8 December 2019

I started this blog 11 years ago. We were living in a tiny medieval village in Tarn et Garonne, SW France, so I wrote about our experiences as English expats in a foreign country. Then Brexit happened which, along with other things, forced us to return to the UK. Things changed, so I faithfully recorded, week by week, how I felt about the news around me. Two days ago my birthday encapsulated the good and bad of the very social media I relied upon to write this blog. On the mantlepiece: 2 cards. On FB, hundreds of greetings, gifs and videos from lovely, kind people I’ll never meet. But, social media also has a dark side, particularly in the run-up to Thursday’s election. It gives a voice to all the illiterate, ignorant trolls in the world who waste no time in spouting venom to all who voice literate, informed opinions counter to their own. Lately I’ve been victim to some particularly vile accusations, one which even mentioned a terrorist organisation. Social media fanned the flames. So, after 11 years and hundreds of thousands of global blogpost reads, I’ve decided to stand down. A big thank you to all my regular, loyal readers. I appreciate you all.

1st December 2019

December. Dark days. Terrorism on London Bridge, the very spot I visited a few weeks ago. And still the General Election rumbles on, both main parties offering trillions of cash to the gullible public. Re Mirvis’s fears, the Labour leader promises to root out antisemitism, despite being totally blind to his own subliminal racism, using anti-Zionism as his own form of ‘acceptable’ antisemitism. By his own rules, he should kick himself out along with most of his Cabinet. He also plans to force on all employers the return of flying pickets, interfering in disputes that do not directly concern them. Like the ‘70s, the whole nation would be on strike. Yet again no gas, no electricity, no burials, no rubbish collections. Another winter of discontent then if Labour win. Running a country requires great intellect. Do you really want a leader who only managed EE at A level and left his Trade Union studies in his first year because he couldn’t cope? I don’t care about personalities. I will vote for the most educated candidate, someone best able to cope with all the global troubles ahead.

24th November 2019

Don’t know much about comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, but something he said yesterday struck a chord.  In general, I’ve been very grateful for social media, giving me access to free marketing and literary connections. However, since Brexit raised its ugly head, dividing the nation like nothing before, social platforms have given voice to increasingly rancorous and upsetting comments, even from within families. FB and twitter are awash with the illiterati, spouting venom at those on the other side of the fence. But it was Cohen who suggested that FB would run paid political ads even if outright lies, though denied by FB. Cohen said that, if social media had existed in the ‘30s, Hitler could have published antisemitic FB ads, no doubt drawing global applause. My worry today is that all these platforms push ignorant, racist opinions to an audience of millions, giving voice to growing extremism from the right and the left. Never have I felt so fearful.

17th November 2019

On Friday, Sky News broadcast a special programme about Extinction Rebellion, a group strangely reminiscent of yesterday’s Green Peace warriors. Meanwhile, the UK and mainland Europe’s been awash with rising floodwaters, especially severe in Yorkshire, the Avon and Venice. Elsewhere, Australia’s suffered horrendous bushfires. The big question: can man do anything about it or is it, as many scientists believe, part of a natural, planetary realignment that man can do nothing about? Writing as Isabella Mancini, I’ve set out - as part of a hopefully-engaging novel - one old professor’s take on it all. In his hut, deep in the Arctic, he ponders an outrageous plan involving the whole world. Does he succeed? Although the novel’s full release date isn’t ‘til 5 January, the paperback is available right now. Just click on the cover image above. Hope you enjoy it. One way to avoid the vexatious political shenanigans all around us at the moment!

10th November 2019

Yesterday was 91119. Yesterday was also the 81st anniversary of Kristallnacht, a seminal point in the persecution of one, innocent, group of people. What triggered it? In 1938, although there had been much discrimination in Germany against  the Jewish community, e.g. attacks on synagogues, the boycott of Jewish shops and the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, Kristallnacht is generally viewed as the start of the Holocaust. Fast forward to today. Attacks yet again on synagogues, media defamations, antisemitic graffiti etc.  So, what can we do to stop the path to yet another Kristallnacht? Study the backgrounds of all election candidates before they gain power. Have they befriended terrorists or human rights abusers in the past? Don’t give power to a budding Hitler, whether from the right or left wing. Look back at history. Don’t sleepwalk into yet another abuse against innocents.

3rd November 2019

A General Election. This one is different. One of the PM contenders poses a huge threat to one group of British citizens, innocent people who now fear for their future. Some facts. 2006 Corbyn (JC) campaigned to release 2 convicted terrorists who set off a bomb. 2009 JC warmly called Hezbollah, a terrorist group who bombed and killed 85, his “friends”; also hosted the group in parliament, who had published a cartoon of Anne Frank in bed with Hitler. JC at first denied knowing them until a photo later showed them together. JC campaigned in support of suicide bombers, suggesting the murders were “understandable”. 2010 JC hosted an event comparing Israel to Nazis - deemed antisemitic by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. 2011 JC wrote a gushing forward for an antisemitic book that claims capitalism is controlled by “men of a peculiar race who have many centuries of financial experience” and blames “the house of Rothschild” for European wars! JC uses Israel as today’s ‘more acceptable’ form of antisemitism. But make no mistake: JC is rabidly, subliminally antisemitic.
Whatever political wing you espouse in this democracy, never before has the UK allowed such a person to stand as a potential PM. The Labour party should be forced to choose another leader IMMEDIATELY.

