I have never attended a writing festival before. There was always an excuse. I didn’t have money to spend on such an extravagance, I wasn’t a proper writer (this one worked for many years until I actually got an agent in 2019), I didn’t have time, between renovations, working and looking after holiday makers (this …
My Jericho Writers York Festival of Writing 2022 takeaways Read More »
“We’ve all heard that the unexamined life is not worth living, but consider too that the unlived life is not worth examining.”― Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way I’ve always known I wanted to be a writer. But it took me forty years to finally become one. It started in primary school, when my mother, who …
I haven’t been able to write of late. I type and delete and type again and delete again. I’m not sure it’s writers block – I know what I want to write about – it’s just that the writing feels bad. I’m trying to recycle a bunch of old essays, using old materials, old ideas. …
A friend recently asked me why I stopped blogging. I found the question deeply uncomfortable and I immediately launched my defence: because I don’t have time; because I work from home and I run a holiday rental business, not to mention two houses to look after. Then the real reasons began to reveal themselves. Because …
I recently got into a conversation with a friend on Facebook in which I confessed my fears of becoming a mother. I often feel guilty for not experiencing the need for having children. I never quite longed for a child, as much as I long for a variety of other human experiences. In fact, I …
Monday, I broke a tooth at breakfast. It was my second tooth. The first one was impossible to save, it had to be removed a couple of months before. As someone who rarely had to visit the dentist, I was shocked. I am approaching forty and I am starting to lose my teeth. I mean, …
When I was single, I used to get two types of reactions. Those who pitied me and always asked the question: ’How come you are still single? Look at you, you’re beautiful, you’re smart, you’re interesting,’ in that tone of voice you reserve for those who discover at a very young age that they have …
I didn’t really want to go to London. I didn’t want to return to the world of news and reality, commuting, delayed trains and, let’s face it, since it’s January after all, disgusting weather. I was perfectly happy in my bubble, perfectly content and embedded in my own slice of rural France for over two …
I realise that today it’s been one month since we moved to France and, yet, I still wake up in the morning wanting to pinch myself to test that I’m not dreaming. That yes, I did find a hedgehog sleeping in the chicken coop last night, that my cat actually comes running when I call …
’Welcome to the most cosmopolitan street in France,’ says Daniella, my Brazilian neighbour, whom I had the pleasure to meet at my other neighbour’s chateau, an absolutely jaw-dropping property across the street, where Julia, a Scottish who has been living here with the family for over six years, has organised a ladies’ evening. I’m gonna …
