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 […]

Me and events - an author steps out

Signing books

When you write and publish books, you know there are various steps on the way, mostly involving hard slog, rewrites, critiques, revisions, back ache, more edits, proofs, eyes watering, etc. Once your book is out, you’ll launch it, do a few book-signings plus the stuff on social media. Then what?

Of […]

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 […]

On being unusual and historical...

The Roma Nova thrillers are definitely unusual. Although part of the historical fiction canon, alternate history stories ask readers to follow a speculative but hopefully historically logical path. In a way they are niche, but one which I hope will grow.

Some periods are fashionable like the Tudors, others eternally loved like Regency, others wax […]