Another Week!

And so another week passes. The internet is growing to be a dangerous place, I think. In one week I’ve had three invitations per day asking me to give my money to people. Yes, they are casino operations, but I don’t care. These gambling sites are not designed to provide me with money, they are … Continue reading

I’m Back!

Okay, I’m sorry not to have warned folks that I was taking some time off, but that’s why I’ve been quiet and not responding to emails and comments. I’ve been away. The first two-week holiday my family’s ever had, and it was wonderful. I have had the ambition of travelling to France for a long … Continue reading

The First Casualty is Truth

This, you may have noticed, is the centenary of the beginning of the First World War. I think generally, so far, it has been handled quite well. After fifty years of denigrating those who wanted to celebrate the fallen in two world wars, even the BBC decided to get on message. I have always had an especial … Continue reading

Another Folk Festival Gone

It’s a serious shock when you sit down and realise another year’s gone. Only a little while ago I was sitting down and thinking this year I’ll take the boy onto the moors, sleep over under the stars, have a decent walk. Then again, he was determined to get me fit once more, so his … Continue reading

Hachette/Amazon

Thesetwo companies are really going nuclear just now. Amazon wrote a letter to all its Kindle published authors, asking them to write to Hachette for being nasty, and Hachette’s boss has written to all of those who have written to him (be interesting to know how many) with a fairly straightforward response. So who is … Continue reading

Alternatives

Every business needs to have alternatives, don’t they? We’re all told we should diversify. Farmers should break into providing mini-breaks for bed and breakfast guests, while bookshops should sell coffees and restaurants should provide wifi. Diversification is good, clearly. Well, no it ruddy well isn’t for me! As an author, I regularly have to spread … Continue reading

Compiling a Novel from Scrivener

Yesterday I had a question about Scrivener from Debby. She asked: “My concern is if I work in Scrivener, is there a way I can transfer my work back to Word where I’d like my final document for editing and track change purposes? Could this be done through compiling, or at least by copy and … Continue reading

Second Draft

A wiser guy than me once said that all writing is rewriting. I’m well into the second draft of my next book (working title “Calais”), and this is the stage I usually dread: rewriting every line. I love the process of invention. I really, really like sitting down and just imagining a new series of … Continue reading

Warning – More Writing Advice to Come!

This is a short blog this week. Two reasons, first, I’ve been inside working the whole time on the first draft of my next book; second, because I’m working on this novel, I don’t have much time to play with blogs! However, I thought it was only fair to let people know what I’m going … Continue reading

Additional Thoughts on Submitting Manuscripts

This post follows on from the video here. The post will make a bit more sense if you watch the video as well. I am always adding the odd comment, but as you will tell from my video, my daughter was monitoring my wittering from behind the camera. She is very efficient (apart from when … Continue reading