Retracing my steps

Retracing my steps

Most of the time authors carefully choose their settings, but sometimes the story just revs its engine and takes you off who-knows-where. Hence I found, completely by accident, this one little scene in The Undoing of Arlo Knott taking place at an old workplace of mine – Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham.

Love, Narcissism and an Island Nation

Love, Narcissism and an Island Nation

The premise of my third book – about narcissism and celebrity culture – is potentially controversial. It was when I read The Narcissism Epidemic that I realised there was any scope whatsoever for questioning the mantra – so entrenched – that you have to love yourself before you can love anyone else. While I don’t want to argue against the value of valuing oneself, is this particular statement true? Aren’t there people with low self-esteem who still foster a deep love and admiration for others? If self-esteem really is a prerequisite, then what happens when it creeps towards the other end of the scale… towards narcissism, which is well known to be detrimental to relationships?

A bookish autumn

A bookish autumn

There have been so many book events over the last couple of months I’ve hardly been able to keep up! Needless to say it’s been great reading from The Undoing of Arlo Knott to new audiences, and getting into a lot of interesting chats with readers about the nature of time, quantum physics, snakes, superheroes…

Arlo hits the high street
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Arlo hits the high street

Arlo Knott is finally out in the world, having been launched at a sell-out event at Storysmith Books, Bristol. With fabulous hosting from Hugo award-winning sci-fi critic and publisher Cheryl Morgan, we talked about having an undo button for life, plus the power of hindsight, quantum physics and snakes and ladders. The room was packed…

Small publishers gather in Bath

Small publishers gather in Bath

This weekend I was in Bath with Writers Unchained, meeting lots of other writers’ collectives, small presses and other creatives.

It was a good chance for all the publishers based in the Westcountry – like Tangent Books, Wizard’s Tower Press and Silver Crow Books – to come together, get to know one another and share their wares with the public.