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- XX or XY? Do readers care about gender of author? June 17, 2013
- Guest Author – Susan Elliot Wright on Writing a Dual Narrative June 10, 2013
- Let’s all talk about GONE GIRL June 4, 2013
- This Itch of Writing
- Guardian Book Blog
- The best books on Egypt: start your reading here | Pushpinder Khaneka June 19, 2013 Pushpinder Khaneka
- A note on Neil Gaiman's politics June 18, 2013 Paul Owen
- Neil Gaiman in conversation June 17, 2013 Paul Owen
- The Forest for the Trees — Betsy Lerner
- I Love You Just the Way You Are June 16, 2013
- I’m Trying To Beat Life Cause I Can’t Cheat Death June 3, 2013
- Could It Be That It Was All So Simple Then May 30, 2013
- Kathy Greethurst’s Blog
- Untitled January 10, 2013 Kathy Greethurst
- Bloody Flies by Andrew J Keir - Review by Helena Frith Powell June 7, 2012 Kathy Greethurst
- A wonderful afternoon in Avebury February 22, 2012 Kathy Greethurst
- How Publishing Really Works
- Does The Self-Publishing Review Fall For Robert Duperre? March 29, 2012
- The Self-Publishing Review Goes In Search Of The Menopause Ranch March 22, 2012
- Travelling To The Self-Published Review March 15, 2012
- Female PTSD — A Blog By A Brave Female Victim of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Help I Need A Publisher
- I'm still here... December 31, 2012
- All my advice about publishing and writing September 4, 2012
- Two last questions for DEAR CRABBIT September 3, 2012
- The Elephant in the Writing Room
- Sunshine and Showers June 15, 2013
- Not a lot of writing but a whole load of reading... June 5, 2013
- Jon and the Pacemakers May 31, 2013
- Bren Gosling’s Blog (ex-City Novel coursemate)
- Short listed for the Harry Bowling Prize ! January 30, 2012 Bren Gosling
- About - Sweeping up the Village- by Bren Gosling January 16, 2012 Bren Gosling
- A taster... December 22, 2011 Bren Gosling
- Charlotte Haigh MacNeil’s Blog (ex-City Novel Coursemate and Journalist)
- The real reason insomniacs can’t sleep June 7, 2013
- The myth of delayed motherhood May 18, 2013
- The extreme female brain February 21, 2013
- Michael Braga Writes (ex-City Novel coursemate)
- THE SIGNS -A short story by Michael Braga Oct 2010 October 10, 2010
- Friday thoughts on a Monday afternoon September 6, 2010
- The pursuit of sadness August 25, 2010
- Sometimes I Lie A Little
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- Partisan writing April 11, 2013
- Brain error? April 7, 2013
- Longing April 4, 2013
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Tag Archives: Shoreditch
Alexis Cole — Transcendence
One of the questions that recurs in my novel is the importance of location — especially for artists.In my novel Kim is a German artist who has arrived to London from Berlin in the expectation that it’s the place to … Continue reading
Posted in Research
Tagged agents, Alexis Cole, art, art galleries, artists, bookshops, Brick Lane, Damien Hirst, Kim, London, Mat Collishaw, Publishing, Research, setting, Shoreditch, theme, Transcendence
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Point of View
The point from which this view can be seen is unique — with that tremendous triangular shadow — and it’s only been open a week. I must have been very lucky to have caught a moment where the sun … Continue reading
Posted in Influences
Tagged Cheesegrater, London, marketing, setting, Shoreditch, The City, The Shard, Village Underground, Walkie Talkie
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In-Out, In-Out, Shake It All About?
The Hokey Cokey seems to possess the same level of serious reasoning as did last week’s unconvincing and desperately tactical David Cameron speech on an ‘in-out’ referendum on British membership of the EU. His gambling with the country’s political relationship with … Continue reading
Posted in Frustrations
Tagged artists, Conservative Party, David Cameron, David Lidington, Degenerate Art, entartete Künst, EU, Europe, European culture, Eurosceptics, Germany, Hackney, James, Kim, London, Research, setting, Shoreditch, theme, UKIP, Winston Churchill, Working in Europe, World War I, World War II
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Shoreditch Blonde
There’s a report on the BBC website today about the increasing fashionability and popularity of craft brewing in London. Its main focus is the Beavertown Brewery in Hackney where the brewer is Robert Plant’s son. A few years ago … Continue reading
Beaten To It?
