Back in March, I opened up my DMs/ email to my Grimoire subscribers for a round of ‘ask me anything’ and you guys did not disappoint. This post is a lot later than I planned for various reasons, but here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions. Enjoy! When is ‘Crossing Places’ coming…
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You Have More Power than You Think – Authors Behaving Badly.
I’ve learned to really enjoy Twitter. I’ll admit I was completely non-plussed initially but having discovered the thriving and supportive reading and writing communities, it’s now one of my favourite places to engage. Besides, where else would I go to get my fix of ranty historical fact threads or cat videos? That said, there are…
Æthelflæd – ‘The Warrior Queen of Mercia’
I took a walk on the outskirts of Gloucester today – mostly so I could grab a couple of photos for one of the sections of my Newsletter. During my walk, I visited St Oswald’s Priory, which has some interesting history attached to it – as, indeed, does all of Gloucester – especially with reference…
Book Review: The Power – Naomi Alderman
One of the best and most hard hitting books I’ve read this year is Naomi Alderman’s unflinching look at human nature and equality in ‘The Power’. Be warned, it’s a very difficult read in places. It’s also extremely thought provoking and this is what it provoked me to think; ‘One of them said, “why…
Thomas the Rhymer and the Accidental Novel
Thomas the Rhymer is a popular Scottish folk ballad. The hero of the song, Thomas, is out one fine morning when a lady on a milk white steed comes riding over the moor towards him. Recognising that the beautiful woman is no mere mortal and no doubt recalling that it’s always best to be polite to…
Launch Day! Unveiled Book Three
Book Three of the Unveiled series – I Hold the Tide – is available for purchase now In paperback Amazon ebook (UK) (USA) And epub for other ereaders via Smashwords, ibooks, Barnes and Noble etc ‘Do you like ghost stories, Emily? Mine doesn’t have a happy ending…’ Emlynn’s power is spiralling out of control. Still…
Losing the Losers’ Club – Why ‘IT’ just didn’t work for me.
Fair warning; if you have not seen the film or read the book, you may wish to leave now because I will spoilify you. The new adaptation of Stephen King’s classic 1986 novel IT is likely to be the highest grossing film adaptation of King’s work to date. Directed by Argentine film director Andy…
Looking at Both Sides – Adventures in Co-writing and Historical Fiction
Around the end of September 2015, my friend, historical fiction and non-fiction author, Matthew Willis, said the immortal words ‘Hey, does anyone want to write a book about the battle of Hastings with me?’ (I’m paraphrasing but that really was the gist of it.) I hadn’t studied anything to do with the Norman Conquest…
Throwback Thursday: Tales of York, Volume One – How to write a Sentence
You might be looking at that deceptively simple title thinking, but everyone can write a sentence. Well, yes, illiteracy aside, everyone probably can. The point is to write a sentence that grips people and makes them want to read on. To write sentences that create sympathy between your audience and your characters. Used correctly…
Throwback Thursday: A Perfect Dystopia
(First published on my old blog, 24th October 2013) One of my favorite forms of genre fiction is dystopian fiction. The word Dystopia is of greek origin, coming from two words meaning ‘hard land’. It was used in answer to Thomas Moore’s coined term ‘Utopia’ from the book of the same name. While a Utopian…