Thinking

Monday morning inspiration

Writing fiction is not “self-­expression” or “therapy”. Novels are for readers, and writing them means the crafty, patient, selfless construction of effects. I think of my novels as being something like fairground rides: my job is to strap the reader…
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Seeds

I am not much of a gardener. I like the idea of gardening, but the reality of it just doesn’t grab me. Nevertheless, I was quite disturbed to see that, according to United Nations estimates, around 75% of plant biodiversity…
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The only possible system

Capitalism, we are told, is the only possible system. Anything else is impractical dreaming. Capitalism delivers prosperity, stability, growth… except when it doesn’t. The credit crunch is nothing new – remember the Asia currency crisis, the Russian debt crisis, Black…
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Monday morning inspiration

Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always…
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Women

Sometimes you think things are not so bad really, and then you see a statistic like this and it just makes you really angry: Women perform 66% of the world’s work, produce 50% of the food, but earn 10% of…
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Monday morning inspiration

Remember you don’t know the limits of your own abilities. Successful or not, if you keep pushing beyond yourself, you will enrich your own life – and maybe even please a few strangers. AL Kennedy The Guardian, Feb 2010
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