Personal | Alison Morton Author

Let's hear it for 'shades of grey'

No, not Fifty Shades, but something a long, long way away from that.

Since 2016, I’ve seen a marked decrease in rationality, the lessening of the desire to examine and discuss and disagree in a civilised way, and for that to have become the norm.

‘Polarisation’ used to apply to the nutters at the far […]

Strange business, Christmas

Christmas tree 2017

It’s Christmas Eve morning and I’ve had my croissant and pain au chocolat. We normally have much healthier muesli, but as we bought a boxful of butter laden pastry morning goods for the visitors, why not raid one or two?

No sign of life from the visitors – they probably […]

Achieving the private/public balance of being an author

Is an author who publishes books, by whatever route, entitled to a fully private life? Yes, and no.

Publishing a work – fiction, non-fiction, academic – makes that work and its author’s name available to the public. A fiction writer may use a pseudonym, of course. Readers will read the work – let’s call it […]

Sexual harassment - a perspective

This is going to get me into trouble, but I’m trying to find perspective.

It’s obvious that bullying – sexual, emotional, mental, physical or other – is wrong. Violent bullying, abuse or rape is criminal and punishable by law – rightly so. But the problem is not just about non-consensual sex; that’s the way feelings […]

J K Rowling's Twitterstorm

Author JK Rowling let loose a Twitterstorm on 9 June in response to the sexist nature of comments on female politicians. When you look at the news headlines and listen to commentators you will hear tones of it, whether meant consciously or unconsciously.

Women still have a hard time getting to the top and when […]