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Tag Archives: men and women
FEAR AND LOATHING IN NORTH WEST JAVA
THERE’S A WHAT IN THE BATHROOM??? Heading down to Java tomorrow to hang out with my youngest daughter, who just got a job there. She says her house has skinks, gekkos and … spiders. The spiders, she says, are … Continue reading
IT IS NOT THE CRITIC WHO COUNTS
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the … Continue reading
Where’s my phone?
You have a phone? You must have done this. COLIN FALCONER
THE ENIGMA BEHIND THE ENIGMA
So who was the enigma behind the Enigma in that movie with Brendan Cumberbatch? His name was Alan Turing and The Imitation Game portrays the seminal moments in the life of one of Britain’s top code breakers. Turing led Hut … Continue reading
HISTORY YOU CAN SEE
History is not about things that happened - it’s about people. Here’s some great photographs of people who made a little bit of history - or just lived through it. Because every one of them had a story. Even if … Continue reading
Can we live without hope?
Can a man live without hope? I was in India recently researching my next novel FEVER COAST. While I was there, I read the sad news that Robin Williams had taken his life. Suicide always asks searching questions of us. … Continue reading
The Pyramid of Needs - for Travellers
Just got back from a research trip overseas. This is what I learned, with apologies to Maslow and his concept of the Pyramid of Needs - the most basic, of course, being at the bottom:
WHY A LOVE STORY IS NOT JUST A HAPPY ENDING
My niece asked me recently: Why is there always a love story in your books? And it’s true: there almost always is. So why do it? For a gratuitous sex scene? Because people like romance? So the main character can … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized, WRITING
Tagged a good man, men and women, the power of story
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SEX, DEATH AND THE MEANING OF LIFE
Writers think a lot about two things: sex and death. It’s very rare that you can write a book without talking about one or both, unless you’re Jamie Oliver. Questions of life and love possess most fictional characters; it’s the … Continue reading
JFK, THE MIAMI MAFIA AND GETTING NAKED IN HAVANA
Thank you for this interview, Magdalena. Now that NAKED IN HAVANA has been written, do you feel you were fairly portrayed or would you like to set anything straight with your readers? No, I dictated most of it, so it’s … Continue reading
