A few weeks ago I had the very great honour of meeting neurologist Dr Oliver Sacks and interviewing him about his new book Hallucinations for the Knowledge Centre at the University of Warwick, where he is  currently a visiting professor. Although he claims to be gauche and sometimes even slightly cross in company, I found him to be modest, gentle and witty, not to...

Sometimes, you can’t beat simplicity. Goodness knows, I’m the first to embrace new technology, but a few weeks ago I discovered the AlphaSmart Neo and it rocked my world. This keyboard (I can’t even bring myself to refer to it as “kit” because it rejects all attempts at modernisation) might look like a Speak & Spell, but is in fact...

Exciting times as part of my stock for next week’s launch of Lichfield Then & Now arrived at the office, wrapped in plastic. Just got to write my speech for the launch event now –...

Earlier this month I was taken on a trip to Davos in Switzerland. Davos may be home to The World Economic Forum, but that fact did not blind me to its considerable beauty. We stayed in a wonderfully atmospheric hotel – the Berghotel Schatzalp – a Jugendstil gem that supposedly inspired Thomas Mann to write his modernist classic, The Magic Mountain...

Sometimes, life is difficult for felines – particularly felines who live in a household of writers. Sometimes, they have have to really grab the attention with both furry paws. At the moment I’m correcting the page proofs of my book, which means that Boris is in a colossal bad mood with me. I come home from work, eat, and then sit down to work again on...