Writing Blog
Favorite summer reads?
I don’t know what it is about summer, but the books I read over the summer holidays are always indelibly stamped on my brain. I can remember long summer holidays as a kid, and the books I read. I remember being nine, sitting by a lake and reading the terrifying story of ‘Bella’, a possessed…
Read MoreEarth to female authors? The Booker Prize 2014
The longlist to the Booker 2014 has been released, and what a white-male-dominated list it is. I’ve already written about innovative social media campaigns such as #Readwomen2014, created because talented, female authors are largely ignored by mainstream literary journals. I also read excellent sites such as The Writes of Women and VIDA , both of which bring…
Read More19th century meets the 21st century: The Austen Project
I’ve been reading Sense & Sensibility, not the original, but the first volume of ‘The Austen Project‘. The AustenProject teams up contemporary authors with 19th century classics written by one of my favorite authors of all time – Jane Austen. The first novel in the series is written by British bestselling author Joanna Trollope, and…
Read MoreVery Inspiring Book Blogs Award
The Very Inspiring Blogger Award is flying like an angel around the blogosphere, touching down on many of the dedicated and inspiring people out there dedicated to books and writing and sharing the word on literature. I’m very proud to be nominated for this award. A big thanks to Claire, over at the wonderful Word by Word,…
Read MoreYoung adult adventure in belle Paris: Author interview with Evelyne Holingue
I’m extremely happy to have talented author Evelyne Holingue on my blog today. I met Evelyne through her fabulous blog. I was bound to love Evelyne’s blog and her writing. Evelyne is from France (alongside Italy, my favorite country in the world), where she grew up in beautiful Normandy and studied in Paris. As an…
Read MoreTwo countries separated by a common language
…or so says the famous line attributed to George Bernard Shaw (except, of course, it seems it may never have been written by the great playwright.) Nevertheless, it’s still a killer line, and one that often springs to mind when I create a non-American fictional character and need to be careful about dialogue. I thought…
Read MoreTruth or (ancient) fiction?
I recently went with my family to visit the fabulous Alma-Tadema exhibition in Rome at the Chiostro del Bramante. Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema was a Dutch artist who moved to England and became part of the late nineteenth century Pre-Raphaelite movement. Although not as well known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti or Edward Burnes-Jones, Alma-Tadema’s artwork was…
Read MoreHow do you know when to give up on a project?
This question was posed in a post over at the fabulous Nathan Bransford blog. Bransford was asking readers when they decide it’s time to lay a current project to rest. It’s an interesting question for writers. After all the effort- and blood, sweat, and tears-writers put into their work, is there a moment when you…
Read MoreLife in the fast lane? … Or not
I’m not referring to authors here. The last time authors lived life in the fast lane may well have been back in 1920s Paris. Instead, I’m interested in novel pacing. As authors, we all know how crucial it is to find the ‘hook’ – that situation that will compel our readers to continue reading after…
Read MoreSign up for early-bird rates for the Matera Women’s Fiction Festival
It’s that time of year again – time to start planning to attend the annual Matera Women’s Fiction festival, held each September in Matera, in southern Italy. If you sign up by 30 June 2014, you can sign up at the early-bird rates – this is meant for you Nicola, Grace, Ashlinn, Claire… and Evelyne,…
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