 Amongst many, many tributes to the late Bruce Forsyth, (and much as I enjoyed 'The Generation Game' and much as I love 'Strictly' I'm not sure I ever thought I'd be writing about him), one of the words which comes up most frequently is 'gentleman'. His friends, and all those who met him say that he was not just a great entertainer, but a really good man. One tweet in particular caught my imagination, tweeted by @joeonpiano, who tells in 140 characters, a whole story, about himself, about Bruce, and about something in all of us. His tweet reads:
'Playing piano on the floor of Harrods many years ago feeling totally ignored when a kind voice said "I'm listening". RIP Brucie. A real gent. ' One of Bruce Forsyth's most significant qualities was they way he understood instinctively not what he wanted to say, but what he knew the people he was talking to wanted, even needed, to hear. I think there's something in all of us which needs to hear those words 'I'm listening.'  I'm so thrilled to see that a new library has been opened in the playroom of my beloved godsons' home. Aged five and seven they are already voracious readers and I was very lucky to be shown around by the chief librarian. Also so pleased to see that the library stocks my own works. In fact, the librarian was able to find them easily and has even made a display feature of Funeral of the Sardine, which will no doubt boost its lending figures considerably. Seeing so many lovely books, especially in the children's section made me think back fondly to the classics of my childhood : E Nesbit, (not just The Railway Children but the fabulous Bastable stories, Five Children and It, The Story of the Amulet etc.) all the wonderful works of Noel Streatfeild, The Secret Garden, Tom's Midnight Garden, Charlotte's Web and all the gnomes in their beautiful coloured costumes in The Hobbit, The Wind in the Willows, Emil and the Detectives and so many more. All these treasures await the boys, and I was so excited I had to be told to 'shush' in no uncertain terms by the librarian for fear I would disturb the library's other studious visitor, pictured here with a wide variety of possible choices.
 A new development on the site is my latest venture. The Swan Life Blog is a new foray into the world of social media and this time it's for Swans. The girls who are older than chicks, and not yet ready to become old birds, the brave and the beautiful, serene and calm on top, probably paddling underneath, and for whom life is just beginning, maybe for the first time, maybe the second, even the third. After all if necessity is the mother of invention, re-invention is a luxury we’ve all earned. Follow, like, share at will, and let’s make waves together.
 Free reads! I thought it might be a good idea to let visitors meet Atticus and have a good look at all the books before deciding to part with hard-earned cash. So to whet the collective appetites of my readership I am now offering the chance to read the first chapter of every one of my titles, for free. Fill in a few idle minutes on a train or at a bust stop, or at the checkout, or the dentist, and introduce yourself to the Atticus Drake Mysteries, or MidAtlantic, and who knows, maybe once you've started…
 The best news for a while is that the new Atticus Drake Mystery is out, and this time it’s all about New York.
Atticus is loft-sitting for his long lost cousin Jasper, looking after a beautiful apartment in the West Village, a swanky art gallery uptown, and a whole host of trouble, as he finds rather more than he bargained for behind the scenes. There's a whole host of new friends to be made and a villain or two to be exposed, and by the way, where is Jasper? I’ve been lucky enough to visit New York a few times, and it has always taken my breath away. It’s thrilling, it’s vibrant, it’s completely exhausting, it’s alive. Every second doorway promises an off-broadway theatre company, a new art collective, a pop-up boutique, or an optimistic fringe dining experience. There’s Macy’s and Bloomingdales and Saks Fifth Avenue. There’s the Rockefeller Center, the Park, and the Zoo. Every street corner is a movie set, street names and buildings prompt memories of literary classics. There are at least half a dozen ways to travel about from the subway and the Amtrak to yellow cabs, bicycle rickshaws, horse-drawn carriages, roller skate and cycle lanes, limousines, and although the natives would never do it, there's nothing more exciting than a good twenty-block walk. That's the one for me, footsore and dodging exhaust fumes and the rising air from the subway, I just love people watching, sightseeing, taking my life in my hands crossing the road, and finding little, out of the way places to eat, drink coffee, and listen to the sounds of the City. You know what? you can pick up a paperback or a download of A Bite in the Big Apple, right now. Don't forget to let me know what you think, and give Amazon the requested star rating feedback too, as that's what keeps my books at the forefront of the search engines, and in turn, what keeps me in bagels, if not in transatlantic air tickets (Not yet anyway). |
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