Alison Morton | Alison Morton Author

Friends, Romans, Londoners

I visited the Museum of London last weekend, something I hadn’t done for several years. The displays are very attractive, well-labelled and intelligently set out. Rooms had been reconstructed painstakingly following decoration and description from original sites or authors, but the artefacts in them are original. (Photos taken on my phone, so apologies for the […]

Beta readers

Photo courtesy of Piotr Bizior

When I opened up an email today after a long weekend away, I was thrilled to find to read this from a beta reader: (All character names changed – you’ll have to buy the book when it’s published.)

“Finished part 1 and having a great time! I like […]

Double memories

Finding something that you know will give somebody else a great deal of pleasure is a smiley moment. Nothing is the same as watching the other person’s eyes widen. Their look of immediate disbelief dissolves as you hand it to them and they receive it with a huge grin on their face.

I decided to […]

Shorts

I write novels. Sure, I’m waiting for my big publishing deal, but I love the long fiction structure: the opportunity to develop characters at length; to weave sub-plots; to plumb the depths; struggle to the surface; heap mounds of stuff on my protagonist; the false climax; to be a master of the universe.

But short […]

Is it wrong to tweet on Christmas Day?

The immediate reaction is hands raised in horror. How crass, how selfish, how insensitive!

But is it?

I remember as a kid having ‘quiet times’ on Christmas day. We had the ecstasy of early morning present-unwrapping – scarf, pencils, jigsaw, books, new jumper – then breakfast, followed by the first ‘quiet time’ when […]