Ducie’s Diary: June 2020
Just over two months ago, I had everything mapped out for spring and early summer. I was due to have knee surgery on 26th March, so my physical movement was […]
Just over two months ago, I had everything mapped out for spring and early summer. I was due to have knee surgery on 26th March, so my physical movement was […]
Anyone who knows me will attest to the fact I am an inveterate planner. I have lists; lists of lists; and spreadsheets about lists of lists. And one of the […]
As we start a new monthly series of themed posts, I thought we’d take a break from my usual ‘seven decades of’ pieces and go for something a little different. […]
My guest this month is a former diplomat and political writer, turned inspirational author and speaker. She is a Goodwill Ambassador for the UK charity Children of Peace and the recipient […]
It’s the first Monday of March, it’s time for another in the series of My Working World and today we’ve reached L. If you want to read any of the […]
I know February is the shortest month, but it’s only by a day or two, especially this year, so why does it only seem about two weeks since I was […]
This week we conclude my meander around television through the decades. Television, that cultural icon sitting in the corner of most people’s lounges, which has been blamed for all sorts […]
While most of my interviewees are friends, colleagues or fellow writers I have met in the flesh as well as online, occasionally I post a call for expressions of interest […]
It’s the first Monday of February, it’s time for another in the series of My Working World and today we’ve reached K. If you want to read any of the […]
Regular readers of my blog will know I tend to use a loose monthly pattern for my posts. The first Monday is usually My Working World, a travel/geography piece, based […]
This week we are continuing my meander around television through the decades. Television, that cultural icon sitting in the corner of most people’s lounges, which has been blamed for all […]
Verran Townsend is an author, a potter and a mountain walker, whom I met via Rowcroft Hospice, Torquay. I had just published Chasing Unicorns, an anthology, written by a group […]
This time last year, having, in true politician style, converted the rather lack-lustre results for my 2018 objectives into an apparently sparkling set of achievements in a packed schedule, I […]
Dear All. I’m going offline for the holidays. Have a great time, whatever your beliefs and whatever your plans. I will be back, with lots of new ideas, early next […]
This week we are continuing my meander around television through the decades. Television, that cultural icon sitting in the corner of most people’s lounges, which has been blamed for all […]
Natalie Trice is a powerhouse in the PR world. After teaching English in Japan, she forged a successful PR career in London working on local, regional, UK, and international levels. From […]
It’s the first Monday of December, so it’s time for another in the series of My Working World and today we have reached J. If you want to read any […]
The perfect present for the readers in your life. Buy direct from me and solve all those gift problems in one go. Get any one of the Suzanne Jones thrillers […]
Such a wet month, November! On Saturday 24th November 2012, the stream next to our house broke its banks and our basement level lounge and kitchen were put out of […]
This week we are continuing my meander around television through the decades. Television, that cultural icon sitting in the corner of most people’s lounges, which has been blamed for all […]
It’s been a while since I’ve posted one of these alphabetical pieces, due to a whole raft of busy Mondays. But now the series is back and we’ve reached the […]
I know it’s a factor of age, but time really does seem to flow faster these days than it used to. It seems like to time at all since I […]
This week we are continuing my meander around television through the decades. Television, that cultural icon sitting in the corner of most people’s lounges, which has been blamed for all […]
Nicola May is the author of ten romantic comedy novels, all of which have appeared in the Kindle bestseller charts. Her novels Christmas Spirit and The School Gates won Best […]
I’m sure it’s no coincidence that September, just nine months after Christmas and New Year, is a packed month for birthdays. So many of my friends have been celebrating this […]
This week we are continuing my meander around television through the decades. Television, that cultural icon sitting in the corner of most people’s lounges, which has been blamed for all sorts […]
Today, I’m taking a back seat and handing my blog over to friend and Dorset-based author, Gail Aldwin. I first met Gail in 2018 when she pitched her debut novel, […]
