Sarah Salway is one of my favourite writers. I love her novels. I love her poetry. I love her quirky photographic obsessions and idiosyncratic view of the world.Kiran Millwood Hargrave is less known to me, but still someone who's work I am eager to know better.Two...

I'm flying back after a quickie trip to the States to see my son at Uni, and my brain is too much of a mush to do much thinking. So I thought I'd let this clever fellow do the thinking for me.Taylor Mali  is a wonderful, funny, subversively truthful performance poet...

Besides teaching and running essay writing clinics, while I have been at SOAS this year I have been thinking about the idea of using the arts for social change. This grew out of the founding of the Anjali House Writing Workshop which has been running for a year now,...

All writers feel the need to be able to write about the entire gamut of emotions, everything that we plop into that pile we call "the human condition." Of course, that makes sense. Regardless of genre, form or theme, everything we write does boil down to what it means...

In one month from now, I'll be back in Cambodia. Need I tell you how excited I am? This trip will be different from last year's trip, though. Last year I was in full-on promotion mode, doing as many interviews, readings and signings as I could manage. I traveled from...

Here's a post I've been meaning to write for a while. How do you effectively read poetry aloud? This is something I do rather often these days, either at my own readings where I will go on for up to 45 minutes, or at open mics where 1 poem might take me just a minute...

This is a very personal, though short, post, so if you're not into that sort of thing, look away now.....But it must be noted that my baby, my youngest child, turns 21 tomorrow. Astonishing, in so many ways. He's astonishing, in so many ways (as is his older brother,...

It's as cold in London as I can remember, and I've lived here now for well over twenty years. This is the sort of cold I remember from New England in the '80's.  The sort of cold you're happy to have at a ski resort, but not necessarily in the place where you need to...

People often ask me how I write, what my process is, and I've tried throughout the many years of this blog to tell you straight. So here is the next instalment on the development of Novel 3.To bring recent viewers up to date, and to remind my longtime supporters, I...

Okay, so I lie. Let's face it...math and I have never been friends. It's probably because of my basic mathematical ineptitude that I didn't pursue science professionally in the first place. But that doesn't stop me from being fascinated by math, by the way it is as...

I love science, and my foray into merging the line between literature and science has brought me into contact with all sorts of fascinating people and interesting concepts. My first novel, Tangled Roots, had much to do with physics and cosmology, and that required a...

The New York part of this trip has been great. I have managed to get to the NY Public Library to start reading through the new novel. What a strange process that is. I'm finding some small changes I want to make. Nothing major. But the hard part is trying to decide if...

I have always believed in the importance of rituals. I don't necessarily mean the religious kind, though they have their function as well, of course. I mean rituals that we ourselves create to mark our own, specific lives. I've found the how's and when's of writing to...

One of the great pleasures of this writing life of mine has been meeting writers from all over the world who I would never have met before. Often, this happens via the blog. But recently,  I met a very talented actor in London, Jonathan Chambers, and he told me about...

As my handy-dandy Word Count Meter on the right shows, I have now written the last word of the first draft of the new novel. I posted as much on Facebook and I received all sorts of lovely messages of congratulations. But how did it really feel?Not as expected. When I...

Of personal and, increasingly, professional interest to me is the way the arts can be used to promote change, both on an individual and societal basis. One of the wonderful aspects of my involvement with Cambodia is that is seems to attract artists and people...

I am sitting in my office at SOAS for the first time since the start of the second term. Careful readers will remember that in October I started this new position at the University of London's School for Oriental and African Studies (for you non-Brits who might not...

My last post certainly struck a chord. I had loads of comments both here and on Facebook. I know it's always hard to listen to what seems to be a good ole whinge, and people flocked to buck me up and show me the lighter side -- for all of which, I thank you.I thought...

I wasn't at all sure I should write this post. A part of me thinks that it's "unprofessional" to publicly announce your insecurities and weaknesses. But then again, this blog has become more than just a public professional face. This blog is my ongoing dialogue with...

Like everyone else this New Year's morning, I've been drinking coffee and thinking about life. 2011 was one hell of a year. You don't need me to tell you about the global upheaval it brought, month after month, from politics to economics to the environment. No corner...

I know not everyone is celebrating a  holiday over the next few days but we at Chez Guiney are celebrating two. This is one of those years when Chanukah and Christmas coincide and we celebrate both. I've always felt that on such years, rather than dilute the...

Workshops with Sarah Salway are always a treat.  She is now offering a new one which sounds so fascinating, I knew I wanted to pass the information along. She is taking bookings for this now, so do think about it and act quick!For three days in February (22-24th inc),...

I've never done this before, but I thought it would be fun. Like all "great" ideas, it's turned out to be more difficult than I ever expected, but nonetheless, here it is: my suggestions for great gift ideas for the readers in your lives. Some of these books I've...

It is true that you have to change with the times. It's also true that you have to change with yourself. Lots has changed in my life over the past several years, but the professional changes have been the most confusing. So I recently asked a pr firm to help me...

Don't worry, this post has nothing to do with the economy or any of the other cataclysmic horrors we all seem to see looming ahead. No, this is about a new song and a mother taking the time to boast shamelessly about her son.Number 2 son is at university, and in...

On Sunday, 4 December at 7.30 pm, I'll  be a featured poet at the Torriano Poetry Series, held at the Torriano Meeting House, 99 Torriano Avenue , London NW5. My fellow Ward Wood poet, Peter Phillips, will be joining me and reading from his wonderfully poignant and...

What do I have in common with the Russian mafia? Not much, thankfully, except my friend, Joe Stein, has written a brilliant new detective novel which shows that he knows enough about them for both of us. I first wrote about That Twisted Thing Called Truth here, but...

While I was having a wonderful time in Ireland pounding out the first draft of Novel 3, the kids of Anjali House were holding their third Writing Workshop. In between writing episodes about fictional lives in Siem Reap, real lives in Siem Reap were being poured into...

Over the past years, I have had the good fortunate to get to know Carolyn and her poetry. I think all poetry lovers should know about her latest collection.Carolyn is a Reader in Victorian English at Canterbury Christ Church University. Her collection, A Child, a...

Random thoughts:1. Look at the 1st Draft Progress meter to the right. Yep, that's 73% done and a crazy 13,000 words written since I've been here.2. I haven't left the house in two days which is partly due to the above, partly due to the rain, and partly due to being...