Many congratulations to Vanessa Gebbie, whose book The Coward’s Tale is published today. Vanessa is an extraordinarily talented writer, a very hard worker, and is very generous towards other writers in all sorts of ways. I’m pleased to say that she’s been a great friend to this blog and to me even though I’ve done…
Category Archives: once only
Stacia Kane Isn’t Feeling Her Best
I was very sad to hear that my lovely writer-friend Stacia Kane is in hospital, although according to the updates her husband has left for us on her blog, she is now out of intensive care, which has to be a good thing. As I can’t track down the name of the hospital that she’s…
Write To Be Published Is Published Today!
Many congratulations and big fat sloppy kisses to Nicola Morgan whose wonderful book, Write To Be Published, is out today. It’s a bloody brilliant book full of useful stuff for writers who hope to be published; it’s engaging and charming and informative and funny but with a backbone of steel. That Morgan woman knows what…
Happy Mothering Sunday
Every year I ask my children not to buy me a present for my birthday, Christmas, or Mothering Sunday; and most years they ignore me and turn up with a box of lovely Thornton’s chocolates (continental selection–mmm) which, much as I enjoy them, are soon gone and add inches to my hips that I really…
Last Call: Authors For Japan
You have just one day left to get your bids in on the Authors For Japan auctions. It’s for a fabulous cause; there are some incredibly good things on offer over there; and right now they’re going for bargain-prices. Just look at what’s on offer: Manuscript assessment Mentoring Story development brainstorming Have a character named…
Authors For Japan
What are you doing here? You should be looking at Authors For Japan right now where some of the best reading-and-writing packages I’ve ever seen in a charity auction are up for grabs right now. You want Nicola Morgan to critique your opening chapter? Put in a bid! You want a signed proof copy of…
New Clothes!
Oh, look! I’ve changed. I was bored with the old look (which I never liked very much) and hope this new colour-scheme will make us all feel a little more spring-like. Let me know if you find this new arrangement difficult to read, or if you’ve noticed any hiccups anywhere. Or if you think it’s…
My Christmas Message To You All
In a rare moment of shared enthusiasm, Nicola Morgan and I have decided to use Christmas as a time to address a problem which affects so many of us these days. If you visit her blog today you’ll see a similar but different message: do try to look at Nicola’s effort as well as mine,…
I Can’t Believe It’s Been So Long
Twenty years ago today I went to a good friend’s Christmas party and my life was transformed. I met a young man who had only just moved from Chesterfield to London. He was quiet and funny and clever and kind and although I’d like to be able to say that I recognised all this from…
Talkback Bites Back!
I used to regularly join in with some of the discussions on Talkback, the message board of Writers’ News and Writing magazine: but earlier this year, a thread I began there about a reputable charity auction attracted several negative comments (I’m afraid you’ll need to be a member there to gain access to most of…
Amazon Gives Authors Access To Nielsen BookScan
Yesterday it was announced that Amazon is going to provide access to Nielsen BookScan to all authors who have signed up to its Author Central service. By the magic of the internet, writers will now be able to see their sales mapped out in Amazon-blue and white. I suspect this will only work for US…
Talli Roland Takes On Amazon!
I first met Talli Rowland on Twitter, and then at a couple of the RNA parties I’ve been to since. She’s a gorgeous woman, a fabulous writer and a lovely friend to have. Today, Talli is taking on Amazon, hoping to push her debut novel The Hating Game up the best seller lists, and here’s…
The Writers’ Workshop Festival Of Writing
How could I have not mentioned this before? The Writers’ Workshop Festival Of Writing, which takes place in York next March, is now open for bookings. I plan on attending Saturday’s keynote address from literary agent Carole Blake and publisher Patrick-Janson Smith; Emma Darwin’s sessions are bound to be brilliant because I don’t think she’s…
Another Statement From Judith Griggs At Cooks Source
Judith Griggs at Cooks Source magazine has just issued another statement. Here it is in its entirety, in case it disappears like the last one just did. / Its sad really. The problem is that I have been so overworked and stretched that when this woman — Monica — contacted me, I was on deadline…
Cooks Source Issues A Statement
I had a brief look at the Cooks Source website this morning and it was still there in a somewhat truncated version: the home-page was pretty much unchanged, but most of the other links had gone. I just took another look, and all it contains now is a statement in which it claims Cooks Source…
Let’s Learn About Copyright: Get Blogging!
Some of you might have noticed (ha!) that last week I blogged about the Cooks Source copyright infringement story and suddenly, the number of visitors to this site has soared. I usually get between 300 and 800 hits on any single day; and until last week, my highest-ever number of hits was around 1,200 when…
Congratulations! The Carnegie Medal
Here is how the Carnegie Medal is described on its website: The Carnegie Medal is awarded annually to the writer of an outstanding book for children. “Outstanding”. So any book which is longlisted for this award is going to be outstanding in it’s own way, right? I am thrilled that two of my internet friends…
The Forest For The Trees
Here’s a charming blog post with lots of talk about cake (I’d much prefer the lemon to the chocolate) which along the way reports about a workshop with Betsy Lerner, an agent of very high repute who wrote one of my favourite books on writing and publishing, The Forest For The Trees. A revised and…