Latest Posts

• 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…

• P.G. Wodehouse Reference Guide for Political Commentary

  via P.G. Wodehouse Reference Guide for Political Commentary

• 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…

• P.G. Wodehouse reading list: the Jeeves and Wooster stories

  Originally posted on Plumtopia: This piece follows my reading suggestions for new Wodehouse readers with a reading list for the Jeeves and Wooster stories. Jeeves…

• The Hotel Stories – the toughest woman on earth?

  Who is the toughest woman you have ever met? A woman who, although she takes no nonsense from men who break her rules, keeps her…

• Being happy: Paranoid and Bachelor Boy

  What are your all-time favourite songs? If you are over 25, did you first hear those songs recently or – as I suspect – did…

• Reading Wodehouse: a plea for help

  I need help. I need help from Wodehouse experts, or Kenner as we call them here in Austria. For years, I have been relishing my father’s…

• How to stay sane: never take yourself too seriously

  The lights go down. Heavy metal chords ring out. It is clear that Deep Purple have lost none of their ability to rock. I’ve seen…

• “Like all young men I set out to be a genius, but…” three quotations

  How seriously should we take ourselves? One of the keys to happiness is not to take yourself too seriously.  You can take life seriously, and…

• Great Vienna cafes – Cafe Malipop turns 40!

  Is kissing allowed in the Cafe Malipop? How about smoking? How about being cool and hanging out? Clue: only one of these activities is allowed…

• James Bond and salad dressing? Nein danke!

  Ian Fleming’s James Bond, created in a series of novels and short stories from 1953 to 1966, is unforgettable.  But his attitudes often now feel…

• East West Street: genocide? Or crimes against humanity?

  I recently read East West Street by British law professor and international human rights expert Philippe Sands. If you have any interest in the cataclysm which…

• How to write great Nut-grafs & Cosmic Kickers: part 3

  So you want to write a brilliant blog or newspaper article?  Help is at hand, in three easy stages. First: decide your message, and make…

• Much Obliged, Jeeves – 24 quotations

  For all you ardent Wodehouse fans, I have fine news. Much Obliged, Jeeves is one of the funniest Wodehouse books I have read. The cover of…

• The health benefits of Martinis

  At the roof bar of the top hotel in Istanbul, I don’t notice a thing. Below us, the Bosphorus sparkles in the setting sun.  I…

• Why “I am Pilgrim” is the best thriller I’ve read for ages

  I crave good thrillers.  But they are vanishingly rare. So when I find a book with a compelling plot, rich characters, horrifying jeopardy and seat-edge…

• #Howtowrite: comedy, thriller and diary quotations

  One key to writing better is to read critically.  I attempt to do so, often noting down excerpts from books as I read.  Here are…

• West London

  Originally posted on Paul Hodson: With Travelling Companion and Daughter I spent some end-of-holiday days in west London. We stayed in a flat in Barnes…

• Robert Pimm Live in Salzburg 20 February

  Stop press: I will be doing a reading from my Berlin thriller BLOOD SUMMIT at 1800 on 20 February 2019 at The English Centre in Salzburg.…

• Right Ho, Jeeves – 14 fruity quotations

  What better book to read at Christmas than Right Ho, Jeeves – a festive winter wonderland of Wodehouse, a rich Christmas pudding of Plum? Right Ho, Jeeves opens…

• 50 Shades: 5 reasons it’s a masterpiece, 5 reasons I hate it

  ‘I only finished the first volume,’ my friend says.  ‘It was so badly written.  And boring.’ ‘I disagree,’ I say.  ‘I think the writing is…

• W. Somerset Maugham on sex, turnips and the meaning of life

  A writer compares turnips and sex.  Is he wise, or daft?  Can we use his wisdom – if any – to make ourselves happier? I…

• Arvon residential writing courses: review

  Ahead, in the kitchen, everyone seems to be laughing.  As I approach, the noise swells.  I push the door open to find ten people sitting…

• Dancing for New Orleans: a writing course in Greece

  I recently attended an outstanding Arvon Foundation writing course in Shropshire.  I will write a blog about that shortly. In researching, I found this piece,…

• #howtowrite: paper or computer?

  I sit down at my desk in Vienna to continue writing my current novel, code-named The Boyfriend.  Outside, birds sing in the trees; all is well…

• #howtowrite: #ViennaWritingInspiration

  You are an author.  You are about to sit down and begin to write a story. How do you get started?  What will it be…

• Short story technique from the master: 3 quotations

  Every writer wants to write better. Some of my most popular blogs set out tips on how to do this.  That is why I have…

• Jeeves in the Offing: review and quotes

  Attentive readers – if any are reading this* – will be aware of my slow-burn devotion to the works of P G Wodehouse, including  How to…

• The best thing to do in Vienna on 1 November

  “As night falls on All Hallows, the Zentralfriedhof is transformed into an ethereal wonderland. It seems every visitor throughout the day has lit a candle…

• Carols, the perfect martini, and love: three quotations

  What is the perfect martini? A couple of years ago in Istanbul I was taken out for dinner by two top cardiac specialists. In between…

• Two-and-a-half literary quotes

  At my reading this week from my Berlin thriller Blood Summit, someone asked when I found time to write. I wrote a blog on “Where I write”…

• In Defence of Fifty Shades of Grey

  Originally posted on Inconsistent Pacing: With the new film just released, Fifty Shades of Grey is being savaged everywhere again – everyone seems to have an…

• The Russians: Vladivostok

  Josef had long dark curly hair and a roguish smile.  He stood aside from the tiller.  ‘Fancy a go?’ he said.  We were speaking Russian.…

• Thursday 18 October! My live reading from “Blood Summit”

  What does reclusive author Robert Pimm look like in the flesh?  Great news.  You can find out when I read from my Berlin thriller Blood Summit on…

• Smoking in cafes: a Viennese speciality

  How long will Austria retain its unusually permissive attitude to smoking in bars and cafes? Back in the 1970s I used to ride on the…

• The 3 greatest Vienna cafes???

  ‘Hey,’ your friend says in Vienna.  ‘Let’s meet up for a coffee’. ‘How about a cup of tea?  Or a beer?  Or a glass of…

• #howtowrite: Where to write

  So. The rather awesome J K Rowling wrote swathes of the “Harry Potter” series in cafes in Edinburgh. Can other writers do this? With iPad…

• The Americans: Avenue of the Heroes

  In 1979 I hitch-hiked for seven weeks around the United States. What did I learn about the US of 1979, and what does that tell…

• The Americans: leaving New York

  In 1979 I hitch-hiked for seven weeks around the United States.  What became of the carefree, relaxed young 21 year-old of these pages?  Can I…