Sunday Telegraph Stella magazine

Lately I’ve been staying in too much. Not just in my flat but in my bathroom. I sit on the edge of the bath amidst a phalanx of mirrors. I inspect my head from every angle. I ponder my forehead. Is it possible to arrange the few short hairs into a Joan-of-Arc style fringe? I examine the back. Is my crown one giant bald spot or is it just the angle of the light? Would it be less apparent if my hair…

When serious illness strikes, we search for cures. It’s a perfectly sane reaction to a life-threatening situation. In fact, it may feel almost irresponsible not to do so. Unfortunately there are some people ready and willing to exploit our fear and desperation, whether it be for profit or personal aggrandisement. Others have more philanthropic motives but may be strongly influenced by their own…

The first step on the road into the unknown is a meeting with the woman who is to be my pilot from here on in, oncologist Dr Rosie Cox. ‘Please call me Rosie,’ she says shaking my hand and then waving me to a chair. I sit down. Honoria, the breast care nurse, sits down next to me. The breast care nurse is the patient’s advocate, so she always sits on the patient side of the desk. Honoria gives…

I'm thrilled to reveal the contents of our Good Glamour non-toxic beauty bag. This essential collection is an ideal way to discover the most gorgeous natural cosmetics on the market today - all tried, tested and approved by me.

1. Green People Scent Free Sun Lotion SPF 15 with Tan Accelerator. This mineral based lotion provides broad spectrum (UVA & UVB) sun protection with no toxic chemical sun…

#1

Q: The Elegant Art of Falling Apart has been published in Australia by Hachette. Why are you now publishing it in the UK with Unbound?

A: During the last couple of years, whilst I wrote the book and watched it go to press, I also watched the publishing industry begin to disintegrate. Bookshops and traditional publishers were collapsing left, right and centre. The music industry went through a…

Independent Arts Blog

Reality Chick interviews Jessica Jones.

MiNDFOOD book of the month: The Elegant Art of Falling Apart.

Alice Wasley profiles Jessica Jones in The Telegraph Sunday Magazine. How much more of this can I take?!

Justin Pollard explains the Unbound concept and talks about The Elegant Art of Falling Apart in the Independent.

Here's a taste of what's on offer if you pledge for the Tea with Me level.

We will be meeting at my favourite tea shop, Lowry & Baker, on Portobello Road.

Lowry & Baker is run by Katy and Maya (I'm not sure which one is Lowry and which one is Baker) who, beneath their hipster facades, are a pair of genuine born-again grannies. Using seasonal ingredients they cook nearly everything from scratch:…

It's your turn to shine.

The theme is: Falling Apart.

The word count is 250 maximum. Prose or poetry okay!

The prizes:

1. A beautiful signed flower portrait by Jessica Jones.

2. A signed first-edition hardback of The Elegant Art of Falling Apart

3. £20 of Unbound credits

All shortlisted entries will be published on the Unbound blog.

Closing date is midnight on Thursday 31st of May

Email…

I found that telling my friends and family, especially my mother, that I had cancer was way harder than receiving the news myself. I was so concerned about upsetting them — or crying — that I often ended up putting a jokey spin on things or being utterly deadpan.

There is no easy way to do this.

How not to break bad news: ‘Guess what?’ ‘Ummm, you’ve won the lottery?’ ‘No! Guess again ...’

Don’t…

Taking photographs encourages me to switch off my thinking, writing head and simply see the world. It's almost meditational.

These portraits of flowers are part of a series of photographs titled 'The Spaces In Between'.

The prints measure roughly 13 x 19 inches. Each one is an archival, giclée print on Somerset Velvet paper. The paper is heavy and imparts a beautifully dusty finish to the images…

After being diagnosed with breast cancer almost three years ago I began to hear disquieting murmurs about links between breast tumours and many substances that are found in everyday beauty products.

At first I did not want to know. What with the horrible surgery, losing my hair and feeling sick all the time I felt disinclined to start worrying about whether or not my moisturiser might be killing…

TUESDAY, 26 MAY

I had an appointment at St Mary’s this morning for an ultrasound scan. Nothing unusual about that. I’m not normally one to miss out on the chance of a morning hanging around in a hospital waiting room reading half a copy of OK! from September 2007 and stickybeaking at all the other patients, trying to figure out what their particular ghastly disease or disability might be. I’m always…