A new blog about writing a novel and getting it published On the sixth day of the sixth month of 2026, I typed the final words of my first novel, saved the document and turned off the laptop. After a slow creation over twelve years, nine years of intermittent research and constant distraction and three […]
Author Archives: Lionel Stanbrook
A History of Love and Loss Novel
A First-Novel Blog: False Finishes
A new blog about writing a novel and getting it published On the sixth day [...]
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11
Jul
Jul
2026 Ahem
TRESTLE RESERVOIR BUMP: June 2026
Ahem, June began dank and damp, with a succession of rainy days that sapped the [...]
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03
Jul
Jul
2026 Ahem
PEAGE PINTXOS BANISTER: May 2026
Ahem, I travelled down to La Hune with Jurrat and Jessie in a well-loaded car [...]
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01
Jun
Jun
2026 Ahem
MUSKETS SHRIFT RAPT: April 2026
Ahem Alli and I were up and early on Good Friday to be driven with [...]
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30
Apr
Apr
Professional Writing Writing
They awoke…
The hidden past of the bisexual pronoun Those of all political and cultural persuasions [...]
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03
Jul
Jul
Ahem, June began dank and damp, with a succession of rainy days that sapped the spirit. However, I enjoyed trying to hawk our unwanted knick-knacks to the rest of the street at an indoor boot sale organised by neighbours in memory of our mutual friend and friendly neighbour Denny, who passed away a few weeks […]
01
Jun
Jun
Ahem, I travelled down to La Hune with Jurrat and Jessie in a well-loaded car on the first day of May. Only this time I was not the driver. For the best part of 15 hours, Jessie drove almost continuously from Uckfield through the Channel Tunnel and down from Calais to the Tarn-et-Garonne in southwest […]
30
Apr
Apr
Ahem Alli and I were up and early on Good Friday to be driven with Ella to Gatwick by Sam. There we met Gwen, Jurrat, and Jessie just after 6am, in plenty of time for our short flight to Jersey, a channel island that is a British Crown dependency; but formally, geologically, and constitutionally, it […]
The hidden past of the bisexual pronoun Those of all political and cultural persuasions will be delighted to hear the exciting news. The old pronoun they, supposedly re-purposed for new duty by the thought police, is not a new way to hide gender-specific pronoun and possessive uses like he and she, him and her. In fact, they was the word used by writers […]
30
Mar
Mar
Ahem I was about to open a pile of birthday cards when I was encouraged first to open a bigger envelope addressed to me and Alli. The card contained the towering headline family news that Ella and Sam are having a baby. The information came with supporting evidence—a copy of a 16-week scan (just […]
02
Mar
Mar
Ahem Rain and colder weather in southern England dominated the first few days of the month before I flew to Malawi with my sister-in-law to spend three weeks at Toleza Farm. There had been an unexpectedly dry period in Malawi from the New Year onwards, which had threatened the planting season, but the sky soon […]
02
Feb
Feb
Ahem, During this interminably long month of heaving weather, our far south-east corner, ancestral home of the south Saxons, has led a charmed life, picking its way through and near the triple storms, snow, frosts, floods, driving rain, and sidewinding winds. For much of the month, charcoal clouds scudded with dark purpose across Birdineye Hill […]
01
Jan
Jan
Ahem Our Christmas celebrations normally start after we celebrate Gwen’s birthday on the 12th, when this year the family met at the Bonsai restaurant in Brighton for a vegan meal so good that even Alli was singing its praises. She and I arrived early and had a drink on Baker Street at the friendly Mitre […]
01
Dec
Dec
Ahem, Richard and Marie, from Cholsey in Oxfordshire, where Alli and I lived just after we got married, came to see us for a weekend. It was wonderful to see them after so many years (around 30). We walked around Sheffield Park, looking preternaturally multi-coloured in the wintry sunlight at the height of its autumn […]