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 Those of us who are unpublished will probably might rely on our own aptitude or take ourselves along to a group where critical friends will see the howlers our … Continue reading The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
When I was sent a review copy of this book I immediately saw that it was beautifully written. I guessed that the subject matter would be bleak, but despite the brutality of the heroine’s life in Niger, her story as told by Northern Irish writer Gavin Weston is lively, engaging and pleasure to read At … Continue reading Harmattan, a study of life in Niger
It hasn’t really been a week for getting much writing done as most of it was spent in the wonderful city of Edinburgh where I combined a day of intensive research with another couple of days of equally intensive sight-seeing. So what if those pesky pandas were taken off show? Everything else came up trumps including, remarkably … Continue reading Research – not always what you expect.
Ali Bacon, Author 