Author | Writer | Photographer
A literary walk today, around AE Housman’s Blue Remembered Hills of the Clun valley, once home to the playwright John Osborne. My route also took me over Black Hill, reputedly …
Spotted on my walk today … wool being spun between two branches. I wonder if the trees knit at night?
The delicate fritillaries are out in bloom at the moment …
Wonderful clouds in the sky today.
It might be April, but it looks like Christmas!
I love the spookiness of the atmosphere around the Hermitage in Rectory Woods. It can be dark and foreboding under the tree, with the reflections of the ruins and the …
The daffodils appear to be delighting in the April showers and sunshine we’ve been having recently.
STRICTLY COME LEKKING
Witness early morning dance contestants compete for the avian equivalent of the Glitter Ball Trophy in the black grouse lek, says Simon Whaley.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR AUTHOR CONTRACT
Secured a publishing deal? Simon Whaley puts on his business head to assess its implications.
On 30th April 2003 I received my first author contract. Hodder & Stoughton wanted to publish my One Hundred Ways For A Dog To Train Its Human. It was a day of mixed emotions. There was uncontainable excitement that I was having a book be published. And then, as I flicked through all 14 pages of the contract, a sense of horror overwhelmed me as I appreciated what was at stake.
A glorious morning, this morning, but not for everyone, it seems. If you squint hard enough you can just make out the bank of fog over Shrewsbury and surrounding The …