The Literary Sofa
Debut authors
Writers on Location – Alicia Drake on Paris as a longterm ex-pat
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
Sofa Spotlight – Spring 2018
Spring is in the air, I’ve been reading (as always) and it’s time for my latest selection of recommended new releases. Narrowing it down is never easy – I’ve enjoyed far more than I can include, especially as there were many with overlapping themes. There’s huge variety amongst the ten which stood out (and I … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Naomi Hamill on Kosovo
Last week’s Autumn Sofa Spotlight sparked lots of interest, so thank you very much to the many who read and shared it. One of the most rewarding comments I get is that my selections feature titles people haven’t heard of but now want to read; the books I enjoy aren’t usually the most talked-about or … Continue reading
Guest Author – Laura Kaye on portraying England from a foreigner’s perspective
Last week was exceptionally busy with reports from the London Book Fair and a George Saunders event – now it’s back to featuring authors from my Spring Sofa Spotlight. As you may recall, I was struck by how many of my chosen titles had important things to say about the world right now. This … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Laura McVeigh In the Shadow of the Hindu Kush
The first guest post by one of my Spring Sofa Spotlight authors, last week’s Writers on Location by Sarah Day on the island of San Domino, proved very popular and today I am pleased to be welcoming the next author in this series. Laura McVeigh joins me to talk about a very different place, the … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Sarah Day on the island of San Domino, Italy
Last week’s spring Sofa Spotlight met with a great deal of interest and enthusiasm, so a big thank you for your support and appreciation. It is a pleasure to welcome the first of my Spotlight guest authors today – the talented and lovely Sarah Day, who I can’t help noticing has a large and committed … Continue reading
Sofa Spotlight – Spring 2017
This is only the second of my quarterly selections and already things have gone awry – I’ve discovered more excellent novels recently than I strictly ‘need’! But of course there can never be too many good books (or too much shouting about them), so for today’s spring Sofa Spotlight I’ve decided to focus on seven titles … Continue reading
Paris Mon Amour to be released in paperback under new Literary Sofa imprint
As hinted here more than once – remember my new year ‘making things happen’ mantra? – I have some pretty big news! It’s already gone live to Bookbrunch subscribers this morning (thanks, Bookbrunch) and, hoping you’ll excuse the weirdness of me referring to myself in the third person on my own blog, I am thrilled to … 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
Summer Reads 2016
Welcome to the 10th Literary Sofa selection of new and forthcoming fiction, and what a incredible year for books 2016 is proving to be! I began the search earlier than usual, making so many excellent discoveries that I soon had a ‘knockout’ situation on my hands. That tells you something about the 13 that made the … Continue reading
My new novel SCENT – out in paperback on 19 May 2022
The Literary Sofa 