Category: Contemporary Women Writers
How I Became A Writer
I became a writer when I was ten years old, the same year that I discovered Agatha Christie – and therefore crime fiction. On Christmas Day 1984, I unwrapped a notebook and a box of pens, and after lunch, while everyone else dozed chipolata-stuffed in front of the TV, I made a nest in the corner […]
Does a ‘Not Good Enough’ Story Hold You Back in Life?
A ‘not good enough’ story is the one I learnt early on in life. I was 6 when I witnessed my mum’s slit wrists and two puddles of blood on the kitchen floor. She was ushered to the hospital and stitched up. News spread like fire in Azerbaijan, and later that day I found myself […]
Blending History Into Fiction
Research can make your story accurate, but you have to dig deeper to give it life. The last major revision of my new novel THE TASTE OF AIR (Red Adept Publishing, Sept. 2016) changed the points of view to focus on the three women at the center of this story. Sisters Nell and Bridget were […]
Viewpoint: Gender Bias In The Literary World
In a recent interview with the critically acclaimed Irish author John Banville, he was quoted in The Irish Times as saying “I have not been a good father. No writer is.” Granted, it may be a bit unfair to quote people out of context, but the twitter-storm blew a fury nonetheless. I was heartened to […]
Who’s Your “Writing Bestie?”
Writing every day can be treacherous and tiring, harrowing and heartbreaking or, on those fabulous days, like one big party. Creativity guru, Julia Cameron, says the role of an artist is to show up and let the work move through them. But what about those days when you show up and nothing moves? No sentences […]
A Woman Fakes Her Death on 9/11: The Story Behind the Story
They say you need to be able to summarize your novel with one, solid sentence. I’ve always had a hard time with that. I feel the need to go into paragraphs of description, with lots of “First this happens and then this happens…” Then, in 2009, I stumbled upon the kind of idea that has an […]
How I Name My Characters
The first thing I do when I begin a new book is to open a folder on my desktop and give it the name of the lead character. I don’t use working titles. With over 20 books, I forget titles, working or otherwise. But I never forget a character’s story when I hear her name. […]
Courting Your Characters: Subconscious Writing
I think of writing as a courtship with my characters. I often ask them questions out loud and usually, after some wrangling, these personas will reveal themselves by page 40. By that point, if I don’t know their deepest desires and what they’ll regret most on their deathbed, I know I am in trouble, that […]
An Unconventional Signing: Unbound
I am a signed author with Unbound! I’ve been waiting for this moment since I was 6 years old. Now for the unconventional part. My publication is only guaranteed if I raise just over £10,000 in pledges. And as soon as money is involved people can become laser focused on that issue. Because ‘money’ can […]
Writing About Secrets
Several years ago, thinking up the plot of a novel, I wrote a paragraph about a man walking through a gate into a convent garden. His name was Liam, it was 1963. I knew the mood of that scene, he was grief-stricken, in mourning and couldn’t express it. I wanted to know why, and wanted […]
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