What if you wanted readers to toss your book away? I know, that’s a strange question. But one way of reaching your goals is to reverse those goals. What might kill your story? Keep that story killer away from your work. Here are four killers to avoid. Let’s consider these four points. Your scenes should…
Before I start, here are three possible definitions for ‘theme’. Freshly scraped off the internet for you. “Theme is, essentially, the main idea for the story.” “A theme is a central topic, subject, or message within a narrative.” “Theme is an idea, plus an opinion.” Three starting points for you there. Three answers to the…
Yes, I’ve been away. I daren’t even look at the date of my last blog post, but it’s been too long since my last post. If I’d left milk alone for that long it would have developed civilisation. I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions, that’s why this post is in March, but I aim to…
Apologies for the long delay in posting. But silence doesn’t always mean inaction. Over the last few months I’ve been working on the sequel to ‘Lightmaker’. This is now well underway, the first draft is complete and I’m now adding polish. I won’t be dishing out an expected arrival date, but I’m pleased with progress…
I’m blessed with a fabulous writing group which covers both fiction and non-fiction. People bring work for critique, and group members provide friendly and constructive feedback. It’s great fun. Or it would be, if one member of the group didn’t harp on about automatic editing tools. Ok, it’s me doing the harping on. A friend…
I’ve received the autumnal flu jab every year for the last twenty years. I still only have one head. No one has given the entire world a Christmas present before, but our scientists are clubbing together to get everyone a nice anti-Covid vaccine. But some aren’t celebrating. They’re busy bleating about imagined vaccine dangers, and…
Our world faces Trump, global warming, the pandemic, and a host of other disruptive game-changers. Heather Murata’s novella ‘Koraalen: Planetary Symbiosis’ makes a change from these troubles. Murata presents readers with an exquisite planetary analogue of Hawaii. Verdant islands rest in a sea teeming with vibrantly described life. The plot concerns sapient coral, and its…
Don’t worry, the pants are those you wear if you write by the seat of your pants. If you prod your keyboard and hope your characters will develop in fascinating ways and have heaps of scintillating yet coherent adventures, you’re a pantser. I was a pantser. Lightmaker took five years to write. I had hair…
“Confidence is going after Moby Dick in a rowboat and taking the tartar sauce with you.” ― Zig Ziglar After five years, two ‘book doctor’ appraisals, three rounds of copy editing, and a final polish from the proof-reader my novel ‘Lightmaker’ is now available. The grisly details are here. Will you chose the e-book or the paperback?…
Manuscript incoming… I’m now certain my novel ‘Lightmaker’ will come out before the game ‘Star Citizen’, even though I’ve only been writing for five years. Lightmaker’s script has returned from its final copy-edit, and is currently with the proof-reader. Mid-April 2020 looks promising for an Amazon release; there may be a book launch party in Oxford. My…