Home To Vote

As I write this, planes from everywhere are disgorging bands of women into airports across the Republic who have flown home to Ireland to vote YES to the repeal of the Eighth Amendment. It is a vital vote in Ireland today and by the time you read this, the result will be in. I am…

The Ritz

“When I dream of an afterlife in heaven, the action always takes place at the Ritz, Paris.” Ernest Hemingway wrote. I wonder whether he would offer the same opinion today, or perhaps he would consider some of the latest episodes in this new era of the Ritz as definitely worthy of a novel. I am…

The Bataclan

In less that two weeks time, 8th March, it will be the publication date for the paperback of THE LOST GIRL. I have already written here on our lovely HG site about the inspiration for the modern half of the story, which is partially set over the weekend of Friday 13th November 2015 when a…

Picasso’s Plates

Forgive the brevity of this post. I am up against several deadlines at present and I am very short of time. Again! In these wintery days, there is little that can be more heartening than admiring some of the art that came out of this corner of the Côte d’Azur throughout the twentieth century. Warm…

Sexual harassment…

For those of you who have read THE LOST GIRL, you will know what happens to the young actress, Marguerite, and the consequences of that episode in her young life. Throughout her life because such scars do not disappear. They leave their mark. Here is the true story, my story, upon which I based the…

The Lost Girl

In just a few days time, my new novel THE LOST GIRL will be published. I have already written on my HG blogs that the story is set in two time zones: post WWII in France and 2015 Paris and includes a few flashbacks to London in the 90s. The Paris 2015 sections take place…

South of France Magic and Make-Believe

Quite by chance, while internet browsing, I came across an article in Variety magazine – almost a film industry bible – announcing a new film studio complex converted from warehouses to be opened on the outskirts of Marseille. This is exciting news. France’s Mediterranean coastline from Marseille all the way to Monaco and onwards to…

A Few Facts and Gems from the Earliest Days of Cinema

When I was a child, one of the treats of the week was our family outing to the cinema. The programme back in the mid-fifties, early sixties usually included two films. A ‘B’ movie followed by the main attraction. Today, before the main attraction, spectators are shown endless expensively-shot commercials followed by a series of…

Peace on Earth

This month my blog is very short. Apologies for that. I am a little unwell. On top of that, due to the loss of my mother earlier this year, my husband and I are having a very low-key Christmas. Today, 26th December, is Boxing Day. It is also St Stephen’s Day, which is celebrated in…