Decoding manspeak

Canadian-born Dr Linda Papadopoulos occupies a unique position in the public consciousness, being both a regular on daytime TV sofas (“This Morning”, “Richard & Judy” and “GMTV”) and a respected academic who...

Robyn, queen of the rom coms

“Chick lit” can be a risky description to use in front of some authors of female commercial fiction, but not Robyn Sisman, whose fifth novel A Hollywood Ending is out in August (Orion, h/b, £9.99).

“I’m...

Shock and awe

“A nightmare” is not how most authors would describe the publication of their first novel, but then Chris Cleave’s experience was unique. His début Incendiary, with its central plotline of a terrorist attack on...

The French connection

Tana French is the cool new kid on the crime-writing block. The professional actress, from Irish, American, Russian and Italian stock, now resident in Dublin, arrived with her much-lauded début, In the Woods, last year. A dark...

Bright, shiny Frey

There are few authors who can say that they have been accused of betraying millions of readers. Yet James Frey was charged with doing just that when he was dragged onto "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in 2006. It was discovered that elements of...

Note perfect

I meet Sulaiman Addonia in the appropriately named Candid Café behind London’s Angel station, where he wrote much of his revelatory and moving first novel. Set in the late 1990s, The Consequences of Love (Chatto & Windus,...

On 'embuggerance' and humour

Two cheerful robotic Hoovers are circling the room, letting out low, contented purrs. At least three big black hats are scattered about, resting on piles of books, nestled among assorted Discworld paraphernalia. Terry Pratchett's house is...