As we reach the final day of the hottest August Bank Holiday since records began (at least here in UK), I’m writing this while waiting for the sun to break […]
Today I am starting another of my series of meanders down memory lane, examining some of the cultural references that resonate with me, and hopefully with you too. So far […]
Friday already and at the Hayes Conference Centre, Actual Swanwickers are putting the final touches to their packing, while elsewhere, members of Virtual Swanwick are putting away the garden chairs. […]
As we approach the end of our Virtual Swanwick, tour, we are back in the Midlands. Today’s guest lives in Northamptonshire. Although she’s a bit of a globetrotter too. As […]
Today’s journey is just a tiny one across the Tamar into Cornwall to visit a most prolific writer of short stories. We first met at another writing conference, which shall […]
Today, we’re heading to my home county of Devon; to Plymouth, home of the Hoe, where Sir Francis Drake allegedly played bowls, and also to our latest guest on the […]
Today our tour takes us across the water to our European neighbour, France, and to the new home of my erstwhile fancy-dress buddy. She’s taken some huge steps recently, as […]
As the first day of courses gets underway at The Hayes, our tour heads southwards towards East Sussex and the home of a long-timer Swanwicker. She was my ‘Eagle-Eye’ proofreader […]
Next on our tour of Virtual Swanwickers, we are dropping in on the writer who has shaped this week’s programme for VS and made it the best so far. She […]
It’s the second Saturday in August! Hundreds of writers are converging on a small town in Derbyshire. It’s time for the annual Writers’ Summer School known familiarly as ‘Swanwick’. And […]
I first came across this week’s guest through her wonderful Facebook group, Book Connectors. Currently composed of nearly 5000 members, it’s a place where authors and bloggers can connect, and talk […]
The end of July already! And it’s been a busy, fun-filled month in our household. We celebrated our forty-second wedding anniversary with a quiet supper at home, musing on whether […]
This week we have the final instalment of my latest meander across the decades. In Movie Moments, we’re looking at what was topping the charts at the box office, some […]
I first met this month’s guest back in 2013, when he first ventured into the ‘surreal and alternative world’ – his words, not mine – that is the Writers’ Summer […]
It’s the second Monday of the month, which is always interview day. Except, this month, it isn’t. There are five Monday in July, which doesn’t fit too well with a […]
It’s on days like today I realise how big the world is, how long the alphabet is – and how little I’ve seen of either, despite travelling on business for […]
Here we are, nearing the end of June; and although it only seems like yesterday when we were all stuffing ourselves with chocolates in front of the Christmas tree – […]
This week we have another instalment of my latest meander across the decades. In Movie Moments, we’re looking at what was topping the charts at the box office, some of […]
Regular readers of my blog will already know how important the annual Writers’ Summer School in Swanwick is to me. And over the past few months, I have been featuring […]
May is one of my favourite months. It’s when my garden puts away its winter garb and starts dressing for summer. Looking through the office doors as I type, I […]
This week we have another instalment of my latest meander across the decades. In Movie Moments, we’re looking at what was topping the charts at the box office, some of […]
The life of this month’s guest spans the Royal Navy; a spell as a dairyman in the Highlands of Scotland; many years in military survey in the British Army; and […]
After a couple of rather dry months, it looks like my luck is changing. There are eleven countries in the world beginning with G, and I’ve visited four of them, […]
April seems to have gone by in a flash. There were two bank holidays over the Easter weekend and we spent the whole four days mostly eating, drinking and chatting […]
This week we return to my latest series of meanders through the past seven decades. In Movie Moments, we’re looking at what was topping the charts at the box office, […]
I first met this month’s guest at Swanwick Writers’ Summer School of which she is the current Treasurer. She has also served as Secretary to the School in the past. […]
This seemed such a great idea when I first thought about it. I’ve worked in more than fifty countries around the world, interacting with hundreds of people, in government and […]
While last month was filled with gastronomic treats, this month has been particularly theatrical. I saw two favourite singers, Irina Ilnytska and Jane Anderson-Brown, perform a programme of operatic arias […]
This week we return to my latest series of meanders through the past seven decades. In Movie Moments, we’re looking at what was topping the charts at the box office, […]
