Category Archives: Fiction

The next big thing

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

I’ve been persuaded by my fellow Dark Angel John Simmons to take part in something known as The Next Big Thing. It’s described as an author blog chain. This is how it works. I answer the questions below and ‘tag’ … Continue reading →

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Reading matters

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

A circular from the Society of Authors dropped into my inbox yesterday morning. Although the theme was not a new one, I stopped and read it carefully. The Society of Authors is the unaffiliated trade union that represents around 9,000 … Continue reading →

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Hurley burley

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

The hurlymans are still with me (see Day of the Door). I’m on my way back from Cornwall where I have just spent four days in a house overlooking an entirely deserted sweep of beach with no other human habitation … Continue reading →

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Tongue-tied

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

It’s unpleasant to feel a language slipping from one’s grasp. There was a time when I was a confident French speaker. I was taught it very well at an early age by an inspired teacher who showed us large pictures of … Continue reading →

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The Witness

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

When I came back to Scotland in 1990 after living in London for 20 years it seemed like a different country to the one I had left. The spirit of John Knox had finally been banished from the streets of … Continue reading →

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Close encounter

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

In December 1972 I quit my job at Hatchards bookshop in Piccadilly and flew to Argentina with my girlfriend. There we met up with 30 other travellers of all nationalities and stripes who had signed up for a trip with … Continue reading →

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Breaking up is hard to do

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

I’ve been dismembering one of my books, painstakingly taking it apart, page by page, so that each comes away from the glue of the spine cleanly, a perfect rectangle. It’s a strange, not entirely comfortable, feeling. The book in question … Continue reading →

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Life and Fate

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

We’re two weeks into the new year and stories are everywhere, it seems. There’s Melvyn Bragg and his Radio 4 series on the history of literature. It was the 4,000 year-old Sumerian epic, Gilgamesh, that set humanity off on its story-telling … Continue reading →

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Who cares wins

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Jamie Jauncey

Christie Watson must be very pleased. Her book, Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, about a Muslim family in Lagos, has been shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Prize. Perhaps she has an advantage. She’s a graduate of the famous University of … Continue reading →

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Summing up

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Jamie Jauncey

I heard yesterday that my novel The Witness has finally earned out its advance, nearly four years after publication. Jenny Brown, my agent, tells me that a cheque for about £20 is on its way to my account. Champagne all … Continue reading →

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