I love an old building with proper history - something grittier than a fine country house (they have their place, but "working" buildings have more interesting stories). Beaumaris Gaol on the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales didn't function as a jail for very long, but it still has some interesting tales and well-preserved features... Continue Reading →
Most readers would choose a place they could read all day every day and it just so happens there's a town where you can do just that. Hay-On-Wye is located just over the Wales/England border and is self-described as the world's first book town. There are over 20 bookshops to visit - which is a... Continue Reading →
Thomas Hardy was a world-renowned writer with deep connections to Dorset, although his books were set in the fictional county of Wessex, inhabited by the rural country folk he'd grown up with. And while his ashes may lie in Westminster Abbey's Poet's Corner, his heart lies (quite literally) in Dorset. Born 2 June 1840, Hardy... Continue Reading →
Misery - Writing can be dangerous Stories about writers often seem to end up on the precarious side of things. Writing, it's implied, is dangerous. "Misery" (by the man who loves writing about writers, Stephen King) follows a famous writer who's sick of his own creation (shout out to Arthur Conan Doyle) and kills her... Continue Reading →
Kenneth Grahame is famous as the author of one of the most iconic children's stories of all time, "The Wind in the Willows". This classic book was written in 1908 but has enchanted children for decades (myself included). Grahame was born in 1859. His mother died when he was just five and, as his father... Continue Reading →
Ok, so writers aren't this big homogenous group who all think and act the same way, but I'm fairly certain there will be something in this list that you (or the writer in your life) will recognise. Just remember, it's all in fun! 1) We don't always want to write This may sound shocking -... Continue Reading →
New Year's resolutions - love them or hate them, they come up every year. The idea of turning over a new leaf for a new year appeals to me as a writer, a fresh start using a very visible (if immaterial) line in the sand. Perhaps it's the idea of beginning at the beginning. So... Continue Reading →
“Suddenly a hot gleam of sunlight fell upon the white cottages, with their grey steaming roofs and little scraps of garden courtyard, and lighting up the wings of the gorgeous butterflies which fluttered from the woodland down to the garden.” Charles Kingsley Clinging to the side of a cliff in Devon, lies the winding, cobbled... Continue Reading →
This year, like the few before it, has been tough for many, and next year might continue this theme. As far as my writing goes, I've been up and down. For months after I finally finished the first draft, was struggling to really get into the editing flow. More recently I've taken the bull by... Continue Reading →
Every year I like to do a list of Christmas gift ideas with a book, writing, or literary theme to help you decide what to get loved ones (or yourself). And each year it gets a bit harder to find new things. But I've got five Xmas gift ideas from inexpensive to the more pricey... Continue Reading →
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