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happy-ever-afters

We’ve had some good, hard frosts here in Dorset. Mr S is an early riser, and has persuade me to get up and walk with him across the fields in the ice and frost before breakfast. I love crunching...

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Mr Rosenblum’s Vineyard

Sorry for the silence. Mr S and I are on holiday in sunny Florida at the moment with the senior Ss. Florida is amazing – it’s one of the few places in the world where you can get chopped liver …...

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A heron haunted sea

It’s time to go home. I’ve seen dolphins and pelicans and manatees, and this morning a sea of black ducks soaring above us as we stood on the pier. The weather has been beautiful the last few days, and...

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Tea by the fire

I love winter. There is something about the cold weather that makes me want to sit by the fire and write. It’s too cold to venture out to the winter house across the ice-field terrace and arctic lawn,...

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Happy New Year!

For the first time in about a decade, I spent New Year’s Eve in London rather than in Dorset. Mr S and I joined friends at Wilton’s Music Hall for a twenties-themed evening of decadence, opera and...

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Jack and Paul

The festive season was so much fun, but I am really glad to be snuggled at home writing again. Jocasta is busily preparing the paperback edition of Mr R and has asked me to find some photos of my...

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Elegant in the snow

I couldn’t resist posting this picture of my grandparents’, Paul and Margot, looking so chic after a country snowstorm in the 1950s. My grandmother looks particularly fetching in her blouse and slacks....

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The thaw (and the last slice of birthday cake)

I’ve been in London again for a few days. Actually it was my birthday and I decided to celebrate in the big city with my friends. My mum came too and baked me a Baumtorte – a traditional German cake …...

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I think it’s starting…

I’ve got used to telling people that my book’s coming out next year. Only now it’s this year. I’m excited and  nervous in equal measure. Little snippets are starting to appear, like here:...

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Ah, home at last

It’s so good to be back in Dorset. Within a week I start to pine for green fields. The snow has almost gone here, just a smattering of white across the high ground. I think I timed it very well, …...

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counting sheep to fall asleep

I feel slightly odd, like I’m actually living in two parallel worlds; or, at the very least, jet-lagged and trying to zoom between two time zones. Only rather than London/ Los Angeles, the zones are...

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This made me happy.

Beattie’s book blog said lovely things about Mr R: http://beattiesbookblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/mr.html I’ve been having one of those days… so close to finishing this draft of Fred… and part of me...

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The space between the words

I have now finished the first draft of Fred. I cried when I reached the end. I took a moment in the summerhouse to be alone and to feel sad that this part was over. Writing can be really hard, …...

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jitterbugs and other novel translations

Mr S and I are back in Dorset after a busy week in London. It was all rather fun – I met my charming Dutch editor, Jacqueline, and saw the cover for the Dutch edition of Mr R. The book … Continue...

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Mr Rosenblum’s Cottage gets a new thatch

It’s been 20 years and it’s time for the cottage to be re-thatched. This is the cottage that my grandparents bought when they first arrived in Dorset and the place where I spent all my holidays as a...

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Snow day!

Mr S and I have been writers-in-residence at a rather lovely school in Kent this week. There was a blizzard on Wednesday night and we woke to Narnia. And, last lesson was cancelled – after leaving...

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on the road

Today I went out with Julia, the lovely Hodder sales rep, to meet booksellers in the Dorset area. It was great to meet the people who will actually be selling Mr R. There are just so many people...

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Grandmother’s spell book

My grandmother had a rather spectacular recipe book. It doesn’t look like much – a battered exercise book with the cover torn off – but it contains magic. All the family recipes are in there, and...

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The very first copy.

Yesterday, the postman delivered the very first copy of Mr Rosenblum’s List. It’s an actual proper book. In hardback. With my name on. I placed it on the shelf in the sitting-room amongst the proper...

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Bluebell Woods

It’s bluebell time again. I have measured out my life not through coffee spoons like J Alfred Prufrock but through bluebells. These are taken at Duncliffe wood in Dorset at dusk. The scent of the...

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