Welcome to over 300 entries!  This page is to help you find your way via five pleasure paths.  Links in bold italics are to other posts on this site.  

1. Original fiction

• Pick up my Berlin thriller Blood Summit and you won’t put it down.  If you read the novel in a book group, you may find Blood Summit: reading group questions helpful.
• My seven (so far) famous Hotel Stories feature the world’s most homicidal hotel manager, Ms N; her beautiful but naive ally, Tatiana; and Ms N’s unique methods of dealing with awkward hotel guests.  Read a complete Hotel Story free here.

You can read more about my novels and my short stories on the adjacent tabs.

2.  Writing tips

Do you want to improve your writing technique?  You can see tips about writing under Writing about Writing.  Examples include:

• 2 sets of brilliant tips on “how to write”;
• How to write: Orhan Pamuk
• my thoughts on How to write
• Marilyn Monroe and 5 ways to turn experience into fiction. 

I set out tips about journalism here:

• 7 tips for writing the perfect article (part 1 of 3)
• The 4 elements of the perfect article: Nut-grafs & Cosmic Kickers (part 2 of 3) and
• How to write great Nut-grafs and Cosmic Kickers: part 3.

3. Existential and women

Reflections on happiness, the meaning of life, and women, e.g.:

• How to be happy: 11 simple tools 
• The one with the links to happiness
• Women in fiction: Atomic Blonde and Blood Summit
• Tuchman’s Law (or “Always look on the bright side”?): 9/10
• Happiness and small victories 
• Things are getting worse, right?  Wrong. Here’s why
• Want to smartphone detox?  Here’s how
• The Simpsons – existential, circular fantasy
• Spectre: another reason to miss it? Women. 4/10
• How to work better: 10 rules?  Or not?
• My piece for the Financial Times, “Behind every great woman…” – on the challenges facing male partners of successful women
• A thoughtful and moving piece for the Financial Times: “Rag’n’bones to riches” about the 80th birthday of Mary, from Arsenal, and how she brought up four brilliant daughters
• A piece for the German newspaper Die Welt, in German: “Im Dienst Ihrer Majestät”: how a female officer who joined the British Foreign Service at a junior level enjoyed a strong career.
• Wonder Woman and Wartime Moral Confusion (WMC)

4. Reviews

I was prompted to start writing reviews by so enjoying the awesome Anthony Trollope that I felt I had to share him.  I received a strong response, so thought I would try a few others.  You can see them all or sample the list below:

• Which Vienna cafes are the best (one of my most popular reviews, regularly updated)
• Why sequels suck
• DON’T PANIC: a communications masterclass 10/10
• The Wave: 5 reasons to miss it & 7 reasons you must see it 9/10
• Spectre: 5 reasons to miss it & 5 reasons you’ll see it 4/10
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens: 6 reasons I was surprised 8/10
• Making fun of the English?  The great George Mikes 10/10
• Independence Day 2: Oh, my God! 1/10
• Football: how to fix FIFA and World Cup corruption
• How to find your way (maps and navigation)
• “Lion” – the film.  The real India?
• Fine Austrian movies: Toni Erdmann vs Wilde Maus
• Fine Austrian movies: Toni Erdman vs Wilde Maus
• How to read P G Wodehouse: a practical guide
• The Third Man. Movie magic – 10/10
• Get Out – an instant classic? 9/10
• Zombeavers?  Yes!  Prometheus?  Yes!  A girl walks home alone at night? Not yet… and Tokyo Tribes 9/10
• Museum of Innocence: how men think? 8/10
• 6 reasons “The Neon Demon” makes “Showgirls” look like Shakespeare 2/10
• The Internet. 7 reasons why it will destroy civilisation
• Nine questions about the Alan Clark Diaries: 0/10? or 10/10?

5.  The latest thing

If you’re a regular visit, you can browse my latest blogs in the column on the right (“LATEST POSTS”). Recent pieces include: Sex, alcohol, people: what makes you happy?; John Connolly’s Charlie Parker Novels: Read them; Trollope on the Sexes – and the “Railway Sandwich”; and Literature Festival at Sea: 10/10.  Look down the right hand column to see what’s new.

Top thriller writer John Connolly buying a copy of my Berlin thriller “Blood Summit“

P.S.  If you enjoy fresh, original writing, feel free to friend me on Facebook or sign up for e-mail updates when I publish my weekly posts (top right – the “click here” blue button).  If you would prefer a monthly update, join my mailing list.  You can explore the range of writing on this site via my five pleasure paths.