I noticed the other day that there are longer, special edition releases of the Lord of the Rings films doing the rounds and that got me to thinking.
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I couldn’t believe my luck. I was reading a post the other day that said something wonderful. Something that put a smile on my face for the rest of the evening.
OK, so an unusual post this week. I’m looking for your help.
I was working up an idea I had for a new story the other day and it occurred to me that it didn’t seem to matter when it was set nor whether or not I made the period in time clear to the reader. But am I right to think this is the case?
I started reading a Barbara Vine (aka Ruth Rendell) novel, The Brimstone Wedding, a couple of nights ago and it reminded me at once of one thing in particular that makes for a really excellent fictional crime story.
As the years have advanced I have found myself increasingly unwilling to persist with reading a book that I’m not enjoying and this has cropped up big time recently.
I guess we’ve all had moments in our lives when some unexpected event has triggered memories we had forgotten were even there. Perhaps the smell of some stranger’s perfume that ignites memories of a much loved aunt long since departed. Or maybe a song that was always an old lover’s favourite.
When I visited Oxford the other week to attend events at the literary festival, I looked up a cookie seller I used to frequent many years ago whenever I visited the city. Great news, it’s still there.
I was lucky enough to attend an event at the recent Oxford Literary Festival that I so enjoyed I thought I’d share some words on it here.
It was a talk by one of my favourite historians, Michael Wood, who spoke about his new book recounting a journey he made in the footsteps of the Chinese poet, Du Fu. The talk took place at the Sheldonian Theatre on March 22nd.
Continue reading “In the Footsteps of Du Fu: China’s Greatest Poet”
I’ve been writing a short story for the last week or so, based on an idea I had jotted down many moons ago. The entirety of the story has already put itself together in my head, which is very handy as it means I am now left with solely the writing to do.