Changes and More Changes

Being an author involves wearing many different hats, and with future changes afoot I started thinking back to how it all began. Perhaps it was no coincidence my first book was called ‘Changes.’ As a total newcomer to the publishing world, I assumed every author used a pen-name, so a family nickname became my new …

Never stop learning

When I was about 10, I received my first writers’ rejection letter. Every week my father would buy a teen magazine for me and ‘Woman’ magazine for my mother. As soon as she finished reading it, I would devour every page and unknown to my parents, submitted a short story for their regular feature. I …

Writing and Publishing

‘You should write a book.’ How many times has someone been told that by a friend and thought ‘It seemed a good idea at the time?’ There are two routes to becoming a published author (or possibly three.) Write a book, perhaps find an agent, submit it to a publisher and do the happy dance …

Where does the time go?

When I first started writing seriously, I was under the impression you wrote a book, publishers published it, and you sat back with a smile on your face while everyone bought it and left glowing reviews. Even with my traditionally published books I had no idea you were expected to do your own marketing; I'm …

Romance, YouTube and inspiration

If you think about it, February is an odd month to be associated with romance. In an English winter, the image of enticing, seductive lingerie is in practice more likely to be comfy PJs, a warm dressing gown and furry slippers. It’s surprising that in the English language there are not more options for the …

Behind the writer

Have you ever wondered about the person behind the book or magazine articles you are reading? Last week I touched briefly on the reasons authors began writing, and their objectives when setting pen to paper. At one time, having a book published involved years of approaching the big five publishers, possibly paying an agent, having little …

Reasons to write

Endeavouring to stick to a least one New Year’s resolution, the house is now more or less cleared of chocolate, cakes and other exotic nibbles. What do you mean, ‘Did you eat them?’ How else would I dispose of them? 😁 The other resolve, to change the theme of my blog, proved more difficult. After …

The author’s tale

This story was inspired from two totally different sources. The loan of a cottage to allow fledgling writers tranquility is true, and the ghost story for Halloween was a prompt for a short story competition. As for the rest I'll leave you to decide how much is fiction. Thud! There it was again, the same …

What is a writer?

A truly magnificent guest post from my friend, Authoress Val Portelli  …this  ol’ Jurassic is blessed with gazillions of great scribbler pals on the Web, many of whose Guest Posts have graced this page… but seldom do I receive one that simply blows me away… yeez will enjoy this remarkably uplifting piece from my dear …