As a writer of short stories (who gets frustrated by the perennial 'When are you going to write a novel?' question), I thank you for this.

The accolades are actually (perversely) one of the things that's put me off watching it; the whole 'How can it live up to the hype?' thing. Then again, I thought that about Deadwood, which I ended up loving, and Spartacus, which ditto (although I grant you that Spartacus didn't have quite the same level of 'must-see…

Amen to 'Don't feel compelled to finish books you don't like.' I learned this when I was a World Fantasy Awards judge a few years back, and 300+ books arrived at my house over a four month period. Judges were told 'You have to start to read every book; you don't have to finish them,' and that proved to be a lifesaver…

Watch The Wire. I keep hearing how great it is, and keep thinking 'I've got to check this out.'

I wonder if Reynolds' desire to collect old Hollywood artifacts was at all inspired by Singin' in the Rain. I read somewhere that when the film (about the transition to talkies in 1927) was made in 1951, there was a real problem finding the recording equipment and other items from the early days; Hollywood had moved…

Are you a fan of tiny biscuits?

I came here to drink milk and kick ass. And I've just finished my milk.

One of my favourite lines, playing Aunt Abby Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace recently, was when I talked about rationing on account of this dreadful war business, then confided to Dr. Harper, 'It may not be very charitable of me, but I'm beginning to think this Mr. Hitler isn't a Christian.' It's in the opening…

I (a white female) was meeting a (Chinese male) colleague for lunch, many years ago, just before I moved to England from Canada. We had arranged to have lunch at a dim sum restaurant in Richmond, British Columbia, where we both lived and worked. Richmond - just south of Vancouver - was just starting, at the time, to…

It's more likely based, to an extent, on the real-life story of British entertainer Jimmy Savile, who was a much-loved and admired figure in Britain for many years (he was awarded an OBE in 1971, and knighted in 1990, mostly for his charity and philanthropic work). A year after his death in October 2011, ITV aired a…

Thanks for catching that.

It was reminiscent of Lear when Cordelia dies.

Notes on Sherlock season 4, episode 1, ‘The Six Thatchers’. This isn’t a critique of the episode, just a note of the canonical references I spotted (and I might have missed some).

Yes, it's just me in the newsroom. The office is only open Tuesday - Friday, so if I'm in on those days the publisher is there, or the circulation person. However, since we go to press on Tuesday, I'm usually in the office on Sundays and Mondays, writing stories, sorting out pics in Photoshop, and figuring out the…

I'm the editor (and reporter, and photographer, and headline writer, and everything else) for a small newspaper in British Columbia (the Ashcroft Journal, established 1895), so it's usually pretty quiet in the office. And it's a small town paper, so I'm not usually chasing ambulances or covering big stories.

In addition to big international events (Brexit, whatever-the-fuck happened on November 8), and the deaths of celebrities who meant something to me on a personal level because their work was something I grew up with, in March 2016 my husband phoned me, shortly after leaving for work, to say he'd gone to the hospital…

'The more personal but ageless tragedy of a parent outliving their child' - yes, this. It's so against the natural order of the way things should be.

I don't know about the Boxing Day stuff (although there were usually line-ups outside the stores before they opened Boxing Day, as reported on the evening news because hey, slow news day), but A&B Sound used to be awesome. I got my first stereo system with a - get this - CD player in it at the Marine Drive A&B in…

I worked for our local school district for several years, and yes, the two-week break at Christmas was always very much appreciated, particularly in the three years I worked as a dispatcher starting at 6 a.m. every day, finding replacements for any teachers and support staff who would be absent that day. I am NOT a…

I think Black Friday has taken over as the most stressful shopping day (thanks, America). Yes, I'm seeing and hearing Boxing Day sales ads, but I doubt there'll be queues outside stores starting at midnight, or fistfights, or mob scenes.