is the time many of us relish losing ourselves in a good book, whether we’re staying put or getting away. The term Summer Reads means different things to different people and although I use it for one of my two … Continue reading
On Female Sexuality and Motherhood
Another quick link, to my latest guest post related to Paris Mon Amour: today I’m really excited to be featured on Naomi Frisby’s The Writes of Woman. It’s one of my favourite blogs (and she was kind enough to say the same of mine.) The theme is double standards, female sexuality and motherhood, and no, shying away … Continue reading
My Love Affair with France
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
Writers on Location – Leila Segal on the Pinar del Río province, Cuba
On a glorious day in early May – it’s been the kind of summer where those stick in my mind – I crossed London to attend an event featuring local writers at the Clapham Literary Festival. I’d made the trip to see Roz Morris, who’d invited me to take part in her fabulous Undercover Soundtrack … Continue reading
Guest Author – Kit de Waal on Judgement
The Literary Sofa is a place to share love of stories and ideas and appreciation for the people who write them. Every author who has joined me as a guest has contributed a piece as impressive as their book, giving eloquent and fascinating insights into their themes, settings and creative process, and never more so than today’s … Continue reading
Guest Author – Helen MacKinven: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Today it’s a huge pleasure to welcome Scottish author Helen MacKinven back to the Literary Sofa on publication of her second novel Buy Buy Baby. It’s only eight months since her previous visit with Talk of the Toun, but I’ll leave Helen to tell you that story, which mirrors my own in various uncanny ways. Helen … Continue reading
Seven years to publication, seven things I’ve learned
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
Publishing my debut novel Paris Mon Amour
How does it feel? everyone keeps asking me, to see my first novel Paris Mon Amour published? A week has passed and I’m still not sure I have the words to convey it, but I’m going to try. For me, the dream and ambition of getting a book published was never primarily about notching up an achievement, … Continue reading
My new novel SCENT – out in paperback on 19 May 2022
The Literary Sofa 