Tag: inspiration
Writing It Forward
I remember standing on the corner of a dirt road as a child of eight or nine. I was shielding my eyes from the blistering sun of a South Carolina summer and bouncing on my toes as I strained to hear the engine of the approaching book mobile. Likely I would have been clutching a […]
How I Came To Write The Bones Of You
During the summer of 2013, as far as writing was concerned, I reached a crossroads. I’d written and submitted to agents three commercial women’s fiction titles, the last of which was Wildflowers. I’d had enough positive feedback from some of the agents to keep me writing and Wildflowers had caught the attention of six, all […]
Born in China, Writing in English
When I told my friends in China that I wrote two novels about Empress Wu, their favorite empress, the first thing they asked was, “Is it in Chinese?” It’s a legitimate question, I understand, since I was born and grew up in China. I went to school in China, too, and learned the basics of […]
Lies and Other Acts of Love: An Interview with Kristy Woodson Harvey
Kristy Woodson Harvey’s, Lies and Other Acts of Love , calls on one of the oldest questions: what would you do for love? What would you do to find love? Or keep love? Or to protect those you love? The three generations of White family women each find their own answers while testing the bonds […]
How Disaster Movies Creep Into My Writing
Hands up – I am a disaster movie geek, which is perhaps strange considering I only write romantic comedies. Part of the attraction is the element of danger, which doesn’t exist in my day-to-day life (not complaining!) My nine to five is spent at home, tapping away at the keyboard. I don’t even risk being […]
To Be or Not To Be a Writer
I always assumed that authors came from a very special mould. They were the kind of people who spent their childhood scribbling down stories whereas I was a bit of a geek. I had one of the first home computers, a Sinclair ZX81 so I was busy writing computer programs while those budding authors were […]
The Cinderella Complex – Waiting For Mr. Write
How many of us have secretly hoped that we will be ‘discovered’ by some hot new literary agent or plucked from writer obscurity by a medium to large publishing house who will alter the course of our writing careers F-O-R-E-V-E-R? Go on, admit it. We’ve all day-dreamed about being the writing world’s equivalent to Kate […]
Writing Through Grief
Two weeks ago, my wonderful mother died. Suddenly, unexpectedly, she passed away in my arms. One final slow exhalation and she was limp. Gone. Grief has bowled me over, set me totally off course. It was the week of publication for THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER and I was bouleversée, as the French say. Devastated. Nevertheless, I […]
Call Yourself A Writer – Right Away!
When is it the right time to call yourself a writer? Anyone can call themselves a writer, but let’s say you’re serious in that you try to write regularly, and possibly submit work. You’re probably unpublished. So now’s the time to practice telling people when they ask what you do, that you’re a writer. Or […]
An Inherited Obsession
My debut novel, Vintage, revolves around friendships between women of different generations. The shared interest that binds them is a love for vintage clothes. The idea for the book grew out of my own obsession for fashion, which I inherited in large part from my mother and grandmother. I grew up in a distinctly ordinary town […]
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