Category: The writer’s life

A little rain

Oh, there are sunny days and rainy days, there are rise-with-the-lark days and please-an-extra-hour days. There are days of ease and days of grind. There…

Harry 30 June 2022

3 Comments

The Butterfly Dynasty Series

The struggles of a writer are not just those of plot, motivation, grammar, and inspiration at inconvenient times – like in the shower or at…

robertbarclay 26 June 2022

1 Comment

Maximum Absorption II: The Sequel

Last week, we said this: A book, in any genre, is good to the extent that it absorbs its audience. That means that the book…

Harry 24 June 2022

3 Comments

Upgrade Your Author Newsletter | Clare Mackintosh Takeover

If you’ve been around authors for a while, you might have heard a lot of back and forth on the topic of newsletters – how…

Esther 21 June 2022

0 Comments

The maximum absorption theory

I got a fair few responses to my “Curse of Cool” email last week. The majority of replies, obviously, were people disagreeing with my “Tom…

Harry 17 June 2022

5 Comments

The ADCI Literary Prize | Penny Batchelor Takeover

How often do you see yourself reflected in the characters that you read? When you do, how does it make you feel?   Sensitive, nuanced…

Esther 14 June 2022

0 Comments

The Curse of Cool

Ah, Top Gun. A film so shimmering with a certain kind of macho cool that a studio can successfully bring its star back to reprise…

Harry 10 June 2022

5 Comments

Big to little, little to big

After last week’s monster of an email, I want to offer something shorter and a bit more Zen this week. So, the normal advice to…

Harry 2 June 2022

1 Comment

Snakes and Angels

Quite often – a couple of times a month – I’ll get an email from someone asking me about ‘hybrid’ publishers. Are they good? Are…

Harry 27 May 2022

3 Comments

A clear vision for your book

A little while ago, a writer (Jaraslawa, an accomplished circus trick rider, a part-time intelligence officer, and a highly skilled swordswoman) wrote to me to…

Harry 20 May 2022

10 Comments