Rush-hour Rantings
By virtue of my new job, I am one of the 800 million—at least, it seems like it—privileged London dwellers who experience the daily delights of either the bus, train, ...
For the Love of Leftovers
This blog series has been about my discovery of UK culture, but this particular article is inspired by a recent trip home to the States – a trip that showed ...
Are You Posh?
Accents fascinate me. I’m guilty of half-listening to people, half trying to figure out their accent. If we watch John Bishop’s stand-up routines, my husband has to translate, since I ...
Preview: London Literature Festival, 3-12 July 2012.
It’s a big year for London. There’s the Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics, and it’s about to get bigger still with the sixth annual London Literature Festival (part of the ...
The British Well-wishing Frenzy
There’s a card on our dining table that says, in giant letters, “GOOD LUCK”. I laughed when Jon brought it home. It was signed by all his ...
Storytelling in 140 Characters
Brevity is difficult. It’s hard enough having to “cull” our stories to make them tighter, what about doing it in only 140 characters?
Well, Manoj Pandey can. And he invited the ...
Laura Macaulay: Publisher & Bookseller at Daunt Books
I value the fact that I worked in bookshops first and then learnt publishing skills because I have the customer in mind when deciding which books to publish. I can ...
Harriet Bourton: Editorial Assistant at Hodder & Stoughton
I got the publishing bug at university, when I was slightly in love with the editor of the university’s newspaper. His name was Matt, and he had delicious curly hair ...
Lewis Csizmazia: Book Cover Designer at Simon and Schuster
The editors can go two ways—they might give me a brief synopsis of the book’s plot and say, “It will sit alongside these certain titles, this is the market,” and ...
Notes on the British pub
I love a good country pub. My husband and I will drive for ages on a two-lane road that looks suspiciously one-way, the hedges scraping off paint from the car, ...
The Psychology of Tea
Touring a standard British kitchen, I open a cabinet and find rows of mugs, like ceramic soldiers ready for the next guest invasion. There’s a kettle on the counter, a ...
The Stripy Jumper
A bit about me: I now live in the UK. I married the British guy, put my entire life into suitcases, got an Oyster card, bought a coat (I’m from ...
Emma Lowth: Assistant Editor at Simon & Schuster
When I was younger, my mum thought I wanted to be a teacher because, to her horror, I would take a Biro and write in my books, things like ‘good’ ...