I don’t know about you, but my dream is to have a little ‘Plotting Shed’ out at the end of my garden where, every morning, after walking the dog and thinking about characters and story ideas, I spend an hour writing; blissfully free from distractions. Then, after lunch I spend another hour or so in […]
Ever thought about the way you think? First lesson: thoughts are not truths. Second lesson: You’re in control…
January is a harsh month. Not just because here in the UK it’s cold, usually wet, and seemingly always so dark, but it’s also a long month – payday is a long way away, the majority of funds have been spent at Christmas, or for Christmas, and now it’s back to work with the next […]
It’s almost here. Later this week is when we all start worrying about our word counts and comparing it to other people’s. In an effort to calm the impending storm that begins on November 1st, here are a selection of final tips that should help you ready yourself for the big challenge. First, let’s consider […]
In my previous post I wrote about following your dreams. What a lot of writers are faced with when deciding that they want to become an author of published work is that following this dream means accepting that writing is actually a business. In order to have work published there has to be involvement with […]
We all imagine our lives are different sometimes. Mostly, we project forward and see ourselves living the life we always wanted, whatever that may be. For me, I’m a traditionally published author with a multi-book deal, my best-selling novel is in a prominent position at all bookstores, and I’m at a book signing during my […]
Not too long ago I stepped down from my role as Secretary to Huddersfield Literature Festival. It wasn’t an easy choice, but I recognised that it had become the ‘reason’ I wasn’t writing; I was prioritising the work for the Festival over my own desire for a writing career. As such, it was time to […]
Whenever I open a book to read for the first time I have a great sense of anticipation. Will this be my new favourite read? Will I be able to close it half way through, or will it keep me gripped until the end? Very rarely do I ever consider, ‘how will this book make […]
Well, since I’ve been trying to promote my own book [if you missed the launch of my short story collection, The Memorial Tree, last week where were you?!], I’ve been considering what it is that makes us love the books we rave about. Isn’t it every authors dream to hear readers say that they enjoyed […]
Writing competitions. If you write and want to get your work published this is one of the first routes into authorship. There are some writers who excel at applying their material to the various competition topics out there, others still who tend to focus on particular genres or types, and then there’s me. I’m great […]
