Category Archives: Stories

Bearing Witness

It’s the email every writer dreams of getting: ‘I would like to make a film of your book.’ It came, out of the blue, at the beginning of July. And before you ask – no, it wasn’t Dreamworks or Working … Continue reading

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Nine years

It’s nine years since the very first Dark Angels course took place at the Arvon writers centre at Totleigh Barton in Devon. Even more amazingly, it seems to me, it’s seven since we held our first advanced course on the … Continue reading

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Being heard

I have an abiding memory of being eight or nine years old and being made to hand round canapés at my parents’ drinks parties. It felt like trying to pick my way through a dense forest. My head was probably … Continue reading

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Great tapestry

Serendipity (the nation’s favourite word), has featured more than once in this blog. In the last year I’ve had two notable experiences that could be described as serendipitous: the meeting on a train between my wife and a priest who … Continue reading

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August elixir

I’m writing this at a table outside the author’s yurt in Charlotte Square Gardens. The sun is trying to break through and at the same time it’s spitting with rain. This is Edinburgh in August and the Book Festival is … Continue reading

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Hard-wired for heroes

About twice a week I travel to Edinburgh by train. By the time I catch it it’s halfway through its journey from Inverness, which means I can’t always get a forward- facing table. But I’ve become adept at guessing who’s … Continue reading

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Childish thinking

A writer branded ‘unteachable’ as a child, and diagnosed as severely dyslexic aged 12, wins children’s literature’s most prestigious prize, the Carnegie medal. An Indian professor and TED prize-winner proposes an educational system that produces people who can ’think like … Continue reading

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Tales of kindness

A couple of months ago, Sarah, my wife, and I ran a workshop together. It was the first time we’d done this, though we’d talked about it for years. We called it The Stories We Tell. It was a coming … Continue reading

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As I Died Lying

Last autumn, John, Stuart and I, the three Dark Angels (d’archangels as we’ve now been christened by the endlessly inventive Faye Sharpe – see link to the Secret Archaeologist in the blogroll below), had a mad idea. It was a … Continue reading

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Time out

When I started writing this blog, in August 2009, I might have been quite surprised to learn that I would still be at it nearly four years later. I was certainly surprised to discover how quickly it had become part … Continue reading

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