William Dawson

As you may have seen, I've updated the website. I've added an extended extract from The Maze Garden, and also an extract from my current...

So An Angel of Glass is complete. Sort of. It still requires a little polishing here and there, but I feel that it can be left on the...

It's rare to find a comedy that genuinely loves its characters. Most comedies seem to thrive on humiliating their cast. Think about the...

There was a period during my childhood when my reading consisted pretty much solely of Asterix, Tintin, and the Horrible Histories. All...

Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy were the first books that I really hated. I must have been about fourteen or fifteen when I first read them....

Quick, quick – name a Polish composer. Now name a Polish composer who isn’t Chopin. If you remembered Szymanowski, well done – have a...

I had to buy my own Christmas present this year – which isn’t quite the sob story it sounds to be, because it meant that I finally got my...

One of the joys of being a student again is that I get six months of Amazon Prime for free – and it’s a privilege that I’ve been...

Just a quick update on a couple of things I’ve loved recently. GONE WITH THE WIND: I finally finished reading Margaret Mitchell’s epic. I...

I used to love the Usborne Puzzle Adventure as a kid. But one volume in particular has had a lasting influence on me. That is (the...

So, I've written a fantasy novel. It wasn't a direction I anticipated on going in, but I'm pretty pleased with the results. I read quite...

Something interesting has been happening in the period instrument movement recently. For many decades 'authenticity' was the watchword....

Max Bruch is one of those composers who, like Pachelbel, often gets dismissed as a one-trick pony. His First Violin Concerto is one of...

I've just finished watching the BBC production of 'Parade's End', starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall - and I'm completely in...

I always fall into this trap. Really, if you want to make your novel convincing, you should go where your research takes you. But...

I love writing beginnings. Whether it's the start of a whole novel or just the start of a chapter, there's a sense of infinite...