Summer vacuum – the time of little writing

Pergola and swimming pool in summer

Updated and republished

Hooray! Summer is here; warm, lazy days, extra wine, days out with the family and friends, a holiday away. Mmm.

We have two scenarios before us:

The first:

You have a deadline looming, your fans are waiting, your muse is bashing away in your head with fantastic scenes you simply must write. […]

The fate of the conquered – Annie Whitehead

Today, Annie Whitehead, a fellow contributor to ‘Fate: Tales of History, Mystery and Magic, visits my blog! She’s a prize-winning writer, historian, and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and has written four award-winning novels set in ‘Anglo-Saxon’ Mercia. Apart from contributing to fiction and nonfiction anthologies and writting for various magazines, Annie has twice […]

Carol Drinkwater's notes on writing

I’m delighted to welcome writing friend Carol Drinkwater to the blog. She’s a multi-award winning actress and writer, possibly best known for her portrayal of Helen Herriot in the BBC’s original television series, All Creatures Great and Small.

Carol is the author of twenty-four books, both fiction and non-fiction. She has achieved bestselling […]

Keeping cool in the heat

Closed windows

Summer is here – warm, lazy days, extra wine, days out with the family and friends, a holiday away. But when the temperature is persistently over 30C, I tend to wilt. Yesterday reached 39C in the shade. My Muse has gone for a protracted lie down somewhere in a cool cave several metres underground.

Enter […]

Balancing romance, social commentary and historical fiction

I’m delighted to welcome Clare Flynn back to the blog. She’s the author of eighteen historical novels and is about halfway through her nineteenth. published by Storm, Canelo and herself, her books have now been translated into three languages.

She lives on the south coast of England, in Sussex, where she can watch the […]