…but hopefully not with a paddle. I spotted this in W.H.Smith at Northampton services on the M1 last weekend. I’d realised my novel’s title is a bit of a hostage to fortune. I like it because it works in conjunction … Continue reading
Know What You Write
I’ve recently been writing a new scene for the novel involving street art. As readers of the blog will know, I’ve spent plenty of time recently learning about street art and observing it around Shoreditch (on Thursday this week I was … Continue reading
Posted in Influences, Research
Tagged Adam Neate, art, art galleries, artists, Berlin, Elms Lesters Painting Rooms, graffiti, Kim, Love Art London, method acting, psychology, setting, sex, Shoreditch, Street art, Tate Gallery
2 Comments
A Flying View of London
This weekend I visited the latest fascinating addition to London’s skyline, a construction that would probably have attracted a lot more attention had it not opened immediately before the Olympics — an event it was partly conceived to serve. Its … Continue reading
Posted in Influences, Research
Tagged cable car, Canary Wharf, East London, Emirates Air Line, Greenwich, London, O2 Arena, Olympic Legacy, Olympics, pubs, setting, Shoreditch, Tap East, Thames, The City, The Shard
7 Comments
The Accidental Street Art Photographer
This weekend is one of the biggest in the London art world with the huge Frieze exhibitions in Regent’s Park and many associated events. In 2010 Village Underground started to host the Moniker art fair, which is a showcase for … Continue reading
Posted in Research
Tagged amanda marie, artists, creative writing, Facebook, Kim, moniker art fair, Shoreditch, stencilling, Street art, Village Underground
1 Comment
(M)eine Grafitti Shoreditch Wedding
It’s a slightly cheesy caption for the above photo but those in the know will also recognise it as the name of a pub near Old Street, on the edge of Shoreditch and the place I ended up with the … Continue reading
Posted in Research
Tagged art, Ben Eine, Boxpark, Ebor Street, graffiti, Redchurch Street, setting, Shoreditch, Street art, Wedding, workshops
1 Comment
Was It Worth It?
Last Saturday morning five of us ex of the City course met for our last workshopping session of the current year (although it’s two years since we finished the course we’re still loosely following the Sep-June academic year). I sent … Continue reading
Posted in Frustrations, Writing Process
Tagged agents, artists, Creative Writing Classes, Delia Smith, editing, frustration, holidays, London, motivation, Olympics, Publishing, Shoreditch, subconscious, synopsis, time management, time passing, tiredness, work, workshops
3 Comments
Two Novel Views of England Within 24 Hours
Here are a couple of contrasting photos taken in the last eighteen hours of the different aspects of England that feature in the novel. The first is one of the photos I took on the fascinating Love Art London graffiti … Continue reading
Posted in Influences
Tagged Chilterns, contrasts, graffiti, Love Art London, setting, Shoreditch
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Love Art London and the Catlin Prize
The last post dwelt on art at the celebrity and ‘major gallery spaces’ level  (as Time Out describes them). But my novel is about an artist trying to make a living, someone who doesn’t have the reputation of Picasso or Hirst nor … Continue reading
Posted in Research, Uncategorized
Tagged ABC, adeline de monseignat, Affordable Art Fair, artcatlin, artists, Catlin Prize, jonny briggs, julia vogl, Kim, Love Art London, max dovey, owl and the pussycat, Research, setting, Shoreditch
2 Comments
Time Out With London’s Lucky Kunsts
When I started writing the novel there were certain themes that I thought IÂ was fairly knowledgeable about: pubs, for example — I knew a lot about those. And food. And London geography and the pleasures of the Chilterns. And Germany … Continue reading
Posted in Influences, Research
Tagged acid house, Art Fund Pass, artists, Brain Activity, Damien Hirst, David Shrigley, Germany, global capital, Jeremy Dellar, Joy in People, Kim, KLF, london art fair, Manchester, miners' strike, Picasso and Modern British Art, Shoreditch, Tate Gallery, The Battle of Orgreave, theme
1 Comment
Wenlock Saved
I have a short update to the story of the Wenlock Arms in Hoxton, mentioned below, which is relevant to the fate of many pubs across the country. The Wenlock is a spit-and-sawdust, East-end style local (which looks from the … Continue reading
Posted in Research
Tagged CAMRA, economics, Hackney Council, Hoxton, planning regulations, pubs, Shoreditch, Tommy Ducks, Wenlock Arms
4 Comments
When I Grow Rich…
…ring the bells of Shoreditch in Oranges and Lemons, Shoreditch being where mos of the start of my novel is set, although I very much doubt the bells of St. Leonard’s are going to help me get rich by writing … Continue reading
Posted in Research
Tagged artists, Curtain Theatre, history, Hoxton, London, Moniker Art, Norton Folgate, Oranges and Lemons, pubs, setting, Shakespeare, Shoreditch, The City, Village Underground
3 Comments
Art for Art’s Sake?
I’m not sure about Kim’s personal taste in modern art but with her training she’d be sure to be able to hold forth about Cy Twombly, the American painter who died last week, and was the subject of some posts on … Continue reading
Posted in Research
Tagged art, collectors, criticism, Cy Twombly, finance, James, Kim, modern art, Picasso, Research, Shoreditch, Tate Gallery, The City, theme, wealth, World's Most Expensive Paintings
1 Comment
On Your Bike Boris
A couple of weekends ago I decided, purely in the name of research for the novel, to research the area where Kim lives — what has been to me for many years the infamous borough of Hackney. I organised a … Continue reading
Posted in Research
Tagged art, artists, Fish Island, Hackney, Kim, London, pubs, setting, Shoreditch
3 Comments
Shoreditch By Overground
After the tutorial with Emily the weekend before last I decided to take a walk to see how things were around Village Underground as I’d not been there for a while. It was the first time that I’d had chance … Continue reading
Posted in Research
Tagged 30 bus route, Broadgate, Hackney, Hackney Wick, London, London Overground, railways, setting, Shoreditch, The City, Village Underground
5 Comments
The Oldest Road Sign in London?
Walking along Theobalds Road tonight between City Lit and City University I came across this historical anachronism (sorry Guy for the tautology!) of a road sign. It’s rather appropriate for my Angel. Here’s the whole rather quaint London-Red-Buses street scene … Continue reading
