Category: On Writing
Rebuilding Bodies & Souls
Since the release of my novel, The Beauty Shop, a few readers have queried why I wrote a story about a beauty salon in WW2. It’s a topic of conversation that has raised many smiles amid an air of confusion. You see, the ‘Beauty Shop’ was the name given to the ward at the Queen […]
Covering Your Assets
When you browse around in a bookshop or on Amazon or Barnes & Noble or wherever – what is the first thing you look for when choosing your next book? The author’s name? The amount of stars it has from reviewers? The book’s description? Or is it the book cover? I admit to often […]
Why Diversity Is Important – Atypical Plays For Atypical Actors
“You have to see it, to be it.” This slogan seems to be cropping up everywhere in these diversity-conscious days, whether it’s about creating role models or better representation for girls, mature women, or what is increasingly known as BAME – individuals from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic origins. It is particularly important in the media, […]
The Bonnie and Clyde from Becoming Bonnie
Today is the anniversary of the date where life on the lam for two of America’s most infamous outlaws, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, came to an end. The day brought a mixture of tears and celebratory shouts. During the Great Depression, some praised the Barrow Gang as a symbol of anti-establishment. Others saw the […]
Q&A with Catherine Ryan Hyde
Catherine Ryan Hyde is absolutely one of the most bold-faced names we’ve interviewed here at WWWB. She is the author of 32 books and counting, including ALLIE & BEA (Lake Union, 2017), SAY GOODBYE FOR NOW, LEAVING BLYTHE RIVER, ASK HIM WHY, WORTHY, THE LANGUAGE OF HOOFBEATS, TAKE ME WITH YOU, WHERE WE BELONG, WHEN […]
Writing About Love
It wasn’t until I started writing fiction that I became aware of the widespread tendency to view men’s writing about love, family and relationships as a meaningful reflection on the human condition and women’s as frivolous and inconsequential. Increasingly there is a will to challenge and redress this prejudice and its consequences and that is […]
Let’s Talk About Cats and Dogs
“A cat has absolute emotional honesty; human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not.” Ernest Hemingway My debut novel The Astonishing Thing is about a woman with mental illness, seen through the eyes of her cat. It was refreshing to look at the world from a cat’s […]
Place Settings
I’ve often said that I could live in an airlock in outer space for the rest of my life and never miss fresh air. Fresh baked bread, I’d miss. But sunshine, a cool breeze, and the way the moonlight dances across the surface of the ocean? Meh. Suffice it to say, I am not what […]
Insults, Ordinary objects, and Empathy: A Doctor Discusses Empathy Through Writing
My first meeting with Neslihan Senoçak, an expert on medieval Italy, didn’t start well. I was in the early stages of writing my first novel, The Scribe of Siena, and I’d managed to get Nesli to meet with me. But she looked suspicious. After several minutes of introductory niceties, I realized why. She expected the […]
Catharsis
Over the years, my reading tastes have run the gamut from bodice rippers to serious literary works. I’ve devoured spy novels and biographies alike; lapped up women’s fiction and mysteries of all kinds. As a rule, if a story can elicit strong emotion, I’m all over it. Although lately, all I want to do is […]
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