Once you make mention of your possible retirement, people start hounding you mercilessly. All boundaries crash and burn and you will find yourself having to answer questions like: "Why now?", "Surely you'll get bored?", "Exactly when?", "Will you have enough money?", "What about your sex life?" ... OK so I made up that last one, but all…
Why men don’t listen and women can’t read maps (or can they?)
There's a book Called Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps. I've never read it. That's because not only can I read maps, I love them! Here's why: When I was fourteen at my co-ed high school I was forced by limited subject choices to do Domestic Science (that's what the girls got, only boys…
A Place to Stand – WORD Christchurch Festival 2018
What distinguishes a great festival session from a good one? I think I can answer that after my session to-day: A Place to Stand. A small, sell-out session with Swedish author Karin Altenberg and New Zealand writer Amy Head, this exploration of the importance of Place punched way above its weight, and reminded me what…
Let Love In – WORD Christchurch Festival 2018
It's not really a festival until you have your mettle tested by an event that you chose to blog on only to find that it ticks only some of your boxes, scrapes its nails down the walls of your brain in other ways, and it all happens after a ferocious argument with a car guard…
Catherine Chidgey and Paul Cleave: WORD Christchurch Festival 2018
It's my first day at the fest and it's a full morning for me with two events one after the other: Catherine Chidgey (Transformations) and Paul Cleave (Crimechurch). Both Kiwi writers and both well known in their respective fields. But how similar/dissimilar are their writing styles? The lights dim, lets find out! They are both…
WORD Christchurch Festival 2018: Having coffee with my author friends!
WORD Christchurch Festival 2018 gives me the perfect opportunity to amp up my author-spotting skills, and at the same time think back on my coffee connections with four authors. Because I have friends who write. They are not quite the imaginary friends of my childhood, but as friends go, they are far more real to me…
WORD Christchurch 2018: Spoilt for choice – Roberta’s Picks
It's the first law of any truly great literary festival that you'll almost certainly wish you could be in two places at once. That's because just about everything you really want to see (or do) will probably be on the same day (quite often at exactly the same time) and in completely different venues. And WORD Christchurch 2018…
Big may be beautiful, but small is seductive!
Spoiler Alert: I am talking about books here. I love small squarish books. I like the feel of them in my hands, their unexpected heft, their solidity. Customers in libraries ask all sorts of questions, like "Where are your Biographies? Do you have any Italian books? How do I log-on to the computers?" and "Where…
Online dating and book reviews
We all have at least one story in us. But very few of us will ever write a book. Even a blog may be a stretch too far. Which leaves us with the option of the book review. The nay-sayers will be quick to question the value of book reviews, but let it be known…
Mild, spicy, or burn it all down?: Secrets in novels
Early on in our relationship, my husband and I vowed to start as we meant to continue - honestly and openly. Certainly, on our very first date I made it clear that I had no interest in electricity (he's an electronics engineer) and that I preferred to eat breakfast on my own (unless transported to…
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