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Last month, I released my new ebook – a short(ish) Christmas children’s story. During a regular bout of spring insomnia earlier this year, a flea I had in my ear for many years about two children in their room on Christmas Eve, on a planet far away. Back then, it was going to be a … Continue reading Have You Read The Christmas Goblin Yet?
Tonight, the clocks shift from BST to GMT as we had deeper into the autumn. Although spring is my favourite season, I love Autumn for the colours and the build up to Christmas. If also means nights in with the curtains drawn, a cup of hot chocolate in the hands and writing!
This first appeared in 2012. New version edited and updated. I read a lot of books and I watch a lot of films and TV series, typically in the evening to wind down from spending all day on the laptop working. I’ve identified several tropes of the modern age. I don’t know if any appear … Continue reading Some 21st Century Character Archetypes
(UPDATED AND RESCHEDULED POST) The opening line of a book is vitally important for grabbing the reader by the throat and making them not want to let go. But what about the final line? Regardless of whether there is a sequel in the works, the final sentence – although not as important, still requires some … Continue reading 10 Books with the Best Closing Lines
“Do you know how much it costs to pay an artist to design a custom cover for your book?” Was a question I recently asked of somebody in a book group. This was in response to how “cheap” self-published and indy book covers look, and that they “put readers off”. While readers are drawn to … Continue reading Feed a Writer AND an Artist: Buy Books New!
It seems prequels, prequel-sequels and sequels to prequels that remain prequels are all the rage at the moment. This year, I’ve read Philip Pullman’s La Belle Sauvage (the first volume in His Dark Materials follow-up, but a prequel) and last weekend watched Alien Covenant. These two works have got me thinking a lot about what … Continue reading Some Dos and Don’ts for Writing a Prequel
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! I hope you’re planning some romantic time with your partner or engaging in some self-care if you’re single. I rarely write about lurrve, but in my novel Salmonweird (still waiting for an agent to snap it up), I introduce the world’s worst Elizabethan poet. Here is just how awful she is…
Yes it is that time of year again, the time that lovers buy each other chocolates and flowers, go out for a meal and sip wine into the small hours and generally revel in how loved up they feel. Well, not for everyone. Want a bit of romance in your reading? Believe it or not, … Continue reading A Sci Fi Romance Story for Valentine’s Day
I posted just five times in January. A combination of ongoing winter bugs (both myself and my other half) that won’t go away coupled with an upturn in work has meant I’ve neglected this blog a little. But life isn’t stagnating. I’ve joined the gym, climbing more often and running again although mostly on gym … Continue reading The Winter of Discommunication
It barely seems yesterday I was excited about the Hewlett Packard laptop I bought right about the time my work level picked up. The previous Samsung I had was four years old and on the verge of death (quite literally, a subsequent attempt at a disk scrub revealed a critical hard disk failure). In fact, … Continue reading Another New Laptop. This one with SSD