First, an apology. This is a small story. It is about a village, its school, some houses and a white line. It would not be out of place in one of the quieter episodes of The Archers. To some, the fact that I want to write about it may seem like the final, irrefutable evidence… Continue reading Crossing the line: when local politicians go bonkers
Read moreIt has gone. The piece of work which has occupied over the past couple of years, a novel, has left my desk to make its way in the blustery, chilly outside world. Almost certainly it will be back, nagging for attention of some kind, but right now I’m in that odd, conflicted state of mind… Continue reading The wind whistling past your ears: dealing with the post-novel blues
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I write this report on Christmas day in the library of Oxburgh Hall, an agreeable late-medieval moated house in Norfolk where I have been a guest for these past five days. By the end of this week, I am confident that my task will be complete. The vampires will be dead. No, please don’t be… Continue reading ‘Lady in Blue, Unidentified’ – a little vampire story for Halloween
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In about 1997, I was sharing a bottle of wine with my good friend and neighbour Roger Deakin in the garden of Walnut Tree Farm, his house in the Waveney Valley. Although his life was going through a period of restlessness and change, Roger was in good form. He was going to write a book,… Continue reading ‘I began to dream of secret swimming holes and a journey of discovery….’ Roger Deakin, ten years on.
Read moreI was born into a family that loved horses. My father was an international show-jumper and amateur jockey. My mother was a brilliant horsewoman who had ridden all her life. My brother Philip and I hadn’t been long in this world before we were sitting on a small felt saddle on top of a pony.… Continue reading They’re off! My story RACING MANHATTAN is published today.
Read moreTalking to the New York Times in 1936, Cole Porter took an unsentimental view of his work when it was completed. ‘The moment the curtain rises on the opening night, I say to myself: “There she goes” and I’ve bid good-bye to my baby,’ he said. ‘ The minute that it is exposed to its… Continue reading The spark of an idea… the rewrite… publication day. When is the best moment in a writer’s life?
Read moreToday’s the birthday of Bob Dylan. Here’s a piece I wrote in 2005 when Dylan was nominated (unsuccessfully – again) for the Nobel Prize: It was an odd kind of funeral. The deceased had lived a full and somewhat rackety life, and most of those who had come to bid farewell were, like him, brave… Continue reading ‘Tricked once more…’. Happy birthday, Dr Dylan
Read moreEvery now and then, perhaps once or twice a month, a new cause for concern is discovered. From some distant campus, a research paper is published which reveals that something we had previously taken for granted is, in fact, deeply worrying. Statistics are produced, researchers quoted in the inevitable press release. Sometimes the little gobbet… Continue reading Rock and ageism: a sad old bastard with guitar writes…
Read moreIt was April 1998. I was living in a flat in London after my marriage had gone belly-up. I had been working on my novel Kill Your Darlings and was so stuck that it felt as if it was killing me. I was not, as they say, in a good place. Simon Kelner had just been… Continue reading The underdog bites the dust
Read moreI am feeling a little bit jilted. An important relationship has recently come to an end. Already I find I am missing the old familiar things we did – our meetings once or twice a week, our plans, our outings, the way things changed between us over time. It has been a couple of weeks… Continue reading I’ve never felt more like singing the (solo) blues
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