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Spectacular Writing From Awesome Authors
Writing Routines
Time and Head Space When I was teaching full-time, I found it difficult to fit in any writing. It’s definitely not a nine-to-three job! My evenings…
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: ‘This is amazing! I’m…
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, c’mere ’til I tell you this. I’m all ears. What is it? The brother has barred…
We All Have Our Own Opinions Of course we do! Life would be very boring if we didn’t. But there are elements to story that seem…
Say What? Writing a novel with more than one point-of-view can be tricky. How can you juggle different personalities and motivations – and somehow use them…
The Cat Blog
There's something about cats. Yes, in January I burst my eardrum trying to cure the ear mite infection I caught from our two. They…
Ghost Writing
Sorry! I’ve been a tad disingenuous with this title because I’m not referring to the act of writing on behalf of others, but rather the literal…
The story in FFVII is just so phenomenal that even on the 151st playthrough I can’t 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 friend…
“Aren’t you supposed to be writing?” I shove the nagging question away. The computer will still be there when I return to it, cursor blinking patiently…
An Issue of Trust I’ll admit, novels with an unreliable narrator are not everyone’s cup of tea, but I love them. You start off thinking the…
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 – and achieving that balance is rather tricky!
You just gotta be okay with chaos. You gotta be okay that it’s going to take a while, and you gotta have patience to see it through. And here’s 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 your…
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 you’re hammering…
Details Matter
Day One on the Job, I Interviewed a Killer—and Didn’t Know It
My first day as a professional writer, I lifted a police report from the pile at the Coffeyville station and read “Murder"
I love jumping between writing genres – I ‘pants’ my contemporary romances but plot my psychological suspense novels. Why do I do this?
Lucky seven they say – 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 ‘real’ writers don’t have this problem, that’s why.
I'm delighted to give you an early peek into this year’s Litopia Book Club selections, together with relevant purchase links. It’s a particularly strong and carefully-selected…
It's Gold Rush Time - For Some
Selling highly-priced, poor-value seminars and writing courses to aspiring authors isn’t just unethical – it’s also damaging to the publishing industry, says Litopia’s Peter Cox in…