The world from my window

I'm delighted to discover that Good Morning, Corfu: A Year on a Greek Island ,  is at number two in this month's FeedARead Top Ten . FeedARead is a leading independent publisher, programmed with Arts Council funding.  My initial reaction to being in second place was deep joy (the last time this happened, I went to Peru ),  swiftly followed by,  'Why isn't it Number One?'. I consoled myself with the fact that the current Top of the Pops has been there for months on end. Actually, when you cut through the German description, it  sounds fascinating . And I'm not being sarcastic, either. The reviews Good Morning, Corfu have been getting on Kindle have been brilliant, too. (Thanks so much, Mum). I love you all. So all in all, Reasons to be Cheerful (a record that reached  only Number Three in the UK singles chart, which is pretty outrageous in my book). Now for Part II. That's about it - although if you are at a loose end tomorrow evening, ...

This past year in Corfu, I've had the time and discipline to get on with various writing projects which have been languishing around for far too long. And those characters who have lain abandoned like the toys in Toy Story , with bits of things missing, back story only sketched, motivation and desires just outlined, have at last taken on a life of their own. Earlier this year, I was able to bring out my novella, A Year in Lush Places , a light-hearted, affectionate look at English country life based on an election year's worth of blogging from Dorset. Sales are going well and the reviews on Amazon have been lovely, thank you. And now there's  A Town Like This , a comic romp inspired by my early days as a local newspaper in small towns in Devon and Dorset. Likened by one reviewer to Porterhouse Blue in places, the novel is being launched alongside two other debuts by West Dorset writers. You can read more about that on The Bridport Press website , where you...

A Year in Lush Places: Tales from England's Rural Underbelly is now available on Kindle , published by The Bridport Press. It comes out, appropriately, on the eve of Lush Places fun weekend and, as my blog readers will know, the Dorset village where I lived before moving to Corfu for twelve months is the epitome of fun. And weird. A work of fiction, it is inspired by and taken from the blog, so much of it will be familiar to you. But read on, there is a twist at the end. It's set in 2010, when  The World from my Window  became a  Blog of Note . The novella charts the highs and lows of a Dorset village and a nagging case of misunderstanding, which is resolved on New Year's Eve at a Wild West showdown. For those of you have been with me along the way, thanks for your support. It's not exactly Pulitzer Prize, more Pullet Surprise, but it will certainly make you think twice before eating a pasty. The paperback version will be available in a couple of weeks...

' Low tide at Cancale and the beach stretches far to the Britanny horizon. The sun has resigned, washed out by the early evening grey. A niggling wind is blowing, rippling the water in the little oyster basins that clutter the beach like a system of crude sewage tanks. Concrete tanks that trap the receding tides are filled with sacks of oysters. Stumps, clustered with mussels, stand like rotten gibbets way down to the muddy sea. These are the opening words to that seminal (to me at least) cookery book Floyd on Fish . Much has been written about the flamboyant TV chef Keith Floyd since he died in Bridport, Dorset, a week ago. I heard about it in Greece and was desperate to blog about it but my internet connection wasn't working. Now that it is, it almost feels too late to add my four pennyworth. But I'm going to anyway. Have to. I met him a few times decades ago when he was filming in Bridport, cooking scallops at The George or when he was visiting old friends. He was debon...