tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55143780084005677122024-03-08T11:34:35.259+00:00HOUSE WITH NO NAMEA WRITER'S DIARY OF LIFE, CHILDREN, BOOKS, FILMS AND FRANCEEmma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.comBlogger408125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-74982022673738277092013-03-18T20:02:00.001+00:002013-03-18T20:02:06.210+00:00House With No Name has moved!
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">House With No Name has now moved to my own website – <a href="http://www.emmaleepotter.com/">www.emmaleepotter.com</a> </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll still be blogging several times a week about books, films, family, education, France and
whatever else strikes me – so I hope to see you there. Do let me know what you think of the new site and please subscribe to the new
House With No Name blog. </span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-65039741853589658252013-03-10T14:25:00.003+00:002013-03-10T14:25:36.109+00:00Movie review - Eloise Laurence makes outstanding debut in Broken<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If there’s an award for outstanding film debut of the year then
it should go to 13-year-old Eloise Laurence. No question about it.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eloise has just made her big screen debut in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Broken</i>, a gritty family drama set in a
dreary suburban cul-de-sac. She plays 11-year-old Skunk Cunningham,
who lives with her single parent father, her au pair and her teenage brother. Kind-hearted
and adventurous, Skunk has had to cope with an awful lot in her life. Her mum
ran off with an accountant, she is diabetic, she’s tormented at school, her au
pair’s having an affair with her teacher and the two neighbouring families are
troubled to say the least.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Broken</i>, which is
based on a novel by Daniel Clay, isn’t exactly a laugh a minute film. It
features everything from mental illness to parenting to dysfunctional families
and an awful lot in between. But Eloise Laurence gives a mesmeric performance.
She lights up every scene she’s in (which is virtually all of them) and her
facial expressions switch in the blink of an eye.
She’s one of those rare performers who make acting seem like a piece of cake.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Director Rufus Norris spotted her talent straight away. He
saw more than 850 girls for the part before casting Eloise. The daughter of
actors Clare Burt (who also appears in the film) and Larry Lamb, she didn’t
take any acting lessons beforehand and apparently hasn’t even decided whether
she wants to act when she’s grown up. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film itself isn’t perfect but it’s definitely worth
seeing. The cast includes Tim Roth (as Skunk’s dad), Denis Lawson, Rory Kinnear
and Cillian Murphy and they are all excellent. But by the end of the movie, as tragedy after tragedy unfolded, I
was emotionally wrung-out and exhausted with it all.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Broken</i> (certificate 15) is in UK cinemas now.</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-75022202347062407332013-03-09T18:33:00.002+00:002013-03-09T18:33:48.723+00:00Download School Ties for FREE this weekend<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkn00rxLgVqru25hBffuINSrc0p8IeR3JXnkHQJoPdhj2efQbvaBGgojXQ2d-c24gBhHVyN5QUFpdCxf1FMF3Gg8IIUulp6PsFrBbjDpzvAYzuNgLbQglD1niHsKseG-iGlWjbnq8eXcKW/s1600/School+Ties+-+Emma+Lee-Potter" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkn00rxLgVqru25hBffuINSrc0p8IeR3JXnkHQJoPdhj2efQbvaBGgojXQ2d-c24gBhHVyN5QUFpdCxf1FMF3Gg8IIUulp6PsFrBbjDpzvAYzuNgLbQglD1niHsKseG-iGlWjbnq8eXcKW/s400/School+Ties+-+Emma+Lee-Potter" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My second romantic novella,
<i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/School-Ties-ebook/dp/B0098WAFHY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1350484302&sr=1-1" target="_blank">School Ties</a></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">, can be downloaded for
free on <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/School-Ties-ebook/dp/B0098WAFHY/ref=la_B002JGLTQC_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1362853941&sr=1-8" target="_blank">Amazon</a> this weekend – just in time for Mother’s Day in the UK. Here are
the opening paragraphs. </span>I’d love to know what you think, and look out for the sequel, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lessons-Love-School-Ties-ebook/dp/B00BO38V6M/ref=la_B002JGLTQC_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1362853941&sr=1-9" target="_blank">Lessons in Love</a></i>.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Will Hughes slammed his pen
down in frustration. It was ten fifteen on a rainy September night and he’d
been marking Hamlet essays for more than an hour. And what a bloody shambles
they were too. Admittedly he was teaching the bottom set, but he was stunned by
the quality of the teenagers’ work. Some could barely string a sentence
together, let alone use an apostrophe properly. Only one had produced work that
showed any understanding of Shakespeare’s most famous play. </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Trying hard to stay awake,
he took a gulp of cold instant coffee. He was less than halfway through the
pile of scripts and at this rate he’d be hard-pressed to finish them by
midnight. Worse still, he’d promised to take the first XV rugby squad on a
training run at dawn.</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">For the umpteenth time,
Will wondered why he had returned to teaching. He’d left his last school a year
ago to join an up-and-coming Shoreditch advertising agency. Yet now he’d had
another change of heart and given up his skinny lattes and generous expense
account to return to the chalkface.</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Not that Downthorpe Hall
was a tough place to work. It wasn’t. Compared to the early years of Will’s
career, when he’d been a young English teacher at a tough inner-city
comprehensive, Downthorpe was the cushiest number imaginable. A private school
dating back two hundred years, it was housed in an elegant Cotswold mansion,
complete with castellated turrets, a winding two-mile drive and acres of
playing fields. It had once been an all-boys school, but had gone co-ed twenty
years ago. The decision was deplored by the old guard but had succeeded in
giving the school’s academic results a much-needed shot in the arm.</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Will stretched his arms out
wide to keep himself awake, then stopped. He could have sworn he heard a loud
whirring noise outside the window. It sounded like a helicopter. But that was
impossible. Not at this time of night. And not so close to the school...</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-63705093449432517232013-03-08T12:50:00.002+00:002013-03-08T12:52:56.123+00:00Friday book review - A Sea Change by Veronica Henry<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtcIx4ZUPGlTOyiz5Yt_GAorhu8lIJ2_EZYnhOPPG1vVC47TurkpgfeD2827wPfpeH-URnDTpxrOZ2u0SH4T2k-T3oj04dDyrJKpNnrJSw8RtDueLfjDfic6aZeYY9kqckHTIBArQ3QHjx/s1600/Veronica+Henry+A+Sea+Change.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtcIx4ZUPGlTOyiz5Yt_GAorhu8lIJ2_EZYnhOPPG1vVC47TurkpgfeD2827wPfpeH-URnDTpxrOZ2u0SH4T2k-T3oj04dDyrJKpNnrJSw8RtDueLfjDfic6aZeYY9kqckHTIBArQ3QHjx/s1600/Veronica+Henry+A+Sea+Change.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN-US">I’m a huge fan of <i>Quick
Reads</i>, the “bite-size” books that aim to get more people reading. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Around one in six adults of working age in the UK find
reading difficult and many never pick up a book. That’s where <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Quick Reads</i> come in. Launched in 2006, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Quick Reads</i> commissioned a host
of big name authors to write short books that are specifically designed to be
easy to read. The initiative has proved so successful that over the last seven
years 4.5 million books have been distributed and three million library loans
clocked up.</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">
</span>
<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">New authors are added every year, with the latest starry batch of names including Andy McNab, Kathy Lette, Minette Walters and Veronica
Henry. The novels cost a bargain £1 each and have turned loads of previously
reluctant readers into “book addicts.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">
</span>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">I’ve read several <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Quick
Reads</i> over the years and when I spotted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/140910401X/ref=s9_al_bw_g14_ir05?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=0DCG624G2RGK97Q6EBY8&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=368404447&pf_rd_i=16248431" target="_blank">A Sea Change</a></i> by Veronica Henry in Foyle’s at St Pancras the other day I snapped it up to
read on the Eurostar.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">The story was perfect for my train journey. It’s only
90 pages long but has all the charm and insight of Henry’s longer novels. Set in the
fictional seaside village of Everdene, it’s the tale of ice-cream seller Jenna,
who turns up for work one hot summer’s day to find that she’s been sacked. With a flaky family, no money to pay her rent and no work on the horizon, she takes drastic
action – action that catches the attention of a young copper sitting on the
beach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Henry’s story is thought provoking, easy to read and
as light as the summer breeze. The perfect <i>Quick
Read</i> in fact.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/140910401X/ref=s9_al_bw_g14_ir05?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=0DCG624G2RGK97Q6EBY8&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=368404447&pf_rd_i=16248431" target="_blank">A Sea Change</a></i> by Veronica Henry (Orion, £1)</span></div>
