Ideas, Ideas, Ideas
Where do the ideas come from? I was once sitting in Crediton Church (which I can heartily recommend) and listening to Exeter Chamber Choir giving a redition of Faure’s Requiem, when I suddenly had a flash of inspiration: a scene sprang into my mind of a number of scruffy, ill-armed, but violent ruffians swooping down … Continue reading
More Money Musings – and Publishing
A little more about money, since apparently everyone is interested in authors and their incomes. First, although people seem to understand the simple principle that “advances” are only interest free loans against future income, there is still confusion about how much authors get paid. I think it’s fair to say that the vast majority of … Continue reading
Musings on Writing – and Money
It is so tempting, having heard that a second very senior policeman from the Met has decided that his career is better off curtailed, even though he doesn’t see that he did anything wrong, to launch into a long spiel about the newspapers. But I won’t. I have interests in the story, which I’ll explain … Continue reading
I Hate Losing Friends …
I am a pleasant guy. Honest. Look at me. Not terribly shifty, am I? And all I do is write books, after all. I am a very nice fellow. So why have I just ditched several hundred friends and friend requests from Facebook? It is a weird thing, that whereas in the past, authors were … Continue reading
Hacks and Hacking
Down here in Dartmoor, Hacking means taking the horse out. Not in London. There are all too few journalists who are trusted. I wonder why? They always show up as being less wholesome than estate agents – or even, God help us – ruddy politicians. I know a few journalists. Generally my own opinion is … Continue reading
Amazing reviews
The thing is, you see, I never trust reviews. Why would anyone trust them? I have reviewed a lot of books in my time. With some, such as the absolutely superb Lincoln Lawyer, or Angel’s Flight, both by Michael Connelly, I was rigorously honest and said I loved them. Good. But there were plenty which … Continue reading
The Terrors of Computers
There was a time when I was terrified of computers. Not, generally, when I was vaguely aware of the machines as things that chuntered away in big buildings where old men worked, but when I first really encountered them, when I was confronted with boxes painted an indeterminate beige colour in a computer suite. Computers … Continue reading
Welcome to my new blog
Well, good morning to all. This is a new blog to tell a little more about the process of writing, my feelings about publishing and books, a few reviews, and all those other good things that make a writer’s life interesting when he really should be getting on with the next book, and not withering. … Continue reading
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