Insights | Alison Morton Author

Anna Belfrage: Writing from Sweden across fictional worlds and times...

This week, I’m delighted to welcome back to the blog Anna Belfrage, truly a ‘writer abroad’! Currently, she’s roosting in Sweden, her ‘home territory’.

When Anna isn’t musing about the circle of life or considering just how much of the Graham homestead in 17th century Maryland is inspired by her own surroundings, she writes. […]

Jean Gill: Provence – for the love of bees

This week’s guest in the writers abroad series, Jean Gill, is an award-winning writer and photographer who left rainy Wales in 2003 to follow her creative dreams in Provence. She lives with two scruffy dogs, a Nikon D750, a beehive named Endeavour,and a man. For many years, she taught English in Wales and was […]

Vanessa Couchman – The other South of France

Continuing the writers abroad series, this week it features Vanessa Couchman whom I met at a literary festival here in France. Vanessa writes historical novels and short stories set in France or on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. Quirky true stories often find their way into her fiction, and she likes nothing more than pottering […]

Jill Marsh: Swiss inspiration, but not as you know it...

This week, I’m starting a series of English-speaking writers based in Europe and their ‘terroir’ – the place they live in. I’m delighted to welcome back JJ Marsh who shows us how Switzerland runs through her creative mind.

In her own words: As a journalist, teacher, actor, director and cultural trainer, Jill has lived and […]

Sounds and silence

Bringing in the senses to our writing adds a layer of richness and anchors the setting. It also grounds the character in that setting. It can emphasise an awkward gap in actions between characters, or provide a dialogue beat that isn’t “he said/she said”.

But what sounds could you bring in? Surely most people’s lives […]