<!--EndFragment--></span>Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-14438575651447105222013-03-07T08:46:00.000+00:002013-03-07T08:47:58.490+00:00Taking Sides, my third novel - out as an ebook TODAY<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdRL06qJ1Dwl8pPaBQEHteIEZFjPBQYTg92sGAphhtr4cw_zX1SOkdKQ91n6ABu7PnkRKq2KL6md_XvCwQ15oJG6NbigM6d8iG5Bgz_BO6QhlXJ83kYjGVZTXFRMcypK7cKYoD5pbmUtkB/s1600/Taking+Sides.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdRL06qJ1Dwl8pPaBQEHteIEZFjPBQYTg92sGAphhtr4cw_zX1SOkdKQ91n6ABu7PnkRKq2KL6md_XvCwQ15oJG6NbigM6d8iG5Bgz_BO6QhlXJ83kYjGVZTXFRMcypK7cKYoD5pbmUtkB/s400/Taking+Sides.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Taking-Sides-ebook/dp/B00A7YZ1O4/ref=la_B002JGLTQC_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1362568250&sr=1-6" target="_blank">Taking Sides</a></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">, my third novel, is
published as an ebook for the first time today. It’s got a snappy new cover and
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that readers will enjoy it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The star of the book is
Juliette Ward, a young mother who has grown tired of city life. Her newspaper
job is driving her crazy, her hours are horrendous and she barely gets to see
her young son during the week. Added to which, her house has been burgled three
times and her car’s been vandalised by a bunch of thugs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So Juliette takes a deep
breath, chucks in her job and persuades her husband to uproot to the wilds of
the Lake District. Except just as they’re about to move, he’s offered the job
of his dreams – hosting a new London breakfast show. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got the idea for the book
from the ever-increasing number of couples forced to live apart from their partners during
the week – not because they want to but because they can’t get jobs in the same
place. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Juliette, for instance, loves
the thought of swapping the big city for life in the country. But she hates the idea of swapping her stable marriage for a long-distance relationship. She decides
to give it a go, but the question is – can she ever make it work? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Taking-Sides-ebook/dp/B00A7YZ1O4/ref=la_B002JGLTQC_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1362568250&sr=1-6" target="_blank">Taking Sides</a></span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> by Emma Lee-Potter
(Piatkus Entice, £3.99)</span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-21551331546857096052013-03-05T11:20:00.000+00:002013-03-05T19:25:13.151+00:00Amy MacDonald in concert at the London Palladium<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgloup_7PD6yHvqoMU1fZW7aX0EZke-qT8JD8xCdgDmggzoeTjM4bwxP_Ue0us2MqAuuMx09rrEhab7SJJ1C94hHnio6_iZ3ETgHs-zHjmmkh-eDhWo3NXMOe6efwq_Jjf_SM9tLd1oSgt-/s1600/IMG_1836.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgloup_7PD6yHvqoMU1fZW7aX0EZke-qT8JD8xCdgDmggzoeTjM4bwxP_Ue0us2MqAuuMx09rrEhab7SJJ1C94hHnio6_iZ3ETgHs-zHjmmkh-eDhWo3NXMOe6efwq_Jjf_SM9tLd1oSgt-/s400/IMG_1836.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What on earth possessed Justin Bieber to be two hours
late for his own concert? In one fell swoop the 19-year-old singer disappointed
hundreds of young fans, infuriated their parents and set Twitter ablaze with
criticism.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I reckon they should have gone to Amy MacDonald’s
concert at the London Palladium the night before instead. The Glaswegian singer-songwriter
(responsible for one of my all-time favourite tracks, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let’s Start a Band</i>) arrived on time, took the packed audience by
storm and left us all stunned by her talent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’d booked tickets months ago but when it came to it,
my husband was on a work trip in Dubai and my daughter was in Paris. So I asked
my 18-year-old son instead and even though he was dubious and his musical
tastes are diametrically opposed to mine he sweetly agreed. His
favourite music is “Trap,” which is apparently a mix of “southern hip-hop and
Crunk” – and no, I’m still none the wiser.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But after a set lasting more than an hour, even my son
agreed that Amy MacDonald and her band gave a storming performance. Now 25, she
is a self-taught musician who started playing in Glasgow pubs ten years ago and
has now sold more than five million albums. Her latest claim to fame came last
week when she appeared on the BBC’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Top
Gear</i> programme. A self-confessed car fanatic who drives a Ferrari, she drove
a Kia hatchback at top speed around a Surrey racetrack and was described by a
clearly impressed Jeremy Clarkson as “one of the biggest petrolheads we’ve ever
had on the show.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But back to the Palladium. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=09SMV1J7ifk" target="_blank">Amy MacDonald</a>, a diminutive
figure in a short black sparkly dress and sky-high boots, gave one of the most
outstanding live performances I’ve ever seen. She’s halfway through a European
tour and whether she was singing acoustic ballads or anthemic rock numbers held the audience in the palm of her hand. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She’s good at the chat too. Along the way we
discovered that she recommended Irn-Bru as a hangover cure, that the
song <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Green and the Blue</i> was inspired by her love for Glasgow and that, unlikely as it sounds, she and her band warm
up to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Higher and Higher</i>, from the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ghostbusters</i> movie. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next day she was off home to Glasgow, ahead of a
gig in Edinburgh tonight. If the audience was this rapturous in London, goodness knows
what it will be like up there…</span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-88914972769073530242013-03-01T13:32:00.000+00:002013-03-01T13:32:55.521+00:00Friday book review - With All My Love by Patricia Scanlan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhipv_xRVGPCstULoQJu1S6XywIJo-F2KDFex6UDzIsPAPzlhIVOlgr1S_Qss13qz9zD_Nwh9_iyKuUZHWU6-kRWcOON_rNVODqCcDnXVCrLtQkaU7Xu_7ovp9mKdtKF8OcrS8uOKHdIYP6/s1600/cvr9781471110764_9781471110764_hr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhipv_xRVGPCstULoQJu1S6XywIJo-F2KDFex6UDzIsPAPzlhIVOlgr1S_Qss13qz9zD_Nwh9_iyKuUZHWU6-kRWcOON_rNVODqCcDnXVCrLtQkaU7Xu_7ovp9mKdtKF8OcrS8uOKHdIYP6/s400/cvr9781471110764_9781471110764_hr.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
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<!--StartFragment--><span style="font-family: Arial;">What a treat to curl up on
the sofa on a chilly winter’s night and read Patricia Scanlan’s latest novel.<br />
<br />
With a clutch of bestsellers to her name (including <i>Love and Marriage </i>and <i>City
Girl</i>), Scanlan is renowned for writing heart-warming novels about family,
friendship and love.<br />
<br />
Her new book, <i>With All My Love</i> is no
exception. I read it in one delicious go, with tears streaming down my face by
the time I got to the last chapter. <br />
<br />
Once again, Scanlan focuses on a family – a family torn apart by a festering
tangle of secrets and lies.<br />
<br />
The book opens as Briony McAllister sits in a sunny park on the Costa del Sol,
watching her young daughter playing with her dolls. Briony’s mother, Valerie
Harris, has recently bought a house in Spain and Briony and her daughter have
flown out from Dublin to help her settle in.<br />
<br />
But when Briony takes an old photograph album out of her bag and starts to leaf
through it, a letter she has never seen before falls out. The letter is
addressed to her and as Briony reads it she realises that her mother has been
lying to her for more than twenty years. Her mother had always maintained that
Briony’s beloved grandmother cut off contact when she was little and didn’t
want to see her – but it was an out and out lie. <br />
<br />
As the lives of the three women unfold, Scanlan observes the conflict from each
point of view. None of the women are without blame, but Scanlan cleverly makes
the reader sympathetic towards each of them in turn. One moment I felt sorry
for Tessa, Briony’s abandoned grandmother, the next I felt infuriated by her
antagonism towards Valerie. For instance, when Valerie falls in love with
Tessa’s youngest and favourite son, Tessa does everything she can to put a stop
to the relationship. She makes snide remarks about Valerie’s clothes, warns her
not to distract her son from his studies and acidly refers to her as “Miss
Clinging Vine.” <br />
<br />
Best of all, Scanlan keeps readers guessing about the women’s secrets right
till the very end. There was no way on earth I could cast the book aside and
stop reading. I had my suspicions, but I <i>had</i>
to find out why Valerie had taken such drastic action and deprived Tessa of her
precious relationship with her granddaughter.<br />
<br />
PS. Watch out too, for Scanlan’s brilliant evocation of life in the late 70s
and 80s, when Valerie first meets Tessa’s son. Glittery boob tubes, Queen
singing <i>We Will Rock You</i>, Charlie
perfume – Scanlan has remembered it all.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/All-My-Love-Patricia-Scanlan/dp/1471110761/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1362071199&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><i>With All My Love</i></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> by Patricia Scanlan (Simon & Schuster, £12.99)</span>Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-83591105281151499182013-03-01T08:09:00.000+00:002013-03-01T08:09:30.604+00:00Interview with Alison Morton - author of Inceptio<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwaS6AgPPAQ69tSaBI2Bgj7Nql-XcslqPs77-UsWS8KeNj_j_I8jjPEzGo5s05QRkQMwFyamO8Q1M0CCzl5WT0AmlW246MhtKBmNEghgIQUsREjxGxJw7Vg7-4FvIOmLJKBP7UZqxDpPZm/s1600/INCEPTIO_front+cover_300dpi_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwaS6AgPPAQ69tSaBI2Bgj7Nql-XcslqPs77-UsWS8KeNj_j_I8jjPEzGo5s05QRkQMwFyamO8Q1M0CCzl5WT0AmlW246MhtKBmNEghgIQUsREjxGxJw7Vg7-4FvIOmLJKBP7UZqxDpPZm/s400/INCEPTIO_front+cover_300dpi_sm.jpg" width="258" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the very best things about Twitter is meeting other writers. Alison
Morton and I got chatting about writing, blogging and France a few months back and with the her debut novel, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inceptio-Roma-Nova-Alison-Morton/dp/1781320624/ref=la_B007JZ1XRS_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361914630&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Inceptio</a></i>, out today I jumped at the
