Thanks to the kind prompting from May, I am finally getting around to writing about my talk and book signing at Hornsey Library last week. Even though it was my local library, I was a bit worried about how many people would turn up to an event for a little-known first-time author, so I was [...]
Archive | May, 2009
Monday Morning Inspiration #6
“One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time” – André Gide
Luke Bitmead Award 2009
I was happy to see a call for entries for the Luke Bitmead Writers’ Bursary 2009. Luke wrote an excellent book, White Summer, in 2006, but died only a few months after it was published. His second book, Heading South, co-written with Catherine Richards, was published posthumously. His family then set up a foundation to [...]
Monday Morning Inspiration #5
Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. – Buddha
“If on a winter’s night a traveler” by Italo Calvino
Reviewing this book in the New Yorker, John Updike said that it “manages to charm and entertain the reader in the teeth of a scheme designed to frustrate all reasonable readerly intentions.” I don’t think I can put it any better, so you may want to stop reading now. But I’ll put down the rest [...]
Monday Morning Inspiration #4
If you realise that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you aren’t afraid of dying, there is nothing you can’t achieve. Trying to control the future is like trying to take the master carpenter’s place. When you handle the master carpenter’s tools, chances are that you’ll cut [...]
“Life of Pi” by Yann Martel
I’ve heard good things about this book for ages, ever since it won the Booker Prize back in 2002, but for some reason I always resisted reading it. Perhaps it’s because I tend to prefer books that stay quite close to reality, and the premise of this one – a 16-year-old boy called Pi travels [...]
New York, New York
I had a wonderful trip to New York. The book-related reasons to go were to sign copies at the Columbia Alumni Book Fair and to give a speech at the Jack Kerouac Literary Group, both of which went very well. Outside of the scheduled events, it was great to spend some time in New York [...]
Monday Morning Inspiration #3
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. – Dalai Lama Please share your own inspirational quotes with me. See week 1 of this feature for details.
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Liebster Award reloaded
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The Kindle Report: does it beat paper?
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The next big thing…
