The dust storm came blasting down Wall Street. Luckily I saw it coming and managed to duck inside before it engulfed our building, blocking out the sun. For several minutes, crouching nervously in the darkened lobby, I tried not to think about what the dust really was. Tried not to think about the people I [...]
Tag Archives | Writing
The endorsements are in!
Wanted to say a big “thank you” to James Miller and Alex Wheatle for being among the first readers of A Virtual Love, and for providing some great feedback. Their words were truncated to fit on the cover, but here are the extended versions: Publication date is 1st April, but I found out recently that [...]
What is privilege?
When people hear about my background, they immediately think I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I went to Oxford, you see, and before that to a pretty exclusive private school (pictured), and even before that to a private primary school. Add in some high-flying jobs and a master’s from an Ivy [...]
Beauty? No, thanks
As a side note to my post last week on the cafes I have killed, I wanted to add one more thing about writing locations. It struck me that in a country with so much beauty, I have latched onto the ugliest locations in which to do my writing. It seems that beauty doesn’t really [...]
The cafe killer
I have a confession to make. I’m a natural born killer. Don’t worry – I don’t kill people, or even butterflies. I kill cafes. All I have to do is pick a place to do my writing, go there fairly regularly, and it’ll be closed before the year is out. I’ve even killed a café in [...]
Me and Marcel
I was happy to hear that one of my short stories has been translated into Turkish and published in a literary magazine. I was even more tickled to see the list of names on the cover - amid the Turkish names, a couple of foreigners. Andrew Blackman and Marcel Proust. Don’t worry, I’m not getting [...]
The importance of staring out of the window
What does a writing day consist of? The image that comes to mind is of someone pounding away on a typewriter with a fixed, manic expression, surrounded by a mess of coffee and cigarettes and balled up sheets of paper. The reality, in my experience, is somewhat different. First, here’s what Martin Amis had to say [...]
How not to return from vacation
Coming back from vacation is always hard. If you’re working for someone else, you don’t really have a choice – you just have to turn up to work, and gradually you accustom yourself to the work routine again. But if you’re doing something like writing, which requires motivation from within rather than outside, it’s more [...]
What were you doing ten years ago?
It’s exactly ten years ago that I took the first serious step towards my dream of becoming a writer. I’d written before that, of course – a few short stories, a chapter or two of a novel. But I didn’t really believe that I could be a writer, and so everything was half-done, squeezed in [...]
A writer’s life
Writing burrowed itself into a chamber in my heart, building underwater castles and princesses to live in them, when I was around seven years old. This world of words has lived with me now for over two decades, present and resolute, though I denied it for most of that time. And yet, through all of my aliases, the necessity stayed with me.
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The 20 best Caribbean book blogs
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The cafe killer
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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…
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We could take a train, be miles away by morning…
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Ten years ago: Voluntary poverty in New York City
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Some interviews
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Giveaway: Granta Best of Young British Novelists 2003
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How to Improve your Foreign Language Immediately
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Evan: What I'm starting to think here is that the refer...
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Brian Joseph: Sounds like a super trip. Have a great time Andrew...
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Charlie: All the best to you both. Crete most definitely b...
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Ptm: Oooooooo - this makes me think veronica and jack w...
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TS: Tony and Adrian being the same person is problemat...
