We decided to do it on the spur of the moment. On Tuesday, we booked a hotel and reserved a ferry there and back. On Thursday, we headed from Dover to Calais to have a night away not far from Calais, in Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Twenty-Nine Hours In France
A Novel Is Forever
If criticism of your writing goes with the authoring territory, it may drive you bananas when someone lectures you as to why you have written that novel and what you mean by what is in it.
My “War And Peace” (Uh, No… Wait)
After doing this four times previously I have come to learn this is always that moment where I feel I have finally achieved something tangible.
The Americans In The Shires
“What do you think of Meghan?” I was recently asked by a woman barber. “She’s a harmless actor now playing the role of a lifetime,” I chuckled…
The Dangers Of Literature
Flying within the US, that classic novel got me, uh, “in trouble” – twice.
It’s A Long Way To Saratoga
History is all around in England. I feel almost foolish; that I should have known this, but somehow I had missed it. I’m at least glad I discovered it now… rather than later.
Five Years On
Whenever I am finishing and OTHERS will now shortly have to read it, once again I start to have pre-publication terrors. I can’t help but think: What if I’m too close to its writing trees and I have failed to see the reading forest?
“Eyewitness” To Lives
“You seem to know lots about what Frenchwomen think,” my [English] wife has teased me more than once. Actually, no, I don’t believe I do…
Now This Fifth
I fully understand now why some authors do go loopy or worse – and especially when embarking on a several years’ long writing effort.
Away From This Mad World
How many of us deep down desire to get away from all of the “noise” of this century in which we must live? How many of us wish to saunter on a secluded country lane by the side of our well-dressed handsome gentleman or bonnet-wearing lovely lady?
The New Destination
Because once the last word is on the page, well, that’s it. Done. You have become just someone who has written a book. That was then. What are you doing now?
A Healthy Experience
My wife had to have a minor (we hope) procedure and *chose* to have it yesterday rather than a weekday. She was offered the option of the Sunday appointment and we had supposed the hospital would be quieter and so it might all be a bit less stressful. “Quieter” turned out to be, well, an understatement.
With The End In Sight
I sense I am approaching *that* time for a soon to be new book where I sit back and take stock of the draft as a whole. Soon tweaking with “this and that” begins. I’ve learned that in some ways this is also the toughest time.
Weekend Amidst The Trees
I had one of those writing moments early on Saturday morning here at my dad’s house too. These things often hit us in the middle of the night. Actually… in that case I mean about 4 o’clock in the morning.
What Do You Think They Know?
Occasionally the American featured celebrity tracing his/her family tree comes across as – much as I hate to say this – worryingly clueless about wider history and lives lived prior to the present.
