First Love Today, I'm posting another extract from my novel The Tiger and the Cauldron " Two figures detached themselves from the shadows of the lower terrace and climbed the steps towards him. 'Hassan.' It was Sayyid’s voice. 'The Captain has commanded me to relieve you.' 'An hour, no more, Sayyid,' said Doquz who accompanied …
Category: Writing and Publishing
The Cuckoo's Calling
I knew before I even opened this book that the author, Robert Galbraith, was actually JK Rowling of Harry Potter fame. I think everyone knew that, almost from the day it was published. My hesitation and delay before reading it stemmed from my disappointment with The Casual Vacancy. That just wasn't my thing at all. …
Just an ordinary guy …
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami (translated by Philip Gabriel) Straight off, I will say that I loved this character-driven story. Tazaki is just your average guy but he carries a lot of emotional baggage. He likes railway stations, he likes music, he plays sport and (we'll come to this …
Mannequin
This is a wonderful example of how few words are needed to tell a story!
Now you see him, now you don't!
The Invisible Man by HG Wells 'His goggling spectacles and ghastly bandaged face under the penthouse of his hat came with a disagreeable suddenness out of the darkness ...' I drew this novella - number 13 on my list of classics - in the Classics Club Spin #8 from November, to be read and reviewed …
The Bad Sex Award 2014
No-one's in it to win it! Last week, Booker Prizewinner Ben Okri became the latest author to receive the literary world's least sought after award. The winning entry is from his novel The Age of Magic: 'When his hand brushed her nipple it tripped a switch and she came alight. He touched her belly and …
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Edge of Eternity by Ken Follett A Review My choice of title has nothing to do with the Robert Wise classic sci-fi film of 1951, or indeed the inferior remake of 2008. Instead, it refers to the day - 22nd November 1963 - when the world was rocked with the news that US President John …
A Lovely Blogger Award
I was surprised and honoured the other day to learn that I had been nominated as a "lovely" blogger. Now "lovely" is the last adjective I would use to describe myself. However, we all want to be acknowledged for what we write, so in the spirit of the game, here goes with my response: …
The Tiger and the Cauldron
Extract - The Contest " The fight hung in the balance. Attack from either side was followed promptly by counter-attack, both defended ably. Hassan was beginning to tire. The muscles of his arms ached and his right palm was raw and stinging from contact with the sabre hilt. His bruised left elbow was stiff and …
Jane's Juvenilia
I have been reading (re-reading actually) some of Jane Austen's early works. A few days ago, I blogged about her History of England, written when she was sixteen. That she meant the piece to be be humorous I have no doubt; the description of herself as a very partial, prejudiced and ignorant historian gives the …
Magda Green Books 