Saturday, September 29, 2007

Do you ever judge a book by its...

title?

When you are in a bookshop looking for a book to buy, what makes you pick up a book and read the blurb on the back? Is it the cover? Is it the title? Does it matter what the title is? Are you ever repulsed by a title? Do some titles have an immediate attraction?

If the book cover were the same for each of the following, which title woud be the most appealing?

1/ Zuzu's Petals

2/ The distance between us

3/ His hat still hangs in the porch

I know that people who read my blog are extremely reticent, but I would love to hear your views on book titles - including the three above.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Every woman should have a shed

Every woman should have a shed – in which to put her man. Men are at their best when viewed from a distance. If I lean out of my study window now I can see mine: he's in there pottering, fixing something. The doors of his shed are flung wide to take in the last of the afternoon sun, and he's listening to the news on Radio 4. He’ll be chuntering or expostulating or ranting about what he’s just heard. And I don’t have to listen. I can get on with my writing. Bliss.