chance to interview her for House With No Name.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Inceptio</i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> is your debut novel. Can
you tell me a little about the road to publication? <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Alison:</b> I’ve played with words
most of my life - storyteller, playwright (aged seven), article writer, local
magazine editor and translator. I started novel writing in 2009 after seeing a
particularly dire film. "I could do better than this," I whispered in the dark
to my other half. "So why don’t you?" Three months later, I had completed the
draft of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Inceptio</i>, the first Roma
Nova alternate history thriller. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I knew the draft was both woolly
and rough. I needed to learn novel-crafting skills and joined the Romantic
Novelists’ Association New Writers’ Scheme in 2010. Two RNA conferences, an
Arvon Foundation course in commercial fiction and the Festival of Writing at York
spurred me on me on. I met some knowledgeable, generous and fun people along
the way, one of whom ended up mentoring me. My history MA had taught me how to
research and my six years in the Territorial Army trained me to do “guns and
mud.” Perfect preparation for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Inceptio</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black;">I made the
classic mistake of submitting too soon. Several rewrites later I had some full
submission requests, including from a US agent. Replies like “If it was a
straight thriller, I’d take it on” and “Your writing is excellent, but it
wouldn’t fit our list” were a little depressing. I was (am!) passionate about
my stories so, happy that my writing was at a reasonable standard, I decided to
self publish with bought-in publishing services. Using high quality
professional backing (editing, advice, registrations, typesetting, design, book
jacket, proofing etc), I think it’s a fantastic way for new writers to enter
the market.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why did you choose to write a thriller and what is it about?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Alison:</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Inceptio</i>
started as a romantic novel with some action bits, but the thriller proportion
grew until I realised I loved writing tension, danger, death, cliff-hangers and
conspiracy more than romance. But the central romantic relationship is still
key in this and the next two books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It
starts in New York, present day. Karen Brown, angry and frightened after
surviving a kidnap attempt, has a harsh choice - being eliminated by
government enforcer Jeffery Renschman or fleeing to the mysterious Roma Nova,
her dead mother’s homeland in Europe.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Founded
16 centuries ago by Roman exiles and ruled by women, Roma Nova gives Karen
safety and a ready-made family. But a shocking discovery about her new lover,
the fascinating but arrogant special forces officer Conrad Tellus, isolates
her.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Renschman
reaches into her new home and nearly kills her. Recovering, she is desperate to
find out why he is hunting her so viciously. Unable to rely on anybody else,
she undergoes intensive training, develops fighting skills and becomes an undercover
cop. But crazy with bitterness at his past failures, Renschman sets a trap for
her, knowing she has no choice but to spring it... </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Do you have any tips for writers working on their debut novels right
now?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Alison:</b> Bash the story out. If you pause
too long beautifying individual scenes at this stage, you risk losing the
narrative flow. You’re first and foremost a storyteller; the story is the most
important thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Put it away for at least six
weeks, then do the first self-edit, checking the plot structure, deleting the
dreadful parts and working on the sloppy bits. Then back into the drawer and
start the next project. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Out of the drawer comes the first
novel a few months later and this time you scrutinise each sentence word by
word, forcing each one to justify its existence. Then you have something to
work with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is your own favourite novel? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Alison:</b> Currently, it’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Restless</i> by William Boyd – spies,
two strong women leads, Second World War, love, betrayal on personal and
political levels, Cold War, class, alienation, irreverance and beautiful prose.
Perfect!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inceptio-Roma-Nova-Alison-Morton/dp/1781320624/ref=la_B007JZ1XRS_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361914630&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Inceptio</a></span></i><span lang="EN-US"> by Alison Morton (SilverWood Books, £9.99)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alison’s
blog: <a href="http://www.alison-morton.com/"><span style="color: #386eff;">www.alison-morton.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Twitter:
<a href="https://twitter.com/alison_morton" target="_blank">@alison_morton</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Facebook:
<span style="color: #386eff;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor">www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9T_Lc2fMMb0kilWXIUa1VGcWTTFFR-Vmf_QbXri01xz8xIxHANXoDhElFknMgJCNM9R8zsSay4YtpQdmC6oQ-AzEZiM8t1eAlu6cydYmG67g5hCV4WKOlEL1Q5kVNwEqQZdsdJKLDLAR/s1600/Alison+Morton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9T_Lc2fMMb0kilWXIUa1VGcWTTFFR-Vmf_QbXri01xz8xIxHANXoDhElFknMgJCNM9R8zsSay4YtpQdmC6oQ-AzEZiM8t1eAlu6cydYmG67g5hCV4WKOlEL1Q5kVNwEqQZdsdJKLDLAR/s400/Alison+Morton.jpg" width="277" /></a></div>
</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-39470255000041584312013-02-27T15:42:00.000+00:002013-02-27T15:42:25.828+00:00The RoNA Awards - winners include Katie Fforde, Jenny Colgan and Rowan Coleman<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc2B8kl1wSjE2gCTqEKlh9jSCeauBuoKU1n_8GhibFBwP_TdMDGBPgyARKhcNE_Ukc_AFLOtKdInJcyLWxF75FEBZFJfFIdqcj5lKP4NmtQyoWwrFJyOjp3Ic0M3lnb40c0khMC5DbaiYq/s1600/RONAS+Winners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc2B8kl1wSjE2gCTqEKlh9jSCeauBuoKU1n_8GhibFBwP_TdMDGBPgyARKhcNE_Ukc_AFLOtKdInJcyLWxF75FEBZFJfFIdqcj5lKP4NmtQyoWwrFJyOjp3Ic0M3lnb40c0khMC5DbaiYq/s640/RONAS+Winners.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was the first year in ages that I didn’t get to the
Romantic Novelists’ Association’s RoNA awards bash - and I’m really fed up
about missing it.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The RoNA awards celebrate
the very best in romantic fiction and the party is always fun and
ultra-glamorous. The champagne flows, you get to meet some of the best writers,
publishers and agents in the business and RNA members’ shoes (from sky-high
heels to leopard-print ballet pumps) are a delight to behold.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year’s party was held
at the RAF Club in London’s Piccadilly, with Judy Finnigan and Richard Madeley (no
mean writers themselves) on hand to announce the five category winners.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So three cheers for Katie
Fforde, who won the Contemporary Romantic Novel award for the second year
running – this time for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Recipe for Love</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rowan Coleman triumphed in
the Epic Romantic Novel category with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dearest
Rose</i> while Jenny Colgan scooped the Romantic Comedy Novel award for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Welcome to Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop of
Dreams</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Historical Romantic
Novel winner was Charlotte Betts for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Apothecary’s Daughter</i> and the Young Adult Romantic Novel award went to
Victoria Lamb for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Witchstruck</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The five winning novels now
go forward to the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year award and the overall winner
will be revealed at the RNA’s summer party on May 16.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RNA chair Annie Ashurst,
who’s written scores of novels herself, told the 250 party guests: “… we are
here to celebrate the success of our brightest stars. We are proud of their
talent, tenacity and dedication to their craft.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“It is a lovely thing to
write a novel and to keep on going even as doubts set in – as they do with us
all. Our awards give us an opportunity to publicly recognise the enjoyment you
bring to your readers.”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hear, hear, Annie...</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS. As well as the RoNAs,
Sophie Kinsella was given an Outstanding Achievement Award. The RoNA Rose Award
went to Sarah Mallory. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-68029158280481412402013-02-25T15:10:00.001+00:002013-03-03T08:38:14.637+00:00Snow in Paris<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7mur-utYmoXT6Xn6nNd0RdMVeeycUk7tp1i_rXYBAzYfLwtxYkbfFAQRmvYuslfwJdMQZVpcRTu6Kgu64cKHkZs-XZYg99Qz-zLBbbF3fgZJOAVeh1nM3rrovu7D__Nkuw43f_beUKnW/s1600/IMG_1813.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7mur-utYmoXT6Xn6nNd0RdMVeeycUk7tp1i_rXYBAzYfLwtxYkbfFAQRmvYuslfwJdMQZVpcRTu6Kgu64cKHkZs-XZYg99Qz-zLBbbF3fgZJOAVeh1nM3rrovu7D__Nkuw43f_beUKnW/s400/IMG_1813.jpg" width="280" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Victoria Beckham looked frozen as she watched her
husband make his debut for Paris St-Germain last night. I’ve just spent two days in Paris and I’ve rarely felt so cold. The t</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">emperature never lifted above -2 degrees, the</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">re was a biting
