My husband JC and I share a love of travel. Just a couple of months after we met, we Inter-Railed around Western Europe (back when Eastern Europe was off limits!) for a month with a tent and a daily budget of £5 (really), which could have brought a a good thing to a swift end…. … Continue reading
As you may know, I was in New York last week. I got home yesterday feeling very disoriented; it’s not just down to jetlag, it’s as if I’ve come to land in a strange place I barely recognise. That place is normality. My son S and I thought we were going for a relaxing time seeing … Continue reading
Well, we got back from our two week trip to Provence on Sunday night and this week is proving every bit as frantic as I expected –endless laundry and unpacking, getting my sons back to school, preparing for my interview with Jane Rusbridge at the Ham & High Literary Festival next week (details below), polishing my … Continue reading
It says something about this year’s so-called ‘summer’ in the UK that an afternoon out in my home city without getting soaked merits a blog post, but this, in pictures and words, is the tale of a lovely outing yesterday with my husband and 10 year old son. The London district of Marylebone is one of the … Continue reading
Every time I write a new piece for my blog I end up with ideas for two or three more! I’m now compiling my Top 10 Summer Reads listing (coming 18 May) and I’m aiming to include a wide variety of settings from Australia to England; coastal, city, country. This got me thinking about how important … Continue reading
I won’t get into why France is so significant to me (another time), but at a guess, I’ve been there 100-150 times. I’ve visited most parts of the country, but it’s the Provence-Côte d’Azur Region in the South-eastern corner that pulls me back the most often. I recently spent a week with my family in … Continue reading
Time for another post in the On Location series of places which feature in my novel Nothing Happens for a Reason (though obviously I don’t tell you why!). Coney Island is synonymous with old-fashioned beach and amusement park culture and a cherished New York icon. It’s beyond this little piece to go into the fascinating history of Coney Island or the great controversy … Continue reading
Yesterday was the day for one of our festive family traditions. By that, I mean my own little family, which is me, my husband and our two sons age 13 and 9, whose childhood experiences of Christmas are different to mine in every way. I took a few pictures, which gave me the idea for this … Continue reading
In my first post on this blog, I confessed a weakness for places which are off the beaten track, quirky, not conventionally beautiful. Red Hook is like that. It was one of the earliest parts of Brooklyn to be settled, by the Dutch in 1636, and the name comes from the colour of the soil … Continue reading
On Location is a new series of posts about places which feature in my novel, minus the context. So the focus is on the place and why I think it’s interesting, NOT the part it plays in the book. (I hope you’ll find that out one day when you read it !) I’ll throw in a few … Continue reading
