Writing a children’s story for my autistic granddaughter | Ambitious about Autism
My granddaughter is autistic, and she is the inspiration behind my latest children’s story – The Night Agnes Florence Emily Dance Before the Emperor.
Agnes’s Secret Friend
In my second children’s story – The Night Agnes Florence Emily Danced Before the Emperor – the principal character is of course Agnes, always looking for peace and quiet in a noisy world. The other notable character – her secret and very special friend – is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose music lulls her to sleep…
![[Announcement] The King Who Ate My Breakfast](https://www.edwardglover.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/the-king-who-ate-my-breakfast-title-edward-glover-768x437.jpg)
[Announcement] The King Who Ate My Breakfast
After writing six novels in six years and already with an idea for a seventh, it never crossed my mind to write a children’s story. But after a chance remark by my daughter, I decided to take a ‘time out’ and have a go. We’ve all heard young children being urged by tedious adults to…
And now for something completely different…
Having written six novels in six years (The Herzberg Trilogy, The Executioner’s House, The Lute Player, and more recently Dark Obsession), I wanted to write something entirely different before beginning another novel. So last year – in the midst of other everyday work – I conceived and completed a children’s book for the 7-9 year…
In conversation with North Norfolk Living
I was delighted to be recently invited to discuss lockdown, the FCO, and my latest novel with Amanda Loose, editor of North Norfolk Living. Her interview, The sound of silence, can be read on the magazine’s website.
Female characters in my writing
Fictional women have been the central characters in all six of my books. First, in the Herzberg Trilogy, which spans the period from 1765 to 1918, there are three generations of musically gifted and ambitious women, crucial to what happens against the backdrop of peace and war. Then there is Karin Eilers – a young…
The pleasure of writing
I still work part-time as a Director (Communication), editing a FCO-related magazine Inside Out and sit on three boards. But writing books is my greatest pleasure. The themes come easily and the words without difficulty. I write when I can – no set daily routine. And wherever I go, I carry with me a small…
Six in Six
I published my first novel – The Music Book – in 2014, the year I ran the London Marathon and two years after ending a full-time diplomatic career. I never intended to write more than one. I simply wanted to prove to myself that after years of Foreign Office drafting I was capable of writing…
The story behind Dark Obsession
Obsession is defined as an idea or thought continually preoccupying or intruding upon a person’s mind. There are harmless obsessions from time to time – the habit of doing particular things in a particular reassuring order, being obsessed by computer games or relentlessly pursuing a search for a rare collector’s item. Yet for some the…
The Next Chapter
I have recently finished my latest novel – the sixth in six years. It’s now in the hands of my highly-professional copy editor. I hope it will be published in the latter part of April/beginning of May, to be followed shortly afterwards by my first story for children between the ages of five and seven….
Not the retiring type…
I was delighted to be interviewed recently by Amanda Loose for a piece in North Norfolk Living. The area is not only home, but also features heavily in my books, so has an extra special place in my heart. Amanda was very interested in my background in The Foreign Office, and the inspiration that led…
Reflecting on five novels in five years
To write five novels in five years has been – for me – a remarkable journey of discovery. I’ve found a new and deeply rewarding profession that complements my other ongoing activities (diplomacy, the environment and the preservation of buildings in King’s Lynn of historical and architectural merit) and provides a new and refreshing means…