I’ve just finished Duncan Bannatyne’s book Anyone Can Do It. His central premise is simple. You set yourself a goal and work ceaselessly towards it. In Duncan’s case, the goal was to become a millionaire from a background of nothing. Along the way he encountered belligerent naval officers, snotty, middle class bank managers and closet entrepreneurs who failed to disclose the true value of…
Life is … Learning to live with doubt, anger, frustration, despair, lethargy, vindictiveness, disappointment, inadequacy, failure, envy, greed and … People
Sebastian Faulks didn’t fire a single shot during World War One. In fact, the lad hadn’t even been born. And yet he managed to dramatise the event with such authority that critics were astounded. But how does his achievement stand in the light of cold, hard writing advice? We’re always told write about what you know. But does this mean avoid anything outside our personal…
The book is dead. Word on the street is the pillars have fallen. The humble bookseller -beloved of previous generations – is no more, crushed by the advancing wheels of technology. What’s next – a world of gunmetal grey and libraries stocked full of kindling? How utterly depressing. And what of the lowly browser, who spends all day trawling websites for misinformation, his eyesight drastically…
