Insights | Alison Morton Author

Writing is bad for you

There, I’ve said it. I’m deep in the last third of my sixth book and I should know better. The crisis is coming, the characters’ nerves are shot and all I see is failure and death. I can’t sleep more than five hours nor stop thinking about those poor souls living under oppression or the […]

In praise of public servants

Yesterday in Versailles, France honoured two murdered police officials. A national ceremony of homage led by the French president with hundreds of policewomen and men in dress uniform, all accompanied by drum rolls, funeral music and honour guards. Both were made posthumous members of the Légion d’Honneur.

Commandant Jean-Baptiste Salvaing (42), a very popular officer, […]

This is writing life now

The Punishment of Sisyphus Titian, Prado Museum, Madrid

Wake up. 6:07 am. I really must finish that workshop plan today. So many notes I don’t know where to start. What will they expect? Will I meet it? Must put geranium cuttings in before I go on event trip to UK at the weekend. […]

Social media vs. work/life balance

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an author in possession of a book must be in want of social media. Okay. that’s corny, but it’s true. But how hard should we pursue out courtship of social media and should we toss our head, be defiant and stick up for our principles, yet concede that […]

Sitting on your bottom

‘Sit up straight!’ your mother would shriek at you as you hunched over your school homework. You rolled your eyes, then made a feeble effort at complying. If you were taller than everybody else in the playground as I was, your natural position was slumpissimus.

As we grew older, it slowly dawned on us that […]