As far as the writing is concerned, I have been going through something of a literary wilderness for a few weeks, only managing a few poems here and there which is not good at all. It isn't that I don't want to write, it is just finding the inclination to sit down and do it after spending all day at the office, that I find difficult. Anyway, I have taken the bull by the horns (or the writing by the quill) and signed up to write a 50,000 word novel by the end of November in an annual writing challenge. There are no main prizes, save a certificate, if you actually do it, but I just need to do something before the writer within dies completely.

Read Full Post

Had a lovely email from a reviewer of Thorn in the Flesh this morning who is halfway through the said work and was sweet enough to email me saying I am obviously “ridiculously talented” and why aren’t I better known? Ah, it’s a mystery, Jay – I think it might be to do with my red hair and Essex accent, both attributes being pretty low down in the authorial gene pool, ho ho. Either that or when I speak to my agent, the poor man has trouble remembering my name. Anyway, your comments have much cheered me on this bleak Monday so thank you for that! And I think that might even become my new strapline: Ridiculously talented, but nobody knows who she is … Hey, it works for me ...


Read Full Post

a couple of kd lang videos = FAB

Read Full Post

I'm back from the Cheltenham Literary Festival, having been taken there by my wife as a birthday treat. It was my first lit fest, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We took in a number of events including: Louise Rennison - tough to stand up on your own and talk for an entire hour, but she did a great job; Mark Walden & Joe Craig in their Heroes vs Villains slot; Marcus Sedgewick & Justin Richards discussing vampires - which I was rather disappointed with, as they seemed to be nothing short of apologetic about writing vampire fiction, and finally, Ben Haggerty, whose chilling adult fairy-tale session was simply tremendous and deserved the rapturous applause it received at the end.


Read Full Post

I dislike being the centre of attention but the launch party is a concession I make in order for those close to me to express their adulation and pride at my success. Or their envy and bitterness. I don’t really mind which as both will make me feel special. To stifle this emotional outlet would be unfair on my friends.

My publicists have given me a budget of four hundred pounds. Like everyone in my position I had, as I scrawled my childish signature on the publisher’s contract fourteen months ago, imagined a lavish event with a red carpet, limousines, paparazzi, formalwear and invitations printed on gold-edged cards and mailed by private couriers. My expectations had dwindled since then, of course, but even so this paltry budget was something of a surprise.

Read Full Post

Church turned out to be okay today. I quite liked the 1662 service rehashed, with hymns. Not bad. Though I'm sure that either the organ is pitched too high or (surely not ...) my voice is pitched too low. No comments on that one, please - or not many anyway! After the service, people had obviously decided that they would make an effort at talking to us again - which is quite brave, bearing in mind that post-service coffee sessions are a social nightmare and everybody hates them. So I was seized by a lady telling me all about her house and its wicked lodgers (ah the war years, you know - such fun!), whilst Lord H got the vicar's wife. Who is, we discover, utterly glamorous, knows how to wear red and used to be a radio producer. May still be one for all we know. Which is something of a shame as I was so convinced that the lady I met with the vicar in Waitrose yesterday was too well turned-out to be a vicar's wife, and must therefore surely be the mistress. Apparently not. So spiritual honour is salvaged, though it's rather a blow to the drama queens amongst us ...


Read Full Post

Discovered M has not one but two teddies, knitted by aunt (c. 1987) to original Teddies for Tragedies pattern. This teddy is called George (named after M’s history of art tutor). Life in a briefcase proved hazardous and an attempt to drown George in a pint of beer (c. 1993) led to his new position (as talisman) in the glove compartment of 1968 Volvo Amazon. Since 1996 ... (more)

Read Full Post

They say there's no such thing as bad publicity, but sometimes it can just be plain tacky. Lately I’ve been starting to think about ways I can help my publisher promote my book when it’s out, but there are some things I just won’t be able to bring myself to do. I’ve seen examples of all of these on the web recently, but feel free to add any others I might have missed...


Read Full Post

To some aspiring writers the book trade looks like a well-defended fortress, garrisoned by what appears (according to your temperament) to be a bunch of celebrity-hunting, money-grubbing clones, or thick-skinned, parasitical philistines. Hang around for - oh, all of ten seconds - on some of the writing forums, and you'd think that the garrison is actual run by a set of James Bond villains determined to destroy literary civilisation as we know it.

It is heartbreaking to send your work out and have it rejected without so much as a grade attached: even lazy and nasty teachers write C- before they throw it back at you. Giving your writing to any stranger to read is a bit like lying down in the road and offering the next passer-by a disembowelling knife.

Read Full Post

Wonderful news today! The lovely Lisa Glass, author of the dark and supremely gripping Prince Rupert's Teardrop, has chosen A Dangerous Man (see full post for all links!) as her Thriller of the Year on the Vulpes Libris Book Blog site, and you can find her comments here. You'll need to scroll down just a little as Lisa is 2nd in the Picks List. Many thanks indeed, Lisa - I'm more than grateful! Michael is quite chuffed too - and will be happy to give you a special discount of his services at any time. Naturally. The choice is yours ...

Meanwhile, last night's strange dream involved me learning how to swim. Something I've never been able to do - like whistling or climbing a tree. Anyway, my first attempt went pretty well, but I think I was overconfident the second time around as I couldn't seem to make any headway. Hmm, why does that sound so much like my life? Ah well ...


Read Full Post