I used to live an hour from London and hardly ever found the time to go, but when I moved to Tenerife, a day trip to London was an essential part of an visit home. I'm not sure why I ended up in Bloomsbury; I was probably looking for the British Museum. I spent a wonderful day watching dancers in the Brunswick centre, sitting in Russell Square and just walking. Although slightly chilly, the sun was bright enough to rose tint my glasses and I was touched by the place, so much so my next book is set there.
Fortunately, I also love Cardiff, which is where we returned to when when I finally persuaded my husband Tenerife is a daft place to live! But has Bloomsbury charmed anyone else? Or is there somewhere else you would like to offer as spellbinding and inspiring? I now live next to the mountain believed to be the inpiration for The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain. Reading the book and climbing the mountain are on my to do list; a bit like London when I lived so close. But I've realised location is a big part of my creative process, even though it usually turns out to be quite incidental to the plot of my book. How about you? Location, location, location?
Bloomsbury,love the squares.I went to UCL,bang in the heart of Bloomsbury.Love the Sqaures and all of it.Spent a lot of time on sunny sunday afternoons on Russell Square whilst working on my dissertation,also loved Dickens' house,free music at the British library,oh,and the little theatre there.
I live in Bloomsbury! People think it's very funny when I tell them, insisting that I'm somehow part of the Bloomsbury Group (Virginia Woolf et al). No thanks! Though her very ugly statue is in Tavistock Square,just around the corner from me. All my most recent novels have ended up being set here, though I don't mention it - it just seems to creep in! My favourite square is Gordon Square, which my daughter and I call Hungry Square as we feed the squirrels there. The squirrels are also named and we have been following their romances for a year how. A pensioner called Ellie hangs fatballs and seed containers in the trees for the birds, with the result that entire families of robins, blue tits and sparrows have moved in, along with several blackbirds and a jay (the pigeons don't count). It's lovely on a Sunday morning - very quiet and peaceful with little traffic. Many of the trees have been in blossom recently and in autumn, the colours are breathtaking. It never fails to delight!
It's never even occurred to me to stay in London overnight, Adam. If you book the train online it costs about fifty pounds return (cheaper than petrol!) and only takes two hours each way into Paddington. Ok, it is a long day, but very worth it. My tutor at the uni of Cardiff does it all the time to visit her agent and publishers.
But I agree about Welsh publishers. It's especially annoying when you consider books are still printed here. My brother's printers are just a little way into the valleys and he has them delivered all the way over to Cambridge where he lives. They're cheaper than English printers, apparently. Worth remembering if you're ever considering your own print run.
Thanks Admin. I'd love to attend some of the masterclasses, but going to London every week for three weeks is a bit of a problem. I will be watching out for the individual evening events, though.