Hard graft | Alison Morton Author

Giving it back - the Denver HNS conference

HNS 2015 selfpub/indie panel. With me are with Geri Clouston, Anna Belfrage, Helen Hollick, Dan Willis. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Moore Hopkins

In front of an audience, my talented colleagues to my left, I caught my mental breath. Here I was, chairing a panel at the prestigious US 2015 Historical Novel Society conference. […]

Guidelines for a determined writer

I belong to a local writers’ circle and yesterday it was my turn to lead the session. We have a lively discussion which resulted in more ideas. Here’s a potted version…

1. Know what you really want Not what other people, e.g. family, spouses and friends think you want, nor what you think you should […]

The strangeness, and freedom, of writing a trilogy

My writing desk at Lumb Bank

When I started my first novel, INCEPTIO, I had no idea what I was doing. Writing was an impulse, a reaction to a dire film and thinking I could produce something better. But not even halfway through the first draft, I realised I had a far bigger […]

Using your reader report

This is one for the writers, but readers might be interested in a vital part of the process that goes to producing a story. I say producing, because like a piece of pottery, a story starts as a heap of dull, wet mud. Writing the first draft is like throwing that heap on to the […]

Writing about recognition - Writing News

It’s a funny time to be pursuing a writing career, but an exciting one. All authors, apart from the biggest names, need to publicise their own books whether they’re self-published, small press or even big house published.

Writing Magazine commissioned me to write a piece about how to seek and find recognition in today’s fiercely […]