Writing Challenge Day 6: How the writing all began

Ampurias mosaic

I’ve always enjoy writing, but not fiction; essays at school (often fictional), civil service papers and reports, business plans, company PR materials, insurance analyses (so exciting!); corporate documentation, brochures, military reports and fifteen years’ worth of translation and editing.

Words fascinate me, how they’re derived, how they’re used and what they […]

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 […]

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 […]

Does diversifying your writing offer a book marketing advantage?

At the Triskele LitFest

This post was updated in 2021.

It’s generally accepted that it’s easier to market a series of novels than separate, stand-alone ones.

It’s also more fun to write as you can introduce more entanglements and conflicts across several books. 😉

But if you already write a novel series you […]

Crimefest 2018 - a tale of intensity and stamina

In the CrimeFest bookroom. Oh, look, INCEPTIO!

Crimefest 2018 is over. I enjoyed it immensely, but goodness, you need stamina as it’s full-on. I don’t mean concentrating during the excellent panels (full details here), nor the snatched lunch breaks nor the feast of books in the bookroom run by Waterstones Bristol Galleries.

No, […]