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... by Valerie | Jan 3, 2014 | book reviews, reading groups, writing a novel
We were all set for London. Every present wrapped and labelled, clothes packed. In fact, we prided ourselves on being unusually well organised, much better than in previous years. We’d be in good time to queue for the Nine Lessons and Carols at St. Paul’s Cathedral in... by Valerie | Dec 29, 2013 | book reviews, reading groups, writing a novel
Clearing the Cobwebs I thought our favourite walk would be too far to go in midwinter with sunset at 4 p.m. It must be at least an hour and a half’s drive to Castle Howard. I was proved wrong. Admittedly, not many cars are on the road on Boxing Day, but it was sunny... by Valerie | Dec 26, 2013 | book reviews, reading groups, travel, writing a novel
I should have been with our son and his family in London today, Christmas Day, but with chicken pox raging there, we decided to stay home. I took a quiet walk through the main street. Hardly a soul. A few men, a dog or two and one couple with a child in a pram. Every... by Valerie | Dec 22, 2013 | book reviews, reading groups, writing a novel
I have been looking at what others are reading on Goodreads and adding my comments on the recent books I’ve been reading. Fine for Snow by Orhan Pamuk and for Legend of a Suicide – a tough read – , but then I wanted to write about Judith Harris’s The Monster in...
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