Summer vacuum – the time of little writing

Pergola and swimming pool in summer

Updated and republished

Summer is here; lazy days, extra wine, days out with the family and friends, a holiday away. Mmm.

Alternatively, with the recent heatwaves, we may be cowering indoors and in our basements!

As writers, we have two scenarios before us:

The first:

You have a deadline looming, your fans are waiting, your […]

Carol Drinkwater's notes on writing

I’m delighted to welcome writing friend Carol Drinkwater to the blog. She’s a multi-award winning actress and writer, possibly best known for her portrayal of Helen Herriot in the BBC’s original television series, All Creatures Great and Small.

Carol is the author of twenty-four books, both fiction and non-fiction. She has achieved bestselling […]

Balancing romance, social commentary and historical fiction

I’m delighted to welcome Clare Flynn back to the blog. She’s the author of eighteen historical novels and is about halfway through her nineteenth. published by Storm, Canelo and herself, her books have now been translated into three languages.

She lives on the south coast of England, in Sussex, where she can watch the […]

Being 'FATE-fully' collective – Jean Gill

I’m delighted to welcome Jean Gill, the award-winning Welsh author and photographer now living in the south of France. Her claim to fame is that she was the first woman to be a secondary school headteacher in the Welsh county of Dyfed.

Best known for her adult medieval adventure fiction, […]

Death and the Poet - Fiona Forsyth

I’m delighted to welcome another scribe of Roman fiction to the writing blog today – Fiona Forsyth – as part of her Coffee Pot Book Club tour.

After reading Classics at Oxford, Fiona taught it at a boys’ public school for twenty-five years. A family move to Qatar provided few […]