Have you seen the musical Guys and Dolls? It’s a favourite of mine, because it’s upbeat and atmospheric and has toe-tapping tunes; plus there’s a wonderful cast of Hollywood greats in the 1955 film version: Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine. And of course, hopeless romantic that
Daffodils, tulips, bluebells; dozy bees and cheery thrushes; the drone of a lawnmower, the scent of the new grass; the bluest sky, the sun on your face . . . spring has arrived! For me, spring is the most energising season. There’s renewed vigour, more power in a daydream, the
It’s Easter, so of course I’ve chocolate on my mind. Easter means different things to different people – a symbolic time of new birth; a cause for religious praise; the heart of spring. And then, of course, there’s the Easter egg. All the chocolate around at Easter time can get
One of French author Francois de la Rochefoucauld’s most famous maxims is on the subject of jealousy. ‘Live on doubts,’ he advises; ‘it becomes madness or stops entirely as soon as we pass from doubt to certainty.’ Francois de la Rochefoucauld is advocating an ostrich-with-its-head-in-the-sand approach to doubts about a
The view at sunrise from our garden. It was this picture that inspired the ending of Burning Embers.
Regular readers of my blog will know that settings are a big inspiration for me in my writing. I love to write outdoors, amid the lush, vivid colours of gardens, the hum of crickets and the melodies of the birds; but of course sometimes the south of France is too
I love quotations and aphorisms and proverbs – simplicity coupled with inspiration and power. In researching Burning Embers, I read a lot of books about Africa, in particular those relating to African culture and philosophy. It struck me that some of the basic African proverbs have become worldwide currency. Perhaps
This past week the newspapers have been full of commentary on the release of this year’s Eurovision entry song: ‘Love Will Set You Free’, sung by Engelbert Humperdinck (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFNv9pjqZkk). The song is a ballad, simple, restrained – the vocals accompanied by a melancholic Spanish guitar arrangement. The lyrics are
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