A puzzling misascription*
‘Wege enstehen dadurch, dass wir sie gehen.’ (Paths are made by walking them.) This statement has been frequently attributed to Franz Kafka. Google it and you’ll see what I mean....
Chic ironic bitterness
Ron Slate has posted a superb review of Zoë Heller’s novel The Believers, which I haven’t read but now simply must. As far as I’m concerned, Ron writes some of...
Kinetic prose
I’m trying to remember where I’ve read that Ezra Pound felt the most memorable prose is kinetic. Eudora Welty seems to be saying something similar with ‘Movement must be at...
Irritalin
The reason I read certain blogs is for the daily hit of irritalin they provide me, especially the Old Boys’ Blogs whose denizens are often knowing to the point of...
A storage problem
Bad day, far too long in a hospital waiting room, no work, lots of negative criticism about my writing, lots more cheap chocolate and coffee, then this delightful line from...
and yes I said
Those of you who have read Mortal Ghost will know of my fondness for tattoos, so it’s no wonder I’m delighted to have discovered Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos. The Ulysses tattoo...
Riding a bike with no hands
Here’s a bit from Stacey D’Erasmo’s novel A Seahorse Year – a good example of free indirect style, but not why I’m quoting it at length. Marina is a painter...
If you send me an email
about your Big Publication Date, plus snippets of advance reviews touting your book’s brilliance (and links where to pre-order it, including a signed copy for posterity, or at least your...
How to survive as a writer
One of my favourite forms of procrastination is searching out food blogs when I can’t decide what my characters will eat for a meal. We’ve got to eat, and those...
Roadworks
Revising a novel written over several years feels like pouring over an outdated road atlas. Remember those cumbersome things from the days before Google Maps and GPS navigation systems? Or...
She’s done it!
It’s hard for her mama to believe, but today Esther has been awarded her degree in sound engineering and design (Diplom-Ingenieur, the equivalent of MSc or MEng). Am I proud...
I also speak from a cramped provisional space
Ron Slate has posted the title poem of his new collection The Great Wave. It’s a rather stunning poem and deservedly will appear in the spring issue of The Paris...