Videos – Update

Some months ago I warned all and sundry that I was going to be putting up some videos about my books. Back in those far-off days 15 weeks ago, all I intended was, to document all the titles in the Templar series with a view to giving people a bit of an insight into the … Continue reading

Scrivener for Authors

This is a very short comment as an add-on to my video about writing with Scrivener. I’d recommend you take a few minutes to watch the video before reading on, because it’ll make more sense! When I was talking about the way that Scrivener works for me, the main thing is, it’s entirely flexible. It … 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

Day Jobs

There is a different mindset in Britain compared with more entrepreneurial nations like America. In Britain we have always been pigeonholed at an early age. Men would learn a trade, serve an apprenticeship with a leatherworker, cordwainer, butcher or smith, or perhaps, if he was lucky, he might get a post with a bank and … Continue reading

Football’s Over – Yippee!

I know. It’s rather immature (mind you, no one’s ever accused me of maturity), but I so detest football, that I cannot help a little frisson of delight that the damn nonsense is over for a while. My poor son is a perfectly ordinary lad. He enjoys all kinds of sports: he adores cricket, swimming, … Continue reading

The Research Into Author Incomes

I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth reconsidering this week. The Authors Licensing and Collecting Society is a marvellous organisation that helps authors by collecting odd amounts of money. For example, I recently had some few pounds because someone in Germany had been copying pages from one of my novels for use in classes in … Continue reading

A Very Belated Apology to America!

This is a terrible confession: after writing a nice piece about America in my newsletter, I completely forgot to put this version up on the web. So, with profuse apologies to all my American friends – here it is at last!   America There are times when certain friends of mine make me wince and … Continue reading

The End of the First AsparaWriting Festival!

And so, after a year of planning and working on the basic ideas, the AsparaWriting Festival is finally over. It’s been a really rewarding experience. The whole concept was, and is, to create a festival for unpublished but enthusiastic writers. We wanted to set it up, first: so that aspiring writers could come and learn … Continue reading

Krupp Can Wait

FIRE ON THE RUNWAY by Mel Bradshaw, Dundurn Toronto ISBN 978 1459703353 priced at £11.99 for paperback I was fortunate enough to be invited as the International Guest of Honour at the Bloody Words festival in Toronto this month. It was a huge honour, but more to the point, it was a great joy to … Continue reading