John Baker’s Blog

When I was young I read somewhere - don’t remember who said it any more - that if you want to be a writer, you should write. You should sit down and write for ten years and at the end of that time you’ll be a writer.
So that’s what I did. That was my way. [...]

The Ivor Novello Awards were held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London last week.
Harrison Birtwistle, the 71 year old British modernist composer, was there to collect the 2006 Classical Music Award.
He listened to Damon Albarn, KT Tunstall, New Order, the Kaiser Chiefs, the Arctic Monkeys, the Bee Gees and James Blunt (Bee Gee Barry [...]

This week both The Sunday Times and The Literary Saloon comment on the practice of booksellers making publishers pay to have their books displayed on high street shelves.
When you go into your local bookshop and see the books laid out on the tables, or look over the recommendations, there is something in you which assumes [...]

‘It’s not working,’ Geordie said. ‘You were right, what you said about Janet and Ralph and me and Echo all living in the same house. It doesn’t work.’
Sam sighed. ‘What’re you doing about it?’
‘Dunno. I just know it’s not working. That’s the stage I’ve come to. The first stage. Now I know that, I’ll go [...]