‘You should’ve tried harder in school, shouldn’t you?’

The white-haired, middle-aged man leaned out of his van window to make sure I’d heard him. Apparently surprised by my lack of response - I was staring incredulous, trying to work out whether I’d heard him right – he then added; ‘or perhaps you did well?’

‘I’ve got a degree actually. ...

.. Probably the most common complaint of "wannabe" writers, is the lack of time they have to commit to their projects. Day jobs, family and the inability to keep your head in the game whilst juggling everything else are struggles we're all familiar with. So, those of us who weren't (and had no loved ones) in imminent danger from Covid-19, ...

My fiance can't stand the way I work. He's very pragmatic, his thought processes linear and sensibly chronological. I'm not like that. I have 1000 ideas, 1000 projects in progress at any one time. I keep track of them with piles of paperwork, lists and piles of list. I'm currently using numerous notebooks, several memory sticks, receipts, napkins ...

My mum taught me to read before I could do almost anything else. She obviously thought it an important skill, but she couldn't have known then how important it would become.

When I was nine, my Dad busted me out of school and took me to see the cinema release of one of his favourite books - The Fellowship of the Ring. I was so captivated (and ...