Tag: featured

The Silk Peacock by Hilary West

This is an interesting and very varied collection of short stories. The overall style is literary fiction, but there are some murder mysteries mixed in there too. Most of the stories are strictly realistic, but some have elements of fantasy,…
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Who needs Paradise? by Paula Harrold

I first met Paula Harrold when she was a pink-haired Oxford theology student who decorated her bedroom wall with a large scythe. I never expected her to write a romantic comedy. She has now done just that, but it’s not…
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Let’s confirm nearer the time

Technology was supposed to simplify our lives, wasn’t it? In so many ways it does, of course, but then we seem to feel the need to complicate things again, as if to compensate. Here’s an example: arranging to meet up…
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Author interview – J.R. Crook

I reviewed J.R. Crook’s debut novel Sleeping Patterns on this blog a few weeks ago, and thought I’d follow up by asking the writer himself some questions. If you’re not familiar with the book, click here to read my review,…
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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…
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The 20 best Caribbean book blogs

Since moving to Barbados in December last year, I’ve been keen to discover more about Caribbean literature, and a great way to do that is by reading book blogs. It took me some time to search out the best ones,…
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Off-key stories hit the mark

I was excited to meet Courttia Newland at Bim Literary Festival here in Barbados earlier this year. He’s a British writer, but was here because his mother is Barbadian. I’d read his debut novel The Scholar when it first came…
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