With bookshop chains reluctant to stock small imprints and publishers unable to provide a marketing boost, it’s up to many authors to create their own front windows. This can be done through online sales (either through major platforms or independently) but lots of us like to get out and about to local fairs and markets … Continue reading Books – and authors – where you are!
Today I’m delighted to welcome fellow Just Write Bristol member Suzanne McConaghy (writing as M. G. de Grey) to tell us about her new novel Disappeared, a fast-moving action thriller set in Colombia. (You can read my full review here) I began by asking Suzanne – formerly a romance writer – what inspired her to … Continue reading Disappeared: a new thriller set in Colombia
I’ve blogged before about letters in historical fiction (and a longer essay here) and I’m happy to report a newcomer to the list of letter-inspired authors. Annie Elliot is almost local to me and we were put in touch late last year before Annie’s debut novel Mr and Mrs Charles Dickens: Her Story: “So the … Continue reading Letters in Historical Fiction: Annie Elliot and Mrs Dickens
A friend on Instagram asked me about a recent read, “Does it have an actual PLOT?” she said, “This year, I only want to read properly narrative novels with a beginning, a middle, and an end, not just beautifully-written descriptions of stuff that happens.” An interesting comment. After all, isn’t ‘stuff that happens’ a plot? … Continue reading Does it have an actual plot? The strange concept of page-turning literary fiction
When I first encountered Fanny Osbourne, she appeared as a footnote in Louis Stevenson’s story—emotionally fragile, grieving, and overshadowed. But the more I read, the more she demanded centre stage. Like my own heroine Frances Sitwell, Fanny was shaped by loss and resilience, but unlike Frances, she courted controversy and defied convention with unapologetic strength. Camille Peri’s A Wilder Shore and other biographies have only deepened my fascination with this remarkable woman—adventurer, writer, and the fierce force behind one of literature’s most celebrated figures. Without Fanny, there may have been no Louis as we know him. Continue reading Fanny Stevenson Barges In: #BeyondtheBook #TheAbsentHeart
