My natural tendency is to get to the point which may be great for technical writing, but not so much for fiction writing! Fiction involves leading the reader into the world your characters inhabit. It is a balancing act. A writer must include certain elements to create this world for the reader, all the while keeping the story rising and …
I could blame the heat and humidity for slowing down with my historical fiction novel Nightingale, but the truth is, I’m discovering incredible new information about the reality of life in occupied Poland in World War Two. One such source was a CIA report written by a Vice Consul living in Warsaw at the start of the war. The quality of …
For years I told myself I needed certain things in place to become a writer. Life experience. Money. Maturity. A unique story. Chances are, you’re telling yourself something similar. I’ll be a writer when I’ve landed a publishing contract. I’ll be a writer when I’m famous. But there’s only one thing that makes you a writer- writing. It’s the persistent, …
Sometimes you have to learn the hard way. When I wrote my first novel I was so excited to have written my story, and I was sure I was on a winner. But I made a rookie error- I sent the book to publishers way too early. I had missed some crucial steps in the writing-editing-publishing continuum, which I …