NEWS

Old (school) friends and staying in touch

Great lunch with friends who first met at school more than 60 years ago – and we haven't stopped meeting since. These meetings have become more precious and nourishing as we grow older. But oh my, how the years rocket by!    

You never forget a good teacher

At school I was often laid low by quite severe asthma attacks, for which I would take myself outside the class and sit on a bench to use an inhaler. On one occasion, my New Zealand-born English teacher, Basil Dowling, came past and, noting my distress, asked if it...

To publicise or not publicise praise of your own books

Having a book published brings the rather disappointing realisation (not for the first time!) that your ego is a good deal bigger than you like to think it is. So, the good reviews make you happy and, thankfully, those who don’t like the book tend not to post their...

Lost birth certificate

After having to order a duplicate birth certificate for my Mum after she died, aged 101, we found the battered original in her bible –- bookmarking, in my view, the best chapter of the New Testament.        

Walks of hope and humiliation

Two of the longest walks in the life of a teenage boy in the 60s: The hesitant stroll across the dance floor to ask a girl to dance. The even longer trudge back to mates after she says, ‘no’. I wonder if boys are less easily embarrassed today? I wonder, too, if girls...

Of youth clubs and saving lives

One of the inspirations for my new novel, Danny Boy, is something I know to be true: ‘A good youth club can save your life’. If more support and money (political support without money doesn’t cut it) had been given to youth clubs during the past ten years, fewer young...

OK to describe oneself as ‘creative’?

‘I’m creative’ or ‘I’m a creative person’ invariably sounds a little boastful, even in the mouths of those who are not boasters. Surely, ‘creative’ belongs with adjectives such as, ‘beautiful’, ‘handsome’, ‘talented’, ‘kind,’ etc that should, if we’re lucky, be said...

A novel’s theme

"There is no limit to what one can ask of one's adolescent self." I found this quotation years ago and now cannot trace it (if anyone knows its origin, please let me know). It goes to the heart of my new novel, Danny Boy, and was an ever-present on-screen prompt while...

London Cheesecake

From Danny Boy: "the London Cheesecake with its topping of iced-coconut strings that had nothing to do with what non-Londoners call a cheesecake" Delicious, but why are the iced-coconut strings no longer long?

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