Author of Creative Fiction Writing, Books and Stories
As it’s Groundhog Day, here’s the story-behind-the-story of my book ’11:42′ – not because of the cute little woodchuck in Pennsylvania. But because of the awesome time-loop film that Bill Murray was in, which famously made the term ‘Groundhog Day’ synonymous with recurring situations…
‘Never Let Me Go’ takes you completely inside the head of a young woman as she navigates an unimaginable life without knowing she is living one. As a result, her thoughts are remarkably uncluttered with baggage, her sentences simple and mostly unemotional, yet the story she tells carries significant emotional undercurrents and unanswered questions, drawing the reader into her troubled existence. So cleverly done by Kazuo Ishiguro.
I was recently wondering which book is classed as the First Novel of any kind in the English language? How easy is it to pinpoint such a milestone from so long ago? Turns out it depends on what you class as a novel, and there is a lot of argument about it…
‘The North Water’ is not a ‘nice’ book, and I can’t stress this enough. It is crammed with cruelty, violence and death. So when you come across a sentence like this one, it stands out – a beautiful sentence in the middle of all the horror.
In which we find out why there are so many Six-Toed Kitties in Key West
In which Bird ‘helps’ me wrap presents for Christmas. Errm… thanks Bird 
In which impetuous Mab Thatcher ignores everyone’s advice about being the new priest’s first confession in Blackwood, and lands the village in a whole heap of trouble…
There would be nobody I knew. None of my friends were going. Not even an enemy. In a pocket on the side of my rucksack was a tiny amber bottle of Rescue Remedy my brother had bought for me last week. I wondered if I could get it out and take a few drops without anyone on the bus seeing me but didn’t have the nerve. It made me smile a little; I didn’t have the nerve to take the potion to reduce my nervousness. Stupid.
In which Jo receives a mysterious photo from her friend and has no idea what it is…
In which we come across a quote about being yourself that makes complete sense and makes us nod very wisely. Thank you, Bernadette.
Jo Danilo | Writer 