The Latest Articles From The Litopia Ā® Author Platform ā¢
Writing ‘Rules’
Donāt Start with a Character Waking Up, Looking in the Mirror, or with a Hangover On Pop-Up Submissions, we received a lot of openings like this.ā¦
Writing Disability
I'm not stupid enough to think I speak for any other disabled person than myself. But as writers, shouldnāt we be giving voice to things that give our world itās humanity?
Self-Publishing
I decided to self-publish my contemporary romances after unsuccessful attempts at the traditional route. There are pros and cons to making this decision and lots ofā¦
Skimming Stones
The pebble skimmed the surface ten times before running out of momentum, then seeming to flounder for a split second, sank into the dark still lakeā¦
Writes and Wrongs
In the few years since lockdown I think this is the single biggest writing lesson I've learnt
Rules and Commonalities Iām not a musician but even I know that songs have a structure, verses and a chorus, that they often have a beginning,ā¦
Wordle got me out of bed each morning with a sense of purpose. When I realized that I was obsessively counting letters in words instead of reading them, it was time to break the habit
Last time, I spoke about stories that stay with you ā or more accurately, the ones that donāt. This month, I want to take some timeā¦
Rejection
You Are Not Alone Most people experience rejection when querying. Beatrix Potter, author of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, got so many rejections she ended upā¦
Writing Routines
Time and Head Space When I was teaching full-time, I found it difficult to fit in any writing. Itās definitely not a nine-to-three job! My eveningsā¦
Cue the Music
Having been raised on the standard 'girl books' at the time, I don't think I've ever recovered from Thorin Oakenshield's death. I cried buckets. And it changed me
Self-Critiquing
Who the hell do you think you are? I once heard that authors alternate between two perceptions of their work-in-progress. One is: āThis is amazing! Iāmā¦
Read. Write. Repeat.
When I read these days, it is often on two levels, part of my brain absorbing the story as a reader, the other analyzing it as a writer. This is more demanding, but can be hugely rewarding
Business Speak
The Brother has a view on modern verbiage ++ Now, cāmere ātil I tell you this. Iām all ears. What is it? The brother has barredā¦
We All Have Our Own Opinions Of course we do! Life would be very boring if we didnāt. But there are elements to story that seemā¦
Say What? Writing a novel with more than one point-of-view can be tricky. How can you juggle different personalities and motivations ā and somehow use themā¦
The Cat Blog
There's something about cats. Yes, in January Ā I burst my eardrum trying to cure the ear mite infection I caught from our two. Theyā¦
Ghost Writing
Sorry! Iāve been a tad disingenuous with this title because Iām not referring to the act of writing on behalf of others, but rather the literalā¦
The story in FFVII is just so phenomenal that even on the 151st playthrough I canāt get enough. The characters are so well realised, and the villain is so iconic that the story won't let you go
Over achievers
I now realise that writing fiction began as my way of helping that belittled girl hidden inside me. Making her feel whole.
Ciao. Getting ready for our two-week trip to Northern Italy. Northern Italy you say. What about the rest of Italy? Well, in due course. A friendā¦
āArenāt you supposed to be writing?ā I shove the nagging question away. The computer will still be there when I return to it, cursor blinking patientlyā¦
An Issue of Trust Iāll admit, novels with an unreliable narrator are not everyoneās cup of tea, but I love them. You start off thinking theā¦
You may think that seeing the same tropes would get irritating, but I've found myself responding in the opposite way. I anticipate them, gleefully thinking 'here we go' whenever one pops up. Why?
My three psychological novels all have unlikeable point-of-view characters. Without balance, they can appear two-dimensional ā and achieving that balance is rather tricky!
You just gotta be okay with chaos. You gotta be okay that itās going to take a while, and you gotta have patience to see it through. And hereās the kicker, you gotta be willing to put in the effort
Postcards from Earth
Dear Grandpoppypops Wish you were here? Look at the size of the stamps now! So much larger than the penny black you showed me from yourā¦
A Bowl o’ Stew
What would Flann O'Brien's much-loved character - The Brother - make of 21st century trends and fads? Imagine his reaction to Molecular Gastronomy and Nouvelle Cuisine...
This is my first post on this forum, so I wanted to do something short and light. What types of distractions interrupt you when youāre hammeringā¦
Details Matter
Day One on the Job, I Interviewed a Killerāand Didnāt Know It
My first day as a professional writer, I lifted a police report from the pile at the Coffeyville station and read āMurder"
I love jumping between writing genres ā I āpantsā my contemporary romances but plot my psychological suspense novels. Why do I do this?
Lucky seven they say ā but the morning I had to load that many strong-minded mustangs onto a lorry at the top of the Swiss Alps with a 4am deadline, it seemed a doomed number
Why do we have such a hard time admitting we are stuck? We think ārealā writers donāt have this problem, thatās why.
I'm delighted to give you an early peek into this yearās Litopia Book Club selections, together with relevant purchase links.Ā Itās a particularly strong and carefully-selectedā¦
It's Gold Rush Time - For Some
Selling highly-priced, poor-value seminars and writing courses to aspiring authors isnāt just unethical ā itās also damaging to the publishing industry, says Litopiaās Peter Cox inā¦