The other night Sir Bruce Forsyth was a guest on the BBC’s One Show. He has been best known most recently as host of the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. The U.S. version is Dancing With The Stars. Within moments, it became clear why he was on the program. He has a book out about his … More Talking With The Cast
My novelist uncle in Rhode Island was messaging me again yesterday. It wasn’t about writing or books, which I actually find useful. This time is was about the NFL’s New York Jets playing at London’s Wembley Stadium this weekend. Are they? I had no idea. Regardless, he should be writing his next book (I’m still … More An NFL Team In London?
A very serious post to start the week. At a U.K. family get-together over the weekend, I witnessed (yet again) an ugly Irish chauvinism and excuse-making for Ireland’s “neutrality” during the Second World War. It had come up amidst chatter in “taking sides” during Saturday’s Rugby World Cup match between Wales and England, which was … More Having Sat Out That War Is Not A Badge Of Celtic Honor (So Shut Up And Hope Everyone Else Forgets)
Given it was about Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep novel, Humphrey Bogart also had to have a mention in the previous post. In case you don’t know, I’m a huge Bogart fan. Writing fiction also allows one to slip in gems like this: You must know the movie: it was Casablanca.
Check this out. I could have fallen over when I discovered this. I had to share it: It’s a 1948 British hardcover copy – with a dust jacket! – of Raymond Chandler’s classic The Big Sleep, featuring Philip Marlowe, private eye. (Interesting bit of authoring history: Wiki says Chandler turned to writing detective fiction after … More “I was neat, clean, shaved and sober….”
Yesterday I received another one of those Amazon marketing emails. Once again Passports was at the top of the list. Obviously, Amazon knows I have looked at that page. Naturally, more of “the competition” follows: I screen captured the long page in two sections. It can be intriguing to see where your novels end up … More On Which Shelf?
Following on from that post the other day on For Such a Time, I’ve read here and there about accusations of “racism,” “privilege,” and “Western cultural arrogance” in “romance” and “young adult” literature. That’s not an easy subject to address in a blog post. However, authoring as I do for adults (and not for children), … More Our Censorious Era (“How dare you write that”)
I got a bit of a shock the other day in the form of an automatic WordPress email informing me an aunt-in-law here in England had followed this blog by email. She already knew about my site. It’s just I’m surprised that – out of the blue – she has subscribed. I get many interesting … More Blogs I Follow
….but they are employed regularly anyway. And as the Daily (w)rite wonders, how often is the question answered this way?: Once you get beyond the “blank page,” the problem then turns into that question not being easily answerable.
R. J. Nello 