A book-a-year schedule means I can’t devote much time to my short stories, so I was particularly pleased to make a sale to Dark Fiction this week. The story in question is not a new one, but a reprint which originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine back in 2004. Although ‘Paying for Rain’ isn’t […]
If you’re writing to a deadline (self-imposed or external), you need to set yourself goals. Currently, as I’m in ‘novel first-draft mode’, my goal is 10K of new words per week. Now, even without real-world distractions (day-job, sleep, family, re-roofing the garden shed etc) this is an unrealistic goal. I find that ideas take a […]
Work on the first draft of Queen of Nowhere continues apace, if somewhat interrupted by other stuff such as the day-job, my social life, uncharacteristic bouts of exercise, and sleep. Our hero has just sealed herself in a (non airtight and padded) box for reasons that make perfect sense to her. I may also have […]
The copy-edited manuscript for Bringer of Light is now back with my editor. This means it’s time to return to the first draft of Queen of Nowhere. Given my feelings on first drafts, I’ve been in search of writing avoidance today, which is good news for the state of my house and garden, if not […]
It’s often said that if a writer’s heart isn’t in the words she’s putting down, readers will know when they come to read them. This is entirely true. Happily, having first readers and a professional editor, if I skimp on detail to get to (what I perceive as) ‘the really good bit’, there are plenty […]
After those first grim weeks of the new year, spring is finally on the way. And with it, for me, a pleasant outbreak of Social Life. Last night I was up in London for the star-studded Orion authors’ party, where I indulged in my traditional pastimes of attempting to drink my weight in free champagne, […]
Though I don’t get out much, yesterday evening I had cause to walk into the centre of our village, and on the way I passed a house which usually has the curtains drawn, but for once, didn’t. It’s a Victorian end-terrace, and always sports extravagant displays of lights and other tat at Christmas, Hallowe’en and […]
I’m a bit unusual, writing-wise. For me, the part of the story-making process that other writers enjoy most – the rush of creating that first draft – can be like nailing jelly to the ceiling while shitting melons. Revising is far easier and less painful. And actual editing of an ‘almost-there’ story – something that […]
Though I’m careful to apply the Cup of Tea Rule* to any reviews of my work that I come across, some comments do stay with me. It tends to be the negative ones, which isn’t my natural glass-half-empty nature so much as a reflection of many years giving and receiving critiques. Positive comments may warm […]
Here, in a not quite exclusive (cybermage saw it first) is the cover of Bringer of Light, by graphic artist Nik Keevil: Having bribed you with pretty (and it is very pretty – definitely the best Hidden Empire cover yet), I’m now going break the news that the book is going to be late. It’s […]