Books I've read and enjoyed in 2023

As in 2022, reading books has given me enormous pleasure. This year, I published a special 10th Anniversary hardback edition of INCEPTIO with a gorgeous case cover and dust jacket by Jessica Bell Design, plus contributed a story called ‘My Sister’ to a collection Historical Stories of Exile.

Enough of me, the writer; in […]

JG Harlond - Victory in Exile

I’m delighted to welcome J G (Jane) Harlond to the blog to talk about being in ‘Exile’. Jane writes award-winning, page-turning novels set in the mid-17th and mid-20th centuries. Each story weaves fictional characters into real events. She describes her WWII Bob Robbins Home Front Mysteries as ‘cosy crime with a sinister twist’. […]

Writing a series – The essential supporting cast

Delighted to welcome Helen Hollick back to give us some insight into series supporting characters. I know the value of them as I use them ruthlessly throughout the Roma Nova series!

Helen was first accepted for traditional publication in 1993 and became a USA Today Bestseller with her historical novel, The […]

Helen Hollick: Writing the past

What happens when a historical fiction writer turns to crime? No, I’m not talked about me and the Mélisende crime thrillers, but Helen Hollick who has just published her third cozy crime. But she can’t shake off the historical fiction writer’s magic cloak. Her 1970s set series feature heroine Jan is the result.

Over […]

10 years of indie publishing – why?

When I set out in 2010 to find out what to do with the 90,000 words I’d bashed out in 90 days, I didn’t have a clue about the publishing world. A business friend, Denise Barnes, also a novel writing beginner, guided me towards the Romantic Novelists’ Association who has a mentoring scheme for new […]