Category: The writer’s life

Welcome to Townhouse!

Welcome Townhouse Members. Whether you’re a Free Member or a Premium Member (those who pay a monthly or yearly fee for extra features), Townhouse is…

Polly 28 September 2022

26 Comments

A tale of two authors

A cheaty email this week, because I’m stealing most of the content. Here’s a (lightly edited) email from – well, we’ll call him the Earl…

Harry 26 August 2022

3 Comments

How to Get Inspired

Has there ever been a more frustrating curse to befall a writer than lack of inspiration? You might think that some people are just born…

Esther 23 August 2022

1 Comment

Is your writing just a hobby?

Last week, I got this email from a writer – we will call him Mitch. And I believe that Mitch lives on a ranch in…

Harry 19 August 2022

1 Comment

Giants eating giants

It wasn’t that long ago since the largest publishers were collectively referred to as the Big 6. In 2013, however, the two largest companies in…

Harry 12 August 2022

2 Comments

Fake mouldings, potted palms

Last week, I wrote a ‘Pears, walnuts, blue cheese’ email, the gist of which was that if you need to characterise a minor character fast,…

Harry 5 August 2022

1 Comment

How to Break In (and Cling On) to Being a Published Author

We’re always talking about wiggly timelines and frustrating setbacks – it’s part of virtually every writer’s life, after all. Laura Pearson is an author who…

Esther 2 August 2022

0 Comments

Pears, walnuts, blue cheese

We used to have a cookbook, the theme of which was that if you found three harmonising ingredients, you essentially had a meal. So, if…

Harry 29 July 2022

4 Comments

Things not to bother about in a heatwave

Folks, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – a country name so inept, you’d imagine is was a splinter republic of some…

Harry 22 July 2022

2 Comments

Eh, toc toc toc

My kids, if they think something is ridiculous, tap their fingers to their heads and cry, “eh, toc toc toc.” When I told them that…

Harry 15 July 2022

2 Comments