I’m quite a fan of Helen Kitson’s debut novel The Last Words of Madeleine Anderson (Louis Walters books 2019) and was eager to read her latest, Old Bones, which focuses on a group of not-so-young women living in a Shropshire village. However, as someone well into my sixth decade (and nearly out the other side!) … Continue reading Old Bones by Helen Kitson: or how old is old? @Jemima_Mae_7 @LouiseWalters12
Robert Louis Stevenson & J.M. Barrie, A Friendship in Letters, by Michael Shaw, Sandstone Press, 2020 “Write to me again in my infinite distance” So wrote Robert Louis Stevenson in the year 1893 from his home in Samoa to fellow writer J. M. Barrie who was in, or near, his native town of Kirriemuir in … Continue reading A friendship in messages: with thanks to #RLS and @SandstonePress
I loved the first couple of series of The Crown – all those stories which formed the backdrop to my youth brought to dramatic life. I only fell out of love when Olivia Colman (much though I admire her) took over as the Queen. However this hasn’t stopped me from following the furore raging around … Continue reading Truth, Conjecture and ‘The Crown’
October as most of you know is the season of literature festivals and this year is no exception, even if most of them are a bit different. Sometimes that’s an advantage: I’ve looked in on a couple of live-streamed events from Cheltenham which I most probably wouldn’t have attended in normal circumstances. Staying in is … Continue reading Literature festivals – now available anywhere and everywhere.
Last Monday my U3A writing group (who have grappled gamely with Zoom and capricious email to turn in some really great work this year) had three short stories to consider and they made me think of the importance of openings. The group are all very aware of the pitfalls of working out where a story … Continue reading Story Openings: not where to begin but how
