My Five Best Psychological Mysteries
Jane selects and reviews her five favourite psychological mysteries for The Wall Street Journal.
Once Upon A Life
I’d always wanted to be an actor, but crippling stage fright, a “startling lack of charisma” and the horrors of the alternative comedy circuit in the early 80s finally proved too much for me.
Article for Sunday Herald on Servants
I have never been a servant. My closest brush with domestic service was when I was in my late twenties and spent a winter in the French Alps as a […]
Writing ‘The Observations’
How long does it take to write a novel? One year? Two years? Twelve? Are you kidding? Well – no, not really. In April this year, my first novel The Observations was published. I actually began writing this book in 1993. Had I known then that it would take 13 years before I’d see it in print, I might well have given up before I’d even begun. But, along the way, I’ve learned a few personal rules about writing. And my first rule is: never give up.
Don’s Diary
Wednesday. Visit Johnny in C wing. C is for sex-offenders, segregated from other prisoners for their own safety. Johnny is 70, an educated, intelligent man. “I’m a paedophile,” he an nounced grandly on our first meeting. His life story, written with undeniable wit and perception, explores his preference for B.O.Y.S. (Bloom Of Youth Syndrome). Even though I’m a woman, he tolerates my editing attempts. A cheery screw unlocks the cell, calls out: “Johnny Rotten?” Johnny performs a pantomime leap from his bed. “l deny everything,” he cries. “I demand to see my solicitor.”