27th October 2019

Clocks were turned back this morning. The news also constantly looks back. “The people didn’t vote for a No-Deal” they keep telling us. But that’s not what I remember. I can’t understand why the media reiterates the ‘facts’ with today’s hindsight but forgets yesterday’s mindset. What the people were actually saying in 2016, before the referendum, were two things: 1. We’re fed up with Brussels bureaucracy; 2. The UK is tiny and Blair opened the floodgates to far too many global migrants and we’ve lost our British identity. History books always talk about the facts but rarely about what actual people were saying at the time. That’s why it’s so important for young people to talk to the oldest family member and note down their oldest memories. That’s the only way to get a true record. The people are the history far more than the events, which are often spun to suit a different future. And me? Very soon I’ll announce a new novel - set in the past of course! Watch this space...

20th October 2020

I’m off to London for the day to meet my publisher. One place I’ll definitely be avoiding is Westminster. I still believe that the problem with the UK is we constantly show the world our ‘sore toe’, revealing every minute, excruciating detail about our political machinations. I can’t think of any other country, including the US, who would do such a thing in such camera-panning detail. Why do we always ‘wash our dirty linen’ in public?  When we lived in France and watched the excellent France24 news channel, all we saw were nice, posed shots of the president at the Elysée Palace. Similarly, on our frequent trips to the US, despite much  negative publicity about the president, never were we presented with actual, as it happened, minutae of meetings on TV.  We can learn a lot from other nations. Today’s your chance. Read more about France and the US. Download your copy of each of these today only FOR FREE. Don’t sit and stare. Click on the images on the right.

13th October 2019

As I grow older, I spend a lot of time thinking about the past. Recently I gave a book talk where I recounted why my aunt moved to the US at the age of 17 and how she managed to overcome the immense differences between the old English culture and the go-getting American style. She was born in 1906 Birmingham. The family was poor so she was wearing charity boots and clothes until 1924 when she was one of the ‘huddled masses’ arriving at Ellis Island, as described by Emma Lazarus on the plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty. In NY she coped with the burgeoning Wall St Crash until slowly, slowly her life improved. An important thing she learned about her new life in the US: no-one was going to help you there. If you were fit and healthy, it was up to you to improve your life, no-one else. That’s something we in the UK need to re-learn today.

6th October 2019

October. Growing up in Birmingham in the ‘50s, it was common to live through terrible yellow smog and choking smoke from local factory chimneys. You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. Today in the city, the air is clear. Tonight on BBC 2 a programme shows the shrinking glaciers in N. Alaska and Greta cries it’s all man’s fault. Yet no-one asks what caused the ice age and global warming which occurred millions of years before the advent of man. There’s a plethora of, unheard, peer-reviewed climatologists who reveal these phenomena as being caused by complex solar changes. If this is true, Greta should be concentrating on the effects of global warming rather than a cause we can do nothing about. Start by moving man away from low-lying coastal and river areas, evacuate tiny islands in the middle of the ocean and volcanic areas, and build houses on stilts. That’s what Greta should be advocating before it’s too late.

29th September 2019

A terrible week in politics. The PM faces a barrage from hate-mongers whatever he says, whatever he does. Apparently words like ‘humbug’ and ‘surrender’ are anathema. Don’t tell that to Churchill. But, whenever he tries to lead decisively, everybody cries foul. And now the (unelected) Supreme Court wades in and disallows things they don’t like. TG they weren’t there in Churchill’s war cabinet or we’d all now be speaking German! And then there’s Corbyn - a poorly-educated man who said the killing of Bin Laden was a “tragedy’, who laid a wreath at the funeral of the murderers of innocent athletes and openly befriends terrorist organisations like Hamas and the IRA - and he calls Johnson “not fit to be PM”. Chutzpah! Johnson is carrying out the majority will of the people he serves and has pledged billions to help the NHS, the police and our schools. Stop hamstringing him. Let the PM govern and only voice opinions via a General Election. It’s called democracy.

22nd September 2019

Last Sunday a letter of mine was printed in the Sunday Times, in which I point out why the government has to step in with national benchmarks when a reported quarter of children leave school illiterate and innumerate. We see it everywhere today on social media or on tv quiz shows where young contestants’ knowledge is embarrassingly narrow. The strong socialist teachers’ union is adamant they don’t need government interference. This week was the Labour party conference where they propose abolishing Ofsted, the schools’ watchdog. When our daughter passed for the excellent local private high school, I sacrificed everything to be able to afford it. Why? It was one of the best in the country. No anarchy nor unruly pupils: simply the very best, in-depth education.  Instead of criticising private schools’ excellence, state schools should study their methods and emulate them throughout the country.

