the proof and the obscure
In Edinburgh recently, we spent a fun couple of hours in Camera Obscura, looking at the incredible, the impossible, the unbelievable, the inexplicable, and the unclear. Now, home again, I am coming towards the end of my proofreading for Dear…
Holidays and homecomings
I’ve been away. For the first time in 18 months, we left Ireland. It was a combination trip of visiting family we haven’t seen since Covid locked down the world, and delivering our daughter to her new university life in…
Dinosaurs, and all that old stuff
I’ve just finished creating a lesson about dinosaurs, so they are on my mind. I told someone the other day that one of my childhood nicknames was ‘Diplodocus’ and they thought I should use that as my pen name from…
Jane, Forgotten, and other news
I’m delighted to say that I am now well underway on Novel #4, and it finally has a title (which may, of course, change yet, but for now, there are good, weighed-up, thought-through reasons for its choice). Jane, Forgotten. As…
Busy weeks slipping by
Apologies for missing last week. I was busy losing my job 🙂 Don’t worry – I knew it was about to come (and I did still have it last Friday) – the online ESL industry in China has just collapsed…
Keeping it brief
Hello everyone, This will be a very brief entry today, as it’s been a rough week full of time-eating problems and deadlines all coming along at the same time like fleas on a dog. As you may know, my ‘other…
The Gardener’s Daughter
Firstly, apologies for skipping last week. The sun was shining. It was 30 degrees. That’s hot for Ireland. I lazed around in the sun in the snatched spare moments between a jam-packed week of work and webinars. I’ve been making…
Getting it wrong in great company
In my first author interview (links here), my publisher asked me what advice I’d give to aspiring authors. I said that I have found joining writing groups and doing writing courses invaluable, not so much for the teaching content (although…
Reject, Reuse, Recycle
Someone said something to someone recently that got me thinking about a thing that happens to writers a lot. Rejection. It wasn’t even a rejection of my own work that led to this thought. Although I had my own latest…
Bobbing along
I suggested last week that I may write more about how Bob Sparrow had arrived in my head. Revisiting Bob has made me consider how very long it is since I’ve been anywhere! I know I’m not the only one…