The Literary Sofa
Isabel Costello
Book Review – Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
Being in the very final stages of my re-write, I wasn’t planning to post any more book reviews until I finish the manuscript, but sometimes with resolutions you just have to make an exception. Hannah Kent’s debut novel Burial Rites is without question one of the best novels I’ve read this year and is justly … Continue reading
Guest Author – Wendy Wallace on Setting a historical novel in a foreign country
When Wendy Wallace appeared on the Literary Sofa in June 2012 as my first ever Guest Author, it was a great start to what has since become one of the most popular regular features on the blog. Wendy and I now know each other in real life too, so I am doubly pleased to welcome … Continue reading
The City and the Road – August in America
It’s good to be back on the Literary Sofa again after spending almost all of August in the States. If you know my blog or my fiction you already know that I have a thing about America which dates all the way back to my very first taste of it as a 22-year-old. Somewhat bizarrely, … Continue reading
My American Holiday TBR 2013
My Top Summer Reads 2013 has attracted a lot of interest and it’s great to be getting positive feedback from readers who’ve discovered titles they loved amongst my selection. Of course I’ve already read them, so when it comes to my summer trip I relish choosing what else to read. I find the books I read … Continue reading
Everything looks different now – the final rewrite post
I never planned three posts about my big rewrite but having talked about it at the start and the halfway point, I feel I should sign off. At the same time, it slightly feels like cheating, because this should have been the triumphant post saying it’s finished. I wanted to have it done by now, but … Continue reading
Guest Author – Lydia Netzer – Writing about Being Different
* UK GIVEAWAY WINNERS ANNOUNCED – SEE END OF POST * One of the greatest challenges faced by any writer of fiction is to create characters the reader will find relatable and recognisable but, at the same time, to make them unique individuals and not stereotypes. Lydia Netzer’s quirky and original debut features protagonists who aren’t remotely like … Continue reading
The Online You and Me
This week marks two years since I joined Twitter. Within months, I’d started the Literary Sofa blog and the rest is… amazing! Now, wherever I go, people talk to me about things they’ve read or discovered here. That makes me very happy. I’m often asked ‘how I’ve done it’, especially by would-be or reluctant bloggers. … Continue reading
Guest Author – Barry Walsh on Writing fiction from your own life
This morning I had the pleasure of catching up with Wendy Wallace who was my first ever Guest Author on the Literary Sofa just over a year ago. I’m delighted at how popular this regular slot has become; the ‘one-question interview’ formula produces thought-provoking pieces every time. I read the novel and ask the author … Continue reading
Sex Scenes in Fiction
2021 UPDATE: Since writing this post many years ago I have had two novels published which include plenty of sex scenes, including same-sex in my new novel Scent. This is the 100th post on the Literary Sofa and the subject of sex hasn’t come up much beyond the occasional mention in a review. Last week’s piece on … Continue reading
XX or XY? Do readers care about gender of author?
This piece started out as a review of A M (Amy) Homes’ novel May We Be Forgiven, winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2013. I’m a fan of her writing and rushed to read the book back in the autumn when it was released in the UK. It’s tremendously enjoyable and memorable, but I soon realised … Continue reading
My new novel SCENT – out in paperback on 19 May 2022
The Literary Sofa 