Isn’t it odd how snippets of song lyrics lurk in our memories decades after we learned them? I may not be able to remember where I parked my car at Yate Shopping Centre, but I’m still word perfect on songs I learned at primary school. So, when my author friend Stefania Hartley told me about Ride Like a Gaucho, Tetbury young farmer Sophia Ashe’s memoir of her gap year in Argentina, I was transported not to South America, but to my Year 3 classroom in a Terrapin hut of Days Lane Primary School, Sidcup, and our weekly Singing Together lesson. In my head I immediately started singing: “See the gau ..read more

Helen Hollick is one of my longest-standing author friends. When we met at an event organised by SilverWood Books back in 2012 (see photo above), we immediately hit it off, and have been in regular contact ever since, despite living a couple of counties apart – Helen in her idyllic farmhouse in Devon, me in a village in the Cotswolds. She’s also been a frequent guest on my blog. (See links to some of her previous posts for me at the foot of this one.) Helen is a long-established, prolific and versatile author, starting out as a historical novelist, sidestepping into historical pirate-themed fa ..read more

As a fair-weather gardener, I’m only now emerging from hibernation to tame the garden for the summer. In my personal horticultural calendar, I have a limited window for tackling weeds. If I haven’t got my plot under control by the start of September, I give up. I know nature will soon side with me and stop the weeds growing in winter. I’m in awe of anyone who gardens all year round. I don’t venture out until dock leaves dwarf fading tulips and dandelions dominate the lawn. By this time, the task of clearing the weeds seems overwhelming. But it doesn’t take much to lift my spirits. Discovering ..read more

A post about how apparently unrelated day jobs can help hone your writing skills It’s never too late to start writing In a recent WhatsApp discussion with some author friends, we were talking about starting writing relatively late in life. One kindly said to me, “Oh, but you’re a natural”, assuming that my capacity for storytelling had got off to a flying start without any training in 2017 when I published my first novel. I explained to her that spending decades in a series of day jobs had honed my writing skills, giving me a head start when I began to write fiction. Composing news stories, fe ..read more

In my column for the April issue of the Hawkesbury Parish News, I take issue with a local problem that’s also been making national news.  When I tell city-dwelling friends that our village is surrounded by single-track roads, they often react as if that’s idyllic, but confess to a fear of driving on narrow country lanes. They’d be even more frightened if they saw how peppered are lanes are with potholes. No wonder my poor Fiat Panda has just failed its MOT due to faulty suspension. And no, it’s not due to my reckless driving over these craters. I’m such a cautious, careful driver that I ..read more

In my article for the April issue of the Tetbury Advertiser, I ponder the different definitions of Spring. After the wettest winter that I can remember, I’ve been looking forward more than ever to the spring. January and February are in any case my least favourite months, so I’m always glad when 1st March comes around. But this year, I’m particularly pleased because I’ve just discovered that meteorologists count it as the first day of spring. How did I not know that before? I’d always believed spring started at the equinox, halfway between winter and summer solstices, around 21st March. Now I ..read more

Meet novelist JJ Marsh This year, my last blog post of every month will be a conversation with one of my author friends, talking about an aspect of their writing life that I hope will interest my readers too.  Today I’m delighted to welcome JJ Marsh. Jill is a prolific author of critically acclaimed thrillers set all over Europe and also in South America. Yet her latest book, Salt of the Earth, is a gentle historical novel inspired by a revolutionary episode of medical history that deserves to be much better known: the century-old  discovery of effective treatment for a particular fo ..read more

The campaign to save our village bus service has set me reminiscing about Bus Services I Have Known. When I was growing up in suburban London, my home turf of Sidcup was served by the iconic red Routemaster – the old-fashioned double-decker as featured in the Cliff Richard film Summer Holiday. In those halcyon days before invention of Health and Safety, passengers boarded via an open platform at the rear. The metal pole that ran from floor to ceiling of the platform must been there to strengthen the back of the vehicle, but it was also useful if you were running for a bus that was already leav ..read more

In my column for the March issue of the Tetbury Advertiser, I describe a fascinating afternoon researching Corinium – the ancient Roman name for what’s now the Cotswold market of Cirencester.  As part of my research for a new novel (the first in a new series), I finally get round to revisiting the Corinium Museum in Cirencester. I’ve been meaning to do this since it had a major refit 20 years ago. Still, better late than never, and I’m glad my current project has given me the nudge I needed. Cheerful staff give us a warm welcome and invite us to travel back in time to experience the histo ..read more

This year, my last blog post of every month will be a conversation with one of my author friends, talking about an aspect of their writing life that I hope will interest my readers too.  Meet my friend Alison Morton! This month, thriller writer Alison Morton is my guest. Alison and I have had parallel careers as novelists, with us each writing two series, all falling under the broad heading of crime fiction. But whereas mine is lighthearted cozy mystery set in the comfy Cotswolds,  Alison’s is serious stuff, pan-European thrillers, one series of modern stories, and the other alternat ..read more