At the end of the week my children and I will be climbing on to a plane and flying back to England. It will be the first time the kids have been back in two years, and the trip has got me thinking about a lot of things. In particular, it reminded me of a small essay I wrote last …
Mother’s Day, UK Edition
Today is Mother’s Day in the United Kingdom. Did I send my mother a card? Did I arrange for flowers to be delivered? Or chocolates? No, I didn’t. Sadder than that, my mother didn’t expect me to, either. In nine years of living here, I’m not sure I ever have managed such a simple thing. It’s not that I don’t …
Holiday Cheer
Something of a pot-pourri today. Good news continues to roll in about the book. We are now hearing about media coverage in newspapers and magazines, and it is all very exciting. I will post nearer the time when and where things will be appearing. In the meantime, I have to share this wonderful review of A GOOD AMERICAN by Michael Magras. …
English Accents
One of the reasons why I never contemplated a career as a litigator when I re-qualified as a lawyer in the United States was that I had visions of my delivering elegantly-crafted closing arguments only to have the jury look at each other and ask each other quietly what the guy with the funny accent had been talking about. And …
A Sort of Homecoming (with apologies to U2)
Tomorrow is a big day for Columbia and the University of Missouri. It is the 100th Annual Homecoming. Not being from round these parts, I’m not entirely sure what homecoming means or what its purpose is. There is a parade – I know this, because my children will be in it. And, naturally, there is a big football game involved. …
Audiobook!
Over the past few years I’ve occasionally given readings of A GOOD AMERICAN while it was still a work in progress. Invariably at the Q & A part of the event, someone would put up their hand and ask, often a little tentatively, “Shouldn’t you be reading that with an American accent?” It’s a fair question. The answer is that …
Maine
Earlier this week I arrived back in Missouri after a blissful week in Maine. From ME to MO. What a difference a letter makes. I wrote a lot, read a lot, climbed a few mountains, and ate an awful lot of delicious fresh seafood. My cottage was on a secluded cove near Acadia National Park. It was a one-room wooden …
What Matters
Yesterday I returned to Missouri after a wonderful week with my children in San Francisco, where we stayed with my sister and her lovely family. Living in mid-Missouri, going to San Francisco is, understandably, always a bit of an event. Weeks ahead of time, we raid the library for travel guides and plan what to do. This trip we went …
Writing for My Life
Look, I know. This is supposed to be a light-hearted blog. I’m supposed to serve up wry, self-deprecating posts about me and my writing. I’m meant to be developing, God help me, a brand, in the hope that you’ll all go out and read my novel when it comes out next year. But light-hearted is a bit tricky right now. Earlier …
Road Trip!
This afternoon I shall be climbing into a car with my good friend Chris Stevens and we’ll be setting off south. Destination: New Orleans. We’ll be in a Mini Cooper, which doesn’t seem very Jack Kerouac to me, but never mind. It’ll probably be more comfortable than a battered old van, I suppose, and we are old men now. I …