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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…
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…
“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…
‘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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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).…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
‘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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
via Wodehouse and Plumtopia
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
I once visited a wonderful friend who was a successful writer (DF – it was you!). At the time, I was struggling to complete my…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
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…
Can’t wait for more.
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Üblicherweise hört Gefühl: Was kostet die Welt, oder hinein, egal, was es kostet”, mit der Geburt des ersten Kindes auf. Auf jeden Fall ist diese Geschichte eine hochinteressante Bildungsreise im 20. Jahrhundert. Im 18. und 19. Jh. machten vor allem Engländer die sogenannte “Kavalierstour”. Bin sehr neugierig auf den Fortgang der Reise.
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