I’ve been writing and editing pretty much non-stop since the new year, and the index finger still hasn’t healed properly. Not that I’m complaining – being an author is just the best thing. But balance is important and I’ve made sure that I’ve taken time out to rest a bit. (The football has been impressive!) …
Category: Arts
Why I love Tom Hardy…
Tom Hardy the actor embodies what I love about all arts....
Meeting a local reading group. Friendship, Community and The Classics
I was asked by a local reading group to discuss my novel The Witch’s Tree (Elena Collins) at one of their meetings. I accepted immediately. Not only is it always a wonderful opportunity to talk about books, but the fact that everyone had taken the trouble to read The Witch’s Tree and wanted to chat …
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Holding out for a hero….
Are the male protagonists in romance novels too good to be true? Or is it possible to take them into our hearts?
On the importance of writing groups – and a short story.
My blog post is in praise of local writing groups. I can't recommend mine highly enough. And a short story. that I wrote for my last group...
The treasure inside the nutshell: talent that goes unnoticed.
It’s interesting to think about talented people and to stop for a moment and really take in just how good they are, in terms of their skills being so much more than what we know as average. I often use myself as the average against which to compare others, but in many ways, I don’t …
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The immersion technique – it’s one way to write your next novel…
I have a friend who claims to have completely cured her arthritis by swimming in the sea, whatever the weather. Her pains completely disappeared, and she swore that it was because she immersed herself regularly in freezing water. I recently saw British athlete Mo Farah and Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo do something similar on TV, …
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On Writing: the importance of setting
Once a week, on a Wednesday, I appear on a community radio show, 'CakEhole with Julie Mullen,' and we talk about all things to do with novels and writing for fifteen minutes. It is one of the highlights of my week as Julie is so much fun to chat with. Based on our conversations, I …
The excitement of writing for a competition…
I enjoy writing for specific events or audiences, as there is a kind of precision and framework to be considered. It's quite an interesting mental exercise when you have a word limit, or when you have to create something for a specific genre. I like writing newspaper or magazine articles, poems, speeches, plays, all of …
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Lockdown, languages and me. (Warning: much failure, a little success…)
As a writer, I’m blessed with being able to work from home and I’m so lucky to have a job I enjoy, that I return to each day with energy and enthusiasm. Lockdown is a difficult time for everyone in their own way, but some people have real problems in managing to get by in …
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