Paul Allen's Page

Apologies for the recent radio silence. I had planned to write some more regular articles over the past weeks, but got jammed with several big work projects I was scrambling to finish before going on vacation. Unfortunately everything else fell by the wayside. The perils of work timetables, even when you’re self-employed!

Today seemed an appropriate time to share some thoughts though ...

September 11 is now indelibly linked in minds the world over with those images of the World Trade Center en… Continue

There’s a certain kudos to being a writer.

Millionaire novelists like J.K. Rowling, John Grisham and Stephen King spring to mind. Or perhaps the literary cool of an Ernest Hemingway, Jay McInerney or Zadie Smith.

And the non-fiction arena is an even bigger market. Self-help bibles, business success stories, health and fitness guides, even cookery books have the power to turn their authors into celebrity figures.

And even if it doesn’t make the New York Times bestseller lists, a book can act a… Continue

I sent the article below to my newsletter subscribers last week, but thought I'd share it here too - it gives a little insight into the part of the world in which I live, but it can be as easily applied to anywhere in the world ... the joys and tensions to be found within any culture when you scratch a little beneath the surface. I hope you can relate to it with your own experiences in Twente ...


My wife and I were recently honoured with an invite to a night out with a party of locals.

Now, d… Continue

Ernest Hemingway, Tom Wolfe, Bill Bryson ... the list of successful authors who started their writing careers in journalism is a long and illustrious one.

Like so many other journalists, I too have been dreaming of that publishing deal that would set me on the road to literary fortune. In fact, my journalistic career was more happenstance than design, a by-product of my early book writing efforts, rather than the other way around.

The impulse to write has been with me since my exercise book-fi… Continue

“School’s out for summer ...”

Yep, the school summer holidays have started here in Spain. Three months of freedom and sunshine stretch into the distance.

As my brother in England commented, it seems like a crazy length of time off. After all, the English schools won’t finish for another month yet, and then ‘only’ for six weeks.

Indeed, the schools in Spain seem to be about the first in Europe to break up. If the car registration plates are anything to go by it will be the beginning of July be… Continue