15th September 2019

Fifty years ago our first, beautiful, child was born. 1969. A time before computers, social media, mobile phones and the ‘So..’ generation. But, for me, the biggest change was in personal development. Back then, at 20, I was intensely introverted. Everything I did, I worried about what others might think. This self-deprecation lasted until both children left home, when I began the big transformation. In 2000 I graduated with an Honours degree and in 2005, at last, I started to do what I wanted to do (rather than what I felt others dictated.) All my former angst went into seven books. So therapeutic. People whom I hated in real life?  ‘Kill them off’ on the written page! And now, I have a new book contract in yet another nom de plume. In the news this week, another author generated queues in London for her latest book. Her age? 79. So, never give up hope. And when is my new novel out? 5 Jan 2020. Chance for me yet. Watch this space..

8th September 2019

Brexed, bothered and bewildered? A guide.
1. Like the US, we should never hold national referenda on issues of national importance.
2. Why? The people elect governments to decide on issues of national importance.
3. It’s they who have all the important background, stats and info about matters of state, ergo it’s only they who can competently assess, analyse and conclude on critical issues affecting the nation. As in other countries, parliamentary discussions, arguments and analyses should all take place behind closed doors. Take Parliament Question Time off our screens. They should not wash their dirty linen in public.
4. For the public: you don’t buy a dog and bark yourself. Let them get on with it. If you don’t like what they do, vote them out next time. It’s called democracy.
5. The 2016 Brexit referendum should have been merely advisory, the split public result proving beyond all doubt that a governmental decision was essential.
6. What to do now?  What would Churchill have said to both his Cabinet and the British public?  Support your Prime Minister.

1st September 2019

Two nations on the march. One against the very real threat of Communism, the other fuelled by left-wing agitators who want to bring down a democratically-elected government acting on the will of a majority vote.  In Britain, mass marches recall the 1970s mayhem when a self-appointed, well-paid  captain sought to drum up left-wing fervour and bring down the government in the guise of ‘helping’ his comrades continue in their dangerous, unhealthy, poorly-paid dirty jobs down the mines. Democracy is a wonderful thing. We let our voices be heard at general elections, not by being led by the nose by those who use one issue to fulfill entirely different agendas. The time to march is when your country is led by Hitler, not by a man who’s already pledged millions to help the police, the NHS and our schools. Otherwise, we’re crying wolf.

25th August 2019

Bank holiday weekend. Depressing World news. Fires raging, Germany and France acting like managing directors of 25 other EU nations, don’t like Tusk and the G7 in Biarritz is all about Macron. Let’s cheer ourselves up with more UK/US parody. Note. Unladylike language approaching.
UK. Driving under the influence: pissed or plastered (not to be confused with what builders do to your walls.) Raining: pissing down. Extremely annoyed: pissed.
US. When you cut your finger, use a Band Aid.
UK. Band Aid is a musical group. When you cut your finger, use a plaster, bought from the chemist not the builder. Do not confuse with being plastered, yet another meaning for ‘pissed’.
US. Cut up your food with a knife, lay it down, swap the knife for a fork and use tines upwards. Eat burgers with your fingers. Tip the waitress 10%.
UK. Eat everything (including burgers) with a knife and fork, tines facing downwards, cutting your food as you go. Never swap your knife and fork. Never use your fingers. Never tip the waitress. Leave before she notices.
US. When writing, the dot at the end of a sentence is a period.
UK. A period is something unmentionable which happens to women.
(All extracted from An Englishwoman in America. For more, click on icon on the right.)

18th August 2019

Yesterday, a Parisian shot dead a waiter because “his sandwich took too long.”  When I wrote Pensioners In Paradis, I painted an idyllic scenario, where oppressed British people could live out their lives in peace amongst the glorious French lavender fields and sunny vineyards. It’s a dream that many have emulated. However, it’s not real. Most UK residents in France still watch UK TV, and FB is awash with their daily comments about UK news, written in English. Will they ever be so tuned in to the French mindset and knowledgeable enough to comment daily, in French, about French news? Many are not even aware that French government is nowhere near as open as the UK one. Macron wouldn’t dream of showing live debates from within the Elysee Palace, nor showing the warts and all daily arguments from within. Irrespective of their newly-printed paperwork, it can take a decade or more for the British in France to realise they’re living a lie. That shot in Paris should act as a wake-up call.

11th August 2019

The trouble with the world? We still don’t understand each other.
“..US. Every Fall, dress your kids in pointy hats and send them to the neighbours’ houses where they’ll be greeted with smiles and pumpkin candy.
UK. Lock your doors, close the curtains and put a notice on your front door stating in no uncertain terms that Trick-or-Treat callers are not welcome.
US. A take-out means food is bought and taken away with you.
UK. The only thing you take out is your girlfriend or the rubbish.
US. Houses have half-baths.
UK. Houses have full baths or the water runs away.
US. Businesses have drive-thrus for convenience.
UK. If you see a drive-through means a robbery’s taking place so best to avoid..”
(All extracted from An Englishwoman in America.)
So, how to bring peace to the world?  Recognise that every nation has a different mindset and historical ways of living. Visit each other, listen, liaise and learn.

4th August 2019

“When Boris met Donald - an Englishwoman translates.” Is that catchy enough? I’ve been trying to come up with a book advert for Bookbub, the social media book site, but why does it have to be so complicated? All unintelligible acronyms and scary bid systems. All I wanted was to show how humour can lighten the load. Neither Theresa May nor Margaret Thatcher understood how to tell, or even understand, a joke. And then came Boris, waving a kipper in the air. Whether on a zipwire over London or on Have I got News for You, he’s a god’s-send for comic impressionists everywhere. And, across the pond, there’s another comic. Both have been shown to occasionally say crass things, but with Boris we know there’s a classical intelligence underneath that blonde thatch. It’s clear, then, that on the world’s frightening stage, two blonde showmen have appeared centre stage. That’s what I wanted to show in an Englishwoman in America. Hopefully I got the humour just right.

28th July 2019

Last week I wrote my ABC mantra: Anything but Corbyn. Seems the public agree with me. A poll out today shows a surge in Conservative support. A Boris bounce.  On Friday, as I went to New Street Station to pick up our daughter, the place was abuzz as Boris was in town handshaking everyone. It was almost like a superstar had suddenly appeared. Fellow Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg described it as a sprinkling of stardust. Of course, FB is still awash with virulent Labour supporters everywhere, no caricature too crude in their obsessive hatred for anything which smacks of Tory ‘privilege’. And me?  Despite my dislike of inherited privilege, my desire for a well-educated PM in these difficult times far exceeds anything else. Boris Johnson 2.1 in Classics, Balliol College, Oxford. Jeremy Corbyn, fee-paying prep school, 2 Es at A level, left N. London university course in trade union studies after first year as couldn’t cope.  My case rests.

21st July 2019

Tuesday will be our 52nd wedding anniversary. To mark this milestone, the UK will announce a new PM!  Because this new appointment has been voted on by his Party, an independent straw poll was conducted of the general public, which of course - this being Britain - came up with a completely different result. If Boris is announced the winner - he of the affable but bumbling demeanor - what to do when a sharp, accurate grasp of fine detail is required? Follow the Reagan style. His presidency put his genial, smiling, self-confident persona centre stage, whilst top-class brains worked behind the scenes. So, Boris needs to appoint the very best to his Cabinet so his government can work as well as Reagan’s did in the US. Above all, on our anniversary, Boris needs to follow an ABC formula: not just to effect the building blocks of excellence but to remind the country of the essentials. Anything But Corbyn!

14th July 2019

July 14th. For the French it’s either Bastille day, commemorating mob rule, or la Fete de la Federation, celebrating national unity. Here in the UK, the constant divide over the EU reaches its zenith as the next PM raises his blond head above the parapet. In New Zealand, following their recent gun-toting massacre, Jacinda Ardern couldn’t fathom how weapons that could cause such large-scale death could be obtained legally there. But bravo Jacinda who, unburdened by archaic national Amendments, has this week introduced new legislation to ban all military-style weapons and to offer cash to all citizens who hand in such lethal weapons. Are you listening America? Globally, all leaders need to change old, out of date, mindsets and - like Jacinda - do what’s right for the 21st century. Forget old ‘Bastille Day’ mentality. Repeat after me, today we all celebrate a day of national unity. Vive la paix!

7th July 2019

My father used to say ‘don’t put down to malice what’s sheer incompetence’. A lot of it this week. In the crucial vote for PM, multiple postal voting slips have been sent to some Tory voters with the instructions ‘only vote once’! Then, in royal circles, there’s an unwritten pact: to be a member of the royal family and accept huge public funding, you can’t have your cake and eat it by then hiding away and living a private life. Tell that to Harry and Meghan at Archie’s christening. And then, along came Donald. Following Macron’s glorious Champs Elysees parade last year, Trump was determined to emulate it this year in the US. However, Trump was showcased for all the wrong reasons, displaying historical ignorance to the nth degree. The continental army “took over the airports” during the revolutionary war, he said, later blaming the prompter and the rain. You couldn’t make it up.

30th June 2019

Last day of June and the world cup’s a cliff-hanger, a saga of England v US v France. Just like my past life. Back in 2000, I had no idea who would win. Following a fire,  it looked like I’d be following in my father’s, my aunt’s, numerous uncles’ and our daughter’s footsteps in moving to the US. Books were pored over, immigration tomes researched, funds calculated. Everything was in place but there was a sting in the tale (sic). So, in 2005, we moved to France instead. 12 fun years but that didn’t work out either, Brexit raised its ugly head and we ended up right back where we started. Full circle. What on earth happened? Look right and click on An Englishwoman in America, Pensioners in Paradis and From Paradis to Perdition to read each humorous (but sorry) saga. Let’s hope Tuesday’s match England v US and the inevitable finale isn’t an ‘own goal’ just like my life!

23rd June 2019

A story of a pushy woman and a consultant..On Tuesday I accompanied Him Indoors to see the oncology consultant at the QE, our excellent local hospital. Since a major operation in France 5 years ago, HI has a 3-monthly blood test to determine his PSA result. Critical, as any elevation of the score could indicate cancer cells still remaining. However, despite its importance, not only does the NHS NOT give the patient his score directly (the consultant sends it to our GP who then files it!), twice now our GP, on request, gave him the wrong (higher) score! So, I was determined to do something about this. Result! HI can now go online and access his accurate medical records himself, just like you can in France. For those also living near the QE Hospital, here’s the link: myhealth@QEHB. Presumably the same facility is available at other UK hospitals too. But, NHS, why is this vital facility such a secret?

