A writer’s diary this Summer

by

Ryan Clement

IT HAS BEEN fascinating seeing how far and wide these blogs have reached. 🌍 🗺️ 🌎 I remember when my first book, Like Father, Like Son, was published and I saw it on the Barnes & Noble website or in a library or in a bookshop. What a feeling! Blogs are fun, especially after a long day. I find them relaxing. If you are in any one of these countries, thank you for reading, and please do drop me a line to say hi. 👋🏾

THIS SUMMER was the first time that I had actually written abroad. My editor had travelled to Costa Rica twice 2 years ago (that is twice in one year 2 years ago!) and had met an author who spends a few months a year at the same hotel, finishing off his novels. How wonderful is that! The closest I get to that is writing ✍🏾 my closing submissions in different hotel rooms for court the next day. Not the same but not too dissimilar, either, as there can be an element of creative writing 🖋️ in seeking to persuade a court to accept your take on the facts and the law, which may differ diametrically from one’s Learned Friend’s, the opposing Counsel’s, who, respectfully, is being equally as creative as you.

THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT that when the book is published, I would associate it with these Diary blogs and Kos even though 95% of it was written outside the Greek island’s jurisdiction.

I HAVE THE SAME FEELING whenever I think of Like Father. It was a sunny but crisp Sunday morning, and the idea came to me. I had a beginning and an ending (the middle took care of itself as I trusted the protagonists, Rupert, Patricia, Dexter, Donna and Josephine, to deliver, which they did emphatically!). So I called my soulmate at the time, Sue, who, sadly, has since said goodbye to this world 🌎 (Gone Too Soon! 😔), a victim of C! I TOLD HER THE PLOT as I had it in my head that morning whilst we sat in an ice cream 🍨 parlour on Chiswick High Street in West London. She liked it and therefore I wrote it. She was my first critic. Years later the publisher went bust, so I decided to publish it myself. I remember travelling to Leeds and Amazon in Northamptonshire to deliver copies to be sold. It was fun 🤩 Years later, again, and after I had completed both a creative writing diploma course at Birkbeck College, London, and a BA in English Literature, I decided to do a rewrite of parts of the book. However, I kept it true to the original. I began that journey over what was to be called Hemingway Christmas, which is another story for another day in another blog.

I AM NOW WRITING another novel that begins its setting in the tiny Caribbean island 🏝️ of Grenada 🇬🇩 In my view, there are too few stories set in the Caribbean. So I intend to play my small part.

So, tomorrow I write more 📖 ✍🏾.

Copyright © Ryan Clement 2025