Category: Contemporary Women Writers
Being a Writing Coach
The way I approach being a writing coach owes a debt to the genial baseball coaches you find on American sitcoms. My favourite was, of course, the eponymous ‘Coach’ on Cheers, which I watched at an impressionable age. Caring, warm, and very pragmatic, you could imagine Coach sympathising with the troubled-yet-talented player, all the while […]
Beta-Readers and Editors: Diversity is Strength
Two years ago when I started writing about my niece Deihlia four months after her passing, I wasn’t thinking about audience, promotion, or markets. At the time, I was far out to sea, carried there by waves of overwhelming grief. At first, I was writing it just for myself, so that I could capture details […]
Food Is My Heathcliff
It starts, as all good things should, with a pudding. In my grandmother’s kitchen, my dear Nain (which is what we call our grandmothers here in North Wales) is telling me about her own grandmother. There is a common thread which runs through our family- we love our grandmas. Nain is the keeper of my […]
When The Going Gets Tough
I always wanted to write. But I never quite believed that I could write my own book. Let alone publish it. My husband Marc is a firm believer that anything is possible if you’re willing to work hard enough for what you want. We had our first child in 2007 and it was the biggest […]
On Facts in Fiction: Sinkholes and Breadcrumbs
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines research as “the activity of getting information about a subject,” but every writer knows the true definition is “the squandering of eternities on the Internet under the guise of checking stuff.” Writers are a curious lot, so the invitation to explore a new city, an unusual job or a soap brand from […]
Here, There and Nowhere
As an American author, living in Britain, writing a novel about Florida, I am accustomed to existing in a semi-chronic state of dislocation. I have a mid-Atlantic accent which sounds to Brits like I’m right off the boat from Appalachia, but to Americans is pure Downton. Although 35 years of living in the UK have […]
Girls and Trains: How a Title can impact on Sales
When I wrote my second psychological thriller, it was originally called Dead in her Tracks. My agent at the time, decided it would benefit from a better title and we settled on Girl on a Train. Now, to many of you, that might sound familiar – or does it? At least a year after my […]
The Inspiration behind Burnt Paper Sky
It took me many years to get around to writing my novel. Years of dabbling with one idea or another, and never really taking my ambition seriously. Years of letting life get in the way. So by the time I wrote that first sentence, I was in my early forties, I’d lived quite a lot, […]
Truths and Lies about Self-Publishing
Some say self-publishing is the greatest invention since sliced bread. Others say it’s ruining the industry. A lot of people have weighed in on this hugely popular phenomenon. Now, it’s my turn. I’ll address a few commonly held ideas and say if they’re true, or false. Self-published books are low quality. False. However, there is […]
Writing is Just a Day at the Beach
If you combined all five Great Lakes and poured them over the U.S., we’d be under 9.5 feet of water. I live less than 10 miles from Lake Michigan, the third largest lake, and almost never visit. I usually walk on familiar paths with predictable landscaping close to my neighborhood. Similar to my walking routine, I usually write […]
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