16th June 2019

One advantage of being old - I’ve seen Tory and Labour governments come and go. As I wrote in An Englishwoman in America, each time it’s the same: the former lives within its means (to the fury of groups clamouring for more money); the latter borrows millions to throw money at every fashionable, deserving cause. I’ve seen PMs come and go. Never have we had such a morally-correct, honest and clean-living PM as Mrs May, but look how she was treated! And then along comes Boris. The pendulum’s swung full circle. Morally-correct, clean-living? No. But, unlike Mrs May, he’s the strength the UK needs right now plus chutzpah in abundance. But, unlike Corbyn, he loves his country. This week Corbyn rushed to defend Iran as he also does with ME terrorists and the Communists. He hates our monarchy, refusing to sing the national anthem, refusing to attend the state banquet for the Potus yet happily attended when the Chinese leader arrived. Of the two? I pick Boris.

9th June 2019

Lights, camera, action....
Rehearsals are in full swing. Cecil B DeMille lurks in the wings. Hooray for Hollywood.  It’s the 1950s. A nervous girl is centre stage, mesmerised by her extrovert father. Why isn’t he shy and introverted like her? The answer’s staring her in the face. He’d lived in America. Slowly, slowly her life unfolds as she takes on board all that America can offer. First, as she experiences Britain in the ‘50s,  she learns about her father’s tribulations on Wall Street in 1929. In 1985 she crosses the Atlantic herself, zooms up the World Trade Center and, amidst much Yiddish humour, learns Brooklynese. Later she experiences Fla, LA, San Fr, Vegas, Sinatra at the Sands Theater. In the finale, does she emigrate to America as so many of her family did? Expect a sting in the tail.
....curtain rises on Tuesday. You’re all invited to the online party. On Tuesday, any time, click on
facebook.com/events/2377858309111342/  and enjoy music, entertainment, guest author appearances, quizzes on US cars and music. How to buy the ‘screenplay’: click the book cover on the right. See you Tuesday, from 10 am UK time.

2nd June 2019

On 6 June 1944 they gathered. Hundreds of thousands. Men and tanks lined the beaches, waiting for the moment to invade France. They came to protect Britain at one of the darkest moments in our history. They were billeted with local families, who generously shared precious rations. Women adored those men who brought luxuries like Spam, canned peaches and strange coffee in granules, and danced the jitterbug to strains of Glen Miller. Yet tomorrow, another American lands on our shores. Will he receive the same rapturous welcome? Unlikely, as ‘foolish’ protesters plot mayhem. Misguided, all. It matters not whether we like the current president - in a democracy, wait awhile and another will come along; it’s what he represents that’s important. 75 years ago, the US helped us overcome evil. Do not abandon them now.

26th May 2019

A week of political hypocrisy and pantomime. Theresa May has had to endure a tsunami of vitriol ever since she inherited that poisoned chalice of Brexit. Did she deserve such vitriol? Is this a leader who has evil intent with murderous global intentions? No. A decent vicar’s daughter who loves her country but handed an impossible task. Yet, the minute she’s forced to hand in her tearful notice, she’s showered with kind comments from self-serving parliamentary colleagues, looking for the main chance. Hypocrites all. How to avoid all this in future? Parliament should show less minutiae in its public face, cease its regular Westminster Question Time pantomime and let the PM govern. For the future, will Boris and Donald put their twin blond heads together to heal the world? They each need to read the government chapter in An Englishwoman in America!

19th May 2019

Eurovision. Is the lack of a good melody every year a deliberate ploy? Seems that way. If we take Eurovision as a symbol of European unity, then no one country should be seen to be “uber alles”.  At least the Tel Aviv crowd last night booed Greece and Cyprus when, yet again, they brought political bias into their voting. And Iceland thought it acceptable to display bondage in family entertainment yet showed ill-educated political bias by waving ‘Palestinian’ flags in Israel! In real politics, 80 years ago Churchill was originally labelled a buffoon. Today another politician named Boris, who wrote a brilliant book about Churchill, ironically also wears the buffoon label as he competes to be the new leader. So, Eurovision or real life, better an intelligent, educated buffoon who loves his country than someone ill-educated who consorts with terrorists.

Author brand news

News from author brand Olga Swan. Both The Mazurek Express (mybook.to/themazurekexpress) and 3rd Degree Murder (authl.it/b36) have been re-branded. Buy now in ebook and paperback.

....and the countdown begins for the launch of the one you’re all waiting for: An Englishwoman in America, ebook on pre-order now. Paperback now available to buy (mybook.to/anenglishwoman). 26 days to go.

Blog supplemental

Something remarkable happened this week. A new royal baby was born who is dual-national, American and British, so he could in effect grow up to be president or king. To all those who say he’s unlikely to be king, look what happened to Prince Albert of York (Bertie) who surprisingly became King George VI. So, even though the new baby is called by an unlikely kingly name, he only has to look at his great-great-grandfather for a lead. But that’s not all. Archie’s mother not only is mixed race, but American.  Oh the irony, when his great-great-granduncle King Edward VIII was forced to abdicate because he wanted to marry an American. Could it be, then, that Harry is the catalyst for change in Britain? At a time when European elections loom, is he subtly pointing Britain away from the EU and forging a new alliance with our historical ally, America? Click right and learn more.

