Tips for Submitting Manuscripts
I was asked yesterday on Quora about how to present a manuscript for an editor. This is not intended to be a fully-detailed example, but it summarises my own experiences over the last 25 years of professional writing. Since it is pretty much the same whether you are looking at fiction and non-fiction books, I … Continue reading
Writing Lessons 1
I get a fairly regular number of emails and tweets from people who really want to write, but just cannot quite work out what to write. Only this morning I had a rather desperate-sounding message from a guy who has all the tools, but as he said in his note, ‘I have tried and struggled … Continue reading
A Murder Too Soon
I had a great time on Saturday. It is, I have to admit, a pain to have to work over weekends. It’s not as if, being self-employed, I can take time in lieu or win back spare time with the family, but going out and meeting people at events is enormous fun, and when there … Continue reading
Herstmonceaux
There are some festivals I have been over the years where, to be fair, the gig doesn’t live up to expectation. Most are great fun, don’t get me wrong. And for any author, it is wonderful to be let off the leash now and again, to go and drink with friends and chat about mutual interests, … Continue reading
Holidays!
It is very hard to write when it is school holidays. Children on holiday have an ability to make noise and disrupt thought processes much more than children at other times of the year. It is particularly unpleasant to be attempting to live to the 5:2 diet when sadistic teenaged girls insist on wafting lemon … Continue reading
New Moves!
I’ve been having a lot of fun recently and it’s getting better. Some of you will have occasionally sprinted over to writerlywitterings on YouTube and seen some of my videos on my books and on writing. Not yet? Go and check it out. The videos seem to have interested a lot of people, and because of … Continue reading
WINTER SIEGE by Ariana Franklin and Samantha Norman
WINTER SIEGE Published by Transworld Books, ISBN 978 0 857 50147 9 It is not often that I have time to try out a new writer. I don’t have enough time to read, apart from anything else. I’m still trying to catch up with Karen Maitland’s books, with Susanna Gregory’s, with the latest Paul Doherty’s … Continue reading
Spam – how do you recognise it?
First, many thanks for all the comments yesterday about my losing a reader. I am very glad to say that the guy is not only very sensible, he’s a deeply honourable fellow as well. I exchanged a series of messages with him during the day yesterday, and he’s changed his mind. He hadn’t seen the comments … Continue reading
Today I Lost a Fan
This is horrible. This morning I got an email from a guy I’ve known a while now. He said that because I was showing my ‘middle finger’ to all my loyal readers and fans, he was going to stop collecting and reading my books. The reason? Some time ago an author in America called Douglas Preston … Continue reading
Quick Tips: Goals
I keep having people ask how I work: how do I get my ideas down on paper? How do I write so quickly? Well, I work one hour at a time. In 50 minutes I can type 1,000 words, and that is most of a scene, usually. Then I’ll take a ten minute break, during which I … Continue reading
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