The place where I work

I hope you didn’t expect a tidy and sleek office?

My office is a place full of paper, books, notes, pens, files, cup of coffee, lights, noticeboard, etc. Our super-tough birchwood work stations came over to France with us, plus the IKEA office cupboards which used to adorn […]

New year, new blog title!

What?

When I first started this blog on World Book Day not quite three years ago (4 March 2010) I had just signed my indentures as a mad newbie writer, so the title Write a Novel? I must be mad! was an appropriate one. While I will never give up learning – no human being, […]

Io Saturnalia! One big party or the ancestor of Christmas?

Saturnalia was THE most important Roman festival. Heavy on feasting, fun and gifts, it was originally celebrated in Ancient Rome for only a day around 17 December (today!), but it was so popular it expanded into a week or even longer, despite Augustus’ efforts to reduce it to three days, and Caligula’s, to five. […]