Who do you write like? Or even, like whom do you write? When we start writing, we often do so in a more or less conscious imitation of a writer we admire. For some of us it’s because we’ve read everything that writer has written (and if they’ve died, everything that will be published by […]

How to move on This week I taught my last session for the two Brighton and Hove writing groups: The Hatchery and Comedy of Errors. It was lovely to spend a last hour with them, and then say goodbye. But that reminded me of Alison. When I was eleven I wanted to be a ballerina […]

I love you, you big tart! Okay, I’m showing off – but my newly found recipe for redcurrant tarts is a true joy and I do, indeed, love it. It is made from paté sucree, which is not what the English call sugar pastry but involves powdered sugar and an egg yolk, and the currants […]