I’m not really interested in Valentine’s Day. However, it is a time of year which brings out a lot of mush on the internet, particularly mush that draws on books. Books are, as you may already know, my bag. Having said that, Dear Reader, I find the complete absence of context contextualising some of these quotes quite galling. Continue reading “A Bookish Valentine”
When I was a child I listened to loads of books on tape. Some came from the library (The Pinballs by Betsy Byars and a compilation of fairy tales from around the world including Baba Yaga and The Tongue-Cut Sparrow were borrowed multiple times). Others were owned and shared by my sister and I, and listened to again and again. Amongst these were George’s Marvellous Medicine and the Narnia books. I loved the whole series, but The Horse and his Boy was a favourite for reasons that escape me now. Maybe just because that one was definitely ‘mine’ – I was quite possessive. Continue reading “Read Me A Story – Some Pros and Cons of Audible”
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There is a lot of spoken word to be had in Edinburgh. The city has open mic nights, slams, revues, experimental shows and all manner of opportunities for page and performance poets and storytellers. A firm favourite over the past six years has been Blind Poetics, but last week they bid the spoken word scene farewell. Continue reading “Goodbye, Blind Poetics”
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As the year that even George R. R. Martin deems editorially ‘a bit harsh’ draws to a close, I thought I should take advantage of a clear gap in my cold-fuzzed existence to do one of those roundups that all the cool bloggers are doing.
Continue reading “2016 In Review”
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The Scottish Book Trust and BBC Scotland recently conducted a poll to determine Scotland’s Favourite Book. Scotland, I do not agree with the choice we made. So much so that I felt compelled to blog about it. Blogging effects change, right? This is basically the National Collective all over again.
Continue reading “Scotland’s Favourite Book”
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There are moments in life – say a Tuesday morning when you left your freelance writer partner in bed listening to The News Quiz whilst you went off to work – when you wonder if you’ve made bad choices. Not about the partner, who is a delight, but about giving up on freelancing in favour of a job that actually pays you something.
Continue reading “A Few Thoughts On Freelancing”
12 Books in 12 Months 