For 27 years the Channel Tunnel’s been the only physical thread connecting the UK with the rest of Europe, but now the Eurostar passenger train service that runs on it is reeling and may come off the rails entirely unless someone steps in and bails it out. The French government has been the majority owner of the Eurostar train set since the UK sold off its 40% stake for £757m back in 2015. In recent Read more…
Two days before the UK introduced the 14-day self isolation for all arrivals into the UK, I travelled from south western France to London by TGV and Eurostar… It’s 8.30am on a wet and grey morning when we leave the apartment that has been home for the past 80 days. For the first time in nearly three months, I’m travelling across Europe, from Poitiers in SW France to my home in Central London. I would have Read more…
It’s weird isn’t it how used we’ve all become to this strange lockdown period? But as a regular traveller, I’m kind of missing that right now. I came across this old photo from my Interrailing trip, way back in the 1980s, the other day. And it struck me that I really want, no, need, to travel again. My partner and I have been talking lately about how we’d love to just jump in the car Read more…
Us author’s, we’re a fairly shy bunch really, aren’t we? I love sitting comfortably at my desk, hidden a way from everyone, writing away. Standing up in public kind of scares me, even though I’ve done bits of it here and there. But I’m learning that, when you don’t have a lovely agent and publisher doing all the marketing stuff, you have do a lot yourself. I also think it’s important to try to engage Read more…
I’m really looking forward to No Time To Die, the latest instalment in the Bond franchise, but I also wanted to make a teensy contribution of my own to a character I’ve grown up with. If you’ve read my novel, you’ll already be in the know. But for those who haven’t here are some of the ways I managed to work the world of my favourite spy hero into Changing Trains: 1. A Couchette with a Read more…
Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to a press screening for a new Channel 4 drama. The production company was there and I suddenly realised it might be an opportunity to talk to its top executives about my novel and how to turn it into a film or TV series.Now, I’m not the most confident person. I’ve had more than few knocks recently and on that Monday morning I was particularly down and Read more…
