(first published by Huffington Post, October 25, 2016) All dogs bark. Even the Basenji, a Central African breed known for its unusual silence, will yodel or howl. Two of my dogs…
Earlier this year, I wrote an article for Redbook in the US. I don’t know if I am allowed to post the whole thing on my blog now, but this…
Three days ago, the Cat Protection League posted their amazing video on how to make cat treats out of tinned cat food. I’ve posted it at the bottom of this blog…
Dog food is a highly-charged topic among dog owners. Dog food is downright political. You get factions; you get tribes. There are those who only feed their dog a…
I remember my mother listing a whole bunch of first lines from bestselling books. “The primroses were over,” she announced theatrically. I pretended to understand what she…
I wish people would stop trying to use metaphoric language and sound “writerly”. It’s wrecking many otherwise good books. I might not have read Patrick Barkham’s beautifully delivered history on badgers,…
People working within the publishing industry just don’t understand each other. In the July 26th issue of The Bookseller, Katy Guest, editor of Independent on Sunday’s books pages…
Earlier this year, The Financial Times reported that fifty-four million workers in the US are now freelancing for a living. The word freelancing, traditionally associated with writing and journalism,…
My son gets into the car with a large frozen fish in a blue bag. He explains it is for a Sudanese dinner which involves frying just this kind…
I am in my office, a rectangle with room only for a desk and some books shelves. A big window overlooks the front garden where messy bushes lead to a…