Writerly Round-Up: October 2019
I know it’s a factor of age, but time really does seem to flow faster these days than it used to. It seems like to time at all since I…
Writerly Round-Up: September 2019
I’m sure it’s no coincidence that September, just nine months after Christmas and New Year, is a packed month for birthdays. So many of my friends have been celebrating this…
Writerly Round-Up: August 2019
As we reach the final day of the hottest August Bank Holiday since records began (at least here in UK), I’m writing this while waiting for the sun to break…
November’s Pot Luck Club
Welcome to November’s Pot Luck Club, a round-up of writerly bits and pieces. November has been a busy month for me, with three major events taking place in the first…
March’s Pot Luck Club
Welcome to this month’s Pot Luck Club, a round-up of writerly bits and pieces. It only seems like a couple of days since I wrote last month’s copy. But if,…
Snapshots of Russia: Kostroma
Between 1989 and 2012, I worked in the international pharmaceutical industry (yes, the sometimes murky world in which my thrillers are set). During that time, I travelled all over the…
October’s Pot Luck Club
Once again, we have five Mondays in the month, so today, I bring to you a round-up of what’s going on in my writerly world at the moment, including a…
July’s Pot Luck Club
So for the second time in three months, we have five Mondays in the month. So, I offer you another helping from the Pot luck Club. This time, I’m going…
Counterfeit! Update: Where’s The Time Gone?
One of the things I learnt when I published my first novel, Gorgito’s Ice Rink, was how quickly time passes. It took me 7 years from writing the opening line to…
A Novel Is Announced
Anyone who has read part 3 of my Business of Writing series, Improving Effectiveness, or indeed read Terry Tyler’s Z Files last week where I exposed my inner Virgo, knows…
Read, Reflect, Review…
You know how sometimes a topic seems to crop up in lots of different places at the same time? Well for the past few days, everywhere I turn, I…
No Place For Bystanders
Anyone who’s read any of my books on business skills for writers, or sat in one of my workshops at Swanwick, knows I am a strong devotee of the…
Looking Back Thankfully
It’s hard to believe, but there are only two Mondays left to this year. Next week, I’m going to be looking forward to 2015 and making some New Year’s…
Publishing Lessons Part 2
Back in October, I wrote about the first part of the publishing project for Gorgito’s Ice Rink. At that point, I’d only brought out the ebook. Now, two months on,…
Gorgito’s Ice Rink: Prologue
Moscow, 2005 Emma Chambers slipped between the oak doors into the hushed interior. The air, thick with incense, grabbed at her throat and threatened to bring back the tears she’d been…
Making it Bigger and Better
“Don’t be in too much of a rush to send your work out there. Make sure it’s ready first.” Like every debut novelist, I’ve heard that advice many times. Well,…
The Next Big Thing: My Work in Progress
Last week, friend and fellow writer Madalyn Morgan tagged me in her post ‘The Next Big Thing’. Click on Maddie’s article to read about her second novel Applause. This week,…