Losing Small Wars: British Military Failure in Iraq and Afghanistan by Frank Ledwidge, Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 2011 It’s not often that a well-written, extensively researched, authoritative and devastatingly honest non-fiction work...
Last night I completed the first draft of a new novel. I have a distinct feeling that this will eventually be locked up in the digital equivalent of a bottom drawer, never to see the light of day. It’s short, which is probably its only virtue. Working title:...
I’m sure everyone has lots of ideas for novels. Who hasn’t been approached by someone bursting to impart a ‘brilliant’ idea that’s absolutely guaranteed to be a bestseller? Some ideas do seem promising, others less so, and it goes without saying that it’s not the idea...
Cutting Edge Press, Edinburgh, 2001 Richard Tomlinson was a brilliant young spy. The UK’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), also known as MI6, was lucky to have him. He was intelligent, tough both mentally and physically, skilled, brave and had loads of initiative....
Some people say one should write about what one knows. I have — until now. My first novel was written in a spasm of angst. It was set in Bosnia, where I undertook a number of six-week-long reporting assignments for Reuters. I couldn’t wait to get out of the war zone,...
The proof reading did not start well. An idealistic young person, a recent graduate in English literature, took it upon herself with great charm, energy and ambition to elevate me – out of the goodness of her heart (one presumes) – from Grub Street’s...
