It’s January – we all want to start something! Fires are permissible, especially of preconceptions, shame, etc., although let’s guard against loss of life. Reading for pleasure: yes, of course, I have started three books in the last two days alone but there’s not as much glory in starting a book as in getting to…
“Who could have imagined this” we say, as we realise we won’t be hugging our fathers on Father’s Day. But isn’t it striking how badly we failed to imagine everything about the world of Covid-19? Even in February, as the news was filled with reports that thousands of people were falling sick and dying in…
I called for an industry behavioural code back in January because it seemed to me that a written statement was the only sufficient and appropriate response to the results of The Bookseller’s survey into sexual harassment in the book trade. The books business is founded on shared beliefs: in the importance of free expression, the…
I have been shortlisted as a possible Agent of the Year by the British Book Industry Awards*, which is a great honour. But oh, I nearly didn't make it. All I had to do was to write a 1500 word essay about myself and my agenting, together with an account of my achievements and successes during My…
Last week, my son sat in an unfamiliar school, waiting to take the entrance exam. "So many days pass us by, without us even noticing. And then there are the special days - the landmark days, on which your journey changes direction," the head advised the fidgeting room kindly. "Whatever happens next, today is Important:…
This week, my daughter will be thirteen. Thirteen years ago, my first child was born. I could tell you that the years have sped past me like lightning. I can see me, in a chair, by a window, thirteen years ago, holding her tiny jerky body after feeding her and it could be yesterday. It…
I'm writing this blog entry while you sleep. I wrote all my blog entries while you slept: I can say that with confidence because I've written them all in the depths of the night. The past few months I have been suffering from insomnia; sleeping sometimes four hours, often quite a bit less. It's sometimes…
These days whenever I meet an author for the first time, they've always met me before. Not the real me, but the versions of me which exist online. I suspect I'm taller than they expected. It isn't always comfortable or sensible to embrace the half version of ourselves that Twitter generates; indeed lots of great…