wind and flurries of snow fell all weekend. My
daughter wore three jumpers and I kept my <a href="http://housewithnoname.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/working-from-home-brora-and-memories-of.html" target="_blank">Brora fingerless gloves</a>
and scarf on indoors and out. We had to dive into cafes every half an hour to
stop our teeth chattering. Yet when I glanced at the papers this morning
Victoria had stepped off the Eurostar in an unfastened coat, with her
ankles bare and no gloves. She’s clearly tougher than the rest of us.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But never mind the cold, Paris is one of the prettiest
cities on earth. We stayed at the super-stylish <a href="http://housewithnoname.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/hotel-review-mama-shelter-in-paris.html" target="_blank">Mama Shelter</a>, which boasts chic
rooms, friendly staff, reasonable prices and a great brunch. Even though it’s
slightly off the beaten track (in the 20<sup>th</sup> arrondissement) buses
whizz past every ten minutes to whisk you into the centre for the princely sum
of two euros – which meant we were at Bastille in fifteen minutes and in the
Rue de Rivoli in thirty. As we chatted on the number 26 bus a Paris-based sports
journalist from the UK tapped us on the shoulder and said he never usually
heard English voices “on this route.” He made us feel like real locals.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead of sticking to our usual haunts we decided to visit an
area we hadn’t been to before –the Batignolles, where Manet had his studio and
artists like Degas, Renoir, Monet and Cezanne used to gather (at the Café Guerbois
on the Avenue de Clichy). It boasts a pretty park, a village-like atmosphere
and lots of quirky shops and art galleries. My daughter bought a pink hyacinth
at the lovely flower shop below – I only hope it survives the winter on her student
windowsill. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mama Shelter is a five-minute stroll from the famous Père
Lachaise cemetery so on Sunday morning we headed down the rue de Bagnolet and through the ancient archway. It’s
the largest cemetery in Paris and one of the most famous in the world. Among
the renowned names buried there are Chopin, Moliere, Proust, Colette,
Modigliani, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison. Not surprisingly, with a
total of 69,000 tombs at the cemetery, a map is essential.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actually, a snowy Sunday morning in February was
definitely the time to visit this historic graveyard. A distant church bell
tolled solemnly and the pale grey sky gave it a gothic, rather eery air – like
something out of a Balzac novel in fact. Actually - and rather appropriately - he is buried
there too.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVB7wsBgQox5F1rNMaunSjjOapR-45X3Ecw_3Nu1aqeVVUrPY47lj4LcKI_HSWu95hn1NvAeDmD4ivwIqYoclI-9EuDJIDDMw2YAmYn7y2njNtcG1j3hujRu98-kb0fal9scbAGzC0pWRv/s1600/IMG_1786.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVB7wsBgQox5F1rNMaunSjjOapR-45X3Ecw_3Nu1aqeVVUrPY47lj4LcKI_HSWu95hn1NvAeDmD4ivwIqYoclI-9EuDJIDDMw2YAmYn7y2njNtcG1j3hujRu98-kb0fal9scbAGzC0pWRv/s400/IMG_1786.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
<br />Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-11468148712904632182013-02-19T08:56:00.001+00:002013-02-19T08:56:06.509+00:00What would my mother say?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCCLcE4IValClX_rws4UMW6Ge6fbFBmeIbTk_EIFUTt8EzfBF4tgvD78WkfUfEobhUBpLlSUCHVfE8lMeESoeC9B8Hrhd-01t2O-Ki1qMem56ATJUTeiOvrFoa67-kjxCf9RJHVTBPRGD1/s1600/Lucy+Boyd+Kitchen+Memories.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCCLcE4IValClX_rws4UMW6Ge6fbFBmeIbTk_EIFUTt8EzfBF4tgvD78WkfUfEobhUBpLlSUCHVfE8lMeESoeC9B8Hrhd-01t2O-Ki1qMem56ATJUTeiOvrFoa67-kjxCf9RJHVTBPRGD1/s400/Lucy+Boyd+Kitchen+Memories.tiff" width="285" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve been looking forward to reading Lucy Boyd’s book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kitchen Memories</i>, for ages. The daughter
of Rose Gray, the inspirational co-founder of the River Café, Lucy is now head gardener at <a href="http://www.petershamnurseries.com/home.asp" target="_blank">Petersham Nurseries</a> in Richmond, Surrey and an accomplished chef herself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I met Lucy at HarperCollins last autumn when I was invited
to the publisher’s Fulham HQ to give a talk about blogging. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kitchen
Memories</i> is a captivating mix of recipes, memories and stunning
photography<i>. </i>In a moving interview with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Times</i> yesterday Lucy spoke about her mother’s massive – and ongoing -
influence on her. Rose Gray died in 2010 but even now, when Lucy’s cooking she
can hear her mother’s voice in her ear.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I bought some asparagus out of season the other day and I’m
still covered with shame,” Lucy told interviewer Andrew Billen. “It’s like
‘God, what would Rose say?’ She’d say 'Traitor.'”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lucy’s words resonated so strongly with me. <a href="http://housewithnoname.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/white-hyacinths-and-pink-tulips.html" target="_blank">My mother </a>died
more than eight years ago but every time I do something she’d disapprove of
(not often, I admit) I feel desperately guilty. We were incredibly close, spoke on the phone every day and agreed
on most things<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– apart from poached
eggs, brackets, flat shoes and telling people your age. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She loved poached eggs, I hate them. She loathed brackets, I
love them (as you can tell). She loved sky-high shoes and well, so do I (but
I’m quite keen on my Converse too). And last of all she thought you should
never ever let on how old you are. Actually, come to think of it, I’m coming round
to that one…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kitchen-Memories-Lucy-Boyd/dp/0007485638" target="_blank">Kitchen Memories</a></i>
by Lucy Boyd (HarperCollins, £20)</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-33191063442198331422013-02-16T20:54:00.001+00:002013-02-17T12:35:18.311+00:00Another Country - Huhne Junior at the Oxford Playhouse<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP0_joyIgcKgps5yjy2c2qT9ZzQv_5m_zepW7hyphenhyphenXdk5U_aSD8gaLa_Guieks3-o4FrShApoCl_FJqafKHSzrF1npBVNvnvn5OLaHgIhlP2rimVIwvTTiB-AfiE8I0vrA6TDCcu6F1CDaT-/s1600/IMG_1779.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP0_joyIgcKgps5yjy2c2qT9ZzQv_5m_zepW7hyphenhyphenXdk5U_aSD8gaLa_Guieks3-o4FrShApoCl_FJqafKHSzrF1npBVNvnvn5OLaHgIhlP2rimVIwvTTiB-AfiE8I0vrA6TDCcu6F1CDaT-/s400/IMG_1779.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are lots of great things about living in Oxford but
one of them is the chance to see some stunning student drama productions. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last week – on Valentine’s Day in fact – I booked tickets for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Another Country</i>, Julian
Mitchell’s famous public school play. Set in the 1930s, it’s the story of a
group of public schoolboys struggling to work out what they believe in after
the suicide of a fellow pupil rocks the school.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was lucky enough to see the play in the West End thirty
years ago, when it starred a young Rupert Everett and an even younger Kenneth Branagh. So I had high hopes for the production by the weirdly-named student
company Screw the Looking Glass – and I wasn’t disappointed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But two performances towered over the rest at the Oxford
Playhouse. The actors playing the parts taken by Everett and
Branagh 30 years ago were by turns charismatic and moving, insightful and
funny. I found myself gripped whenever they were onstage, not quite so gripped
when they weren't. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I stupidly hadn’t bought a programme so when I got home I
checked out who these fine young actors were and nearly fell off my chair in
surprise. The actor playing Guy Bennett (based on spy-in-the-making Guy Burgess) was none other than Peter Huhne, a
second-year languages student at Oxford and the son of former cabinet minister
Chris Huhne. As virtually the whole world knows, the student’s bitter text
messages to his father were read out in court following Chris Huhne’s guilty
plea for perverting the course of justice and were plastered across the papers for
days afterwards.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Huhne Junior is only 20 but talk about impressive. How on
earth he got through the media firestorm, carried on with his studies and gave
a towering performance like this I don’t know. But then again, as all great
actors know, the show must go on.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS. The other fine performance was by Jo Allan, as Bennett's Marxist sympathiser friend Tommy Judd.</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-84325903201286866652013-02-12T13:33:00.002+00:002013-02-12T15:27:02.117+00:00Yvette Cooper, family life and dressing up for school<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdDMzWlhx1Drl2Wmbm9_-YidNxTio__-8lKZjy3_ptZyVyWQIfzOL-rIf0bBCSH9zXuNGh5LZtXND4Y7sDU_h6q1Zq79EoHBZooUjFO1gj15qPwW96mXYgtlnv4taVZeotrQFtvbmA2Zi/s1600/IMG_1773.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdDMzWlhx1Drl2Wmbm9_-YidNxTio__-8lKZjy3_ptZyVyWQIfzOL-rIf0bBCSH9zXuNGh5LZtXND4Y7sDU_h6q1Zq79EoHBZooUjFO1gj15qPwW96mXYgtlnv4taVZeotrQFtvbmA2Zi/s400/IMG_1773.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There’s a great interview in this week’s <a href="http://housewithnoname.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/david-cameron-on-doing-school-run-once.html" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grazia</i> </a>with Yvette Cooper, who as well
as being the shadow home secretary is married to shadow chancellor Ed Balls and
has three children between the ages of eight and thirteen. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best thing of all about the piece (written by Gaby
Hinsliff) is that it gives a vivid glimpse of life in a hectic household, where
two high-flying politicians are juggling about a million things at once. On the
morning of the interview the roof was leaking, a builder had arrived to fix it,
