Lissa Evans
@lissakevans
Novelist (Old Baggage, Small Bomb at Dimperley, Wed Wabbit etc), ex TV producer (Room 101, Father Ted), voracious reader, owner of an adored and ancient dog.
Unfairly-maligned shark, lovely gorilla (famously superb parents) , friendly-looking T rex with a really nice smile. Who wouldn't mind being one of these? I'm not quite sure what the message is, and I doubt I'm alone in this. How long was the ideas meeting? Couple of minutes?
Wild carrot. Masses of it on Hampstead Heath at the moment, looking fantastically sculptural. I really love it - buds, flowers and seedheads on the same plant at the same time.
Just read a disappointed review of this - the reviewer only gave it three stars, because: "Without any warning that I could see, it turns out to be a children’s book. Okay if I were decades younger." Oh, if *only* there had been some clue on the cover....
Reading ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’ for the 1st time since school, I can still hear laughter and our teacher wailing ‘no, this is a *different* meaning of the word ‘pathetic’’. Interestingly, I recall no reaction to the clause after it - I guess we didn’t know the connotations of the word ‘climax’…
‘Oh gosh, sorry Sadie, I’d obviously love to hear more, but this is my stop’
This was a winner of the Bulwer-Lytton Prize for the Opening Sentence for the Worst of All Possible Novels (the novels in question being imaginary) and I think it’s rather marvellous…
I grew up with this and it taught me much about satire, timing and joy. It’s much funnier than the actual shows - tighter and less self-indulgent.
Margo Leadbetter was snobbish, humourless and entitled, & Penelope Keith managed to make her into one of the most adored (and oddly vulnerable) characters ever seen on a sitcom. She delivered every line as if it were a jewelled crown on a velvet cushion. An utter genius.
Perlagonium grown as a climber - saw this at Tyntesfield and was knocked out by the effect against the white wall..,
... & coped magnificently with many years of disability following a brain tumour. Her books are superbly researched and marvellously readable, laced with sharp humour. She also wrote the tie-ins for the wonderful BBC series '1940s House' & 'Edwardian Country House'.
The remarkable historian and writer Juliet Gardiner has died. I used many of her books for research and was lucky enough to become friends with her - she had the most extraordinary, rich & vivid life... 1/2
Crappy video with vocal contributions from local pub - but there is massive bat activity (at least four of them) over my very urban back garden and it fills me with joy…
I read this book in two great gulps - it's clear-eyed yet hopeful, enraging yet inspiring and you can hear Frank's voice and passion in every word...
I’ll be talking (with pics!) about the joys and & worries of producing 'Father Ted' at this year’s Idler Festival, at beautiful Fenton House and Gardens, Hampstead 10-12 July . Tickets can be found here: idler.co.uk/festival - Loads of other fantastic speakers (Prue Leith! Irvine Welsh!)
Hedge woundwort in my very urban garden. Tiny orchidaceous flowers, and it’s a total bee magnet. @wildflowerhour.bsky.social
It’s Sunday, so I thought I’d post a passage containing the words ‘Detached genitals’, ‘Uranus’ and ‘sizzling’. (From ‘Greek to Me’ by Mary Norris)
Very tempted to just sit in the square and read this (instead of going to work)
'Their Finest' is back on BBC2 this evening, at 10pm, adapted by Gaby Chiappe from my book. When I gave my widely-praised 'make-up lady in background' in one scene, I wouldn't have dared to hope that the resulting film would be so well-made and well-loved. Here I am on set, grinning like a loon!
Slight crunch. Delicate taste of nail varnish. Everyone else in the family refuses to even try. Compost bin. 3/3
Easy to peel. Three lobed fruit inside (quite dry - possibly just past its best?), each lobe with a seed. Apparently I now just need to bite into one. 2/3
Snake fruit - palm fruit from Indonesia which has suddenly appeared at the 'sells everything in the whole world including vapes' shop by the bus stop. Going in. 1/3
I wanted to write something purely funny, but I fell in love with my lead character along the way. 'My Name is MacKenzie Bly' is out in Hardback/Kindle/Audio at the end of August but for those who read and review books on @netgalley.bsky.social, it's available now. netgalley.co.uk/catalog/book...
I didn’t know this! Revelatory! The actual word apparently derives from the (French) sound of the block of print clicking into place…