Misery - Writing can be dangerous Stories about writers often seem to end up on the precarious side of things. Writing, it's implied, is dangerous. "Misery" (by the man who loves writing about writers, Stephen King) follows a famous writer who's sick of his own creation (shout out to Arthur Conan Doyle) and kills her... Continue Reading →
Kenneth Grahame’s grave, Hollywell Cemetery, Oxford
Kenneth Grahame is famous as the author of one of the most iconic children's stories of all time, "The Wind in the Willows". This classic book was written in 1908 but has enchanted children for decades (myself included). Grahame was born in 1859. His mother died when he was just five and, as his father... Continue Reading →
7 Things Writers Won’t Tell You
Ok, so writers aren't this big homogenous group who all think and act the same way, but I'm fairly certain there will be something in this list that you (or the writer in your life) will recognise. Just remember, it's all in fun! 1) We don't always want to write This may sound shocking -... Continue Reading →
Clovelly, Devon – The Car-free Village That Inspired Charles Kingsley
“Suddenly a hot gleam of sunlight fell upon the white cottages, with their grey steaming roofs and little scraps of garden courtyard, and lighting up the wings of the gorgeous butterflies which fluttered from the woodland down to the garden.” Charles Kingsley Clinging to the side of a cliff in Devon, lies the winding, cobbled... Continue Reading →
8 Bookish Things To Do At Christmas
This time of year is usually focused on presents and parties. And if you're more of an introverted bookworm, it can be a bit overwhelming. But if the past few years have taught us anything, it's that there's more to life than stuff. And whilst I'd never argue against disappearing with a book from time... Continue Reading →
Tips For Writing A Book Part 6 – Publication
So here we are at the end. If you've followed my previous posts on writing a book then I hope you've found them helpful. If you haven't you can find all the posts guiding you through the full process: Research Characters Plotting First draft Editing This post focuses on what to do once your book... Continue Reading →
Tips For Writing A Book Part 2 – Characters
Hello there! So you've finished the first part of my blog series about writing a book. Great. Let's start on part 2 then. But as I mentioned in part one, research keeps going throughout the whole writing process - including character development. After all, you might not have a clear idea of all the research... Continue Reading →
Tips For Writing a Book – Part 1 – Research
Want to write a book and don't know where to start? Well, you're in the wrong place! No, but seriously, in this six-part series, I'm going to share some advice I've gleaned over my years as a writer. But, I'm not a writing expert and this is NOT a definitive 'How to write' guide -... Continue Reading →
7 Tips On Editing From An Editor
It's probably the most common saying about writing there is; "good writing is re-writing". Actually writing the story is a large part of the battle, but it's your editing skills that will make the difference between a decent piece of work and an unreadable hotch-potch of words. As part of my day job, I write... Continue Reading →
Jane Austen’s “Great House” – Chawton House, UK
If you mention Chawton to any Jane Austen fan, they will immediately think of her home, an unassuming cottage in the village. At some point, I'll do a blog post about that - but for this post we're going to visit Chawton House, the home of Jane's brother Edward. Sited just down the road from... Continue Reading →
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