they were busy getting the children off to school and Cooper was trying to agree a
quote about the police reforms. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, I must say I couldn’t quite get my head round this bit,
in the midst of the chaos Balls was trying to do his piano practice. <i>Piano Practice? At eight-thirty in the morning?</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cooper admits that domestic life “may be a bit of a muddle”
sometimes but they muddle through it together. She says that while Balls does
“more tidying up and cleaning than I do” she tends to panic about things like
“how come they need a Spanish costume for school tomorrow?”</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now <i>that</i>, I reckon that will strike a chord with parents everywhere. I’m
a mega-admirer of teachers but the one thing I couldn’t cope with when my
children were at primary school was the vogue for themed days. Over the years
my two had to dress up as Victorian children, characters from their favourite
books, characters from Roald Dahl stories, French children, animals, birds - you name it.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quite apart from the fact that I’m the worst seamstress
going, my son usually only mentioned it the night before. So I'd stay up till midnight trying to cobble together an owl costume
out of an old blanket.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And worst of all, schools assume that children love dressing
up. Well, my son HATED it. On World Book Day the only outfit he deigned to wear
was an aviator’s boiler suit and goggles. In the end we had to pretend that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Biggles</i> was his favourite book and he
went as a pilot. Even though he’d never read any of the <i>Biggles</i> stories – and still hasn't.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the following year he refused point-blank to dress up at
all. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-80137087395012833912013-02-11T07:23:00.000+00:002013-02-14T13:02:58.301+00:00Hotel review - The Pig in The Wall<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzy_rmpDQ73leUuQkAy1PD6sFpZChkG5Bplv7piISFMnemGUt2eVF7grT2pC-TI7mzAs6wBh-EA_25MFu7OSeHDKGNZy3p8foLmbnPW5HIwRxMLBh2pEOnTRPJdwzb8EYAil45j_JJ0Wbm/s1600/IMG_1769.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzy_rmpDQ73leUuQkAy1PD6sFpZChkG5Bplv7piISFMnemGUt2eVF7grT2pC-TI7mzAs6wBh-EA_25MFu7OSeHDKGNZy3p8foLmbnPW5HIwRxMLBh2pEOnTRPJdwzb8EYAil45j_JJ0Wbm/s640/IMG_1769.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve just discovered my all-time favourite B&B. Surprisingly, it’s not in a secluded Gloucestershire valley or halfway up a
Cumbrian mountainside. It’s actually in Southampton – which is brilliant for
catching the Isle of White ferry or a cruise to sunnier climes, but not exactly
known as a holiday destination.</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.thepighotel.com/in-the-wall/things-to-do.aspx" target="_blank">The Pig in the Wall</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is the sister establishment to the Pig
in the Forest, a five star hotel in the New Forest, and opened in October 2012.
The name is inspired by its unusual (and very striking) location – the
12-bedroom boutique hotel is built into a gap in Southampton’s medieval wall,
just minutes from the harbour.</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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</span>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Inside, it is utterly stunning. The rooms are designed by
Judy Hutson (wife of co-owner Robin Hutson, who founded the Hotel du Vin chain)
and are so chic and comfortable that I’d love her to sort my own house out. My
favourite touches were the mismatching (deliberately) multicoloured floor tiles
in the bathroom, the railway sleepers used for the floors and landing, the Roberts Radio and old-fashioned alarm clock by the bed and the
framed newspaper prints (one with the headline <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Titanic Disaster</i> from April 1912) lining the walls.</span></div>
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The Southampton Pig doesn’t have a formal restaurant
although there’s a smart-looking Land Rover in the car park that whisks guests to the
New Forest Pig if they so choose. </div>
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<br /></div>
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But the Pig in the Wall has an informal deli-bar (serving
salads, charcuterie and wines by the glass) and also serves up a cracking
breakfast. The stylish green drawing room is filled with books, wooden trays of
plants and an eclectic collection of jugs and china and I felt so at home in my
leather armchair that I could happily have stayed for hours. I helped myself to fresh
apple juice and banana bread, the friendly staff brought several pots of Earl
Grey tea and yes, all was right with the world.</div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.thepighotel.com/in-the-wall/things-to-do.aspx" target="_blank">The Pig in the Wall</a>, 8
Western Esplanade, Southhampton, SO14 2AZ. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">PS. Watch out for the next
Pig venture. The Pig on the Beach, at Studland in Dorset, is coming soon...</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkGHrnxW7aDZjzGxNxu5EcRZMxC2p_K2EnKl3H6kuZIFkc1foyimUUbjwtQuu__3OMXnaUsZJvny5G7KN1b7Py09BJfaTLmm6a-NXpMpm-x2n6SPZyTbGu0tGbxpqfuhbf2928QKEkl-7o/s1600/IMG_1766.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkGHrnxW7aDZjzGxNxu5EcRZMxC2p_K2EnKl3H6kuZIFkc1foyimUUbjwtQuu__3OMXnaUsZJvny5G7KN1b7Py09BJfaTLmm6a-NXpMpm-x2n6SPZyTbGu0tGbxpqfuhbf2928QKEkl-7o/s320/IMG_1766.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</span><br />
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-28620640631527947242013-02-07T06:48:00.000+00:002013-03-06T11:14:49.513+00:00Moving On, my second novel - out as an ebook TODAY<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0GT1Pj-bAaXzA3wlBnz54NUhpv-DdbqnznmlhM0VLkftE4I78vzULTIJbhtGFcuG_oUB7CR_BBzui7lQFFu_viFCSUROypnAddpPQfyuxENpvKxSHprHp_YQBXRMQeG3_7tq55fOBuN1s/s1600/Moving+On+-+ELP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0GT1Pj-bAaXzA3wlBnz54NUhpv-DdbqnznmlhM0VLkftE4I78vzULTIJbhtGFcuG_oUB7CR_BBzui7lQFFu_viFCSUROypnAddpPQfyuxENpvKxSHprHp_YQBXRMQeG3_7tq55fOBuN1s/s400/Moving+On+-+ELP.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Moving-On-ebook/dp/B009EQHG4O/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360143005&sr=1-5" target="_blank">Moving On</a></i>, my
second novel, is published as an ebook today – and I’m over the moon. It’s the
novel I’m most proud of so I’m hoping that new readers will enjoy it.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When the book was first published it had a lurid pink jacket with daisies scattered across the front but now publishers <a href="http://www.piatkusentice.co.uk/ebooks/moving-on/" target="_blank">Piatkus Entice</a> have given it a gorgeous
mauve cover (I must say I rather covet the heroine’s green and black spotty
shirt) and it looks far more stylish.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like my first novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moving On</i> is set in the world of
newspapers. But this time round the main characters are two sisters, Kate and
Laura Hollingberry. Their father, HH, is a mega-successful newspaper tycoon,
but they know next to nothing about their mother, Clare, who walked out in
mysterious circumstances when they were little.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The two girls are close
but they’re poles apart in character. Laura is happy to get an undemanding job
until she finds Mr Right, while Kate is fiercely ambitious and wants more out
of life. Determined not to rely on her father's money or influence, Kate takes
a job on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bowland Bugle</i>, a
struggling weekly newspaper in the wilds of Lancashire. It's her first job and
her first bid for independence. Anything can happen – and it certainly does.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kate arrives in the north
of England as a naive, inexperienced reporter (hmmm, shades of autobiography
there), but is forced to grow up fast. Especially when she’s faced with a distraught
couple whose teenage daughter has gone missing, a boss who seems hell-bent on
tripping her up at every opportunity and a love affair that doesn't go
according to plan. Meanwhile, back in London, Laura is facing her own
heartbreak and the future of the family business is looking uncertain...<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Moving-On-ebook/dp/B009EQHG4O/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360143005&sr=1-5" target="_blank">Moving On</a></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">by Emma Lee-Potter (Piatkus, £3.99)</span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-85256341787564016752013-02-02T18:02:00.003+00:002013-02-02T18:02:51.455+00:00Celia Birtwell teams up with Uniqlo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmgXE1mL-TWL40Igem7ABNVmXij1Tr4r4CAdsI_WvI1rRgxra0SnNpZQP4zJBlayBImem_zufJqrNsgga4_nW8-u3gnTkRS1M1ZSE8_zSsbkw9asl_1Pbk9qa4bOgU_lOu7k4rhryUpU3B/s1600/Celia+Birtwell+Uniqlo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmgXE1mL-TWL40Igem7ABNVmXij1Tr4r4CAdsI_WvI1rRgxra0SnNpZQP4zJBlayBImem_zufJqrNsgga4_nW8-u3gnTkRS1M1ZSE8_zSsbkw9asl_1Pbk9qa4bOgU_lOu7k4rhryUpU3B/s640/Celia+Birtwell+Uniqlo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Celia
Birtwell is one of the UK’s most talented textile designers. Her gorgeous
prints were tailored and cut into romantic dresses in the 60s and 70s by Ossie Clark, her late
ex-husband, and worn by the likes of Marianne Faithfull, Bianca Jagger and
Pattie Boyd.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not
only that, she also became the long-term muse of <a href="http://housewithnoname.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/glorious-david-hockney-exhibition.html" target="_blank">David Hockney</a>, whose <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy</i> portrait is
one of the Tate’s most famous paintings. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Now in her 70s,
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">she’s still turning out
stunning designs. When she created a fashion collection for Topshop six years
ago it rapidly became their most successful designer collaboration. The clothes flew
