‘I want to open a little bookshop – say, a tiny wooden cottage open six months a year where children (but also adults) can find a book that speaks to them, a magical place where you can admire the most wonderful sunsets on the Apuan Alps.’ This was part of what Alba Donati wrote […]
Tag: Diary of a Young Writer
I’ve been reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, after my friend and manager, recommended it to me. Described online; ‘The Artist’s Way provides a twelve-week course that guides you through the process of recovering your creative self. It aims to dispel the ‘I’m not talented enough’ conditioning that holds many people back and helps […]
As a socially awkward introvert, I often prefer book characters to real people. There’s just something about being able to relate to people in fiction that is so much more interesting than the real world, although, any good story should be able to transport the reader out of the real world. I particularly love characters […]
I have to confess, I haven’t read Shaun Bythell’s ‘Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops’ so this list may have some similarities to his book, however the list below is based on my own observations from working in a large second-hand bookshop. Please note this list is loosely based on reality and is […]
For those of you who don’t know, I work in a bookshop which happens to sell my books, and every time one of my books sells, I’m always amazed. I feel a mixture of anxiety, surprise, happiness and doubt. This doesn’t just happen with my books though, I make things too and when they sell, […]
Your thoughts are probably elsewhere in light of recent events and the last three years, but the winter season is fast approaching. Halloween is just around the corner and soon after that Christmas will be upon us. Searching for gifts can be tricky and coming up with new ideas every year that won’t break your […]
I’ve been writing books, or at least trying to, for the last nine years. At first I was met with a lot of disbelief and raised eyebrows when I talked about being a writer. Most people didn’t believe I could or would be able to write a book. Four published books later, I have learnt […]
I’ve been working in a large bookshop for six years. There are approximately 70,000 books over two floors, most are second-hand and some are new. We also have some antiquarian and collectable books too. A lot of people like the idea of owning or working in a bookshop. It sounds like a perfect job in […]
In my 3rd year of my English Literature degree, I took a class about Renaissance/Early Modern literature and poetry. Part of the requirements for the latter half of the degree was that we take at least 1 subject that covered pre-1800s literature, so I decided to do mine in the first semester of that year. […]
As writers, we all have projects we decide to leave behind or put on the backburner. Sometimes an idea is just not quite there, or we’ve lost momentum or motivation to keep working on it. This time, last decade, I was in my first year of secondary school. I had moved from a small village […]