Just a quick note to wish all my subscribers and readers a very happy new year! I hope you had a good break with some time to read as well as all the festive stuff. We spent a wonderful cosy week in the last home of Swallows and Amazons author Arthur Ransome in the southern Lake District with lots of enforced relaxation due to flooding, road closures, etc. Amongst others, I devoured the last of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels The Story of the Lost Child and I’m blaming withdrawal symptoms for the fact that I’ll be strolling along the stradone at Easter trying not to get my pocket picked.
I have a feeling this is going to be a really exciting year in all sorts of ways, with many fantastic writers due to visit the Literary Sofa and plans to up sticks to my own website. But for now, do take another look at my Fiction Hot Picks 2016 which I’ve just updated with the two final titles as brilliant as the rest and the COMPETITION to win your favorite. (It’s only running until 6pm UK on Sunday.) For those on Twitter I’ll be doing the usual tweet on each book to say why I chose it under hashtag #hotpicks16. As always my selection attracted a lot of interest when it came out three weeks ago – thanks as ever for your support and any help you can give to spread word of the competition.
I hope you have a very happy, creative and inspiring 2016!