off the shelves in next to no time – in fact I remember Topshop staff having to
limit the number of Celia Birtwell designs eachcustomers could buy. Then she designed a range for outdoor clothing store Millets (I immediately snapped up some wellies and a sleeping bag).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So it’s great news that
Birtwell has now teamed up with <a href="http://www.uniqlo.com/uk/#" target="_blank">Uniqlo</a>. Her archive prints have been
transformed into an exclusive range of T-shirts, vests, shirts, tote bags,
scarves and much more and will be launched in Uniqlo stores from March 21. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wow. I’m definitely going
to be in the queue…</span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-68053150030048632862013-02-01T07:55:00.000+00:002013-02-01T07:55:54.837+00:00Friday Book Review - The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhODBCd4kI1gGHDMCrkuhWVqBu88jRfAwjFIEXSQGXu7dSoTcdJ1R52ePwSJKes3cEEivsGQ0hL8v2RtWiWs8Gk_Olxg-rk7A3CzeWE6zGOzKE1Xjj0m9W_eJZ_xDp7ol1ynDnUi-xf-rCC/s1600/The+Girl+You+Left+Behind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhODBCd4kI1gGHDMCrkuhWVqBu88jRfAwjFIEXSQGXu7dSoTcdJ1R52ePwSJKes3cEEivsGQ0hL8v2RtWiWs8Gk_Olxg-rk7A3CzeWE6zGOzKE1Xjj0m9W_eJZ_xDp7ol1ynDnUi-xf-rCC/s400/The+Girl+You+Left+Behind.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reviewing a book by an
author you’ve met in real life can be tricky. But actually, when the author is
as talented as Jojo Moyes it’s not difficult at all. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the past year Jojo has
become one of our most successful novelists. <i>Me Before You</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">, her tear-jerking story of a </span>hotshot
city financier who becomes wheelchair-bound after an accident, was one of the
top five paperbacks of 2012 and has sold more than 500,000 copies in the UK so far. Her ninth novel, it’s now a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New
York Times</i> bestseller and this week MGM acquired the film rights. <i>Me
Before You</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> is</span> an amazing
book and if you haven’t yet read it, go and download it NOW.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I wrote in my <a href="http://housewithnoname.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/friday-book-review-me-before-you-by.html" target="_blank">House With No Name review</a> last year Jojo is one of those writers who surprises her readers
with every novel. While lots of novelists play it safe and stick to familiar themes
and subjects, she always chooses something different. To date she’s written
about everything from brides crossing the world to meet their husbands after
the Second World War (<i>The Ship of Brides</i>) to a businessman planning a
controversial development in a sleepy Australian town (<i>Silver Bay</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">And her latest, </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">The Girl You Left
Behind</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">, is different again. It’s the story of two
women, unrelated and separated by 100 years, who are united in their
determination to fight tooth and nail for what they love most. One is French artist’s
wife Sophie Lefèvre, who is forced to make a terrible decision in the hope of
being reunited with her beloved husband during the First World War. The other
is young widow Liv Halston, who a century later finds that her future is inextricably
linked with Sophie’s past. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">There’s no doubt that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Me Before You</i> is a hard act to follow
but Jojo has managed it with style and panache. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Girl You Left Behind</i> isn’t quite as spellbinding as its predecessor
but it’s still utterly compelling and the two stories are skillfully entwined
and meticulously researched. At first I found Sophie’s story – her courage,
pragmatism and determination to keep her family safe against all odds – far
more </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">gripping than Liv’s. But as the novel progressed
Liv and the ex-NYPD cop she falls for completely won me over. I can’t wait to
see what Jojo writes next.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Girl-You-Left-Behind/dp/0718157842/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359666317&sr=8-1" target="_blank">The Girl You Left Behind</a></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">by Jojo Moyes (Penguin, £7.99)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">PS. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Jojo Moyes is speaking at the Chipping Norton Literary
Festival on Sunday April 21.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can book tickets <a href="http://www.chiplitfest.com/authors.asp?authorid=11" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-8631268295742292962013-01-30T06:44:00.000+00:002013-01-30T09:53:40.615+00:00Movie review - Hyde Park on Hudson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hyde Park on Hudson</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
was one of the movies on my must-see list </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">when I whizzed up to London for a film preview day hosted by</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://housewithnoname.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/film-of-help-made-me-laugh-cry-and.html" target="_blank">ShowFilmFirst</a>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why? Firstly because it stars the brilliant Bill Murray as
legendary US president Franklin D Roosevelt and secondly because the director
is Roger Mitchell, of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Notting Hill</i>
fame.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most of the action focuses
on the real-life visit by George VI and his wife Elizabeth to Hyde Park (</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Roosevelt’s</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> summer
residence on the banks of the Hudson River) in June 1939. With the storm clouds gathering
over Europe and Britain preparing for war, the king was keen to ask for the president’s support.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The royals, however, are like fish out of water as they observe
the comings and goings of the presidential household. Olivia Colman gives an
impressive performance as Elizabeth, determined at all costs to keep a sense of
decorum, worried that her husband is being laughed at and horrified that they
will be expected to eat hot dogs during a picnic in the woods. Samuel West has
the tough task of following in Colin Firth’s footsteps as George VI but manages
it with aplomb (although every time he appeared on screen I couldn’t help
thinking he looked exactly like Chancellor George Osborne).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The emotional heart of the film is Roosevelt’s relationship
with his shy distant cousin Daisy, played by Laura Linney. Daisy is summoned to
Hyde Park to keep Roosevelt company – and she quickly obliges. The pair begin a
passionate affair, unperturbed by the numerous other women in the president’s complicated
life – his wife Eleanor (Olivia Williams), his domineering mother (Elizabeth
Wilson) and his assistant Missy (Elizabeth Marvel).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hyde Park on Hudson</i>
is beautiful to look at and Bill Murray gives a fine performance as the
charismatic, wheelchair-bound Roosevelt. But to my mind The Ink Spots’ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire</i>, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">part of the soundtrack,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> just about sums up
this movie. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What could have been a powerful film turns into one that is merely enjoyable - no more than that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hyde Park on Hudson</i>
(certificate 12A) is released in the UK on Friday February 1.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-33221781528093033892013-01-29T09:03:00.001+00:002013-01-29T09:03:14.066+00:00My favourite glossy magazine<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoJNG_Y1U7ZxTxOSmLjNhA3hlmeC0bTMxU-U05U8Wx_oBmd28p-OMKb-QCtx7MQ9OmS_3Tw6XmzhXEU9LZJunvdmXfxG7S64FitHy0WHg9hEMwKmm9NYr38CAXcLRYukYjD-HADedaO0ta/s1600/IMG_1760.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoJNG_Y1U7ZxTxOSmLjNhA3hlmeC0bTMxU-U05U8Wx_oBmd28p-OMKb-QCtx7MQ9OmS_3Tw6XmzhXEU9LZJunvdmXfxG7S64FitHy0WHg9hEMwKmm9NYr38CAXcLRYukYjD-HADedaO0ta/s400/IMG_1760.jpg" width="291" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Glossy magazines have always been a big part of my life. My
mum started her career as a feature writer for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Woman’s Mirror</i>, a weekly magazine in the Sixties, and I can vividly remember the day she met me from primary school brandishing a tall retro coffee
pot in her hand. She’d bought it with the proceeds of her first magazine
commission and she was SO proud. So was I for that matter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the intervening years I’ve subscribed to scores of different
magazines – from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vogue</i> to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Country Living</i> – and even worked for a
few myself. I love that exciting moment when they thump on to the doormat, usually a
couple of days before you can buy them at the shops.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But in recent months I’ve cut the magazines I read down to
two. I’m not sure why but I found that I was flicking through most of them and
barely reading any articles. They all seemed a bit samey and dull.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are two subscriptions I’ve hung on to though – for two
magazines I reckon are head and shoulders above the rest. One is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grazia</i>, t<a href="http://housewithnoname.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/what-susie-orbach-told-daisy-lowe.html" target="_blank">he weekly magazine I’ve blogged about before</a>, and the other is the utterly brilliant <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Red</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what’s so great about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Red</i>?
