Tag: featured
Authenticity in Novels
At some point in the 1980s I came across Almonds and Raisins, a family saga by Maisie Mosco. Two things drew me to Maisie’s work: it described the Jewish immigrant experience in the first half of the 20th century, and it was set in my home town, Manchester. Maisie, who was born in Oldham in […]
Is Marketing Harder Than Writing?
I used to think writing a book was the hard part. I was wrong. Getting your book read is the hard part. I’d tinkered with short stories and penned a few poems over the years, and there was no denying my love of the written word but the thought of writing an actual book – […]
5 Steps to Original Character Creation
If you’ve done any fiction writing any your life, you’ve probably received some writing advice. And you were probably to do this: Avoid clichés in your writing! But what’s hilarious about that advice is that the advice itself is a cliché. (Whoa, so meta.) In fact, writing advice itself is full of great clichés. Let’s all […]
In Search of Wilde’s Women
If you were asked to name a man you would not readily associate with women, Oscar Wilde might spring to mind. Due to the relentless focus on his sexuality and the magnitude of the injustice perpetrated against him, Wilde’s life is often examined in terms of his relationships with men. Yet, as I discovered when […]
How to Use Memories to Enhance Your Writing
There is no such thing as a dearth of writing material. We sit with fingers poised over the keyboard and are met with a ghastly silence that threatens to be our undoing. All we need to do is to call up the past. One’s own past might seem mundane, but get out your microscope. Look […]
A Tale from the Other Side
My heart is in my mouth. Nearly two years ago I went to an event where new authors read from their work in progress. One in particular stood out, and I set my heart on representing her. Her writing showed steel, and wit, and cool and I fell in love with it. Nervously I pressed […]
Short Story: Artichokes
My mother loved artichokes. She trimmed the stems and steamed them in a shallow pan. When they were cool, she paired them with a vinaigrette sauce. One by one we gently peeled off the leaves and dipped the tender part in our individual glass bowls. Eventually we made our way down to the heart. This […]
Beautiful Affliction: a Memoir
I never dreamed of writing a memoir. I just always had words in me. When I was seven years old I started to write poems, and the words somehow seemed stronger scribbled in my small notebook. In middle school my teacher constantly reminded me: “Speak up, Lene! We can’t hear what you’re saying when you […]
The Importance of Writing by Hand
Two weeks ago, disaster struck. I broke the little finger of my left hand. An inconvenience yes, but a disaster…? Seems a little overblown. But this is my writing hand and I’ve been cooped up in a tiny flat, impotent and frustrated ever since. Released from the hand cast I am at least now able […]
Short Story: The Long Way Home
‘Did I defrost the chicken?’ Janice asked Mungo, the small bobbled bear stuck to her dashboard, as she pulled into the stream of going-home traffic. Tom used to do the remembering for both of them. That was before. Before the stroke which changed everything, destroyed his memory, robbed him of control over his left side. […]
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