Writing Blog
Looking for romance, medieval battles, and time travelling adventure all rolled into one? Read Tales of a Traveller.
How exciting for me to have talented British writer N.J. Layouni on my site today talking about her debut novel, Tales of a Traveller: Hemlock. Book One, released on 28 April 2014. I met Nicola virtually when she became a critique partner while we were both writing time travel novels. I loved the early version…
Read MoreLike romance? Read Melinda Dozier’s short story collection
I’ve been lucky enough to announce two of Melinda Dozier’s romance novels on my site. Melinda is a talented (and prolific) romance writer, and a great critique partner. Melinda’s been a guest on my site before, with interesting author interviews when she released Time Changes Everything and Breaking The Rules. In these interviews, in addition to…
Read MoreIt’s beach reading season!
Where I live in central Italy, the 1 May holiday tends to kick off the season for beach-going. Yes, it’s great to go to feel the soft sand beneath your feet, to breathe the clean, sea air and to feel the repetitive ebb and flow of the waves, but really, the beach is primarily a…
Read MoreSelf-publishing vs traditional publishing
I think most authors today are following this debate closely. Each year, I attend the Matera Women’s Fiction Festival, and follow the discussion on this topic with authors who have been on both sides. Over at the fabulous Nathan Bransford blog, ‘hybrid’ author (meaning she has published both traditionally and self-published) Natalie Whipple provides some interesting…
Read MoreThe chicken and egg debate in writing
I was think of the old expression ‘What came first the chicken, or the egg?’ as I was reading W. Somerset Maugham’s foreword to his fabulous The Painted Veil. Maugham claims he always started his novels and short stories from a character, and the setting and story would naturally fall into place. In his foreword,…
Read MoreKindle version of Foreign & Far Away anthology now available
You may remember that I announced when the Foreign & Far Away anthology was launched back in October. I’d now like to let readers know that the Kindle version is now available, at the following Amazon link. This anthology is released each year by the organization Writer’s Abroad, following a call for contribution from expat…
Read MoreWriting inspiration on the commute
I’m very pleased to be a car-free commuter. My early morning walk into work is just under 20 minutes and – at the risk of sounding immodest – it’s one of the prettiest commutes ever. I live in Rome and each day I watch the Colosseum loom into sight as I descend the hill in…
Read MoreThe word count conundrum
At some point before submitting, a writer must confront the big question out there : What kind of word count is acceptable to literary agents and publishers? Fortunately, there’s a VERY helpful post for writers from Writer’s Digest on word count, broken down by genre. This is something you may not have considered until the…
Read More#ReadWomen2014
I read about this great initiative, the #ReadWomen2014 Twitter campaign earlier this year. In recent years, a lot of attention has been focused on the gender bias in the publishing industry. Despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of readers are women, male authors still enjoy the lion’s share of media attention, awards, covers of…
Read MoreI’ve been nominated for the Liebster Blog Her Award
An extra big thank you/grazie to my blog buddy and real-life buddy each year in Matera, the talented author Catherine McNamara, for nominating me for the Liebster Blog Her Award. If you don’t yet know Catherine’s work, take a look at my earlier author interviews with her for her novel and short stories. As part of…
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