Blog

The Price of Fame

16.09.21

This month’s story is ‘The Price of Fame’ – a good, old-fashioned, twist-in-the-tale adventure yarn. Why are there not more of them published these days? A dangerous quest, a grisly More…

Old Sodbury

27.07.21

First of all apologies – I don’t think the links worked properly in the last email – hopefully I’ve got it right this week. This is the final poem in More…

Testament

20.07.21

Tina Baker’s poem ‘Testament’ is inspired by the power of memory and by a visit to a Cotswold churchyard. Tina is relatively new to writing poetry but is an experienced More…

Harebushes Wood

13.07.21

Clare Finnimore’s contribution to the cafe’s poetry project was inspired by one of her many walks in Cirencester with her guide dog, Sparkle. The wood stretches for 70 acres on More…

Moreton-in-Marsh

06.07.21

The Cotswold town of Moreton-in Marsh is the place poet Julie Allan has chosen for the cafe’s poetry series ‘Terrain’. Julie is a Gloucestershire-based writer and chartered psychologist whose non-fiction More…

A Different Land

29.06.21

Our star poet this week is Frank McMahon. His poem ‘A Different Land’ is an account of an emotional journey across the stretch of Wainwright’s Coast to Coast path that More…

Playing Gershwin

22.06.21

The second poet in ‘Terrain’, the cafe’s anthology of poetry and places, is Liz Carew. Liz grew up in the far north of Scotland and now lives in Gloucestershire. Her first More…

Seven Hundred Years of Grief Ago

16.06.21

The first poem in ‘Terrain’ our anthology of poetry about place, is by Iris Anne Lewis. Originally from Wales, Iris now lives in Gloucestershire. She took up creative writing on More…

New Terrain

14.06.21

We’re trying a new venture at the cafe this month. Rather than the usual short story, I’ll be posting a poem by a different poet I admire each week for More…

For better or worse

29.05.21

A few people have asked for a link to the BBC Wiltshire interview, so, for better or worse, here is is – just click on the logo below

Uploaded

27.05.21

Well, at least I didn’t forget my name this time! Secret Recipes was featured on Sue Kinnear’s evening programme on BBC Wiltshire this week, and I was asked to do More…

A Mad Career

08.05.21

I just had to write something about Graham, who has been narrating the Mavis stories so brilliantly. He’s from Yorkshire and has written since his teenage years. He’s had what More…

Stories and Stem Cells

All the episodes of the new Mavis story are up on the site now – plus the combined episodes if you prefer a longer listen. I’m in Bristol for a More…

Chapter four of Hot Thursday is up on the site

27.04.21

Life is about to get a lot more dangerous for Franny. To read the latest chapter click here

New story added – and it’s a little bit sad

28.03.21

With lockdown drawing to an end, I thought I could get away with something a little different. I don’t know quite how to describe ‘Louis’ as a story – ‘a More…

Murderers and Missing Fish

27.03.21

Franny is on the hunt for a murderer and a missing fish in the latest chapter of ‘Hot Thursday’. The novel is now with agents, but I will be posting More…

Google button is go!

23.03.21

You can now download our podcasts to your Android phones direct from our site. It’s taken us a while to set up because we’ve had to redesign the toolbar beneath More…

Hats Off

03.03.21

Hats off to lovely Selwyn Morgan, who did such a brilliant job of reading The Cravanach for the cafe. You might guess that Selwyn’s roots lie in South Wales – More…

The Cravanach – a slightly scary ghost story

The first episode of The Cravanach is now up on the site. It’s wonderfully read by Selwyn Morgan and designed to send shivers down your spine. The second episode will More…

New Chapter

02.03.21

Chapter Two of Hot Thursday is now up on the site. I’m so glad so many of you are rooting for Franny. I was afraid she might be a bit More…

Almost good to go

23.02.21

Huge thanks to all those friends – and friends of friends – who have been trying out the website ahead of its public launch. A few people have highlighted a More…

How the site works

28.01.21

All recorded episodes can be listened to free on the website. If you’d prefer to download them to your devices, you can do that by going to the free podcast More…

Thanks

This website could never have happened without the brilliant team at Positive2, who took my vague ‘I’m thinking of a café kind of thing,’ and made it a reality. Your More…

In praise of not thinking things through properly

Like so many other ideas, the concept for the Improbable Book Cafe came as a result of the Covid lockdown. In the hours I spent alone, I rediscovered the pleasure More…

Hot Thursday – Feedback Please

12.01.21

The first few chapters of Hot Thursday is now up on the site and ready for feedback. The novel is finished, but not formally published yet, so there is still More…