Poisonous Flowers, Indian Gods and a bit of History

I was writing today about the Angels’ Trumpet flowers that I saw everywhere around Munnar and Periyar. Ginny my character was painting them and I thought I’d better check I’d got the name right. Turns out they’re highly toxic… so you...

Elephants and Contraceptives

I’ve just used something that actually happened to me in my novel Kurinji Flowers. About five years ago (2007),   I went to India for the first time and was driven at night from the airport at Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu to my destination, a yoga retreat near...

What I’m Reading Now

I often feel guilty when I’m reading. It feels like skiving off. Instead of being curled up with a book I should be DOING something – writing, making, working, clearing, cleaning, exercising. In contrast soaking up someone else’s words feels like a...

A Tribute to Annette

A few days ago I wrote a blog piece about stealing with glee – and how I’d stolen a little descriptive phrase for the colour and character of the sea in and around Eastbourne from my friend Annette Gampel, nee Warburton – with her permission –...