Literary Midwifery
Am I the only one for whom the proverbial lightbulb takes several small clicks of the switch before it glows brightly enough to get my attention? Last year I read and reviewed Noah Lukeman’s free ebook, How to Write a Great Query Letter. In it, Lukeman berates authors who spend years working on their manuscripts […]
Standing on Three Legs
A decade ago I would never have believed the publishing industry could change so quickly. I mean, this is the industry where the majority of houses still insist on paper submissions, printed in double-spaced Courier on only one side of the page. It’s a dinosaur, surviving only because of the prestige of a traditional publishing […]
Sparks of Inspiration
A week or so ago I had one of those sparks of inspiration that usually stop me short as I backtrack in amazement to work out how my brain cobbled together something that seems so, well, inspired. I was tidying up (yes, housework), putting some books back on a shelf, when I noticed that the […]
End of a Chapter
The long awaited update post. I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in December – another easy homebirth, but another silent reflux baby. She hasn’t yet fully outgrown the reflux, but she started crawling at six months and is now pulling herself up to stand at eight months. Her brother hasn’t coped very well […]
Simple Success
A while ago I wrote about setting myself the ridiculously tiny goal of 100 words a day on my WIP, with the view that an extremely achievable daily goal leads to a momentum of success. I’m not exactly sure what went wrong: I suspect it was a combination of a two-year break between setting the […]
When Someone Else Writes Your Idea
I’ve faced this issue multiple times: I’ve had a great idea for a story – perhaps I’ve even started writing it – and then I happen to pick up an already-published book, or watch a movie or TV show, and there’s my story smirking back at me. I’m convinced my so-called muse got fed up […]
Ifs, Buts, and Maybes
Sometimes, with the sheer amount of procrastination I manage to fit into each day, I wonder if the universe will have to resort to extreme measures to get me to take action. I hope not. Yet, I can’t help but be inspired by people who have been dealt a raw deal and still manage to […]
In Conversation with David Baboulene
Please welcome David Baboulene, author of The Story Book, to HearWriteNow. Over the past few days David and I have enjoyed a very interesting email conversation about some points that his book raised for me. We’ve now formalised our discussion, and we’d both be delighted if you’d comment and share your perspective on any of […]
The Story Book – David Baboulene – Partial Review
I’ve not yet finished reading The Story Book, but wanted to post my thoughts before David’s stop here on Tuesday. The Story Book is definitely one I’m pleased to add to my writer’s bookshelf and a book I’m sure I will refer to many times while I’m editing my books. David begins with an explanation […]
Colonel Riley in the Library with the Silver Spoon
I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.” D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930) With all my discussion of my lack of focus, lack of time, and lack of self-discipline, I thought I should pause for a moment to qualify […]