Well, for starters, it looks like a work of art. The photography is stunning
and if I was a student I’d be half tempted to tear the fashion pages out and
stick them on my walls. But more importantly, it’s full of stuff I actually
want to read. Take the March issue. It’s got an At Home piece with novelist
Maggie O’Farrell (I’m counting the days till her latest novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Instructions for a Heatwave</i>, is
published on February 28), an interview with Noel Gallagher and a Q&A with
the wonderful Tracey Thorn. The Everything But the Girl singer has just written
a book about her life called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bedsit Disco
Queen</i> – my favourite book title of the year so far.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But as I flicked through the current issue’s 274 pages I was
sad to see that the March issue is editor-in-chief Sam Baker’s last one. She’s
leaving to write her next novel and have a go at being her own boss – which
shows that she follows her own advice because <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Red</i> is all about inspiring its readers and exhorting them to try
new things.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, from a loyal Oxford reader, all I can say is goodbye and
good luck to Sam Baker. And thank you for all the amazing issues of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Red</i> you’ve published over the last six
years.</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-45248151256488475052013-01-24T09:30:00.000+00:002013-01-28T19:21:33.873+00:00The best boulangerie<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqpqgtojpal7z_RWhJZ1t6dxGK_SAczlo3CmsGYKms3zbryXxtRP5vGig9OoQtGd7zQrzW7LDEo2RwXwppJvwcAPI2SMgTgRzbBbmHGlPffeA9MYL1bdX3vyUwgmkYjqKOxdNSuKlazmXU/s1600/IMG_1400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqpqgtojpal7z_RWhJZ1t6dxGK_SAczlo3CmsGYKms3zbryXxtRP5vGig9OoQtGd7zQrzW7LDEo2RwXwppJvwcAPI2SMgTgRzbBbmHGlPffeA9MYL1bdX3vyUwgmkYjqKOxdNSuKlazmXU/s400/IMG_1400.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The
woman at the front of the queue was in full and belligerent flow. I don’t know
who she was talking to on her mobile but she was certainly giving them
what-for, effing and blinding away and yelling that she f…... wasn’t going to
be treated like that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The weary-looking
shop assistant (at a chemist's in a nearby town) had clearly seen it all before. She didn’t turn a hair, just waited
for the woman to finish ranting, raised her eyebrows ever-so slightly and then slapped her change into her hand. The loud-mouthed customer grabbed her shopping and
stomped out without saying a word to the assistant. No thank you. No nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I
haven’t blogged about <a href="http://housewithnoname.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/lunch-under-plane-tree.html" target="_blank">France</a> for ages but it suddenly struck me how different shopping on the other side of the Channel is. At my favourite <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">boulangerie</i>
the lovely proprietor is so charming that her devoted regulars don’t mind how long they
wait to be served. Her freshly-baked baguettes and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tartes aux framboises</i> are so delicious that the lunchtime queue
snakes out of the shop and down the pavement - but no one bats an eyelid, let
alone complains about the wait.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">When
we get to the counter she always greets us personally, compliments my children
on their French and smiles as we fumble for the right number of euros. She
packs everything into exquisitely-wrapped paper parcels, tells us a bit about
her time working as a hotel receptionist in London and wouldn’t dream of
letting us leave without a cheery <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“au
revoir, bonne journée.”</i></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-78876503014757318942013-01-22T10:29:00.000+00:002013-01-22T10:31:52.391+00:00Am I the only driver without a satnav?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO_vGwTZrLtFHdda5wg0ViPh74mewJsY3Hsc90OdupnXYrT3UqIGKB0GRbW9_5726xtaWN671dE2zRq2T0w_OjL13sHbFwc-vpei-yzjOcd56WSg0Ws1zYpW0BDptgwMTbVu_4MwvZUncw/s1600/IMG_1739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO_vGwTZrLtFHdda5wg0ViPh74mewJsY3Hsc90OdupnXYrT3UqIGKB0GRbW9_5726xtaWN671dE2zRq2T0w_OjL13sHbFwc-vpei-yzjOcd56WSg0Ws1zYpW0BDptgwMTbVu_4MwvZUncw/s640/IMG_1739.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I seem to be one of the few people who doesn’t have a satnav
in their car. I still rely on an ancient AA atlas that cost £1.99 in a garage
years ago. The Oxford page has got a massive rip through it, but apart from
that the map is still doing sterling service and I rarely get lost.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But now it appears that I’m one of a dying breed. A survey
by budget NetVoucherCodes has found that the UK’s map-reading skills are fading
fast. Sixty-nine per cent of women and 59 per cent of men say they’d be lost
without a satnav, while four out of five 18 to 30 year olds couldn’t manage
without one. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m mystified by the popularity of satnavs. For a start I
don’t want to be bossed about by an annoying voice when I’m driving - and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">quite apart from that, satnavs aren’t all that they are
cracked up to be. Lorries are always getting stuck in tight lanes, while
car drivers have ended up on railway lines, cliff edges and in Richmond, North
Yorkshire, rather than Richmond upon Thames. And look at what happened to Sabine Moreau, a 67-year-old
Belgian woman who set off on a trip to Brussels earlier this month to pick up a
friend from the station. The journey should have been 38 miles but thanks to
her satnav she took a wrong turn and ended up 900 miles away in Zagreb,
Croatia. Stick to a map next time, Sabine, and you’ll be fine.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS. Don’t worry, these two tube trains haven’t gone AWOL
after relying too heavily on their satnavs. I passed them in Shoreditch the other day
and couldn’t resist taking a picture. They are actually recycled Jubilee Line
trains (there are four altogether) and they’ve cleverly been converted into
<a href="http://www.whereislondon.co.uk/content/places/village_underground.html" target="_blank">offices and studios</a> high above <a href="http://housewithnoname.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/hotel-review-hoxton-london.html" target="_blank">Great Eastern Street</a>.</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-67325622788523192012013-01-18T08:39:00.004+00:002013-01-22T10:32:13.874+00:00Friday book review - The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnULGYMA80UGDk5gWkRwG8OtCl05YQF5KGvujNeEj5swmwmdMgmfgXhyOYLDeScfw5HwZJo8emtGbYHe2AgNPAvlVMQtYPYjVfxx7ZOX74zaMjXFmir4k3QHxoDy-_U9VYyE1bfm76Ea88/s1600/Beth+Reekles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnULGYMA80UGDk5gWkRwG8OtCl05YQF5KGvujNeEj5swmwmdMgmfgXhyOYLDeScfw5HwZJo8emtGbYHe2AgNPAvlVMQtYPYjVfxx7ZOX74zaMjXFmir4k3QHxoDy-_U9VYyE1bfm76Ea88/s400/Beth+Reekles.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thousands of writers dream of hitting the big time with
their first novel. And that’s exactly what Beth Reekles has done. The
surprise is that Beth is a 17-year-old schoolgirl studying for her A levels
and hoping to read physics at university.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She began writing at the age of 15, sitting upstairs in her
bedroom at the family home in Newport, Wales and uploading a chapter of her
work at a time. She quickly got the thumbs-up from her readers. Her very first
chapter received a million hits and pretty soon she was being deluged with
emails urging her to upload the next instalments faster. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beth then began writing on Wattpad, the free online
novel-sharing platform for amateur writers, and the compliments flooded in. Her
first novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Kissing Booth</i>,
rapidly became the most-viewed, most-commented-on teen fiction title on
Wattpad, with 19 million reads and 40,000 comments to date. It won the Wattpad
Award for Teen Fiction and last October was snapped up by Random House. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beth has now signed a three-book deal with Random House and the publisher has
already released <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Kissing Booth</i> as
an ebook (it will be published in book form this summer). The ebook reveals
that Beth, whose real name is Reeks, is “an undeniable bookworm and an avid
drinker of tea,” while her acknowledgements include “a big thank you” to her
GCSE English teacher, Mr Maugham. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So after all that, what is the book actually like? Well, it’s
aimed at the YA market, so I’m clearly not the target reader. But the answer is
that it’s sweet, romantic and well-written. Not only that, it will appeal to
older readers too.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Set in America, it’s the story of Rochelle (also known as
Elle or Shelly), a pretty 16-year-old who’s never had a boy friend and has never
been kissed. She and her male best friend Lee hit on the idea of organising a
kissing booth at their school’s spring carnival, where she ends up kissing Lee’s
bad boy older brother Noah, tries to keep her feelings for Noah secret from Lee and
finds her whole world turned upside down.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not surprisingly, Beth’s teenage characters sound real and
authentic. They talk like teenagers and act like teenagers – which is more than
you can say about some of the teen novels written by older novelists. The book’s gone down
a storm with readers in America and the Far East, as well as the UK, and there’s
no doubt about it, Beth Reekles is an author to watch. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Kissing-Booth-ebook/dp/B00AIV2KIG" target="_blank">The Kissing Booth</a> </i>by
Beth Reekles (RHCP Digital, £2.84)</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-64826123478640500472013-01-13T20:11:00.001+00:002013-01-15T11:58:48.448+00:00Les Misérables - rapturous applause from the audience<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ESSgyifSGgjD7ViYCODWUayyWiF2i54LpYWMfrmfaAhMbsx2I5gOrR4KWHG93ltyPbKi4FSt50QRiOsQZ-vosZmtwCWytSJx-u9wU-Q2sz2LN1OHRnR55t_E1aCVSWZqVnwKcIjox3WC/s1600/Les+Mis+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ESSgyifSGgjD7ViYCODWUayyWiF2i54LpYWMfrmfaAhMbsx2I5gOrR4KWHG93ltyPbKi4FSt50QRiOsQZ-vosZmtwCWytSJx-u9wU-Q2sz2LN1OHRnR55t_E1aCVSWZqVnwKcIjox3WC/s400/Les+Mis+2013.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve been longing to see
the movie of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Les Misérables</i> since last spring, when I unexpectedly stumbled on to the film set during a visit to Greenwich. With
filming due to take place the following day, I couldn’t quite work out how <a href="http://housewithnoname.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/london-2012-and-day-out-in-greenwich.html" target="_blank">the giant stone elephant </a>and extraordinary pile of old wood, furniture and rubbish the
crew had built next to the Old Royal Naval College would look in the movie. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well now I know – because
the film is out in the UK and I foolishly went to see it with my husband at the
weekend. I say foolishly because a) I can’t think of a single film we’ve <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">both</i> liked (I’m keeping my fingers
crossed for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lincoln</i>) and b) he hates
musicals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he sweetly went
along with my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Les Mis</i> plan – and apart
from the moment when he whispered a bit too loudly “Oh God, he’s not going to snuff
it, is he?” didn’t complain too much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what was our verdict?
