#11 The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
A reader recently compared my writing in Gatekeeper to Kingsolver’s. My agent was thrilled (what agent wouldn’t be?) while I am less convinced. I think it’s subject matter (Prodigal Summer) that prompted that linkage, rather than anything else. What strikes me most about Kingsolver’s work is the warmth – many characters start out less than […]
Book review: The Elegance of the Hedgehog One of the issues I end up debating quite a lot with other writers, and with readers too, is whether it’s better to read an ambitious book that’s flawed, or a flawless book that’s pedestrian in scope. And of course the question, in part, depends on your definition […]
Will books get longer in a recession?Recessionistas make predictions – skirts will be midi, lips will be redder, hair will be shorter (I’m ahead of the game there then!), eating in will be the new eating out, and books will be longer. Okay, I added that last one myself. But there’s a sense in which […]
Identification, writing and empathyFollowing on from my last post, and having emailed to and fro with a couple of wonderful writers who are either languishing or writhing in the throes of the issue of ‘am I writing like me, or am I writing like somebody else’ (and they know who they are and which of […]
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