Category: How To and Tips
Writing HIM
HIM, my debut novel which published at the end of August took almost a decade to write. When I used to tell friends I was still writing the same book 5,6, 7 years later they’d look at me perplexed. ‘What on earth is it? The bible?’ In the end it seemed easier to keep my […]
Writing Under Contract
My second book was the first I had to write under contract. Having a publisher was something I had been working towards for the best part of a decade, and I felt sure that it would take the pressure off. All that stress about where to publish my work would be a thing of the […]
Asking for Trouble
Asking for Trouble Like many women, I hate asking for help. Perhaps because I have been reared as part of a generation of independent women, perhaps because I have been taught that I am a capable individual, perhaps because I am a people-pleaser by nature, I cringe every time I ask anyone to do me […]
Changing Gears In Writing
When novelists change genres, it’s a bit like shifting gears. At least that was my experience. I couldn’t put the pedal to the metal and ram straight from first into fourth. I’m a lifelong reader and remember the first time an author changed lanes on me. I have always turned to romance novels when I […]
Writing and Research: Tips
Eleanor’s Secret is my second novel inspired by real events from the Second World War and it required thorough research for background, for inspiration, and to help create an authentic setting for the story. The idea evolved after reading about the War Artists’ Advisory Committee that was set up to produce an artistic and documentary […]
5 (Just The) Tips for Writing Authentic Sex Scenes
Several years ago, a Danish friend of mine made a casual remark that stunned me. “Growing up in Denmark, sex was just another way of hanging out,” she said. I stared at her, trying to make sense of this statement. “You mean . . . like watching TV together or going for coffee?” “Yes,” she […]
On the “Critical vs. Creative” Divide
As an English instructor, one of the most common claims I hear from students is that they are either “critical” or “creative” writers. Academic writing is dry and logical and difficult, they insist; by contrast, fiction writing is freeing, enabling, liberating. Sometimes they put the two into a relationship: creative writers make the art, and […]
Giving Ourselves Permission to Write
Most women writers I know—published, unpublished, bestsellers and beginners—are wrestling with the problem of balance. How do we find time for our writing when we are also responsible for kids, households, pets, partners, aging parents, social expectations and day jobs? Far too often, by the time we work our way through the To Do list […]
Using What We Know To Imagine What Might Have Been
Using what we know to imagine what might have been: Weaving technical expertise into creative writing Had you asked me five years ago if I would ever write a memoir, I might have answered “maybe.” If the query had been about writing a novel? Never! My brain, schooled and journeyed through decades of a profession […]
When Abandoning Your Novel Makes Sense
I have five novels in print, one in the drawer, and last month I abandoned my latest manuscript after a year. While my self-esteem is in free fall, I’m not second-guessing my decision. That manuscript needed to die. Abandoning it was easy, a quiet moment of truth born from an epiphany: I’d woven together two […]
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