A big thank you to all who submitted a story to the Book a Break Flash Fiction competition. There were some very good entries, and selecting a winner wasn’t easy. So my thanks also go…
Our life in Algeria came to an end in 1960, when my father, who’d been moved up to lieutenant, was deprived of an eye by a vindictive Arab. Despite the way he treated me, I…
We’re currently in Vienna, where my time is split between two activities: sheltering from the wind in the city’s magnificent museums, and pursuing my Shakespeare Balancing Challenge. The two are indeed combined: a performance at…
When was the last time you reached for the handle of your coffee cup and grasped thin air instead? It’s probably never happened, because by the time you were old enough to drink coffee, you’d…
In 1734, Voltaire’s Lettres Philosophiques were published, in the eleventh of which he writes of the ‘mad and dangerous English, who inject smallpox into their children’. So thought the anti-vaxxers of the day, led by…
You’re in a car at night on a narrow, winding country road which is unfamilar to you, when you get the impression you’re being followed. When you slow down, the car behind slows too; when…
Magali composed herself, taking her time to find the right formulation. ‘It’s just that I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the way you are.’ ‘Really? How am I?’ ‘Just… To me you’re kind of glamorous. Smooth.…
One person who gets an occasional mention in my novels is the juge d’instruction (investigating judge or examining magistrate). Being more concerned with the search for clues, which the judge usually delegates to the police…
For at least two reasons, the Cosquer Cave near Marseille is amazing – firstly for what’s in it, secondly for the story of its discovery. Penguins, seals, horses, bison and aurochs, all in one space.…
“Such is the life of man – a few joys soon wiped out by unforgettable pain.” “Everyone knew it was impossible. Then along came an idiot who didn’t know, and did it.” “We won’t discover…