The Time Bubble

Today we did something that I have wanted to do for years. We went on a buggy tour of the northern part of the island. Fuerteventura is the perfect place for this. Away from the tourist resorts, it's effectively one big rock, a mix of extinct volcanoes and desert. The great thing about the kids being the age they are now is that they are old enough to take part in and enjoy this sort of thing. So we hired two buggies and were two of five setting out on tour with our friendly Scottish guide. These things are easy to drive and allowed on the road, so at first it was easy, sailing along the streets of Corralejo attracting envious glances from the holidaymakers. But soon we were out of the town, off road and tearing along all those dirty and dusty trails. We'd been warned we'd need glasses and bandanas, and they weren't wrong, The boys looked really cool in theirs I thought, whereas I looked a bit of a twat, but such is the way of things. The whole trip was four hou...

Well, blog fans, you find me this evening in lovely Fuerteventura, enjoying a well earned two week break in the sun. Well deserved? A phrase you hear bandied about a lot, but in this case I feel justified. It's two years since our last visit and in that time I've written and published four novels! No mean feat, and a tiring one. So a couple of weeks rest and recreation is long overdue. Not that I am being idle, no not me. Those of you who know me well might be labouring under the entirely false impression that I am spending this entire holiday lazing around by the pool, stirring only to waddle to one of the many English bars serving all day breakfasts (with real English Bacon), the bar for another beer, or down town for a massive mixed grill (hold the Canarian potatoes, please, I'm British so that'll be chips if you please). Nothing could be further from the truth. When on holiday I spring into action, casting off my winter sloth from my ample frame and immersing myse...

One of the most common things I hear other authors say is that their ultimate dream is to see their books made into films. I should know, I've said it often enough myself. Now much as we would all like to convince ourselves that we've written the best story ever in the history of the world, I think even the biggest fantasists would concede that it's unlikely that Spielberg's going to come on the blower any time soon. In my case, I could claim to have connections as I went to school with Sam Mendes. When I say I went to school with him, I mean that he was in the sixth form when I was some snotty, irritating 12 year old who he would be extremely unlikely to remember so it would be really pushing the boundaries of "the old school tie" to get him on board. To date I have concentrated my efforts on putting out good quality. well written and edited novels that people want to read. Which it seems they do, which is very nice. Having written four in less than two y...