Christmas cake and childhood memories that make us… and our characters.

The minute I announced on Twitter that today I was going to make The Christmas Cake, memories of cinnamon, oranges, brandy and cake mix poured into my head.

I saw myself aged six or seven standing by my mother at the kitchen table. It was half-term and my mother, a teacher, had that precious week […]

The mysterious Lesley Cookman…

I’m delighted to welcome author Lesley Cookman to my blog today. Born in Guildford, Surrey, Lesley spent her early life in south London, before marrying and moving all over the south-east of England. Lesley fell into feature writing by accident, then went on to reviewing for both magazines and radio. She writes for the stage, […]

Via Domitia - the background

Several people have commented on the new look of this blog (which is lovely of them) and asked me about the background.

Of course, it’s a Roman road and in particular it’s the Via Domitia at Ambrussum, near Nimes in southern France. The Via Domitia provided a fast and sure link from Spain to Italy. […]

The end of book2

No, I haven’t killed off my second book. My self-edits are over and the typescript has gone to a beta reader. So what did the process involve?

First of all, I check my event grid. This is my table of contents, a brief summary of events in each chapter; who says what to whom, what […]

Competition: Write about your filofax memories

Write 300-500 words about your favourite filofax memory and you could win a brand new oganiser. Now enjoying a strong revival, filofax is regaining the worldwide popularity seen in the 1980s.

This October, filofax and Philofaxy would like to invite you to share your favourite filofaxmemory. Whether it’s a tale about your first filofax, the […]