The Literary Sofa
Guest Authors
Writers on Location – Judith Heneghan on Kiev
The summer guest author programme got off to a fascinating start last week with Bev Thomas’s post on what it means to be a ‘good enough’ mother. Coincidentally, motherhood is also a theme in today’s featured debut Snegurochka by Judith Heneghan but it’s not the focus of today’s post – that is firmly on the … Continue reading
Guest Author – Bev Thomas – What does it mean to be a ‘good enough’ mother?
Once again my Summer Reads selection was greeted with huge enthusiasm and I’d like to say a big thank you for all the interest, appreciation of the blog and help getting the word out about these wonderful books. This last bit matters because I don’t often choose titles which are getting a big marketing push … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Lisa Blower on Stoke-on-Trent
This is the final guest post from my first Sofa Spotlight of 2019 and (much later than usual) the first Writers on Location piece of the year, so I’m very pleased to be featuring award-wining short story writer and novelist Lisa Blower and her new collection It’s Gone Dark Over Bill’s Mother’s from independent publisher … Continue reading
Guest Author – Eleanor Anstruther on Fictionalising a Family Story
My First Sofa Spotlight of 2019 celebrated nine fantastic new releases and this is the penultimate post from the authors. This is one of the strongest ‘seasons’ I’ve been fortunate to host, and it’s a pleasure to be joined today by Eleanor Anstruther, author of A Perfect Explanation. I met Ellie very briefly at her … Continue reading
Guest Author – Isabel Rogers on Writing about Music
This week I am more than usually thrilled to welcome poet, wit and newly hatched novelist Isabel Rogers back to the Literary Sofa. Last week’s moving piece by Catherine Simpson on Writing about Mental Health was a wonderful start to the series of guest posts by authors of titles from my First Sofa Spotlight of … Continue reading
Guest Author – Catherine Simpson on Writing about Mental Health
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
My Year in Books 2018
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
Guest Post – Ben Blackman on Taking nine months to read one novel
Enter my competition she said, you could win a lunch with me she said. Yet somehow it comes to the fact I (that’s italics too but it’s difficult to tell if you can see) have ended up in charge of the Literary Sofa this week while Isabel pretends to be hard at work on her … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Joy Rhoades on the New England Tableland, NSW, Australia
The first Australian Writers on Location post (Clare Atkins on Darwin) proved exceptionally popular back in the summer and I’m delighted to be returning to a very different part of this huge and beautiful country in the company of Joy Rhoades, author of The Woolgrower’s Companion. It’s a first novel which has achieved critical success, … Continue reading
Guest Author – Claire Fuller on Finding Inspiration in Place
I’d like to start by thanking everyone for the exceptional response to last week’s Literary Lunch competition, which prompted a deluge of retweets, entries and appreciation for the blog. Just as well I did keep going! And since the entries took the form of book recommendations and there were so many great ones – including … Continue reading
My Novel – Now out in paperback
