Writers getting back to “normal”?

I have two live gigs booked for 2022 and today, I’m about to jet off to the UK for a writers’ retreat, family weekend, then a few days with my critique writing partner.

In previous years, I haven’t thought twice about going on the Internet, booking a plane, booking somewhere to stay, then rolling up […]

A book reviewer's frustration

Reviewing books isn’t easy. It takes time and attention, plus sometimes, you have to damp down the pleasure that wells up when it’s a really good read. If I’m grabbed, sometimes overwhelmed, by the power of the story, I read on and enjoy the book, then I go back and read it more analytically.

However, […]

Niches and risks

A reviewer wrote about SUCCESSIO, the third Roma Nova novel:

“Clearly, Alison Morton is as much a reckless risk-taker as her main character, Carina Mitela. […] after creating one of the most fascinating heroes in my recent memory in book one, and shamefully marginalizing him in book two, the author now proceeds to dismantle the […]

Why do we write?

A plot in a novel gives the reader the main character’s goal; the challenges the character has to overcome to achieve the goal, what’s stopping her/him and the dire consequences if she/he doesn’t succeed.

My own goal is to produce a readable, entertaining and thought provoking book at least once a year. But every now […]

In praise of local litfests

The four authors on Historical Fiction Night, Wrexham Photo courtesy of Phil Burrows

Hay, Oxford, Edinburgh, Port Eliot, Cheltenham, Wigtown – all big beasts of the literature festival circuit and there are many more. Places where famous and worshipped celebrities jostle along with people who write books, places where zillions of books are […]