This month’s guest is the books editor for Devon Life; a great friend to and vehement supporter of authors and all things literary in the South West; and a delightful […]
Last month, I struggled to find places beginning with D in which I had worked, and ended up with one country and three cities. This month is going to be […]
They say time seems to speed up as we get older, and I certainly concur; the days appear to be on fast forward and even the weeks are gone at […]
This week we return to my latest series of meanders through the past seven decades. In Movie Moments, we’re looking at what was topping the charts at the box office, […]
My guest this month has been described in The Bookseller as “One of the 100 most influential people in publishing.” She is an award-winning Irish novelist and poet, Founder-Director of […]
A few months ago, I started writing this series – and it seemed like such a good idea at the time. I’ve worked in more than fifty countries and many, […]
A New Year, a new title, a new logo. I’m retiring the Potluck Club and replacing it with a monthly Writerly Round-Up. As before, it’s going to be a mix […]
This month sees the start of another of my series of meanders through the past seven decades. In the previous two series we’ve looked at books and songs that bring […]
I met this month’s guest when she joined Exeter Writers a couple of years back. She is an award-winning author whose themes include mythology, alchemy, life stories, esoteric traditions, and Russian […]
For the past couple of years, my first post in January has been a review of the previous year’s objectives: what I’ve managed to achieve; and where I’ve been less […]
December is a busy month for all of us; and I learnt some years ago that any plans I had for writing were usually scuppered by a combination of post-NaNoWriMo […]
My guest this month was never, as far as I know, the drummer for a well-known rock band. But he is a musician and singer, a writer, and someone whose […]
Last month My Working World took us to Brazil and Belgium, two places where I worked for quite a long time, and of where I have vivid memories. This month, […]
Welcome to November’s Pot Luck Club, a round-up of writerly bits and pieces. November has been a busy month for me, with three major events taking place in the first […]
This month we come to the end of Seven Decades of Song, reflections on music through the years. So far we have covered the 1950s, the 1960s, the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s and the […]
Debbie Young is a very busy woman! She is the best-selling author of the Sophie Sayers Village Mysteries; she has also published three collections of short stories plus a variety […]
Last month, My Working World took us across the globe, from Argentina in South America in the west, to Australia in the far east of the Pacific. Today we are […]
Welcome to October’s Pot Luck Club, a round-up of writerly bits and pieces. I’ve just returned from a wonderful ten days in the Outer Hebrides with my sisters. Despite dire […]
My latest series of monthly strolls down memory lane is Seven Decades of Song, reflections on music through the years. So far we have visited the 1950s, the 1960s, the […]
My guest this month is Ingrid Jendrzejewski, Secretary to Swanwick Writers’ Summer School (and hence a very important cog in that particular wheel). She grew up in Vincennes, Indiana, studied […]
For the past year, I’ve filled this travel spot with Snapshots of Russia. Now I think it’s time to widen our horizons a little and take you to some of […]
Welcome to this month’s Pot Luck Club, a round-up of writerly bits and pieces. It’s a wet and windy time here in Devon at the moment, as it is in […]
My latest series of monthly strolls down memory lane is Seven Decades of Song, reflections on music through the years. So far we have visited the 1950s, the 1960s, the […]
My guest this month is one of the best-selling crime and thriller authors in the world. In the last three years he has achieved phenomenal success, selling over one million […]
For a while now, you have accompanied me on a monthly visit to some of the towns and cities I worked in during my time in Russia. We’ve been to […]
Welcome to this month’s Pot Luck Club, a round-up of writerly bits and pieces. It’s Bank Holiday Monday here in the UK; which means, of course, that the sun has […]
My latest series of monthly strolls down memory lane is Seven Decades of Song, reflections on music through the years. So far we have visited the 1950s, the 1960s and […]
Friday already, and it’s time to hit the road. We’ve taken part in courses and workshops, learned from our tutors and fellow delegates, been impressed and inspired by our guest […]
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 […]
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