How to get through the fog of 2022 into 2023

Let’s face it – 2022 has been a weird year.

Coming out of the strict Covid regulations and try to recover a ‘normal’ (ha-ha!) book life, I planned a busy year. And so it turned out:

On 3 January, I published my husband’s fantastic book File of Facts about using personal organisers. (He is […]

Embarrassed of Roma Nova catch-up

When I checked when I’d written my last post, I was horrified out of my socks. May! And it was a feature about my esteemed writing friend Jane Davis’s beautiful new book, Small Eden. It’s achingly well written – I will never be able to write such clever and evocative prose.

Since then, radio silence […]

Getting back to normal? Booking events?

Multi-image photo of Alison at conferences and literary festivals, fairs and conferences

The other day, I had a mental leap. In a rash moment, I arranged to meet friends I hadn’t seen for two years and it was thoroughly enjoyable, especially as there was cake.

Now, I admit to being fairly risk averse along with a curiosity to do things others don’t. (I’m a Libran which explains […]

Writers getting back to “normal”?

I have two live gigs booked for 2022 and today, I’m about to jet off to the UK for a writers’ retreat, family weekend, then a few days with my critique writing partner.

In previous years, I haven’t thought twice about going on the Internet, booking a plane, booking somewhere to stay, then rolling up […]

Jane Harlond: An Englishwoman in Andalucía

This week’s writer abroad is Jane Harlond, writing as J.G. Harlond. An award-winning author of page-turning historical crime novels set in the 17th and early 20th centuries, Jane weaves fictional characters into real events. Creator of the wily charismatic rogue Ludo da Portovenere and the aging wartime detective Bob Robbins, her stories feature wicked wrongdoing […]