A piece I wrote about ridng a Vespa in Italy appeared in the travel section of The Observer this weekend. You’ll find it here.

Just got back to London from Elba – what a weekend! Loads of scooters and sharp dressed Italians dancing to Northern Soul. I’ll tell you all more about it once I’ve had a good night’s sleep. But until then you can check out the Russell Crowe/Gladiator themed Lambretta above. Or even more photos here.

Whenever I’m in Livorno I like to drop into Bar Civili and have a ponce, a particularly Livornese drink made from rum and coffee. To be honest I could take or leave the drink, but the bar itself is brilliant. There’s always a crowd and you can while away many an hour checking out the [...]

Just arrived in Livorno in Italy to check on the well-being of my two Vespas that live here – Sophia from Vroom with a View and Marcello from the as-yet-to-be-released sequel. I’m pleased to report that both are fine. (That’s me and Filippo outside Livorno stadium with Marcello to your left.) While I’m here I’m [...]

I just got this invitation in the post to Hatchards Authors of the Year Reception. Hatchards are Booksellers by appoinment for the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales. (I suspect Camilla will start getting her books there now instead of popping down to Tescos.) Their crests were gold-embossed on the invitation [...]

Sorry I’ve been a bit slack with blogging lately. I’ve been giving the web site a bit of an overhaul for the release of Vroom with a View in paperback in the UK in May. At the moment only Vroom and Swahili have the new look but the websites for the other books will follow [...]