12th May 2019

Yesterday, nerves jangling, I watched my football team - Aston Villa - play rivals Albion for a chance to be promoted to the Premier League. Before the match, in typical  pessimistic fashion, I kept repeating my team had no chance.  Is this a British cultural thing, building an armadillo-like outer skin to protect against life’s potential hardships and unfairness?  In France we lived near a rugby stadium, the French being notoriously famous for their depression.  In complete contrast, however, go to an American football game. No depression there. Rah rah atmosphere everywhere. And yet, after the Villa game, star player Jack Grealish explained that during every game he repeats the mantra: we’re gonna win, we’re gonna win. So, for Tuesday night’s crunch second-leg, should I cancel the Valium? There’s more about cultural differences in sport in my latest book. Click right to pre-order.

5th May 2019

Last night I was watching Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA. A hapless hotel manager from New Jersey not only had to Google recipes in the kitchen before cooking them, his customer style with guests contrasted sharply with what a British hotelier would say. To a wedding party, champagne bottle in hand: “Hi all, I’m gonna top you all off.”  Hardly what a discreet British butler would say. That’s one reason I wrote my latest book An Englishwoman in America. From 1950s Britain to Trump’s America, no-one is left unscathed in my humorous account of life across the pond. You can read how Britain and the US are divided over language, culture, humour, health, sport, government, gun law, religion, patriotism and even sex! Released on 11 June, it’s now available to pre-order. Just click the image on the right. Enjoy!

2 May 2019

I'm delighted to announce that today - on the memorial day of the Holocaust - my new thriller, The Mazurek Express, is available for download on Kindle right now. 

Here's a description to whet your appetite:

"1943.

In Birmingham Paul Mazowski meets a friend, Pierre de Jonge, whom he last met in Germany five years previously. Together they discuss a spying mission in Europe, directed by Churchill: Pierre to be based in Berlin, Paul in Warsaw. Paul is sent to Warsaw on his most dangerous mission yet: to help those trapped in the ghetto. However, despite heroic efforts, he finds himself herded into a cattle car heading for the notorious Treblinka concentration camp. 

As the heavy wheels churn, everyone is in peril.

This is a story about German-occupied Poland, the courage of the inmates of the Warsaw ghetto, and how a mighty locomotive acts as a catalyst for salvation of the spirit".

Be the first to download The Mazurek Express.
Never forget, lest it happen again.

mybook.to/themazurekexpress

28th April 2019

The Queen has announced the State visit to the UK of the US president in June, on the occasion of a wartime anniversary. But already childish people are planning protests, and the current leader of the opposition has vowed not to attend. There’s no point in thousands of people massing in London to shout insults at the president. Where were they when Romania’s Ceausescu or Zimbabwe’s Mugabe visited? On a personal level, my latest book, An Englishwoman in America, will be released on 11th June. It covers what the Americans think of the British and vice versa, along with how America compares on language, culture, humour, health, sport, government, gun law, religion, patriotism and even sex. Modern democracies understand that education about each other is vital if meaningful discussions can take place. Mr President, you will be very welcome!

21st April 2019

A  new group in town, Extinction Rebellion, is protesting against climate breakdown. The world was in tears about ancient Notre Dame in flames, the coverage generating donations of billions. Certainly a political lifeline for embattled Macron, seizing the opportunity to divert attention away from the Gilets Jaunes protesters. However, the power of social media soon converted those previously crying over the building to saying that the billions should now be spent on the starving. Oh how the media manipulates us, highlighting some issues whilst ignoring global suffering that doesn’t fit already-entrenched ‘good guy’ v ‘bad guy’ views on the world. And, Extinction Rebellion? No point protesting in the UK. Go to a global organisation and focus more on dealing with the EFFECTS of climate change e.g. moving people away from low-lying coastal/river areas and earthquake/tsunami zones and strengthening homes. 21 degrees here yesterday. The heat is on.

14th April 2019

Home to a sunny England after observing America at first hand. How does it differ from Britain? Don’t be fooled by the apparent same language. US culture is foreign. Attempted discussions about Brexit fell at the first hurdle. Whilst the average Englishman is quite happy to rubbish his own government, this runs entirely contrary to many Americans, who are raised to love and respect their country. If you’re born to swear allegiance to your flag and display it proudly from your own home, you’re never going to run your country down, especially not to foreigners - no matter who’s president. So, although the PM is on the right lines in organising a special Festival of Britain in 2022 - a way at last to foster pride in our country - even that’s gone wrong as it clashes with the centenary of Irish partition. Come on Britain. We can do better than this.

8th April 2019

It’s nearly two weeks since arriving in the US and I’m pausing for a moment of reflection.  Yesterday we were out walking. It was still cold but the sky was azure blue and the air here in Maine tinglingly fresh. Suddenly a passing car stops, the horn toots and a friendly hand waves out of the window.  I was momentarily puzzled. Who could possibly know me here, a million miles from home?  The driver shouted a cheery greeting. It was the waitress who’d served us breakfast that morning!  Yes, American customer service is still alive and well here. I see it everywhere. But don’t even think of discussing politics. Whereas the English are quite happy to run their own country down, Americans are very different.  My observations on the differences between us continue. As yet more snow starts to fall, I pull my collar up against the chill...

