I thought I’d take this photo of the books I got for Christmas sitting on my bedside shelf. I’ve read some of them but they looked so nice sitting there, all lovely and inky and wordy… Am I in danger of fetishising my paper books now I’m a Kindle owner? Oh yes… The Secret Life… [Read more…]
January 4, 2012
Thanks to writer Sally Jenkins at www.sallyjenkins.wordpress.com for reminding me of the Swanwick Summer School Competition, which closes on 30 April. I’ve always vaguely intended to enter without ever actually doing anything about it! With markets for children’s short stories thin on the ground, it’s great to see a competition with a section for a… [Read more…]
December 19, 2011
Us writers are an easy bunch to buy for. A pen that writes as smoothly as biro on banana skin, a beautiful lined hardback notepad just waiting to be filled up, and our favourite author’s new novel, are all we ask our loved ones for. Plus maybe that new Kindle. But as we all secretly… [Read more…]
November 28, 2011
Jasper Fforde is a true original, and luckily for his fans a prolific one too. He has been compared to Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett and Monty Python. He is fiendishly clever with a wicked sense of humour and a love of puns, slapstick and absurdities. His books are laugh-out-loud funny but with characters you can… [Read more…]
November 23, 2011
I’ve just stumbled across Shelfari, a new social networking community based around a virtual bookshelf where you can record the books you have read and are planning to read. You can rate them, review them, join groups and discuss them. I’m not sure if I can keep up with yet another social network – I’ve… [Read more…]
November 1, 2011
If you are a published author, whether by mainstream means, via a small press or through self publishing (paper or electronic), you can set up an Amazon Author page. This means that when people look at the details of your book they will see your name, photograph and a link to your own area where… [Read more…]
October 9, 2011
My poem ‘I waited but you didn’t come’ features in this year’s Rhyme and Reason publication, a desk diary featuring prose and poetry on the theme of time. Rhyme and Reason is a fundraising group which raises money for a great cause, the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home. I’m looking forward to reading the winning… [Read more…]
September 26, 2011
My poem Who Killed King Rat? appears in this season’s edition of The Cat, the magazine of the Cat Protection League. The illustrator, Rasoul Hudda, has done a wonderful job with his depiction of a stately King Rat in procession, supremely confident, while behind him in the shadows lurks a killer (actually my kitten Badger,… [Read more…]
September 8, 2011
I am thrilled to be included in the latest Young Adult anthology from Wyvern Publications, coming out in October 2011. I’ve just been sent a pdf of the cover, shown here, and it looks fabulous. Wyvern are aiming to produce a new ‘tales’ anthology regularly; Mertales and Dragontales were the first. Vampires are as popular… [Read more…]
July 18, 2011
As promised, here are my notes on Jude Evans’ seminar ‘Redrafting Your Work’, given at the Winchester Writers’ Conference on 2nd July 2011. Although it is aimed at children’s writers, I’m sure Jude’s advice would be useful to anybody looking to improve their first draft. I have also typed the notes up as a tickable… [Read more…]
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January 17, 2012
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