I’ve had stellar feedback from my two first readers. Really, they’ve been so meticulous and wise, and I’m very fortunate to have had their input. They’ve picked up on everything that didn’t hang together and pointed out all the areas I rushed through and glossed over hoping no one would notice, and now it’s time… Read More Book report: here we go again
Well, this was a pretty epic milestone on my writing journey: The completed (ish) book has now temporarily left my hands, and is being read by a wise and experienced first reader, who will come back to me in due course with feedback. The inevitable corrections will probably bring on a Bridget Jones-type sulky meltdown… Read More Book report: the beginning of the…
From time to time, I do a round-up of competitions that have no entry fees because heaven knows it’s a costly business. Right at the moment, there aren’t that many available, but I think the list below is nonetheless an interesting mix. I’ll add to it as and when new opportunities arise, and I hope… Read More Free-to-enter competitions 2020
After two weeks and industrial amounts of red ink, I have finished a first paper edit of my book. There is still a lot of work to do, but the gaps are slowly being filled in, or at least identified. The next step is to get back on the keyboard to take in the many,… Read More Book report: red and read
This is what 94,000 words of a manuscript look like. It’s surprisingly heavy: I have cheated a bit because this thing is rife with notes in the copy like THIS MAKES NO SENSE! and EXPOSITION!! Plus there’s at least one chapter that still needs to be written from scratch once I get a better overview… Read More Book report: words and more words
Progress! I have had such a writing block recently, but a WhatsApp chat with some writer friends over the weekend has given me a fresh perspective. They were discussing the use of index cards to organise/rearrange the chapters of a WIP. One person said that if they can’t sum up what happens in a chapter… Read More Book report: psychics and nannies and Post-its
I hope you’re all well, regular readers, and occasional ones too. From my writing friends, I gather that everyone is experiencing the same difficulty with concentration. I suppose we all just have to trust that it will return in time. My MS is currently moving at a snail’s pace, though it is moving. I’ve completed… Read More Book report, week who knows: heaven and earth and Youtube
Three blog posts. That was the extent of my writing week, three blog posts. Two were author interviews with excellent writers – Laura Besley about her debut flash fiction collection The Almost Mothers, and Nicola Cassidy about her third historical novel Adele, based on the life of Fred Astaire’s fascinating sister. I also entertained myself… Read More Book report, week 11: Porgy and Bess and Strout
Most of the author interviews I do are with writers celebrating the release of their first books. Today I’m delighted to welcome back Nicola Cassidy, who I interviewed back in 2017 about her historical debut December Girl. This month sees the publication of her third novel, Adele. It recounts the real-life story of Adele Astaire,… Read More Adele Q&A
My stats have bottomed out. That’s ok, you’re all busy queuing for toilet rolls at a safe distance or disinfecting the letterbox for the postman. I’m just trying to stick to my accountability experiment, which is, unsurprisingly, not going well. Writing is impossible at the moment when the world is so insane. How do we… Read More Book report, week 10: heart and hobbies
