Latest Posts

• Vienna unfriendly? San Francisco a hell-hole?

  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…

• Trollope on the sexes – and the “railway sandwich”

  How men and women think, and whether there is a difference, is one of the abiding puzzles of life.  We all want to understand other…

• Literature Festival at Sea: 10/10

  “You have 15 seconds to capture someone’s attention,” crime writer Mark Billingham says.  Outside, the ocean rushes by, waves flecked with white horses.  The wreck…

• Goldfinger: “Oddjob: the Pressure Room”

  ‘Are the James Bond novels any good?’ a friend asked me the other day. ‘They are anachronistic, homophobic and sexist,’ I replied.  ‘But James Bond himself…

• A complete short story: “Taxi to London”

  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…

• Marilyn Monroe and 5 ways to turn experience into fiction

  I have finished reading from my book Seven Hotel Stories when a guy in the audience raises his hand. ‘How much of these stories is made…

• 4 astonishing facts about “The Third Man”

  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,…

• Pictures from my reading in Innsbruck

  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…

• A complete short story: “Fixing It”

  I wrote the following story as flash fiction at a writing course I attended recently (links in bold italics are to other posts on this site).…

• “Seven Hotel Stories” paperback now available!

  The paperback version of Seven Hotel Stories is now out.  It looks like this: I’m pretty excited about this, so all shares, retweets etc welcome! The text on…

• Friday 18 October: come to my live reading in Innsbruck!

  Hello to all you readers out there. I shall be reading from my Berlin thriller Blood Summit at the Stadtbibliotek (city library) in Innsbruck at 1900…

• From Russia with Love: sexist, homophobic cold war time capsule

  What if Ian Fleming wrote a James Bond novel in which the hero did not appear until halfway through? The cover of my Folio Society…

• Diamonds are Forever: civil servants and “shills”

  A new James Bond movie, No Time to Die, lurches over the horizon.  Will it be any good? Almost certainly not (links in bold italics are to other posts…

• The Americans: Return to California

  When I climb into an Uber driven by Jonathan (not his real name) in San Diego, he is playing reggae.  Rashly, I comment on this.…

• Was wäre wenn? Mein Berlin-Thriller “Blood Summit” auf Deutsch

  Vor kurzem war ich zu Besuch in Berlin.  Ich habe den Reichstag besichtigt: die Kulisse für meinen Berlin-Roman Blood Summit. Blood Summit gibt es noch nicht…

• A distinguished cafe off the beaten track: Cafe Eiles

  An Austrian friend of mine was reading my Great Vienna cafe reviews recently (links in bold italics are to other posts on this site). My…

• Pure writing inspiration: Loutro, Crete

  In the shade of a quiet taverna, eight people sit writing.  Crickets chirp on the fragrant hillside.  A glistening kebab rotates; as fat hisses in…

• New video! Bringing “Blood Summit” home to Berlin

  I recently visited Berlin to take another look at the city in which my thriller Blood Summit is set. My goal was the Reichstag, where much of…

• 7 reasons to like the Strandbar Herrmann

  In the city, the heat is oppressive.  Yet the evening, in a deck chair under a beach umbrella, is cool.  The beer in my hand…

• Austria: the best footpaths in the world?

  How beautiful can a footpath be?  Austria’s are amongst the best. I particularly enjoy the country’s system of footpath signs.  Over the past three years…

• 7 Hotel Stories: 5 suggestions

  ‘Where can I find out more about your paperback “Seven Hotel Stories”, featuring the world’s most homicidal hotel manager, Ms N, and her beautiful but…

• Appreciating the Cloud Appreciation Society

  I recently visited one of my favourite places on earth, Lundy Island off the north coast of Devon, for the 22nd time. Lundy Island has…

• Lunch in the Chernobyl canteen: 25 pictures

  Exactly ten years ago, when I was living in Kyiv, I visited Chernobyl for the first time.  Following the HBO TV series “Chernobyl”, I thought…

• 14 Plums of Wodehouse

  What is the funniest book by “Plum” Wodehouse? I have so far read 14 of the 20 P G Wodehouse Jeeves and Wooster and Blandings…

• Writing fiction: 7 ways to deal with rejection

  You click open your e-mails.  Your heart leaps. The agent to whom you sent your cherished work in progress has replied to your pitch letter.…

• Robert Pimm reads “Seven Hotel Stories” at Cafe Korb

  I recently did a reading from my book Seven Hotel Stories at Cafe Korb in Vienna. It was a wonderful evening. The hosts were the…

• Wodehouse and Plumtopia – republished

  via Wodehouse and Plumtopia

• 7 ways to improve your manuscript

  Congratulations!  You have finished writing your novel. First step: celebrate.  You’ve achieved an awesome feat. Now what should you do? You should do lots of…

• 5 ways to get in the habit of writing

  I recently wrote on how to write a novel: plan in advance or not?  (Links in bold italics are to other posts on this site.)  I…

• Monday 17 June: live reading from my book “Seven Hotel Stories”

  Good news for story-lovers. I shall be reading from my book Seven Hotel Stories at Cafe Korb in Vienna on 17 June. Click on the…

• A Centenary of My Man Jeeves

  Originally posted on Plumtopia: My Man Jeeves was published 100 years ago in May 1919. Jeeves–my man, you know–is really a most extraordinary chap. So…

• How to write a novel: plan in advance, or not?

  What is the best way to write a novel?  Let’s explore two common methods.  I’ve tried both.  Each can work well: which is best for…

• How to write a novel: edit as you go along, or not? (“How to edit your novel, part 1”)

  I once visited a wonderful friend who was a successful writer (DF – it was you!). At the time, I was struggling to complete my…

• How to write gripping fiction: scenes, sequels and cliff-hangers

  An experienced commissioning editor told me recently that one of two main reasons she rejected manuscripts was “no story”.  The other was “overwritten” – I’ll…

• How to sign up for “Robert Pimm’s Writing News”

  I recently started a list of e-mails for people who might want to hear about my writing activities – eg my next reading from “Blood…

• A complete Hotel Story: free!

  I am grateful to everyone who reads this blog, my Berlin thriller Blood Summit or my novel-length collection of Seven Hotel Stories. So I thought I would give…

• The Americans: Fast Trip to London

  Previous posts in my series The Americans have included The Americans: prologue; The Americans: leaving New York; The Americans: Avenue of the Heroes; and The Americans: Valley…

• Waugh, Wodehouse, Durrell & Alan Clark: four quotations

  Do any of our actions make any difference to anything?  What makes us happy?  What makes us laugh?  What about the power of memory? This…

• Trollope: “He Knew He Was Right”. A masterpiece of dry comedy

  Trollope is, perhaps, my favourite novelist (although PG Wodehouse is up there). I have described before 11 life-changing reasons you should read Trollope, including his views on…

• Summer Lightning: 36 excellent quotations

  My recent blog Reading Wodehouse: a plea for help recorded that I had finished the main body of Jeeves and Wooster stories.  I sought advice on what…