31st March 2019

It’s mothers’ day in the UK, but I’m in Maine! A frenetic week. A wonderful, emotional wedding and family get-togethers. Below is an exclusive snippet from my soon-to-be released book ‘Only in America’, remembering my late father’s time in NY in 1929:
“..Always immaculate, every day he would ensure his one suit was vigorously brushed, the waist-coat neat and his shirt freshly laundered. As a forerunner to his army days, every day he would make a point of getting his shoes expertly cleaned by the ubiquitous shoeshine boys on the street, and always ensured his fedora was positioned at just the right angle.  At six foot four inches tall, he cut an imposing figure as he walked the several blocks to where he worked, near Wall Street. Although it sounded as if it was just one small street, it actually extended along eight blocks, running roughly northwest to southeast from Broadway to South Street at the East River in the financial district of lower Manhattan.
As he entered the brownstone building where he worked, he made a point of clapping his new work colleagues on the back, as he’d seen everyone else do. It was important to him to listen keenly to the prevailing points of discussion. Despite the dangers of speculation, it was widely believed that the stock market would continue to rise forever. However, as my father quickly understood, if customers desperately began  to withdraw their deposits from a bank, it could quickly turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. He learned that if you think that others will become afraid that the bank will run out of cash, it might be rational to empty your own savings account first....”
—-
Every day cherish the life of your family.

24th March 2019

Extraordinary scenes in London, not seen since the Iraq war. One million peaceful marchers plus a petition to the PM of 4.5 million. That’s what happens when the result of a people’s referendum is effectively 50:50 and the government only recognises half the argument. You can’t talk about the ‘will of the people’ when just as many oppose it. And yet I understand the original Leavers’ argument. There’s a clothes firm, just formed from a government start-up scheme, where everything is British: the looms to make the cloth, the manufacture and the factory all in Yorkshire. That’s what used to happen here and which made this great nation famous and proud. But, would this kind of thing be enough today if a no-deal Brexit happens? The risk is too great. The only way is to revoke Article 50.

17th March 2019

I’d wanted to watch top-rated film Darkest Hour for a long time as Churchill features strongly in both Lamplight and Vichyssoise. The film didn’t disappoint. Bizarrely, at exactly the same time, on live TV, scenes of the same House of Commons almost 80 years later were mesmerising the nation. But what a contrast. Whilst Oldman, with a forceful Churchill speech, was holding spellbound a rapt House of Commons, today’s live TV version was very different. ‘The ayes have it; the ayes have it’ was comical and depressing at the same time. Where was the “..blood, toil, tears and sweat..”?  Where  “..we shall never surrender..”?  The bit in the film I loved was where the PM takes a ride on London’s Tube and asks the public whether the nation should appease Germany. Never! they shouted. Today’s PM should also listen to the public. Oh, how we need Churchill today!

10th March 2019

As I’m now well over the biblical three score years and ten, what have I learned about the world?  People are different but why? Think of it like a cheeseburger: layers and layers of lifetime influences. There’s the nature/nurture argument, topped with cultural, tribal and social media effects, making us square up to each other in ridiculous ways. Today, for example, in the world of football Aston Villa face up to local rivals Birmingham City. The terraces will be aflame with hatred and almost murderous antagonism, yet the fans live in the same neighbourhood, sometimes within the same family. All of this is why I’m delighted that Crooked Cat Books are publishing in the summer my new non-fiction, humorous book ‘ONLY IN AMERICA’. That’s how to deal with all the illogical rivalries in the world. Eat that lifetime cheeseburger, but learn about how it’s made up, our different cultures and then laugh together.

3rd March 2019

In a few short weeks our son will start a new life in the US. Yes, just before the UK’s set to leave the EU, our son flies west - far away from all the Brexit turmoil. Yet, when he arrives in the ‘land of the free’, things will be very different. Some say the President has suffered his worst week yet.  But you wouldn’t know it, listening to his fiery speech at the Conservative Political Action conference. Was he worried that his former lawyer gave damning testimony against him or that the much-hyped summit with North Korea ended in failure? No. Donald Trump’s presidency is all about him and his own ego.  However, don’t write him off just yet.  He could well win again.  In a way I understand this.  A democratic election should never be about one person. Individuals can always be replaced. It’s the policies that matter and if the US voters decide their lives are better at present, then they’ll vote Republican again irrespective of what they think of the current president. So, whether the UK or the US: it’s the policies, stupid.

24th February 2019

When watching TV’s The Apprentice, a common tactic is to swap the contestants from one group to another. So too in politics, it seems.  Twelve MPs left their original parties last week. Some say a further 20 are also on the brink. It doesn’t help that the new grouping is called TIG (The Independentent Group), reminding me of that ‘50s childhood game of the same name and similar motive! So, why have the 12 left?  Of the 8 original Labourites, deeply-entrenched antisemitism loomed large, driven by a leader who even now doesn’t understand it stems from him. At least in France, that intelligent young leader Macron understands that anti-Zionism is the modern form of antisemitism. But with Corbyn there’s something else. Why doesn’t he want a second Brexit referendum? Because the EU would stifle his ambitions of leading Britain in a new Marxist state. We don’t want extremism. We don’t want to run out of food. Please can we stop playing childish games!

