Books, I am learning, have a life of their own. Long after the story has left my pen, I watch it dip and rise on the tides. It amazes me – the power of a book to go on its own journey, as if the author is but a distant spot on the horizon. Such… Continue reading The Heirloom – a treasured inheritance
Oh dear, there are veritable cobwebs on my blog. I may have forgotten how to drive this thing, but let’s give it a go. This year has been a lot of upheaval, personally and professionally. Yet, thankfully, in these final few weeks of 2019 I can look back and see that I’ve done the best… Continue reading Life Behind The Scenes
Some of us have dreamed about writing a bestseller for a long time. A part of me was terrified when I published my first book. Would I be able to handle the fame that came with it? I mean, of course, I anticipated the critical acclaim and the validation it would bring, but the success… Continue reading How Long Does It Take To Write A Bestseller?
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)_/¯
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
‘There is no such thing as a new idea’, Mark Twain once wrote. Which is bad news for anyone trying to be original! But as he goes on to say, we can create new and endless numbers of new combinations. Still, what if you find that you keep coming up with ideas that have already… Continue reading When Someone Has Already Written Your Book
You know that old cliche – you don’t have to be crazy to work here, but it helps?! Well, welcome to the book business my friend. In the style of Joni Mitchell, I’ve looked at publishing from both sides now – well, three sides to be precise, a triangular perspective with lots of 90 degree… Continue reading Why Writers Are 100% My Type On Paper
Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand THE STOLEN CHILD William Butler Yeats This poem has been knocking on the door of my subconscious for quite a few years now and I’m proud… Continue reading Come Away
A book is a heart that only beats in the chest of another. Rebecca Solnit A very strange thing is happening as my new book, The Story Collector, takes its first tentative steps into the world. Advance review copies are winging their way to people and for the first time in my… Continue reading The Author Is Dead, Long Live The Reader
With the Oscars coming up, I’m reminded of one of my favourite speeches by composer Michael Giacchino for (coincidentally) one of my favourite animation features, UP. Of all the things he could have said, he spoke about the pervading myth/belief that doing something creative is a waste of time. Sure, we honour those at the… Continue reading Be Creative – It’s not a waste of time
