The Literary Sofa

Hello and happy new year! After a four-year tsunami of personal crap no novelist would get away with in a book, 2022 was a really eventful and positive year for me and I’m grateful and relieved to have made it to the next chapter.  Among the highlights were a fantastic in-person launch party I didn’t … Continue reading →

When I set out to write this as a regular round-up and it felt really flat I put it down to being out of practice – followers of the blog may have noticed that I haven’t been showing up much lately. Then it occurred to me that these aren’t just any books and I needed … Continue reading →

I haven’t posted anything of substance for two months but today is Bi Visibility Day all over the world and a milestone in my world, as the first time I’ve marked the occasion as an openly bisexual person. It’s also significant because a tweet thread by literary agent Abi Fellows on this day last year … Continue reading →

Hello and happy September! Thought it was about time I showed my face after a long break from the blog. I hope you’ve had a good summer. Thanks to the incredible generosity of friends, mine has been bookended by trips to Spain in June and now Provence, where I’m enjoying some downtime with my French … Continue reading →

Welcome to the second instalment of my 2022 Summer Reads – shorter than the original selection but right up there on quality with the bonus of two titles translated from French.  I was delighted by the enthusiastic response to the recommendations I shared in June and hope you find yet more inspiration for your TBR … Continue reading →

A big thank you for the enthusiastic response to the first part of my Summer Reads selection last week. I’ve been doing this for over ten years and it’s fantastic to see people adding books I’ve raved about to their TBRs, especially ones they’d never heard of.  That’s unlikely to be the case with the … Continue reading →

Hi and welcome to the first part of my Summer Reads selection that’s less about sun, beaches and cocktails – great as they are – and more about these being the most absorbing, emotionally engaging and thought-provoking books I’ve discovered recently and can’t stop talking about. I tell you why I picked each one and … Continue reading →

You’re joining me on a very happy day as the paperback edition of my second novel Scent is released. It’s had a gorgeous summery makeover by designer Jamie Keenan that evokes the Provence thread of the story, and the pink colour wash reminds me of the stunning Lubéron skies around sunset (and possibly sunrise, I’m … Continue reading →

Now it feels like spring is here to stay and I hope you’ve enjoyed some sunshine and time off over the holidays. Today I’m joined by fellow Muswell Press author Ethan Joella whose debut novel A Little Hope is about to be published in the UK following its success in the States.  I hope we’ll … Continue reading →

As promised a few weeks ago, today I’m very excited to share the cover for the paperback of my second novel Scent, which will be published on 19 May. I’ve been very lucky with covers, not least because I’ve always been involved.  This is the first time I’ve had a second cover for the same … Continue reading →

It’s such a joy to be hosting Sophie Haydock on the day her stunning debut novel The Flames is published. The buzz surrounding this book about the four muses of renowned artist Egon Schiele has been building for months but I can honestly claim to have spent years in anticipation, ever since Sophie told me … Continue reading →

Due to my lack of activity on the blog lately – you know there’s too much going on when you’re posting your February content in March –  I decided to throw together a quick round-up of recent reading while on a trip to Paris. Voilà the intro. Voici the books!  A Very Nice Girl – … Continue reading →

Today I’m hosting the first guest post of 2022 and it’s a huge pleasure to welcome fellow Muswell Press author Jon Ransom whose debut novel The Whale Tattoo joins their superb LGBTQ list this week. I discovered Jon’s writing last autumn when we both had work included in the Queer Life, Queer Love anthology. His … Continue reading →

Following December’s post on my top novels of 2021 and a (mostly) nice long break, it’s great to start 2022 on the blog with my 8 personal favourite non-fiction titles of 2021, when I read way more of them than ever before. And I do mean ‘personal’, as they are quite telling of what’s been … Continue reading →

Happy new year! This one has to be easier, right? I know it doesn’t work like that but I’m feeling optimistic. Last year showed me that positive things do happen against all odds and expectations. I doubt many of us got through the holidays completely unscathed but I hope they did you some good. I … Continue reading →

In a normal year about a quarter of my reading is in French but due to the toxic combination of Covid and Brexit, I didn’t read a single French novel in 2020 and really missed it, along with everything else I love about France.  That changed when I read All Men Want to Know by … Continue reading →

It’s noticeable that menopause, which eventually affects half of the population but has always been cloaked in silence and shame, is being talked about more openly and more often. It would be a brave person who dares to suggest that it’s fashionable, a trend or a passing moment.  Not if 13 million of us have … Continue reading →

