Characters | Alison Morton Author

Criminally conferencing in Oxford

No, not Inspector Morse, but the St Hilda’s Crime Fiction Writing Weekend with the theme of Bad Apples – Crime fiction’s enemies and anti-heroes.

In all my sixteen plus years of writing thrillers, this was my first time at this high quality and fun weekend. It’s been going for 33 years!

The original Victorian […]

10 reasons why a book is a good read?

Yep, it’s an old question, but a good one. Choosing and enjoying a book is very personal and each reader’s view is subjective. This is why reviews of any one book can vary so much!

I read across many genres – historical, thriller, crime, literary, romantic, sci-fi – you name it –plus all their […]

Writing a series – The essential supporting cast

Delighted to welcome Helen Hollick back to give us some insight into series supporting characters. I know the value of them as I use them ruthlessly throughout the Roma Nova series!

Helen was first accepted for traditional publication in 1993 and became a USA Today Bestseller with her historical novel, The […]

Forgetting your characters?

Surely not?

Picture me at a writers’ conference, a good two years before I published INCEPTIO, the first of the Roma Nova thrillers, in 2013. Full of enthusiasm, going to every class, talk, workshop and seminar followed by long nights in the bar discussing structure, characters, pitfalls, agents, heroes, failures and […]

Characters in setting

Rounded, multi-layered characters are essential if you want people to be engaged in your story. Reading is an emotional trip and we want to gasp, shiver, feel rolls of warmth, resentment, sympathy, fear, loss, and triumph as we turn the pages.

Superwomen are fine in some contexts – we like a bit of pushing over […]