by Valerie | Jan 18, 2014 | book reviews, reading groups, writing a novel
This is one of the much-quoted openings that every writer would like to imagine. If I remember correctly they are J P Hartley’s opening words in The Go-Between. Remember the wonderful film with Alan Bates and Julie Christie? It was filmed in a early 18th-century... by Valerie | Jan 16, 2014 | book reviews, reading groups, writing a novel
J K Rowling, P D JamesThis is a crucial question for anyone in the public eye. Is it an advantage to have the same name as a famous person? If ‘Shakespeare’, that could be helpful. There are no descendants of the playwright, so another writer using the same surname... by Valerie | Jan 14, 2014 | book reviews, reading groups, writing a novel
I heard the first cuckoo on Sunday. Was I hallucinating? It was while sitting revising Chapter 14 and looking through double glazing at the Minster and the light playing over the stone carving on the West facade. Not possible. Then we went for a walk. It was sunny... by Valerie | Jan 10, 2014 | book reviews, reading groups, writing a novel
I don’t think I shall ever return to New York. The person who gave us our ‘home from home’ has just died. I still don’t, can’t think it is true. But it is. Once you stepped inside the five-storey brownstone and saw the interior loved by four generations and crammed... by Valerie | Jan 4, 2014 | book reviews, reading groups, Uncategorized, writing a novel
By Christmas I had revised eight chapters and was enjoying the rediscovery of what I’d written a few years ago. Then came the mishaps. After the accident on my birthday I felt even more trepidation handing the manuscript of the first three chapters to my friend and...
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