Just thought I would share these tidbits of advice from three very different writers.

Neil Gaiman’s pep talk on the NaNoWriMo site is a must read particularly for novice novel writers like myself. Basically he’s saying what we are told in Writing 101 – just write. It’s not going to write itself. I like his analogy of building a dry stone wall. There are a lot of those around where I live so I will be constantly reminded of his words on this as it relates to the writing process.

PD James at 93, and still going strong, offers up her top ten tips for writing novels. Some of these resonated strongly with me. In particular, number 9. It certainly made me smile to realise that even a writer with her track record goes through that awful waiting period after submitting her work to her publisher wondering if they like it. (…sent it on Friday, surely they should have rung by Saturday to say how good it is…)

And then there’s this very long blog post from Rachel Aaron who has worked out how to go from writing two thousand words a day to ten thousand. She certainly has no problem writing a lot of words. However it’s worth ploughing through (and speed reading) as she does make some good points. Perhaps the best one being to find a place to write without the distraction of the internet.

However, if you want to skip all that, just go with Neil Gaiman’s succinct analysis…write “one word after another”.

That’s it. End of story!

Starting Over is due out this week…1st October. Very excited now! The photo of the cover and the blurb have already been posted here, so now for something completely different.

A few weeks ago, I had an hour and a half long Skype interview with Nancy from Affinity Ebooks. During the grilling she extracted the information that I am a longbow archer and she asked for a photo. I admitted that not only did I have a photo of me with said bow, but also dressed up in medieval costume.

So, nothing to do with the book, but here is the photo. The costume’s a bit wrinkled but they didn’t have irons in the middle ages.

It’s almost here! And the excitement is building. My debut novel will be available for download on 1st October 2014.

I’m listed now on the Affinity website under new products. This page also includes the link to my free short story, There Was a Time.

Enjoyed a short break in Amsterdam this week with my partner and a friend. The weather was gorgeous. Glorious sunshine and jackets not needed. The main focus of the trip was visiting the House of Bols. In case you’ve missed it, it’s opposite the Van Gogh Museum. We skipped that…seen the Sunflowers. No, we were there for the Bols. Well, the other two were. I’m not a gin drinker. So when we got to the tasting bar, the bartender kindly mixed me a drink made with corn wine which tasted a lot like a whisky sour.

Tasting the cocktail in the House of Bols

The sunny afternoon was too good to waste, so I sat by the canal, musing with pen and paper. This time the drink was an innocuous little beer with a lemon flavour.

Beer by the canal

The final morning was overcast but perfect for a last walk by the canal and a chance to pose with bicycle. (No one is going to believe I was riding it!) All in all a great trip and a chance to spend time with family and friends in a wonderful setting.

My short story There Was A Time is now available from Affinity.

Synopsis:

Darts night at the Golden Dragon and Fin’s life is about to change forever. Living in a small seaside resort she thought she was doing fine. Summer flings were great and winter evenings behind the bar were whiled away dreaming of the next conquest in the dunes. Then in walked the stranger, and Fin fell in love.

Hope you enjoy it.