Category: British Women Writers
Deer in the Headlights: A Marketing Pro Self-Publishes
I should have known. In the passions of finally committing myself to the authorship of a book, one I knew from the beginning I would not shop with literary agents or publishing houses, I utterly failed myself in not treating my book, All That I Need, or Live Like a Dog With Its Head Out the […]
The Writer’s Ear: Hearing Prose, Poetry and Music
UK Author Jo Carroll very kindly responded to our question about how poetry and prose influenced each other in your writing. I have a diffuse boundary between poetry and prose. I know that one informs the other, but I’ve never tried to define that, nor explain it – even to myself – in a coherent […]
Authors, Are You Ready – Media Ready?
Authors, are you ready – Media Ready? Are you ready to answer questions? From fellow writers. Friends. Bloggers. Book reviewers. Radio interviewers. TV hosts. Questions like: ‘Who are you?’ ‘What’s your book about?’ ‘Why should I fork out twenty bucks to read your work?’ These are tough yet realistic questions every author must answer, and […]
Heartsease: A Writer’s Vision
Over the years I’ve found all sorts of ways to overcome my inclination towards chaos in my writing, but none worked as well as the day I started working to a vision. I began writing in my early twenties as a form of catharsis, although I’m not sure I was really aware of it at […]
Reciprocal Influences in Poetry and Prose
I’ve been trying to identify the driving force behind my writing. It is not an easy thing to do when you have been writing for so long. In fact, in trying to identify this I’ve come to realise that it has changed, and perhaps will continue to change. Perhaps this is the way for all […]
Making Connections: Buses, Weaving and Poetry
When is the last time you sat on a bus or a train? I’m on a London bus just now. I find public transport a great place to brew and gather material for creative projects. Let me show you. The bus is a 106 from Stoke Newington to Finsbury Park, swinging round corners, barely pausing […]
It’s all about credibility …
I had some new business cards printed the other day. The printer looked at my old card and asked me if I wanted the same wording on the new ones as I had on the old. The Society of Authors (SoA) had recently accepted me as a member, so I wanted to add this information […]
The Many Lives of a Love Story: The Curiosity Cabinet
As a writer, you must fall in love with the idea of the book in your head. It’s hard to describe this process to anyone who hasn’t experienced it. It isn’t anything like the white heat of inspiration that new writers sometimes anticipate. So much of writing is perspiration rather than inspiration. But the idea of […]
A Journey of Souls – Why Novels Are the Most Truthful Medium
The first time someone talks to you because they’ve read your novel, it is very peculiar. The novel I have just published – My Memories of a Future Life – is about a classical pianist who has to stop playing because of a mysterious injury. Her desperation and her search for a cure are the […]
Critiques: Giving and Receiving Feedback
You know the old adage, ‘practise makes perfect’? Well take it from me, it’s a load of codswallop. I could practise hitting a tennis ball over the net from now until Christmas but without someone giving me pointers on how to improve my hold and demonstrating how better to follow through with each stroke, it’s […]
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