A high-flying thriller from Hoddesdon Players

If you’re a fan of classic, nail-biting thrillers, get yourself down to Broxbourne Civic Hall on 30th April or 1st and 2nd May for The Small Hours. Hoddesdon Players are presenting Francis Durbridge’s renowned 1991 play. And it’s edge of the (plane) seat stuff! Sussex hotelier, Carl Houston, is returning from a trip to Australia when […]

Let’s get some perspective: taking a step back from celebrity culture

While idly channel-hopping last night, I ended up watching the Jonathan Ross Show on TV. And one of the guests was Russell Brand, comedian, writer and wearer of unfeasibly skinny jeans. Now, I’m totally aware that Russell Brand isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I like the guy. Yes, he does play up to the […]

Goodbye, Sir Terry; and thanks for the books

There are authors you read. There are authors you like. And there are authors you truly love. Sir Terry Pratchett was one of the latter; an author that millions of people around the world loved. An author who *meant* something to so many people. An author whose fans would pore over every word that dropped […]

Keep it simple, stupid! A guide to effective writing

As a writer and editor, I get to see a lot of content written by other people. And it never ceases to amaze me how complicated and overly fussy some of us make our writing. So I’ve come up with my own little maxim for these situations: and that’s ‘Keep it simple, stupid!’. What’s the […]

Working from coffee shops: The top three challenges

When you’re a freelancer you tend to spend a lot of your time hanging around in coffee shops, using the free wi-fi and gradually becoming addicted to flat whites. But it’s not all macchiatos and muffins when you’re a coffee shop worker (CSW) – when your local coffee outlet is also your office there are […]

Revelling in food nostalgia: can you ever go back?

When you’re a kid, there are few things more exciting than sweets. Candy, chocolate, penny sweets, sugary desserts, biscuits; they’re all up there on the list of ‘Things I would most like to eat instead of my dinner’ when you’re a young child burning off energy quicker than a cross-channel swimmer. But, inevitably, we all […]

Just like a girl: gender, toys and preconceptions

I’m a dad. My daughter will be two years old next month and she’s a healthy, inventive, cheeky little girl, just like millions of other healthy, inventive, cheeky little girls. But I worry about her a lot. Or to be clearer, I don’t worry about her, I worry about the world she’s growing up in […]

Hats off to mum and dad – the emotional journey of becoming a parent

Being a parent is hard, exhausting work, both mentally, physically and emotionally: doubly so when you’re the mother. As a mum, you go through a journey that encompasses huge changes to your body, your emotional state of mind, your career, your relationship with your partner and your entire outlook on the world around you. And […]

A very coffee New Year: are we a nation of caffeine junkies?

Happy New Year! *small phut of a damp party popper going off* Yes, it’s the first blog of 2015. And, as is traditional, it’s the time of year for writing lists of resolutions, looking back at the past 12 months or looking forward to the trends for the new year… so, in the spirit of […]

Owning your experience – a revolution in how we consume music and art

As the dust settles on another Christmas, I got to thinking about the presents my family and I exchanged this year. There was a time, not so long ago, when the vast majority of those gifts would have centred around three things: music CDs, movies or TV shows on DVD and heavy, hardback copies of […]