“All good wishes for a peaceful Christmas. Stay safe in 2018 in this strange and troubled world.” That’s what my wise Evening Standard friend David M wrote in his Christmas card and I couldn’t have put it better myself. What an unsettling year 2017 has been. On a personal level there have been highs and lows. The highs included bursting with pride when I saw my son graduate in July, ...keep reading
We constantly read about celebrities behaving badly, issuing diva-like demands and having mega strops when things don’t suit them. So it was refreshing to read a piece by Jeremy Vine (currently strutting his stuff on Strictly) that revealed the sweet nature of his fellow contestant Peter Andre. I’m probably the only person in the land who has never watched Strictly (I’m an X Factor girl myself) and I have to ...keep reading
How can a whole year have flown by since the 2011 Henley Literary Festival? And how can this year’s autumn weather be so different ? Twelve months ago I listened to Bella Pollen and Kay Burley talk about their books in sweltering sunshine. This year the audience at Jeremy Vine’s event were all in winter coats, scarves and (in my case) fingerless gloves. But who cared about the chilly temperature ...keep reading
It’s 20 years since I threw caution to the wind and swapped a steady (ish) job and salary for the precarious life of a freelance. But right at the start, I made a solemn promise – and it’s one I’ve never broken. I would not, I told myself, ever sneak out of my office to watch daytime TV. If I did it once, I knew I’d be doomed. But daytime ...keep reading