#Swanwick70: Maggie Was In The Book Room
Well, that’s it for this year, folks; the Book Room is officially closed and the authors will be arriving this morning to sign their sales sheets and remove their (hopefully…
Well, that’s it for this year, folks; the Book Room is officially closed and the authors will be arriving this morning to sign their sales sheets and remove their (hopefully…
We had another superb speaker last night in Simon Nelson from BBC Writersroom. I will never look at Harry Potter and Star Wars in the same way again; nor The…
And as we move into Tuesday, it’s hard to believe we’ve reached the mid-point of the week already. It’s Procrastination-free Day, where many of us put aside the courses and…
Well, what a brilliant time we had yesterday. After a day of great courses, we were all blown away by our guest speaker. A A Dhand is not only a…
Today’s Sunday and the first full day of the Summer School. Having been inspired by last night’s guest speaker, Sue Moorcroft, we are all eager to get started on the…
It all kicks off this evening with the Chairman’s Welcome in the Main Conference Hall. But before that, there will be lots of work in the background, getting things ready:…
For the next week, this blog is moving to Derbyshire, to the little town of Swanwick, for the annual Writers’ Summer School. And this year, it’s a biggie: our seventieth…
My guest this month is a Sunday Times and international bestselling author who has reached the coveted #1 spot on Amazon Kindle. She’s won the Readers’ Best Romantic Novel award…
It’s one of those rare months with five Mondays in it. And this morning I woke even earlier than usual (and anyone who knows me will realise just how early…
Welcome to this month’s Pot Luck Club, a round-up of writerly bits and pieces. And what a beautiful month it’s been, here in the UK. We’re still basking in warm…
Two months ago, I began Seven Decades of Song, a series of reflections of music through the years with a walk through the 1950s, and last month we visited my…
I’d heard quite a lot about this month’s guest before I met her. Jenny Kane’s well-known both as an author and as a writing tutor here in the south-west of…
Between 1989 and 2012, I worked in the international pharmaceutical industry (yes, the sometimes murky world in which my thrillers are set). During that time, I travelled all over the…
Welcome to this month’s Pot Luck Club, a round-up of writerly bits and pieces. I’ve had the benefit of a wonderful break in Greece this month, which has really recharged…
Last month, I began Seven Decades of Song, a new series of reflections of music through the years with a walk down the 1950s memory lane, listening to request programmes on the…
Once again, this month, I’m talking to someone who’s a very important part of the literary scene and, although not an author herself, the words she writes on her award-winning…
Between 1989 and 2012, I worked in the international pharmaceutical industry (yes, the sometimes murky world in which my thrillers are set). During that time, I travelled all over the…
Welcome to this month’s Pot Luck Club, a round-up of writerly bits and pieces. For the second time this month, we have a Bank Holiday here in the UK. And…
Today, I start a new monthly series of reflections. Having spent the past seven months taking a journey through my literary past, we’re now moving on to music, or more…
My guest this month isn’t a writer; he’s much more important than that! He’s a reader. And not just any reader, but one of the fiercest supporters of reading, books…
Welcome to this month’s Pot Luck Club, a round-up of writerly bits and pieces. Another month gone already! And this morning, I had my first swim of the year in…
In the first part of this series on Seven Ages of Books, we looked at the books and authors that influenced my very early years. In the second part, we moved forward into…
Today’s guest has been on my blog before. Last November, I hosted one stage of Celia Moore’s blog tour when she launched her debut novel. At that time, she was…
Between 1989 and 2012, I worked in the international pharmaceutical industry (yes, the sometimes murky world in which my thrillers are set). During that time, I travelled all over the…
Welcome to this month’s Pot Luck Club, a round-up of writerly bits and pieces. It only seems like a couple of days since I wrote last month’s copy. But if,…
In the first part of this series on Seven Ages of Books, we looked at the books and authors that influenced my very early years. In the second part, we…
I don’t remember when fellow-Midlander Shelley Wilson and I first ‘met’ online. It must have been in one writerly Facebook group or another. But I remember exactly when we first…
Between 1989 and 2012, I worked in the international pharmaceutical industry (yes, the sometimes murky world in which my thrillers are set). During that time, I travelled all over the…
Welcome to this month’s Pot Luck Club, a round-up of writerly bits and pieces. The end of winter means different things to different people. And for those of you who…
In the first part of this series, we went all the way back to my first decade and looked at the books and authors that influenced my very early years. In the second…
I first met this month’s guest via a writers’ Facebook group when he provided one of the prizes in my book-launch draw.. When we realised we lived within 10 miles…
This week, I’m handing over my blog to fellow Swanwicker and debut novelist Val Penny. In the week that Hunter’s Chase is launched, she’s going to tell us a bit about…
By the fifth day of the holiday, my resolution to write lots of notes, which can be turned into an amusing series of blog posts, has deteriorated and for the…
This morning I wake late and it is already daylight. No pre-dawn scribbling marathon for me today. I get a few words drafted, but that’s all. For some reason, I…
Like most people, I come out of the excesses that are the Christmas period with lots of good intentions. I don’t call them resolutions; resolutions can be broken far too…
With a flight at six thirty, it’s going to be an early start and we are both wide awake from three. We abandon any attempt to sleep and are ready…
We’ve been away at Christmas several times: to Majorca,to Fuerteventura, to Egypt, even once to Jordan during Ramadam – possibly the best overseas Christmas we ever had. But this is…
In the first part of this series, we went all the way back to my first decade and looked at the books and authors that influenced my very early years. In the second…
One of the things I love about this life I have chosen is the huge community of writers out there, and the serendipitous nature of the contacts we make. I…
“Same time, same place, next year?” Those were the words I wrote on 2nd January 2017 when I prepared my last annual writerly review and listed my objectives for the…
In the first part of this series, we went all the way back to my first decade and looked at the books and authors that influenced my very early years….
