Not long ago my son said something that hit me like a sniper’s bullet: ‘You’ve got loads of books in this house but you never read them.’ I felt ashamed. While never a gluttonous reader, I always enjoyed books and usually had two or three on the go. In a typical year I’d get through … Continue reading Faith in endings: how grief nearly killed my love of books
Tag: This Writing Business
The memory-sock
In the distant light of the hallway I grab a pair of socks from the drawer and unbundle them as I walk to the kitchen. My feet shuffle in their mocassins, still half-awake, while six feet higher up my brain decants the day. Breakfast, sandwiches, send the boys off to school, a couple of phone … Continue reading The memory-sock
Time inside
I am in a library full of writers. An exclusive audience of around 15 men, seated across from me on hard chairs, are scrutinising my memoir, All The Time We Thought We Had. There is an expectant buzz in the air but the tone on both sides is respectful throughout. They ask the kind of … Continue reading Time inside
The secret life of books
I’ve not been doing very much writing recently. The flotsam of ideas in my head have been stubbornly refusing to connect, like flecks of soured milk in a cup of tea or clumps of wet sugar. Then I saw this delightful little film and realised, not for the first time, that the best place to … Continue reading The secret life of books
Risk taking
There’s a lot of terrible advice for writers out there at the moment. In fact, if I’d have to single out one thing as a deterrent to people thinking of starting to write, it’s have to be the mosaic of arcane and arbitrary rules scrawled on the Writers’ Club toilet walls. So it was refreshing … Continue reading Risk taking
Put the Gun Down, Martin
If you've yet to see the cinematic masterpiece that is Toy Story 3, I recommend you do two things. First, don't read beyond this paragraph, because I'm about to give away the ending. And second, dash down to your nearest cinema, if it's not too late, or put the DVD on pre-order, if it is, … Continue reading Put the Gun Down, Martin