Blog
Introduction
Welcome to my exciting new Blog. Please come back for more soon…
The Talking to my friends about Books Podcast: Rob Jelly
I'm really enjoying arranging chats with my friends about the books they are reading. And I'm also enjoying listening back to them. I now have a long list of new novels to discover which is growing and growing. In this episode of The Talking to my Friends about Books...
read moreShh… It’s Our Secret, by Lizzie Chantree
I'm delighted to welcome international best selling author, Lizzie Chantree onto my blog today to celebrate the publication of her new book on May 6th 2021 Over to you Lizzie! Shh… It’s Our Secret, by Lizzie Chantree Thank you for inviting me onto your blog today and...
read moreThe Talking to my friends about Books Podcast: Lizzie Chantree
I love chatting to my friends about what we've been reading and getting recommendations for new books to try In this edition of the Talking to my friends about Books Podcast, myself and author Lizzie Chantree discuss our love for romantic fiction, Marian Keyes and how...
read moreTalking to my friends about Books: Claire Sheldon – The Source
Here's another recorded chat with a fellow book lover for Talking to my friends about Books. This time its Ruby Fiction writer, Claire Sheldon, author of Perfect Lie and Silent Child. Unsurprisingly crime and thrillers are at the top of her favourites list, including...
read moreTalking to my friends about Books: Jodie Halford – Back Home
I am really enjoying finding out what my friends are reading and adding more and more novels to my list of Must Be Reads! This time, my Talking to my friends about Books pal is Jodie Halford, She talks about books and motherhood and rediscovering her reading mojo...
read moreTalking to my friends about Books: Ella Cook on Terry Pratchett
I've now got a very long list of recommendations of books to read as a result of chatting to my friends about their favourite reads. In this edition of Talking to my friends about Books, Ella Page, author of Beyond Grey explains why Terry Pratchett is so important to...
read moreTalking to my Friends about Books: Helen Bridgett on Where the Crawdads Sing
I'm really enjoying my zoom chats with my friends about books, and this time I got to talk to Helen Bridgett, author of Summer at Serenity Bay and One By One about one of her favourite books, which, it turns out, is one of my favourites too - Where the Crawdads Sing...
read moreTalking to my Friends about Books: Owen Ward on Tombland
Because I love talking to my friends about books...here's another one. Imagine discovering that one of your ancestors was famous! Host of the Essex By the Sea podcast, Owen Ward chats with me about a book that's based around events involving a distant relative of his,...
read moreTalking to my Friends About Books: Victoria Polley – Bridget Jones and Hurrah for chick lit!
I've arranged some Zoom chats with friends recently because I miss talking to them about books. And I decided to record them and am writing down their recommendations and adding them to my list of To Be Reads... Today, Victoria Polley talks about why she loves Bridget...
read moreTalking to my friends about books – Oliver Rogers on Inspector Rebus and Anna Karenina
As I love chatting to my friends about the books they've read, I've decided to record some of our discussions and share them with everyone. Today's guest is Oliver Rogers who I worked with at BBC Essex many years ago. He is a big fan of Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus...
read moreTalking to my Friends about Books: Lisa O’Sullivan – Rivers of London series
I really miss chatting to my friends and during the conversation getting onto the subject of books and what they've read recently. So I have decided to chat to them over Zoom about it and record their recommendations. My friend Lisa O'Sullivan is Talk Sport's Tennis...
read moreTalking to my friends about books: Deborah Stephenson – No 1 Ladies Detective Agency
Like every book lover, I thoroughly enjoy chatting to my friends about what they've been reading and why. And as many of us are reading even more avidly than ever due to the way we are living our lives at the moment, I don't get the chance to do it so much. So I...
read moreMagic in the Air – Cascais and New Beginnings
When I wrote my debut novel, The House That Alice Built, I had no intention of embarking on a sequel. That was until I finally sent the book of to my publishers, with all of the edits done, and realised that I didn't want to say goodbye to Alice just yet. So, I had to...
read moreEvonne Wareham – A Wedding on the Riviera
I love reading novels that make their settings come alive, so I'm really looking forward to Evonne Wareham's new book, A Wedding on the Riviera published on March 22nd. Here she gives as a bit of an insight into what to expect... Thank you for inviting me onto your...
read moreClaire Sheldon’s debut book – Perfect Lie
Claire Sheldon's debut novel, Perfect Lie, is published by Ruby Fiction on e-book on 16th June, so I thought it would be nice to catch up with her so she could tell us about her road to publication and what she has coming up next. Tell us about the book...
read moreChoc Lit Virtual Festival round up
As part of the Choc Lit Virtual Book Festival recently, I recorded a chat with my BBC Essex friend and colleague, Tony Fisher about books, writing, and about finally getting published. You can hear it here:https://soundcloud.com/you/tracks I also asked...
read moreThe House That Alice Built photo tour
The House That Alice Built is set in Cascais in Portugal, where I lived many years ago. It made a huge impression on me and some of the locations I use in the book are real, whereas others are a mixture of reality and imagination based on other beautiful places in...
read moreAudrey Bowling – an artist inspired by the landscape
The House That Alice Built is set in Cascais in Portugal, and its pretty streets, gorgeous beaches and beautiful setting inspired me to write the novel. Alice herself rediscovers her creative side when she's there, and finds what she sees and feels enables her...
read moreA Weekend in Marrakech 2011 – last bit. How I ended up on the back of that motorbike
Hammam having been ticked off our list, we wended our way to Djemma El Fna one last time. On our way, a man tried to persuade us into another hammam thus, “Would you like to try a..? oh, you’ve already had one…” That was after he saw our hair.. But we didn’t care....
read moreA Weekend in Marrakech in 2011 – part 5
To Djema El Fna we went, full of tagine and humous and these delicious cheesy things in pastry. To Djema El Fna which is the square of all squares..the place where all the city life gathers and which has myriad different lives; bustling morning, buzzy afternoon, and...
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