You won’t be surprised to hear that my husband loathed it. As for me, I
thought parts of it were stunning, but at 157 minutes it is way too long and
I’m sorry, but the Old Royal Naval College does <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i>
look like 19<sup>th</sup> century Paris.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best bits of the film,
I reckoned, were Anne Hathaway's touching <i>I Dreamed a Dream</i>, the comic pairing of Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham
Carter as the evil innkeeper and his wife (their performances veer slightly
towards panto, but are very funny), Samantha Barks as Eponine (she gives a
wonderful performance of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">On My Own</i>) and
child actor Daniel Huttlestone as Gavroche (who steals every scene he
appears in). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Tom Hooper-directed film
has won three Golden Globes - and been nominated for nine BAFTAs and eight Oscars, including Best Picture Award, Best Actor
(Hugh Jackman) and Best Supporting Actress (Anne Hathaway). Some critics have
given it ecstatic, five-star reviews, although others have been less enamoured.
But on Saturday night in Oxford the audience (apart from my husband) clapped wildly at the end. I’ve never seen that happen at the cinema before. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3A5PtPlEqGBJmASdxTi-87Df8XEjoMzq4fjx4fSp9YHi1NE82o6Eq-me3Yv4kROTfwoECgAxb9OqWqtgi7oNSEbE8wiQlLnkAGnVDQMXlHrYbmNpf5gYQBNlCgqA6WWqs2N1FuvAl0ER9/s1600/IMG_1185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3A5PtPlEqGBJmASdxTi-87Df8XEjoMzq4fjx4fSp9YHi1NE82o6Eq-me3Yv4kROTfwoECgAxb9OqWqtgi7oNSEbE8wiQlLnkAGnVDQMXlHrYbmNpf5gYQBNlCgqA6WWqs2N1FuvAl0ER9/s400/IMG_1185.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-58404056125402780742013-01-12T10:19:00.001+00:002013-01-12T10:32:20.662+00:00Natalie Haynes and Alexandra Shulman appear on With Great Pleasure<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgiJR4kV6t8UZxWGxzxk90Slrua9SctpMTioanJld8Te2cWHNrDqaZ30E9N26vUSSbtZ4NeK1QE4jeBrVg_tE-LAmcO3CcTJcCTFGCdIsU2L_fjprIw2vkFX3Hgf4JvNgNGwMAp9QcpqYM/s1600/Alexandra+Shulman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgiJR4kV6t8UZxWGxzxk90Slrua9SctpMTioanJld8Te2cWHNrDqaZ30E9N26vUSSbtZ4NeK1QE4jeBrVg_tE-LAmcO3CcTJcCTFGCdIsU2L_fjprIw2vkFX3Hgf4JvNgNGwMAp9QcpqYM/s400/Alexandra+Shulman.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">With Great Pleasure</i>
is one of the best programmes on BBC Radio 4. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you haven’t discovered it, do give it a try. The series asks
well-known names to pick prose and
poetry they love - so it’s a fantastic way to discover new writers and hear old favourites.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week I got the chance to attend a recording of two forthcoming programmes at the BBC’s Broadcasting House. The shows featured two ultra-inspiring
women – the first, comedian and writer Natalie Haynes and the second, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vogue</i> editor-in-chief <a href="http://housewithnoname.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/alexandra-shulmans-debut-novel-and-how.html" target="_blank">Alexandra Shulman</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The programmes will both be broadcast in February so I don’t
want to give too much of the game away but Natalie Haynes’s selection included two
rare and exquisite readings by one of our most distinguished writers. Like the
rest of the audience, I couldn’t quite believe my eyes when he walked on to the
stage.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then it was time for the second recording. I was fascinated
to hear Alexandra Shulman’s choices – not only because she is a brilliant
editor but because she is exactly the same generation as me. And sure enough,
listening to her choices (beautifully read by Tracy Wiles and Stella Gonet)
sent a shiver down my spine. Her favourites included Noel Streatfeild’s classic
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">White Boots</i>, Dorothy Parker’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Telephone Call</i>, Rosamund Lehman’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Invitation to the Waltz</i> and even <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mediterranean Cookery</i> by Elizabeth David.
Shulman recalled how the book took her straight back to her North London
childhood, in the days when her mother (the distinguished journalist Drusilla
Beyfus) would rush in from work and start cooking supper from scratch in their
tiny kitchen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the child of two journalists, Shulman said that when she
was growing up journalism seemed like very hard work for little remuneration.
But she loved reading journalists’ writing and the journalist she most admired
was Joan Didion, whose <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Play It As It Lays
</i>was another of her (universally excellent) choices. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shulman, dressed in a stylish bottle green velvet dress, was
surprisingly modest and self-effacing as she talked about the titles she’d selected.
Being asked to do the programme was, she said, “an incredible treat and
privilege.” Actually, being part of the audience was a treat and privilege
too.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS. Alexandra Shulman’s debut novel about three friends who
graduate in the 1980s is out in paperback this week. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Can We Still Be Friends </i>(Fig Tree, £5.99)</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5514378008400567712.post-77535485449053441822013-01-11T21:38:00.000+00:002013-01-11T11:50:17.178+00:00Friday Book Review - Crusher by Niall Leonard<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: small; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1vatPvMM4ps5Pm_qjSGpHIBKheSAzNmsTKrP5Cbl9LcatubDYUPLyIpa48kHx0G9V71-IeZU3K6d-OxxjNPIjOHmqodkLcziB7hEuHT0D70xCd00AiQwz0eoifSiHnHDWg4JMXvlYNzDH/s1600/Niall+Leonard+Crusher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1vatPvMM4ps5Pm_qjSGpHIBKheSAzNmsTKrP5Cbl9LcatubDYUPLyIpa48kHx0G9V71-IeZU3K6d-OxxjNPIjOHmqodkLcziB7hEuHT0D70xCd00AiQwz0eoifSiHnHDWg4JMXvlYNzDH/s400/Niall+Leonard+Crusher.jpg" width="262" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like most novelists, Niall
Leonard pays tribute to a whole host of people in his acknowledgements.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But there’s one name that stands
out from the crowd. “And above all to my beloved wife Erika,” writes Leonard,
“for her boundless love, loyalty, humour, encouragement and inspiration.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, the Erika in question is EL
James, whose <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://housewithnoname.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/fifty-shades-trilogy-sells-more-than.html" target="_blank">Fifty Shades of Grey</a> </i>has
sold well over 6 million copies in the UK and has become the country’s
bestselling book ever. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leonard is unlikely to match his
wife’s sales any time soon but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Crusher</i>,
his debut novel, is a gritty, fast-paced thriller for teenagers that gripped me
from start to finish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Funnily enough, it was James
herself who encouraged her TV screenwriter husband (his credits include <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wire in the Blood</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Silent Witness</i>) to write the book in the
first place. He decided to take part in the 2011 NaNoWriMo (the annual novel
writing challenge) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Crusher</i> was
the result.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The novel tells the story of teenager
Finn Maguire, who returns home from his dead-end café job one day to find that
his stepdad has been bludgeoned to death. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finn has no idea who might have
had a grudge against the impoverished, out-of-work actor. He is even more stunned
when it turns out that the police see him as the prime suspect for the murder.
As one cop tells him: "Ninety per cent of the time the person who reports finding a dead body is the murderer... You might as well have written a confession in your stepfather's blood."</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
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<!--EndFragment--></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Determined to prove his innocence
and find out who hated his stepdad enough to murder him, Finn resolves to track
the killer down. But his quest takes him into the scary heart of the London
underworld and exposes dark family secrets from the past.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m clearly not the target
audience for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Crusher</i> but Leonard,
unlike many YA writers, is a brilliant at getting inside the head of a troubled
teenager. Boys of 14 and up will enjoy it, but I reckon girls and adult readers
will too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crusher-Niall-Leonard/dp/0857532081/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crusher</span></a></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> by Niall Leonard (Doubleday,
£12.99)</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Emma Lee-Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941667739851280595noreply@blogger.com0