Posted by on Jan 31, 2009 in Jill Dawson, new novels, novel review | No Comments

Novel Review: The Great Lover Sometimes reviewing books can be a solitary and frightening experience. When I ordered The Great Lover, I knew I was taking a risk. I’d first contacted Jill Dawson to tell her how much I’d admired her novels Wild Boy and Fred and Edie, and we’d sort of kept in touch, […]

Life does not get much better than … Today the sun shone. I had coffee with an agent (not my agent, not even remotely ever going to become my agent, because she deals with different territory, but a clever, witty woman who makes me laugh and makes me think), and picked up a little bit […]

Posted by on Jan 23, 2009 in Jill Dawson, new novels, rupert brooke | 2 Comments

Something for the weekend …? Definitely so, for me. Jill Dawson’s latest novel, The Great Lover, has just been published in hardback and my copy awaits me, on the coffee table in the living room, where I shall spend a lot of the weekend curled up, reading it. I have always found Jill’s work to […]

Posted by on Jan 19, 2009 in sustainable writing careers | 4 Comments

Why Robert McCrum is wrong (partly) Riffing on Diana Athill and her memoir published age 91, he says that ‘Old people, in general, don’t have literary careers.’ Well yes and no. He then points out some of the exceptions: Daniel Defoe first published aged 59. Mary Wesley first published aged 71. William Golding banging out […]

Posted by on Jan 17, 2009 in editing, short story competition | One Comment

Getting over your writing self Most of the time it seems to me that being a writer is mainly a process of getting over yourself. It’s about getting your ego out of the way, and getting on with the job, or as Borges put it, knowing that “A writer should have another lifetime to see […]

“We interrupt this broadcast … to promote ourselves to you.” So I’ve put together a course that explains how to boost your income in troubled financial times, including ten sure-fire ways to make money from your writing skills in the short term. It also aims to help you prepare for economic recovery including such subjects […]

Posted by on Jan 10, 2009 in deadlines, writing to a commission | 2 Comments

Normal service will be assumed or presumed or whatever … and all that I’ve got a commission to write a thing for somebody. Can’t talk about it. Deadline was almost before they got in touch with me to ask if I could do it. Living on too much tea, Maltesers and adrenaline. Sleep optional. Money […]

Why your story didn’t win that themed entry writing contest Influenza is a funny thing. I had a little bit of it over the Christmas holidays, just enough to cause me to stay in bed for a day or so. My family members all had it to the ‘shoot me now’ level. And while I […]