Mrs Zoe Philpott is the central character of my new novel, Fixing Mrs Philpott. Here, to give you a better idea of why she thinks she might need fixing, are a few more samples of the book. Moving on a couple of months, Christchurch, where Zoe and her husband live, is struck by an immense, devastating earthquake. Endless […]
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My new novel is ready for printing, after many a drama and deadline. Yippee! The launch is on 29 September and if you are in Christchurch, New Zealand, you are warmly invited to attend! Rachel Eadie at Scorpio Books is the person to contact with questions. Meantime here is the first of, well, an indeterminate […]
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On with the mission to cure old-lady voice! I contacted Natasha Curham, a speech therapist with wide experience in helping older people. Before accepting me as a client, Natasha advised me to visit an otolaryngologist (ear nose and throat specialist) to check the physical state of my throat. Nodules? Cancer? Gastric reflux? Scarring? Let’s see whether those working parts […]
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Practising Christmas carols, 1944, Granada Relocation Center, Colorado. Tom Parker, Wikimedia At first I noticed it occasionally and brushed it aside quite tolerantly: Oops, that’s my old lady voice! You know the one I mean: squeaky, creaky, wobbly, unpredictable, on-again-off-again as if a fuse was about to blow. A voice that shuffles along in slippers. If a voice […]
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In which I admit that my commitment to accessibility is not without limits. There’s a limit to how far I’m prepared to plan ahead. Making my home safe, shareable and secure is as far as I’m willing to go at this stage. One day I may need a walker or a wheelchair. That’s on the […]
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