17th February 2019

There’s nothing like being ill to give you a different perspective on the world. So, as I cough my heart out, how can we help ourselves?  First, personally. When you need to get up in the night, first sit on the side of the bed for 30 seconds. As any paramedic will tell you, that’s the way to avoid a stroke. And the metabolism of the world? Forget Brexit and widen your horizons. Ask yourself if every nation should join together as one world, agreeing to never fight each other again, nor to show irrational hostility to others. Yes, it would reduce individual nation power, but as long as each new World State retained its individual ethos, wars and irrational hostility to others were eliminated, isn’t that a price worth paying?  Tiny Hawaii, despite being a part of the USA, is still very different from, say, Washington DC. Great care, though, would need to be taken to avoid a world dictatorship at the top! World democracy would be key. But at least then when the first alien visitors arrive, they could be taken to Earth’s leader!

10th February 2019

Nothing’s perfect in life. So much is a compromise. Britain’s in a state of flux at present  but is a breakthrough on the horizon? A promising end to the Brexit stalemate has been proposed whereby the PM’s withdrawal deal with a guaranteed second referendum for the public could well be approved by parliament. Anything to dig us out of the current impasse would be welcome. Increasingly, also, I turn my steely eye westwards and wonder why the current President hasn’t suffered the same fate as some of his predecessors like Nixon or even Clinton. But I don’t understand America. Don’t be fooled by the fact they speak English; the US is a foreign country.  However, what I do understand, after 12 years away, is I need to live in a country where I fully understand what’s going on - however mired in political shenanigans it may be. Choosing to live away from home, when you don’t have to, is simply a fool’s paradise.

27th January 2019

Today is international Holocaust Memorial Day. Yet a recent poll found that one in twenty British adults believes it never happened, and 8% say the scale of the genocide has been exaggerated. In France, 20% of those aged 18-34 said they’d never heard of it. In Austria, Hitler’s birthplace, it was 12%.  The scale of this ignorance, when there are Holocaust survivors still living and speaking honestly to people of exactly what happened to them, is chilling. Are there schools then who are deliberately not teaching this historical event for presumably ideological or ethnic reasons?  There is an important difference between the Holocaust and other mass killings, e.g in Stalin’s Russia. No other genocide actively selected out mainly one group from its own citizens on faith grounds before publically humiliating, starving then murdering them.  3000 years and still antisemitism continues. Enemies come, enemies go but still the totally irrational hatred continues. Time it stopped for good.

20th January 2019

Comedy central continues both sides of the Atlantic. Trump’s US government has been shut down for five weeks so he can build a wall to keep out about six illegal immigrants via Mexico, compared to many more entering via Canada where there is no wall. Meanwhile federal workers queue up for free food. In the UK, the House of Commons provided the best live TV ‘Punch  n Judy’ entertainment ever. The speaker John Bercow v Michael Gove v Jeremy Corbyn was a sight to behold. Gove’s masterly performance in the House was Churchillian in its 90 minute expose of Corbyn. (If you didn’t catch it, google Gove’s Commons Speech in its entirety.)  Who needs comedy shows when we have live political entertainment like this. The EU?  I’m glad May picked up on my email to No. 10 telling her to arrange a cross-party committee but where will it all end? I could write a book...

13th January 2019

13th today. Unlucky for some.  In the US, huge snowstorms head for Washington DC. Tomorrow, Australia will bake through a heatwave,  the soaring temperatures predicted to last for 4 days. Multiple days in a row of 40C plus are unusual there. In the UK, a land notorious for grey, damp, moderate weather, last summer was unusual in that we enjoyed continuous blue skies and hot weather for weeks on end. Elsewhere last year saw a plethora of eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis and massive flooding. Global climate change? Undoubtedly.  Man-made? The jury’s out. A similar global warming period has happened several times before, one such in 950 AD. Scientists gave the causes of that one as increased solar activity and changes to ocean circulation. Clearly not man-made then nor, in my view, is today’s!  Time for the world to stop discussing carbon emissions and to actively tackle the effects of climate change. Move people off tiny, flat islands and inland to high ground, away from coasts, fault lines and volcanos. Fact, not superstition.

6th January 2019

2019. A new year and I’m writing again. To be an author is a great risk, gambling that your ideas will resonate with others sufficiently to make a mark in the world. In the past I’ve dipped my pen into children’s novels, noir, wartime dramas, college intrigue, travel memoirs and humour.  When meeting people for the first time, I’ve often joked ‘Don’t annoy me or you’ll be finished off in my next book!’  But writing is no joke. It’s a serious business. Reputations are won or lost by the toss of a coin.  How to predict what will be ‘fashionable’ in the months it takes to write, edit and publish your masterpiece before releasing it to an unsuspecting world? Celebrities, unfairly, often use ghostwriters to pass their work off as their own. How is that allowed? I suppose, though, the public just want to read about their favourites, not really caring who actually wrote it. Despite all this, however, I feel a quiver of excitement as my new work builds day by day by my own fair hand. What’s it about? Will it set the world alight? I’m no celebrity so it’s a big, big gamble. All will be revealed in the months to come. Hope you like it, dear readers. A very happy and healthy New Year to you all.