Change and Transformation Reads for the New Year!

Stories are most exciting when they trigger change, or even better, transformation. But change can take many forms. Explore just how different in this special feast …

The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick

The boy – who became a man, The man – who became a king, The king – who became a legend.

Helen’s debut […]

Second-hand book stalls – author's friends?

Some authors don’t like second-hand book stalls, whether run as a businesses or for a charity fête. In fact, they hate them. The author gets no royalty nor secondary right nor anything. The books are toted around, exchanged or traded like a lump of former tree for a pound/euro/dollar or two – virtually free. I […]

Can a song inspire a story?

Can music inspire a story? It seems so!

I’m taking part in the December StorySong short story fest organised by Discovering Diamonds Reviews’ organiser Helen Hollick.

Each day, there’s a new story and a chance to guess the song/music that inspired it. There have been some crackers so far!

Mine comes on 17 December, the […]

The gold of critique writing partners

I enjoy a ‘writerly’ FaceTime with another novel writer, Denise Barnes – my critique Writing Partner (CWP). We swap hints and tips, recommend and exchange books, encourage each other about courses and competitions. But the best thing is that we read each other’s work and critique it.

Now, you have to get on well to […]

A writer's progress, or 'Do not despair'

2012 PR shot

It’s ten years since I started thrusting books on the world and I’d like to I share some expurgated diary extracts and experiences with you.

But first, a word of motivation… You know how they say it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something? If you take a […]