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How many books should a self-published author aim to sell? If you are writing a book, how much money are you likely to make from…
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What if the cure for coronavirus is worse than the disease? What if after COVID-19 we have COVID-21, COVID-35 and COVID-42? How will coronavirus change society,…
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A famous poem highlights the challenges of English spelling and pronunciation. Many readers of this blog use English as their second or even third language.…
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The Overton window is a way of describing the acceptable range of political culture at any given moment. Wikipedia defines it as “the range of…
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Many people writing a book are looking for writing prompts or ideas for stories. A couple of simple writing tips may help, including: start writing!…
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The coronavirus crisis shows us a number of ways to deal with uncertainty. But dealing with uncertainty is easier with practice and a bit of…
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A review of “Unsheltered” by Barbara Kingsolver, with quotations, reflecting on what it says about the mood of contemporary America. Barbara Kingsolver is a great…
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As the coronavirus crisis continues, I’m writing upbeat posts to celebrate countries I’ve lived in. Here are ten reasons to like Austria, where I lived…
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The Finnish ambassador turned to me. ‘It’s not true that Finns have no sense of humour,’ he said. ‘Or that we lack passion.’ ‘For example,’…
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To say W Somerset Maugham is unfashionable is like saying that J K Rowling has sold a few books. Yet he remains popular. My post about…
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You can now see a selection of videos of Robert Pimm in action on my new YouTube channel. Who knows? Perhaps one or two of…
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Let’s celebrate. We’re going through a ghastly coronavirus crisis. But we should not forget that the world is wonderful. I thought I would write in…
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In February, before Coronavirus, I did three readings. Two were in Berlin, from my Berlin thriller Blood Summit. The other was in Vienna, from my feminist…
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Someone did an interview with me the other day using the “60 Seconds” format. I found the questions searching, and had to invest a little…
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Let’s celebrate. We’re going through a ghastly coronavirus crisis. But we should not forget that the world is wonderful. I thought I would write in…
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When I lived in Istanbul from 2012-16, people often asked me whether I was concerned about terrorist attacks, crime or civil disturbance. At the end…
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What to do, when you are stuck at home because of the #coronavirus outbreak? Read Middlemarch, by George Eliot. George Eliot’s real name was Mary…
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“Three people came up the walk to the old mansion just at dawn on a perfect May morning. Oliver Wilson in his pajamas watched them…
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In these coronavirus days, it’s worth recalling how to be happy. I’m going out to dinner tonight, so this might be my last chance. I’m…
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By Robert Pimm Financial Times, May 9, 2003 I’m picking up the kids from school here in Berlin when a teacher accosts me. “Started being a…
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Which rooftop bar in Vienna has: outstanding cocktails the best view in Vienna total coolness? Here’s a clue: Here are some reasons I like the…
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At a recent reading from my blackly comic “Seven Hotel Stories” in Vienna, a man asked me: ‘These stories seem explicitly feminist. Is that intentional?’…
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My two live readings in Berlin are coming up. I shall be reading from my thriller Blood Summit in Berlin on 21 and 22 February. I…
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How a convicted killer introduced me to his girlfriend – who loathed him. What I thought about love aged 21. The lawyer who took me back to…
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I am listening to literary folk on the Queen Mary Literary Festival at Sea (links in bold italics are to other posts on this site). After a…
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Welcome to a brand new “Hotel Story”. Seven Ukrainian Girls is the eighth story in the series, and follows on from the tales collected in my…
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It is time to plan your weekend in Berlin. I shall be doing two readings from my thriller Blood Summit in Berlin on 21 and 22…
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What are the Top 10 Vienna cafes? How can you find the best Viennese cafe for you? Start here with Robert Pimm’s fun, objective and…
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Welcome to the opening chapters of my Berlin thriller, Blood Summit. I wrote Blood Summit from my personal experience, after years of working with real terrorist…
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I’m sitting on a high-speed train, next to the window, with an empty paper cup. How best can I make myself happier? One of my…
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My blog of January 2016 recorded the discovery of a handwritten list of ten rules of behaviour amongst my father’s papers, two years after his death in…
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What are the John Connolly “Charlie Parker” novels about? Should you read them, and where should you start? My answer, based on reading four novels…
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Respectable Austrian news service APA has published a report saying, and I quote, “according to employees sent abroad by companies, Vienna is the third-most unfriendly…
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Trollope is an outstanding writer on relationships between the sexes. Lessons on gender from 1869 are still 100% relevant. How men think, how women think…
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How was the Cunard Literary Cruise 2020? Would I go on the 2021 version? Would I bite your hand off to have another chance? What about…
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Review of Ian Fleming’s Goldfinger, including James Bond’s sexism. Not one of the best books of all time, but a time capsule of 1950s homophobia…
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I wrote the following story as flash fiction at a writing course I attended recently at Loutro on Crete (links in bold italics are to other posts…
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Five great ways you can turn your own experience – whatever it is – into compelling storylines, story ideas and writing prompts. I have finished…
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Have you seen the classic 1949 British thriller The Third Man (links in bold italics are to other posts on this site)? If not, watch it immediately! Either way,…
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What do you think a reading with Robert Pimm looks like? I was delighted on 18 October to read from my Berlin thriller Blood Summit in…
