I was watching a documentary about Christie’s Auction House the other day (more unexpected research!) when they took delivery of a beautiful Constable painting. Three specialists inspected the piece, oohing and aahing over the quick brush strokes and immensity of the sky. Then came the real deliberations… how much was it worth? As they debated… Continue reading Value Your Writing
Well, I didn’t win the Costa Book Award, which is the first of today’s problems, but at least one of my favourite novels of last year – The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle – did, so that’s some consolation. Now before I delve into the dark and murky waters of #WriterProblems, I have to preface… Continue reading #WriterProblems ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” Dolly Parton. I saw this quote on Twitter the other day from the movie Dumplin’ and simply had to ‘borrow’ it immediately! We don’t get this message enough – Be More You! This time of year is always associated with being a better you –… Continue reading Be More You
What’s in a name? Well, that’s easy for Shakespeare to say with a name like that, but when you’re trying to think up new character names for your book, it’s not always that easy. Unless you’re Man Booker winner Anna Burns, in which case you can dispense with names altogether. But for most of… Continue reading What’s In A Name?
If you have managed to miss the exciting news that The Story Collector was reviewed in The Irish Times last weekend, then well done to you because I have been telling everyone I know and many people I don’t! To celebrate, The Story Collector is available to download for 99p all weekend on Amazon and… Continue reading Special Offer
You might think you need a degree in symbology or semantics to understand what the hell your book reviews reveal about your novels, but fear not lads and ladies, I’ve put a good half hour of research into some of my own books’ critical reviews and come up with practically no all the answers. For… Continue reading Shooting Stars
I will never forget that Christmas. My parents had to send to England for my present and it didn’t arrive until the very last minute, but it was worth it. My Wonder Woman costume! Wonder Woman was my idol as a child – she just burst onto the screen, taking on the bad guys and… Continue reading Writing Women
