Tag Archives: Sam&Sam

From the diary of a writer-publisher: 28

11 February 2024 Do not be put off trying an ‘Escape Room’ because you fear claustrophobia: you aren’t actually locked into it, you simply have to solve a series of problems (often involving locks) in order to complete a narrative … Continue reading

Posted in Personal commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

From the diary of a writer-publisher: 27

16 January 2024 I translated a few poems as a teenager and student (Rilke, Brecht, Hölderlin, Pushkin, Tiutchev, Mayakovsky, Yevtushenko, Brodsky), but bothered to see only a couple published. The fact was, I didn’t take verse translation very seriously. I … Continue reading

Posted in Personal commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

NEW YEAR

Whether you are stalwart subscribers to Calderonia since 30 July 2014, or casual callers from across the globe to posts on, say, limericks, John Hamilton, paradoxes, the Third Battle of Krithia, dogs or Lady Chatterley’s Lover, I wish you a … Continue reading

Posted in Personal commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Writing’s weird workings…

My fortuitous review of Keith Dewhurst’s excellent novellas, combined with John Pym’s spontaneous submission of his post about Henry James’s story ‘The Death of the Lion’, has suddenly concentrated my mind on my current project and alerted me to things … Continue reading

Posted in Personal commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

From the diary of a writer-publisher: 22

24 February 2023 A recent study made by a reliable Moscow source indicates that 22% of the Russians polled were fervently in favour of the war on Ukraine, 20% were deeply opposed to it, and the rest (58%) ‘had no … Continue reading

Posted in Edwardian character, Personal commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

From the diary of a writer-publisher: 21

7 January Almost themed, one could say, in Calderonia, Cambridge academic Ruth Scurr has written a meaty review in today’s Spectator of Claire Harman’s experiment in biography All Sorts of Lives: Katherine Mansfield and the Art of Risking Everything. Anyone who writes … Continue reading

Posted in Edwardian literature, Personal commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A year of hope

A happy new year to subscribers and viewers, and thank you sincerely for following us through our ninth year of existence. The question of  Calderonia’s future is always in my mind, but I can assure you we shall continue at … Continue reading

Posted in Heroism and Adventure, Personal commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How would I write it now?

Many authors never re-read their own books. One can understand why. Some must feel that it’s not necessary as it can’t change anything (unless the book is about to have an ‘improved’ edition). Others, like George Orwell apparently, simply don’t … Continue reading

Posted in Edwardian character, Edwardian English, Edwardian literature, Edwardian marriage, Heroism and Adventure, Personal commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

From the diary of a writer-publisher: 17

24 January 2022 I have received several emails commiserating with me over my ‘anxiety’ and ‘nightmares’ about marking examination papers. The writers clearly assume I am Dr Robinson in my story Ghoune — that the story is strictly autobiographical and … Continue reading

Posted in Edwardian character, Edwardian literature, Personal commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

From the diary of a writer-publisher: 16

17 November 2021 Today at 9.54 a.m. I emailed my 408-line poem Making Icons to the excellent Long Poem Magazine, the only organ in Britain that publishes poems at least 75 lines long. The magazine appears twice a year and November … Continue reading

Posted in Edwardian character, Edwardian literature, Personal commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A year of promise

A very happy new year to all Calderonia’s subscribers and viewers! Thank you for staying with us through 2021, which was our eighth calendar year, and I can promise you at least another year of  posts from me and my … Continue reading

Posted in Personal commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

National Aphasia Awareness Month: A message of hope

This is National Aphasia Awareness Month (NAAM), but the campaign is global. Aphasia is a disorder that impairs the expression and understanding of language, as well as reading and writing.  It may be caused by head injury, a brain tumor, … Continue reading

Posted in Personal commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

There!

To our astonishment, Amazon suddenly announced to the world that Edna’s Diary had been published on 6 May — which was before they had told us it had been accepted! So here it is, folks, fully available now in ‘real time’: … Continue reading

Posted in Personal commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nearly there…

We have now signed off our fourth proof of Edna’s Diary from Amazon. Really, the last two proofs were necessary only to tweak the back cover. I think this is often the case: you can rapidly get the contents right, … Continue reading

Posted in Personal commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

From the diary of a writer-publisher: 14

1 February I received an email from Sam1 (Russia) in a Moscow hospital. His whole family has gone down with COVID. The others are coping with it at home, but he was rapidly losing lung capacity and had to be … Continue reading

Posted in Personal commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Guest Post: James Miles, ‘TLS Adverts A and B’

Last December we put an advert for George Calderon: Edwardian Genius in the Times Literary Supplement and, naturally, as the resident typesetter and “designer-ey” type on the Sam&Sam team, I was the one who made it. It was a lot … Continue reading

Posted in Personal commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments