Writing skills | Alison Morton Author

Meet Sue Cook

I am delighted to welcome a very special guest to my blog today, somebody who has supported Roma Nova since its earliest days. Sue Cook is one of the UK’s most experienced and popular broadcasters: You and Yours, Nationwide, Breakfast Time, Children in Need, Holiday, Crimewatch and most recently Making History and The Write Lines. […]

Romans and steampunk?

Today, I don’t only have a guest, I’m actually swapping blogs with Daniel Ottalini, another ‘Roman nut’ but with a difference…

Daniel Ottalini is the author of The Steam Empire Series, a fantastical Roman and steampunk story brought to life in his debut novel, Brass Legionnaire. Daniel has been an avid reader all his […]

How to have a successful blogtour

It’s the old five-Ps adage: Perfect Planning Prevents Poor Performance. Whether you do it yourself, contract a PR company or your publisher organises it, the same things apply.

Stage 1 – Planning Plan your tour length and frequency – five days, ten days, a month; everyday, every other day or three a week for a […]

In defence of round-robins

Oh, the sneering! Oh, the superiority! Even Lynne Truss (Eats, Shoots and Leaves) is on BBC Radio4 broadcasting a series of witty ripostes to round-robins (RRs).

Now some RRs are painful: long-winded, which goes hand-in-hand with boring; poorly composed and/or typed; with scattered blurry photos; and produced with tight margins in tiny, coloured or […]

Grammar Nazi or dilettante?

I’m reading a book at the moment full of “prithee, varlet” language. It’s as irritating as Hades, but maybe that’s just me. The atmosphere of fear is building, the characters are forming and the plot slowly emerging.

But despite the over-elaborate language, the author’s grammar is spot on. And that’s what saves it.

Writing is […]