The Literary Sofa
Brooklyn
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
Week in New York – A Disaster
As you may know, I was in New York last week. I got home yesterday feeling very disoriented; it’s not just down to jetlag, it’s as if I’ve come to land in a strange place I barely recognise. That place is normality. My son S and I thought we were going for a relaxing time seeing … Continue reading
Write What You Know?
There are many sayings about writing and almost as many clichés, the number one surely being ‘There’s a novel in everyone.’ I’m not getting into that. This is about that other old chestnut ‘Write What You Know’ (WWYK), usually attributed to Mark Twain (although I’m happy to hear he didn’t particularly follow it). I’ve always instinctively … Continue reading
A World Away – Geographical Settings in Fiction
Every time I write a new piece for my blog I end up with ideas for two or three more! I’m now compiling my Top 10 Summer Reads listing (coming 18 May) and I’m aiming to include a wide variety of settings from Australia to England; coastal, city, country. This got me thinking about how important … Continue reading
Lucky 7 – Seven Lines from New Works
I returned from my lovely trip to the South of France to find I’d been tagged by Jane Rusbridge in the Lucky 7 – Seven Lines from New Works. Here are the rules if you’re not familiar with it: Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript · Go to line 7 · … Continue reading
On Location: #3 Coney Island, Brooklyn
Time for another post in the On Location series of places which feature in my novel Nothing Happens for a Reason (though obviously I don’t tell you why!). Coney Island is synonymous with old-fashioned beach and amusement park culture and a cherished New York icon. It’s beyond this little piece to go into the fascinating history of Coney Island or the great controversy … Continue reading
2011 – My Year in Books
2011 has been a brilliant year for me, not least in terms of what I’ve read. I only started keeping a record in 2010 and 38 full length novels seemed a respectable total, but this year it’s been 55! This came as a surprise as I’ve been working flat out on my own book as … Continue reading
On Location: #2 Red Hook, Brooklyn
In my first post on this blog, I confessed a weakness for places which are off the beaten track, quirky, not conventionally beautiful. Red Hook is like that. It was one of the earliest parts of Brooklyn to be settled, by the Dutch in 1636, and the name comes from the colour of the soil … Continue reading
My new novel SCENT – out in paperback on 19 May 2022
The Literary Sofa 