Summer offers great
stretches of holiday time to indulge the reading habit, but I do like
reading on the darker evenings in my leather chair beside my open fire.
Even in this busy month, I have enjoyed The
Fire Eaters by the extraordinary David
Almond; The
Taxi Driver’s Daughter by the lyrical Julia
Darling, (longlisted, I see for the
Booker
Prize) and Double
Vision, the powerful new novel by the inimitable
Pat
Barker. I’ve also enjoyed The
Walled Garden by a writer whom I have just discovered, Catherine
Dunne. This is a beautifully-wrought novel about mothering and
daughtering which had very poignant resonances for me.
With sighs of relief, I am
turning back to my new novel, THE ROMANCER - the reason for all
that research into poisons. This is also the month I chair the judging of
the Wear Valley Writers International Competition, organised by Gillian
Wales of
Bishop
Auckland Town Hall. This year, we’ve had entries from all over
Britain and from as far away as Bologna. This is a hard task but I usually
find that good writing, like cream, rises to the top. Sadly, all the good
writers don’t win prizes, but past winners have gone on to greater
success. Jonathan
Tulloch achieved a fine publishing contract and his winning story, The
Season Ticket, went on to become the film Purely
Belter. The first competition I ever judged was won by the
above-mentioned Julia
Darling. All of this surely shows that competitions are a good
discipline for an aspiring writer.
My daughter, proud hostess
to the elegant Delphi, Liberty and Oscar,
is trying to persuade me that I should also have cat. She claims all
writers should have a cat. What do you think?
It has been great to hear from you so far
through the website. I really enjoy your emails and messages in my
guestbook, so do keep in touch.
Cosy
reading, happy writing!
