Blog
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2017 – the best of times and the worst of times… (a minimalist’s version)
Another year bites the dust, and like most years, 2017 had its ups and downs. Here are a few of mine: Best decision – turning some of my old magazine stories into a charity anthology for a year. All profits made by The Saturday Secret up until mid-February will go to Doctors without Borders. Worst breakage…
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Christmas Swiss-Style
So what’s the difference? Quite a lot, especially if you believe in the magic of Santa Claus. He doesn’t come to Switzerland, you see. But let’s look at the entire festive season, starting with Advent. (We’ll ignore all the Christmas decs etc shops start putting up in October/November.) The first Christmassy thing in most homes…
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New land…
It’s been months since I joined Instagram. Yesterday, after months of trial, getting cross, error, and giving up, I finally worked out how to get pics onto my account. You have to use your mobile phone. For someone hopelessly devoted to larger machines – desktop or laptop or even netbook; I’m not fussy – this…
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Feel-good fiction for Doctors without Borders… special offer!
It feels like a long time ago since February, when my charity anthology, The Saturday Secret came out, published by Fabrian Books. 2017 profits from this book are going to Doctors without Borders, who do excellent work where it’s needed most. Last spring, I sent the first Fr.200.- off, and since then the money’s been…
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Spooky old house revisited…
Back in the nineties, I spent a week with a friend who had just moved to Biddenham. It’s a good area for a visit from Switzerland – Bedford just a hop down the road, and Cambridge and London less than an hour away. I made the most of my UK shopping and culture week. One…
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An old book and some new/old friends…
I was in England over the weekend – a flying visit from Zürich Airport to London Luton, and it was my first-ever Easy Jet flight. I was pleasantly surprised – my knees didn’t touch the seat in front, there was an empty place beside me both ways, and we took off and landed punctually. From…
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Home is… (complete in your own words…)
Home is where the heart is, traditionally. Nowadays, opinions differ. Home is where your other half (and presumably also your heart?) is? That’s a bit dangerous, imo. Home is where your favourite armchair is? Nope. My favourite armchair is a sofa, but I’m planning the next one already. Home is where the corkscrew is? Now…
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Pictures of a story…
Most of my books have relatively vague locations. Somewhere in Yorkshire… a few miles from Newquay… between Glasgow and Edinburgh… Chosen Child, however, is set in lovely St Ives, and the main action in Death Wish takes place in Glasgow, in the Langside area, where I stay when I visit my old home town. In…
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Over the sea to… Friedrichshafen
Our lake – Lake Constance – is huge. 536 square kilometres, to be exact. Standing on the banks on a misty day, you can almost imagine you’re gazing out over the Atlantic. The photo below was taken from the Austrian end, and shows Germany on the right and Switzerland disappearing on the left. Last week,…
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Up the Scott Monument…
Every time the boys and I go to Edinburgh, someone says, ‘Shall we go up the Scott Monument?’ We don’t often – sometimes it’s shut, sometimes the weather isn’t suitable, and then there’s that narrow spiral staircase with 287 steps to the top… You need to be at your best for that. The Scott Monument…
Got any book recommendations?
