At the heart of writing - at the apex of storytelling - there is only one principle, and it winds like a golden thread across all the books and courses. But it gets lost in the ever-spreading panoply of detail that the creative writing industry relies on to keep its wheels turning. This book pulls out that thread, polishes it and reveals the way it penetrates storytelling. It will be invaluable to anyone creating fictional worlds - but most particularly to novelists, who are most in danger of forgetting it. Or not noticing it in the first place. Tim Lott knows he can't teach anyone to write a novel (that's one of the lies propagated by the novel-writing industry). But he can teach someone how to build a firm platform on which they can stand in order to explore whether they have the talent, will and determination that writing a novel takes.

The brilliant new novel from the author of The Last Summer of the Water Strider 'A sharp and very funny portrait of a brash era which is also a surprisingly tender take on flawed masculinity.' Sarah Hughes, i paper 'What a terrific novel - wickedly sharp, wildly entertaining - I was gripped from start to finish. With its twisty plots and interwoven characters it paints a vivid portrait of a crucial decade. It's laugh-out-loud funny, too. And with property porn thrown in, what's not to like' Deborah Moggach Millennium Eve and six people gather on a London rooftop. Recently married, Frankie Blue watches with his wife, Veronica, as the sky above the Thames explodes into a kaleidoscope of light. His childhood companion, Colin, ineptly flirts with Roxy, an unlikely first date, while another old friend, Nodge, newly 'out', hides his insecurities from his waspish boyfriend. New Labour are at their zenith. The economy booms, awash with cheap credit. The arrival of the smartphone heralds the sudden and vast expansion of social media. Mass immigration from Eastern Europe leave many unsettled while religious extremism threatens violent conflict. An estate agent in a property boom, Frankie is focused simply on getting rich. But can he survive the coming crash? And what will become of his friends - and his marriage - as they are scoured by the winds of change? When We Were Rich finds the characters introduced in Tim Lott's award-winning 1999 debut, White City Blue, struggling to make sense of a new era. Sad, shocking and often hilarious, it is an acutely observed novel of all our lives, set during what was for some a golden time - and for others a nightmare, from which we are yet to wake up. 'Wickedly funny and deeply humane. I loved this book' Sadie Jones 'Tim Lott revisits the years between millennium fever and the financial crisis, and brings this already long-lost era back to life in a novel every bit as evocative and compelling as we would expect from this prodigiously gifted author' Jonathan Coe Praise for The Last Summer of the Water Strider: 'I was very moved by The Last Summer of the Water Strider, which is both exquisitely specific to time and place and universal in its examination of humanity, grief and the bizarre prisons that people build for themselves - and one another. Funny, fascinating, mysterious and provocative' Sadie Jones, author of The Outcast 'Great storytelling and superb characterisation. Very few writers can evoke quintessential Englishness in its myriad forms like Tim Lott. I loved it' Irvine Welsh 'Lott is excellent when it comes to the psychology of a grieving adolescent' Observer

