Review: TRAITOR IN THE ICE by KJ Maitland, published by Headline Review
ISBN: 978 147 227 5479 There are times when you pick up a book and just know you’re in the hands of a brilliant story-teller. Karen Maitland is an old friend, but don’t let that get in the way of things. She has been a writer of superb stories for some years, first of all … Continue reading
Review: JOHN HERRING by Sabine Baring-Gould
Praxis Books, ISBN 978 09559517 01 – paperback £12.50 In these pages I tend to review more modern books, specifically crime – but I am changing. This is a case in point. What is different about this book? Well, for one thing, the cover is a fabulous, really fabulous photograph. I have to say that … Continue reading
Review: Casanova and the Faceless Woman
Review: Casanova and the Faceless Woman Published by Pushkin Vertigo, ISBN 978 1 78227 453 7 £9.99 It is always a delight to discover a new author whose work is both refreshing and novel. Last week I finished one book and was wondering what to try next. Fortunately for me, Pushkin Vertigo got in touch … Continue reading
Breaking Paragraphs – Student Help 3
This is the transcript of my latest video. In this I am talking about splitting paragraphs into their constituent sentences. By doing this, you can see where a paragraph is going wrong, where sentence structure is poor, and more easily see how to fix things! When sentences are embedded in their paragraph, it’s difficult, often, … Continue reading
The Whole Thing Just Gelled!
Today, I finally realised that this latest story has finally gelled. Gelled? I’ve been working on this book for months. I’ve been writing it for the last few weeks. How on earth can it have taken so long for the story to have formed itself in my mind? It’s a curious thing, writing. Some books … Continue reading
Distraction Free Writing
I have to be quick with this. I only have fifteen minutes. Okay, for the last few days I’ve had a busy time of it. I’ve a friend who’s become ill at an inconvenient time for him. He has a job, you see: periodically he is asked by a local railway to help them by … Continue reading
Review: SUMMARY JUSTICE by John Fairfax, published by Little Brown
ISBN: 9781408708729 for the hardback priced £16.99 I have not read any books by John Fairfax before, so this came as a bit of a surprise. As a tagline, choosing “William Benson is a criminal barrister with a difference. He has a murder conviction of his own” takes some beating. We are introduced to William … Continue reading
Another Week, Another Edit
Last week I was glad to finish one edit – this week I have another. It’s one of the more accurate observations, the fact that all writing is rewriting. I estimated that my first novel was the result of reading and rereading my manuscript somewhere in the region of thirty five times. By the end … Continue reading
Writing Discipline
As a follow-up to yesterday’s Top Ten Tips on NaNoWriMo, I thought I ought to add a response to two of the comments I’ve received. The two points that were raised both relate to discipline more than anything else. First, another writer was a little concerned at my point 7. She pointed out, quite rightly, that she was an … Continue reading
NaNoWriMo – My Top Ten Tips!
So here it is, another year, and already another NaNoWriMo. You’ve never heard of it? It’s the National Novel Writing Month, and it involves a vast number of aspiring authors getting together with professional writers, making a statement about their objective of writing a book in the month of November, and cracking on with it. … Continue reading
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