Category Archives: Uncategorized

“I want you to write me two sides of A4 on the subject of cherry blossom. No cliches.” That was the challenge set me by my former agent, the late William Miller. It was fourteen years ago, and I’d contacted him … Continue reading →

Japan is a country of natural disasters. Earthquakes, volcanos, typhoons, tsunamis. Earthquakes particularly, and particularly in Tokyo, which is built “atop the junction of three tectonic plates” (thanks, National Geographic), and is constantly shifting around. During the fifteen years I … Continue reading →

More than a month has elapsed since my last post, but I have a really good excuse—I’ve been working on revisions to my Bath Novel Award shortlisted novel, You’re Beautiful, for my agent. And last week the revisions were finally completed and … Continue reading →

If you’ve read blog posts one to eight in this series giving the background to my Bath Novel Award shortlisted novel You’re Beautiful, you’ll know that I’m big into location research. Some of the locales in the story didn’t need as … Continue reading →

Most of the action in my Bath Novel Award shortlisted novel You’re Beautiful takes place on a beach about an hour south of Tokyo, but some scenes actually take place in the city itself.  At the beginning of the book, Lisa, … Continue reading →

It’s autumn in England and it’s officially “winter” here in Bangkok with temperatures barely reaching thirty degrees. But in my Bath Novel Award shortlisted novel You’re Beautiful it’s summer. Japanese summer, that is. And that means beach bars, fireworks, screaming cicadas, oppressive … Continue reading →

Endless surprises as I search through my old stash of Japan photos for images that relate to the background to my Bath Novel Award shortlisted novel You’re Beautiful. Did I really write sections of it longhand while lounging in the garden of my beach … Continue reading →

All that talk of Mount Fuji the other day made me want to post this picture, even though it’s a wintry, snow-capped Fuji and my Bath Novel Award shortlisted novel You’re Beautiful takes place in the summer. I’d also been thinking of saving … Continue reading →

Looking for more photographs showing the Japan background to my Bath Novel Award shortlisted novel You’re Beautiful, this one felt like a piece of ancient history with its pre-iPhone mobile, and my fags sitting on the table. Yes, I used … Continue reading →

So this is the actual beach bar, near Tokyo, on which the beach bar in my Bath Novel Award shortlisted novel You’re Beautiful is based. It was surprising, hunting back through all my old photos (this one dates from 2009) … Continue reading →