My Blog
Sex and the Author
It's a longstanding debate - does the sex of the author matter to the potential reader? Chris Ryan obviously thinks so. The former SAS hard man has brought out his latest book (a genre busting romance) under the pseudonym Molly Jackson which is doubly confusing as his...
Return of the Bonkbuster?
I've been back airing my views on the Litopia podcast and this week decided to throw in a few thoughts about recession reading habits. Keeping an eye on what the market wants is crucial right now and I decided to take a look at historical precedents. OK, so leaping...
Chortle for Charity
This is such a great idea - a new collection of comedy writing created entirely through Twitter and all the proceeds go directly to Comic Relief. Twitter Titters was the brainchild of journalist and author Linda Jones who decided to do something different for Red Nose...
Dreams Die Hard
It's been a testing few days. First, I blog about my admiration for the inestimable Gail Trimble, captain of the winning Corpus Christi team on University Challenge. Within days the team are disqualified on what seems a rather nitpicking technicality. Then news...
You Go Gail
So Gail Trimble, captain of the Corpus Christi College team that won University Challenge last night, has attracted the attentions of the tabloid bullies for being just so damn clever. The Sun is patting itself on the back for having caught her out in a series of pub...
Paradise Not
It's been a week for bannings. First there was the furore about Geraldine Bedell's book, The Gulf Between Us, apparently being banned from the inaugural Dubai Literary Festival except that it turns out that it wasn't really banned after all. In the meantime, literary...