I said you wouldn’t be hearing from me until Summer Reads at the start of June, but I’m hoping you’ll be interested in (Writing) Each Book is a Different Story, a piece I wrote for the fantastic Women Writers website on trying new methods, strategies (and misjudgments, but it’s all good) in the making of … Continue reading →

It’s a week since the launch of Scent (and reissue of my debut Paris Mon Amour) and today I’d like to share some thoughts, links and above all, thanks to so many people for making my publication week so joyful *despite everything*. Last year I really felt for the authors who had to navigate publication … Continue reading →

To celebrate publication of my second novel Scent and the reissue of my debut Paris Mon Amour by Muswell Press, something very different’s happening today: for the first time ever, I am the guest on my own Literary Sofa and my good friend, short fiction maestra Catherine McNamara is playing host – we could have … Continue reading →

I’m a bit rusty on the art of the chatty intro so here is my Spring Selection: 8 fantastic books, including several which give a voice to people and subjects we don’t hear often enough. I look forward to hosting some of the authors – see the Sofa Dates – and an honorary addition to … Continue reading →

Welcome to the Literary Sofa’s biggest event of the year.  This isn’t the summer any of us were hoping for but the supply of new books is as good as ever. Like everything else, my Summer Reads has encountered logistical challenges but it’s happening anyway, along with the best guest programme I can put together. … Continue reading →

The Spring Sofa Spotlight guest programme got off to a great start last week with Eleni Kyriacou’s atmospheric Writers on Location on 1950s Soho – thanks to everyone continuing to read and appreciate what we are working together to bring you, despite everything going on ‘out there’.  We’re all currently facing unbelievably stressful times but … Continue reading →

As I mentioned at the start of the year, I’m taking a relaxed approach to the blog in the run-up to my Spring Spotlight on 11 March.  At the moment top priority goes to a pitch for a project I can’t talk about and preparing material for a retreat I’m leading in a few weeks’ … Continue reading →

One of the scariest things about writing is realising that you have no say over how anyone interprets or receives your work – the reader encounters any narrative through the prism of their own knowledge, beliefs and life experience. Nothing has brought this home to me more than readers seeing all kinds of interesting things … Continue reading →

For those who haven’t heard, I’m thrilled to return to the Sofa with the news that my second novel Scent will be released by independent publisher Muswell Press in spring 2021 – and for those who do know, here’s a bit more about it.  Yesterday was such an exciting and emotional day when the acquisition … Continue reading →

Like many novelists, I get asked a lot of tricky questions and that’s not likely to change when my next book comes out. (Yes, I’m saying ‘when’ because I have to believe that to put myself through this.)  Today’s post – by popular demand! – looks at some of those questions and my experience of … Continue reading →

Back to my Summer Reads and I’m declaring this week’s post a Special Edition, partly because it’s a change from the normal format but mostly because I am so thrilled to be hosting the talented and lovely Catherine McNamara, whose second solo short story collection The Cartography of Others was recently crowdfunded by many and … Continue reading →

As Hemingway famously said, ‘the first draft of anything is garbage.’ (I always thought he said ‘shit’ but anyway.) And as he also famously said, ‘writing is rewriting’. Now I am not a particular fan of Hemingway nor of writing aphorisms, which I have learned to approach on a ‘pick your own’ basis, (as in … Continue reading →

It’s been a busy and exciting time lately, with wonderful reviews of Paris Mon Amour appearing all over the place – one reader wrote to me when she finished it at 2am! It’s so interesting and rewarding hearing what people make of it (and everyone sees something a bit different), so a very big thank you to everyone … Continue reading →

In view of the appreciative response to the above piece I wrote for the Writers’ Workshop (York Festival of Writing) blog, I thought I’d also post the link here on the Literary Sofa. Thanks again to WW for hosting me and for their important role on the journey to publication of my debut novel Paris Mon Amour.   … Continue reading →

It’s nearly a week since my debut novel Paris Mon Amour came out and I’ll be writing about that incredible experience very soon… But in the meantime – and because I was way too busy to post this week – here are some of the pieces I’ve written elsewhere to coincide with the release.  Given the longevity and popularity … Continue reading →

I recently wrote this article about rejection for a competition and rather fittingly, it didn’t get anywhere. When I was telling some writer friends about this over lunch a few days ago (I had to see the funny side), they said I should post it on the blog so I’m doing it before I can … Continue reading →