Welcome to Astra Starter Templates. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

My daughter just came in from the garden, her hands covered with mud, and told me she’d been “chitting” the seed potatoes. “Chitting?” I said and ran not for a towel but to my Oxford English. Chit (n) an impudent or arrogant young woman. Definitely not my daughter. ORIGIN late Middle English, whelp, cub, kitten.

Last weekend, I was in Amsterdam, looking at this painting. It’s a scene of stillness and silence. At first, the only sound is of the milk trickling into the earthenware pot. Then you hear the slight rasp of the woman’s breath. That bodice constricts. Unseen, outside, wooden clogs, hasten to the canal. Far off are the deep voices of the bargees

Sometimes, literary agencies sack their authors – but not usually in large groups. An author’s relationship with their literary agent has always been highly individual. There are no defined codes or industry standards. It’s a deeply personal relationship. The former agent Nathan Bransford has something to say about a recent debacle, and offers practical lessons for