Formerly Known as The Rights of Fans
by Chris Harris Turning a much-loved television series into a film is always dangerous, particularly when its greatest strength was the characters we gradually came to know. Yet the new Call My Agent! film manages it remarkably well. Which left me wondering: as enjoyable as it was, would I actually have preferred another six-part series? … Continue reading Call My Agent! The Film: Would It Have Been Better as a Series?
by Chris Harris I bought the most amazing round, huge, beautiful, high-quality Victorian mahogany dining table on Thursday at Ford Airfield Market. To be honest, I only bought it because it was an absolute bargain, and I try not to buy such large pieces of furniture these days. It had started to rain, so I … Continue reading Built to Last: The Extraordinary Craftsmanship and Engineering Inside a Victorian Mahogany Table
Chris Harris No, this is culturally a paraphrase referencing the brilliant actor’s industrial drinking: going to an off licence for a bottle of whisky.’ But maybe not completely off subject. “Gone for a Burton” is one of those wonderfully British expressions that sounds almost cheerful until you discover what it originally meant, because although today … Continue reading Popular Idioms and Phrases: “Gone For A Burton”
by Chris Harris Over the past few months, I’ve been documenting something I’d talked about doing for years: writing and publishing a book. These pieces were written as it happened, recording the ideas, the writing, the mistakes, the editing and the occasional moments when I wondered what on earth I’d started. The book now exists, … Continue reading Welcome to Denham. Bringing A Village to Life: Part 4 Building an Audience from Scratch
by Chris Harris Over the past few months, I’ve been documenting something I’d talked about doing for years: writing and publishing a book. These pieces were written as it happened, recording the ideas, the writing, the mistakes, the editing and the occasional moments when I wondered what on earth I’d started. The book now exists, … Continue reading Welcome to Denham. Bringing A Village to Life: A Writer’s Journey Part 3. Lost in the Forest of Publishing
by Chris Harris Revving up for another evening of illegal trading and noise pollution. Denham, the fictitious village where most of my stories are based, is actually based only a couple of miles outside Lewes, where I live. I don’t spend my days deliberately thinking up plot lines or looking around for stories. They tend … Continue reading When Fiction Starts Coming True: The Pop-Up Bar Story
by Chris Harris Day 8 of a week aboard Cunard’s Queen Anne, sailing from Southampton to Norway and back. This is not a cruise review so much as a diary of what actually happens when you put 3,000 passengers on a floating hotel, give them unlimited food and, in our case, a drinks package. The … Continue reading Cruise Control Day 8: Home
Seven days aboard Cunard’s Queen Anne. Seven blogs involving 3,000 passengers, 1,500 crew, Norway, Denmark excessive quantities of food and alcohol, occasional rough seas and the gradual realisation that cruise ships are essentially enormous floating villages where nobody has to cook, clean or apparently exercise any restraint whatsoever. I’ve now put the whole lot together … Continue reading Cruise Control. A Satirical Cruise Diary.
by Chris Harris Day 7 of a week aboard Cunard’s Queen Anne, sailing from Southampton to Norway and back. This is not a cruise review so much as a diary of what actually happens when you put 3,000 passengers on a floating hotel, give them unlimited food and, in our case, a drinks package. The … Continue reading Cruise Control Day 7: Last Day at Sea.
by Chris Harris Day 6 of a week aboard Cunard’s Queen Anne, sailing from Southampton to Norway and back. This is not a cruise review so much as a diary of what actually happens when you put 3,000 passengers on a floating hotel, give them unlimited food and, in our case, a drinks package. The … Continue reading Cruise Control Day 6: Skagen.
by Chris Harris Day 5 of a week aboard Cunard’s Queen Anne, sailing from Southampton to Norway and back. This is not a cruise review so much as a diary of what actually happens when you put 3,000 passengers on a floating hotel, give them unlimited food and, in our case, a drinks package. The … Continue reading Cruise Control Day 5: Oslo Day 2
by Chris Harris Day 4 of a week aboard Cunard’s Queen Anne, sailing from Southampton to Norway and back. This is not a cruise review so much as a diary of what actually happens when you put 3,000 passengers on a floating hotel, give them unlimited food and, in our case, a drinks package. The … Continue reading Cruise Control 4: Oslo Day 1