Blog

After the Storm

Reflections on storms of nature and in the literary world Cornwall was scraped raw when Storm Goretti tore through and everything feels battered and bruised. On Thursday night the wind rose into an unsettling Greek chorus, followed by a deep stillness as the eye of the storm regarded us. Then the lights went out from the Scillies to St Austell and the radio updates felt like the storm was enjoying a slow and deadly pursuit. It was unnerving to know something momentous was com

How Cornwall Shapes My Stories

. Cornwall has shaped my life and my writing for so many years that it is hard to imagine myself anywhere else. I arrived here quite by chance in 1995, but very quickly knew I had found the place where I belonged. It felt like coming home to somewhere I had not yet lived and it has fuelled my imagination ever since. There are stories everywhere. I have always believed that the places we visit and those we settle in can rouse something deep within us. Cornwall does that for me

The Haunting Origins of Oyster Shore

Cornwall is an ancient land steeped in enigma. Myths, legends and ghost stories lace this place as tangibly as the sea fret and salt spray. On a dark winter’s night, when the wind screams from the bay and the waves rise in fury, tales of wreckers, doomed mariners and smugglers feel suddenly real, and I draw the curtains closed with a shiver. People here don’t mock the old stories for they know that unquiet walkers drift through ruins or keep silent watch from storm-pummelled

November

November reminds me to slow down. As the year exhales, life here steadies. Every falling leaf marks an ending and the air is tinged with melancholy and woodsmoke. The Cornish lanes are no longer filled with shiny cars crammed with excited visitors and the trees in my orchard have been pared right back, their limbs bare and stark against a sky leached of colour. The cafés are closed. Holiday cottages stand empty. The summer finery of awnings and umbrellas has been stripped awa