My guest this month is writer and author Val Portelli, who writes under the pen name Voinks, a nickname used by her family and friends for many years. She has…
Between 1989 and 2012, I worked in the international pharmaceutical industry (yes, the sometimes murky world in which my thrillers are set). During that time, I travelled tall over the…
As we come to the end of the month, I bring you another helping from the Pot Luck Club; a round-up of my writerly activities over the past few weeks…
Last month, in the first part of this series, we went all the way back to my first decade and looked at the books and authors that influenced my very…
I am delighted to be part Celia Moore’s blog tour, marking the launch of her debut novel Fox Halt Farm. Welcome, Celia, and the stage is all yours:
My guest this month has two distinct sides to her writerly life. As a legal directories specialist and professional copywriter and editor, her clients include national, City, international and offshore…
Between 1989 and 2012, I worked in the international pharmaceutical industry (yes, the sometimes murky world in which my thrillers are set). During that time, I travelled to more than…
Once again, we have five Mondays in the month, so today, I bring to you a round-up of what’s going on in my writerly world at the moment, including a…
In my last series of posts, Music and Me, I talked about the different types of music that have been a big part of my life over the years. In this…
My guest this month is an author from the South West of England. Well, actually, she’s from Sheffield originally, but she now lives in Cornwall and, as you can see…
This week, I am proud to be playing host to Shelley Wilson on the latest stage of the blog tour to launch her new book: How I Motivated Myself To…
Today we come to the end of this meander through my musical influences. In part 1 of Music and Me, I wrote about how my love of music came from my parents. In part 2,…
Memory can be a fickle friend at times. I plan these interviews several months ahead of time and earlier this year, I was chatting to this month’s guest at a…
My interviews normally only appear once a month, but I’m happy to make an exception for a special occasion. And this week’s guest has one such occasion coming up next…
Okay, so I know it’s Tuesday in the UK, and my blog comes out on Monday; but it must still be Monday somewhere in the world? So I’m going to…
I met this month’s guest when she was the headline act at last year’s Live At The Chudleigh Apollo. She is a Minister, a stand-up comedian, author of For The Love of…
And in the blink of an eye, it was gone. Like the shooting stars of last weekend, the Writers’ Summer School at Swanwick flashed into view, shone brightly and then…
Today is the last full day of the Writers’ Summer School at Swanwick. The last few courses; the AGM; the Dregs Party and the Farewell in the evening. I’m going…
Wednesday and we are back to the normal programme. So every hour is timetabled for one topic or another. No relaxing today. And it’s also the last day that the…
Tuesday is the mid-point of the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School (what, already? It can’t be!) and the day when the main programme is temporarily halted, to allow delegates to take…
Another full day here at The Hayes. But for once, I am writing this late afternoon, rather than last thing at night, or even after midnight. And the reason for…
The first full day at Swanwick, day 2 on the programme, is always a bit of a culture shock as the courses all kick off and the hard work begins….
As it says in my Christmas letters every year: I can’t believe how quickly the past year has gone. It seems no time at all since we were all heading…
We are nearly at the end of my musical tour. In part 1 of Music and Me, I wrote about how my love of music came from my parents. In part 2, I talked mainly…
So for the second time in three months, we have five Mondays in the month. So, I offer you another helping from the Pot luck Club. This time, I’m going…
Back in November, I introduced you to Suzanne, the first of three strong women who feature in the Suzanne Jones series of thrillers. In April, we met the second of the trio, her…
After last month reviewing two books by the same author, Kate Atkinson, I now return to pairs of authors connected by theme or genre. And this month, I’m talking about two…
I first met this month’s guest over the lunch table at an RNA Exeter get-together. Then I had the pleasure of chairing a panel discussion at Plymouth Literary Festival in…
So far, this tour through my musical memories has concentrated on other people making music.In part 1 of Music and Me, I wrote about how my love of music came from…
Back in November, I introduced you to Suzanne, the first of three strong women who feature in the Suzanne Jones series of thrillers. In April, we met the second of the trio,…
In previous months, my reviews have covered pairs of books by different authors, but with a common theme, such as books about murder or books that made me smile. This…
My guest this month expresses a willingness to survive on a diet of tea and cake while committing murder on a regular basis; in fact the tagline on her website…
I’m deep into what I hope will be the final round of edits for Deception! which is due to be published later this summer. So I’m delighted to let someone else do…
I write my blog (nearly) every week, on a Monday. Being a structured person, I work to a fixed monthly pattern which changes occasionally, but is currently: week 1, Music and…
Back in November, I introduced you to Suzanne, the first of three strong women who feature in the Suzanne Jones series of thrillers. Last month, we met the second of the trio,…
This month I am reviewing two books about murder. The first brings an old friend back to life, albeit from a new pen. And the second is a sort of…
Gordon Sparks is the Breakfast Show presenter on BBC Radio Devon; his face and voice are very well known in the South West of England. When I first met him, he…
In part 1 of Music and Me, an occasional series of memoirs based on the music that has influenced me, I wrote about how my love of music came from my…
Back in November, I introduced you to Suzanne, the first of three strong women who feature in the Suzanne Jones series of thrillers. This month, we meet the second of the trio,…
This month, I’m reviewing two books that made me smile and, in one case, laugh out loud. Two great reads, and I gave both of them 5 stars. One of…
I met Bridget Holding through our mutual links with Swanwick Writers’ Summer School and, as someone with a science background and a very ordered approach to life and living, I found…
In part 1 of Music and Me, an occasional series of memoirs based on the music that has influenced me, I wrote about how my love of music came from my…
A few weeks ago, I posted the first in an occasional series of memoirs based on the music that has influenced me. In part 1, I wrote about how my love…
I’ve had a bit of a trying time lately. Two projects, one knitting and one writing, both of which I hoped I’d finished, hit major snags and had to be rethought…
This week I’m starting a new monthly feature called Elizabeth Reads… Back at the start of last year, I made a promise to myself and the rest of the writerly…
This month’s guest is a friend and fellow Swanwicker. We have shared writers’ summer schools in Derbyshire on a couple of occasions and her performances at the fancy dress disco have been…
Back in 2007, when I first started this blog, I wrote a series of posts to my mother; electronic postcards based on a trip to Russia, that would hopefully get…
Trying to pick the theme for a new series of blogs, I did a word association exercise with my husband, Michael, starting with ‘kindness’ and ending fifty words later at…
There I was, sitting down to relax after a hard day’s editing, interspersed with cooking and eating dinner, plus the daily treat that is Pointless, when I suddenly thought: What day is it?…
Back in 2007, when I first started this blog, I wrote a series of posts to my mother; electronic postcards based on a trip to Russia, that would hopefully get…
Victoria Cornwall is having a busy time of it this month. Last week her debut novel was published and she’s been indulging in a heady round of interviews ever since, so…
‘Here we go again!’ I thought. I’d been sitting at my desk wondering what I should write in the first blog of the New Year. Maybe a comment on the…
No more posts from me; I’m taking a break over the next couple of weeks to celebrate the end of one year and the start of another. Thank you to…
My guest this month is fellow writer, Lin Treadgold, who has recently moved back to the UK after living in The Netherlands for the last fifteen years. Her husband retired…
Back in 2007, when I first started this blog, I wrote a series of posts to my mother; electronic postcards based on a trip to Russia, that would hopefully get…
In the past two months, Meet The Family has featured Gorgito and Emma, the main protagonists in my prize-winning debut novel Gorgito’s Ice Rink. We will return to meet other characters from that novel next year….
I’ve had some interesting discussions lately about how much reality there needs to be in fiction.
My guest this month is Su Bristow, fellow Devonian writer and current Chair of Exeter Writers. She was the first winner of the Exeter Novel Prize, back in 2013, and…
Back in 2007, when I first started this blog, I wrote a series of posts to my mother; electronic postcards based on a trip to Russia, that would hopefully get…
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