Where authors talk directly about their life, their books and many more things.
Anne Buist is the author of the series featuring forensic psychiatrist, Natalie King. Here she ponders the oft-given advice, about writing what you know We all know actors do it—research who they are to play by living their lives, wearing their clothes, walking in their shoes. They lose or gain vast amounts of weight (Adrien Brody for …
Firstly, decide you have to prepare for crushing disappointment, so spend the two weeks over-analysing everyone’s tone of voice and body language and conclude that it is unlikely you won anything. Then spend the next week stopping yourself from ringing or emailing the co-convenor and begging her for a clue. Make yourself thoroughly miserable in …
by Ellie Marney I self-published my first book this year. No Limits was originally conceived and written as a spin-off to my first trilogy, the Every series. I write in YA crime/romantic suspense, and No Limits is in the same genre: it’s a story about a rough diamond boy and a police sergeant’s daughter going …
Narrelle M Harris I was a late bloomer when it comes to Sherlock Holmes. The first Holmes I knew was through television and film, and while the general idea of the character and his cases were intriguing, portrayals of Holmes as patronising and Watson as incredibly stupid didn’t light a spark in me. Then came …
Karen M. Davis: If I had been asked ten years ago if I would ever write a book, I would have laughed and said that I didn’t have the inclination or the know-how. However, I’ve learned that real life is unpredictable and truly stranger than fiction. I started writing as therapy and unexpectedly found an …
Emma Viskic: What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet – Shakespeare I once named a character Jack XXX. Not because he was a porn star with the right, ahem, equipment for the job, but because I couldn’t decide what to call him. To stop …
Carolyn Morwood: Dig Two Graves (Hybrid Publishers) is my sixth published novel and in learning how to write a novel, I’ve tried various approaches, from strict planning to improvising and everywhere in-between. While both ends of the planning-improvising spectrum have their strengths, neither are foolproof. With planning, I was too boxed in. With improvising, I …
Sara Foster At the beginning of my writing career I was most definitely a pantser, which is writing-speak for flying by the seat of one’s pants, rather than assiduously plotting out a novel. It took me four years to write Come Back to Me, and most of it was done in my spare time …
Sarah Bailey: When the premise of The Dark Lake first popped into my mind, I swiftly pushed it away. It was April 2015 and I was around 25,000 words into another manuscript, a story that I was really passionate about. 25,000 words was the closest I had gotten to a finished book and I was incredibly …
J.M. GREEN: In my previous life, before I became a writer, I was miserable. I had a good job, with a corner office in a high-rise tower in the city. Instead of feeling fulfilled, at the top of my professional game, I dragged myself through my days, not quite knowing what was wrong. I was …