Writing Challenge Day 7: Introduce your 'author friend'

On Sunday, I enjoyed a ‘writerly’ Skype with my critique partner, another novel writer, Denise Barnes (a.k.a. Molly Green), who has just sent her latest fiction work off to her editor at Avon Books. It’s the third in a series about sisters in the Second World War; they’re each ‘doing their bit’ for the war […]

Anna Belfrage: Brain freeze – the dreaded writer’s block

This week’s guest is Anna Belfrage, historical fiction writer extraordinaire. Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d have become a time-traveller. As this was impossible, she became a financial professional with two absorbing interests: history and writing. Anna is the author of the acclaimed time travelling series The Graham Saga, set in 17th century Scotland […]

A writing challenge – Day 1: Starting with revealing information...

Official photo! (More photos here)

A writing friend of mine, Jennifer C Wilson, has given me a challenge. Well, not directly, but an idea.

Every day in August, she’s been doing posts on aspects of writing. Now, I can’t guarantee to keep that up, but I’m going to have a go. I would […]

Distraction in the time of plague, or can you still write?

Lockdown sucks.

But you’d think as writers we’d glory in all this time. We don’t have to go out, nobody calls, the television is dull, dull, dull. We can’t run (generally pointless) errands, waste time drinking too much caffeine in coffee shops, or even go gallivanting off to literary events.

On that last, three of […]

Debbie Young – 'Linguam latinam disco'

I’m delighted to welcome Debbie Young back to my writing blog, especially on subjects dear to my heart – Latin and learning languages! Debbie writes funny, feel-good fiction set in the English Cotswolds, where she’s lived for nearly 30 years. Her latest novel, Murder Your Darlings, the sixth Sophie Sayers Village Mystery, has fun with […]