Very soon I’m off to Suffolk and a Literary Lunch for which 40 tickets have been sold (yes, sold!!) I’m trying not to panic at the size of the audience, but with the ladies of the WI in charge I have no doubt that the lunch will be great. (Just wondering if I can ask for a … Continue reading Events – and a bargain!
I came across a random tweet this week that probably sprang from a blog post I didn’t actually read, but the gist was that the aspiring novelist should hack ruthlessly at the MS until every sliver of self-indulgent prose is removed and the story shines forth in slim and graceful clarity. Well this is hardly … Continue reading Leave those darlings alone! – or less may not be more
Nothing like a portentous title to get the comments coming in – well that’s my cunning plan. But it’s a question I do ponder from time to time amongst more mundane issues like what to cook for supper and if my bedding plants (yes I still do bedding plants) will survive another gale. It actually … Continue reading Future of the novel – set menu and a la carte
Editing. We all do it. We all need it. It’s part of the writing process I actually like: looking at what I’ve done, revising, snipping, polishing. Those of us who are unpublished will probably might rely on our own aptitude or take ourselves along to a group where critical friends will see the howlers our … Continue reading The unkindest cut of all. On being edited
One day soon I’ll review Claire King’s Night Rainbow which was every bit as good as I expected. Set during a long hot summer in France, it would make a perfect summer read. Well it would be great at any time, but since I enjoyed most of it out in the garden, it felt just right for the moment and I thought … Continue reading The Night Rainbow and the madness of publishers