The brilliant new novel from the author of The Last Summer of the Water Strider 'A sharp and very funny portrait of a brash era which is also a surprisingly tender take on flawed masculinity.' Sarah Hughes, i paper 'What a terrific novel - wickedly sharp, wildly entertaining - I was gripped from start to finish. With its twisty plots and interwoven characters it paints a vivid portrait of a crucial decade. It's laugh-out-loud funny, too. And with property porn thrown in, what's not to like' Deborah Moggach Millennium Eve and six people gather on a London rooftop. Recently married, Frankie Blue watches with his wife, Veronica, as the sky above the Thames explodes into a kaleidoscope of light. His childhood companion, Colin, ineptly flirts with Roxy, an unlikely first date, while another old friend, Nodge, newly 'out', hides his insecurities from his waspish boyfriend. New Labour are at their zenith. The economy booms, awash with cheap credit. The arrival of the smartphone heralds the sudden and vast expansion of social media. Mass immigration from Eastern Europe leave many unsettled while religious extremism threatens violent conflict. An estate agent in a property boom, Frankie is focused simply on getting rich. But can he survive the coming crash? And what will become of his friends - and his marriage - as they are scoured by the winds of change? When We Were Rich finds the characters introduced in Tim Lott's award-winning 1999 debut, White City Blue, struggling to make sense of a new era. Sad, shocking and often hilarious, it is an acutely observed novel of all our lives, set during what was for some a golden time - and for others a nightmare, from which we are yet to wake up. 'Wickedly funny and deeply humane. I loved this book' Sadie Jones 'Tim Lott revisits the years between millennium fever and the financial crisis, and brings this already long-lost era back to life in a novel every bit as evocative and compelling as we would expect from this prodigiously gifted author' Jonathan Coe Praise for The Last Summer of the Water Strider: 'I was very moved by The Last Summer of the Water Strider, which is both exquisitely specific to time and place and universal in its examination of humanity, grief and the bizarre prisons that people build for themselves - and one another. Funny, fascinating, mysterious and provocative' Sadie Jones, author of The Outcast 'Great storytelling and superb characterisation. Very few writers can evoke quintessential Englishness in its myriad forms like Tim Lott. I loved it' Irvine Welsh 'Lott is excellent when it comes to the psychology of a grieving adolescent' Observer

A brilliantly observed story of crises and reconciliations within families and stepfamilies and the conflict between Millennials and their Baby Boomer parents. Funny, dark, yet limned with hope, Tim Lott returns to a family saga - and social commentary - that began with the award-winning White City Blue, continuing with When We Were Rich. It is a story for everyone trying to make sense of a sharply polarised world where the political has become personal and the personal has become a minefield. Brighton, December 2019: a teenage girl is on an early morning run along the seafront. In her mind she is running away from something she hates, towards something she fears. China's home is with her mother Veronica, her pompous stepfather Silas and his dysfunctional son Mason. Her father, Frankie, is in London, but they have little contact, his entrenched views a provocation to her socially conscious ideals, his Brexit-supporting girlfriend a jealous rival. Exhausted by family tensions, when China leaves Brighton, her godfather Nodge, Frankie's best friend, and his husband Owen are her first port of call. But they, too, are beset by domestic conflict. Which leaves only her father to takes her in. They argue, they spar, the fault lines between them grow wider - and then coronavirus strikes. Praise for When We Were Rich 'A sharp and very funny portrait of a brash era which is also a surprisingly tender take on flawed masculinity' Sarah Hughes, i paper 'What a terrific novel - wickedly sharp, wildly entertaining - I was gripped from start to finish. With its twisty plots and interwoven characters it paints a vivid portrait of a crucial decade. It's laugh-out-loud funny, too. And with property porn thrown in, what's not to like' Deborah Moggach 'Wickedly funny and deeply humane. I loved this book' Sadie Jones 'Tim Lott revisits the years between millennium fever and the financial crisis, and brings this already long-lost era back to life in a novel every bit as evocative and compelling as we would expect from this prodigiously gifted author' Jonathan Coe 'Lott delivers many hilarious and sad scenes of life in a long-term relationship. He also explores the poignancy and fragility of male friendships, in a manner reminiscent of Graham Swift's Last Orders. . . [He is,] crucially, careful to linger over moral difficulty and vulnerability rather than evading it' TLS 'Lott's carefully observed period piece captures the mood of an era that now seems like a lost world' Daily Mail

"Does God Make Radiators? and Other Questions from the Front Line of Fatherhood' is a collection of columns published in the Guardian since April 2012. Covering issues varying as widely as birthday parties, bereavements, the secrets of a happy marriage, guilt, children's toys, adultery and cats, it is a primer for the modern puzzled parent. Witty, honest and controversial, Lott's take on fatherhood is the ideal antidote to 'perfect parenting' handbooks.