“Deadlines”

We all hate them – and always have done, from the first parental nagging about homework tasks, through the hateful slog to deliver the 50,000 word thesis on the due day to the routine demand of a professional writer’s life... Read More

What Do I Know?

Well, lots of things, obviously. My mother’s maiden name, Colin Cowdrey’s highest first-class score (look it up if you’re interested in accessing my online bank account) and when – and where - I was born, because without these precious bits... Read More

“Where did you get that word from?”

When a friend asked the other day ‘How’s the ghostwriting going?’ I just said, ‘Fine.’ As you do when someone asks ‘How are you?’ They really don’t want to know about the ingrowing toenail, that recurrent chest pain you get... Read More

Collaboration

This week I dropped in for a drink with a friend to discuss our latest collaboration. Sue is an artist who has collaborated with me on three previous books of poems, all written about a beautiful place that we have... Read More

Why Writers Can’t Go It Alone

A date in 1997. A long-deferred date. Deferred for far too long. It is the date I am – finally – sitting down to start writing my biography of the famous Victorian cricketer, W.G.Grace. I have been researching it for... Read More