Steve Griffin's Blog, page 11
August 3, 2019
Origins of a Writer
A year or so ago my dad, now in Australia, sent me one of the first things I ever wrote. It was a story about Paddington Bear, Michael Bond’s much loved, slightly hapless, very furry refugee from Peru. I loved the world of kindness, mishaps and marmalade that the author had created and wanted to add to it in in my own way. So I created my first piece of fan fiction, illustrated with my own pictures. (Note – if you’ve never read Paddington, it’s...
July 12, 2019
International Summer Book Giveaway on Instagram
Do you use Instagram? If so, this is a quick heads up to let you know I’m running an International Summer Book Giveaway of The City of Light and The Book of Life over there right now!
The deadline is midnight (GMT) on Thursday 18th July, click here for details on how to enter – and good luck!
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https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzx9ucegG31/
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April 28, 2019
A Ghost Story with a difference
I’m halfway through writing my next book, which I’m describing as a ghost story – with a difference.
The idea for the story came from a real life event. When I had just started dating my wife she went for an interview for a very intriguing job. It was a Property Manager post in an isolated country house that had recently been given over to the National Trust. There was accommodation for the postholder in the building. For security purposes, she would need to spend most of her time there, da...
April 7, 2019
Up in the Air – poems on video: The Cormorants
Here’s the second in my series of videos in which I read poems from my book Up in the Air. This time, The Cormorants, one of the first poems I ever had published. It’s a short poem about yearning and restlessness, seabirds, and the remote and lonely Scottish island of Iona.
As always, if you like it, please leave a comment.
The post Up in the Air – poems on video: The Cormorants appeared first on Steve Griffin.
March 25, 2019
The Dreamer Falls - Kindle Sale!
Grab your copy now before the price goes back to £2.99 / $2.99 #yalit #booklovers
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreamer-Fall...
March 10, 2019
Up in the Air – Poems on video: Weather Map
The first of an occasional series of videos in which I read poems from my book, Up in the Air.
I wrote Weather Map when I was living in a small flintstone folly owned by the National Trust on the edge of a housing estate in London. At the end of the garden was – beyond a tricky pile of thorny scrub – the beautiful and little-known tributary of the Thames, the River Wandle. I had just started going out with the lovely woman who was to become my wife.
So, here is me reading Weather Map. If you...
March 8, 2019
Up in the Air poetry book – my first ever Youtube review!
I’m hugely grateful to New Zealand book blogger Pauline Reid for this review of my poetry book Up in the Air – my first ever Youtube review!
In it, Pauline talks about the sections in the book and shows her own Instagram photo of the book. She does a lovely reading of my poem ‘A Bird on the Moorland’. She also flags up the local interest for some of her subscribers, as one of the poems features the Albatross Statue in Wellington, her home town.
Have a watch and leave a comment if you like it...
February 25, 2019
Olga Tokarczuk: Go read
Two years ago a Polish friend at work went to a publishing event and brought me back a gift. It was a beautiful book called Flights by a Polish author named Olga Tokarczuk. (It really was a beautiful book, cobalt blue that appeared freshly inked, with fine white lettering, published by Fitzcarraldo Press.) The book was a real gem, a connected series of stories and meditations on travel, the body, and hope. The next year, my friend lent me a second book, House of Day, House of Night, which I a...
January 1, 2019
2018 Year Review – a big thank you!
2018 was a very full year for my books and writing. In July I published the final volume of The Secret of the Tirthas, The Unknown Realms. Following Lizzie’s journey from her initial move to the Herefordshire cottage with its strange garden of rooms all the way to her final showdown with the demons and their followers at the Fountainhead has been a real delight for me. I never knew just how much the story and characters would grow, and particularly how much I would come to love Lizzie, Pandu...
December 15, 2018
Image: Paintings and Poetry in Up in the Air
My new poetry book, Up in the Air, is divided into five sections – Air, Love, Water, Air (again) and Image.
The Image section consists of eight poems inspired by paintings, photographs, a display, a poster and a line drawing. In this post I’ll identify some of these pictures and talk about how they inspired my poems.
First off, the paintings.
The section begins with On Justice, inspired by the painting of Margareta van Eyck by her husband Jan van Eyck. The painting hangs in the Groeninge Mus...
