What makes a book stand out from the crowd? Agents tell us they are looking for ‘good stories well told’. But in an age when everyone wants to write and very many can, being good simply isn’t enough. You actually have to be brilliant. So what constitutes brilliance exactly? In revamping a novel regarded as … Continue reading Tall order
I don’t often review books on this blog, and certainly not on anything like the scale of DoveGreyReader who as a result of her industrious and illuminating reviews is on the receiving end of all kinds of publishers’ freebies, but as a result of a couple of posts last year, I seem to have come to … Continue reading Profusion of Pettigrews
To show you I didn’t spend all my recent trip with my head in a book, I’m posting a few photos of Edinburgh including some sculptures in and around the Dean Gallery. I’d been to the Dean and the Gallery of Modern Art before (which explains why The Water’s Edge has some scenes there) and … Continue reading Northern Highlights
Taking a novel set mainly in Paris on a trip to Edinburgh was not as perverse as it might seem, since its provenance was The Linen Press, a small indie publisher based in that fair city. It’s sometimes suggested we should buy from publishers like this simply because they are ‘a good thing’ and by doing … Continue reading Travelling Companion
Last Saturday is a long time ago for a blogger – except for me, that is, who hasn’t blogged in yonks. But it was last Saturday that I was reading an excellent piece in the Telegraph by John Lanchester called ‘When Fiction Breaks Down’ in which he argues that ‘the world is full of interesting things that … Continue reading What’s the likelihood?
Ali Bacon, Author 