I went back to Dorchester this week for a visit to my old school, the former St Genevieve’s convent that I have written about in A Sweet Life. It is no longer a convent, now a co-ed prep, called Sunninghill. I had not stepped inside the place since I left at sixteen, though having written about it, I have revisited it more recently in my head. About fifty women made the trip, though there were just a few whom I …
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After nearly twenty years of calling myself Lucinda Slater, I decided that the time was right to reclaim my maiden name of Osmond. I am glad to say that this was not due to any change in my marital status, which I think was actually strengthened by my husband’s positive if slightly teasing reaction to my announcement. ‘You can call yourself anything you want!’ he said, as he laughed at my visible anxiety. My reason in part was due to …
Watching a tribute to David Bowie reminded me of the emotional outpouring after his death. The remarks from various quarters summed up their (and my) sense of loss and bewilderment at his sudden departure from our lives. For those who had grown up with Bowie, we could not believe that he had gone. David Baddiel on Twitter wrote: Feeling disorientated by Bowie’s death, like I’ve woken up and the world is out of joint. I think I assumed he was immortal. …
My manuscript is completed, my working first draft is done. And on time. It has taken me about eighteen months to get here. My family always said that one of us should write a book, and one day, a year ago last summer, I felt ready to take on that challenge. I set about jotting down keywords of all the stories I could remember. I stuck them on an A1 board and started arranging them in order. Then I just …
Advice for writers from authors Gill Hornby, Liz Fenwick, Adele Parks, Guy Saville, Saira Shah and Kate Williams at Guildford Book Festival 2015. How do you become a writer? I was reassured by Adele Parks’ response that, “there is no set path.” Some of the authors had always wanted to be a writer, had known from a very young age that it was what they wanted to do. Others, who perhaps hadn’t dared to dream that big, knew they loved to write. All loved books and stories. …
The editing seems to be taking me quite a while, it feels intense. My deadline for finishing my first working draft is just two weeks away. So, after a busy morning I took some time out at Polesden Lacey to get outside and connect with nature. All around me I could see the autumn tinges starting to show through. The air smelt of smokey bacon and fermenting apples. It’s the first time I’ve felt chilly this autumn, wishing I had …