I don’t have an excuse for using this picture, I just liked it. Okay. Agents. This post came about because I was running a workshop where someone brought up the topic of agents. How do you get an agent? Take … Continue reading
Tansy Rayner Robert’s book one of The Creature Court Power and Majesty should be showing up in bookstores from today – though some places may not get it out onto the shelves until early next week. Make sure you get … Continue reading
There’s this argument that fantasy should be timeless, that to anchor a story in the now is to somehow give fiction a use-by date, that it’s the writer’s aim, to produce timeless prose, and that you should avoid pop-cultural references … Continue reading
I’ve been watching season one of Bewitched with my five-year-old daughter, which brings up all kinds of interesting discussion topics (never mind the dodgy gender politics, the smoking, ye gods, all the smoking!) and which, for the most part, she … Continue reading
Really bad dialogue can make us throw a book across a room. It can break the ‘immersion’ in a book or a movie. Good dialogue has a natural rhythm depending on the character and their time period. For an exampleof … Continue reading
Tomorrow I’m off. I’ve got the schedules for the tour of the US (some details to be finalised) and UK. WORLDSHAKER goes global! I fly Pacific Air to Los Angeles, then Icelandair to the London two weeks later. (Ulp! Who … Continue reading
I’m deep in page proofs at the moment. Carefully reading a typeset version of my book line by line, sometimes reading whole chapters aloud, never quite going as fast I would like, and always fearing that I’m not moving slow … Continue reading
I had a very authory sort of day today. Two great writing sessions; I’m powering towards the final act or possibly the penultimate act of Book 3 (kind of depends on how long the book wants to be) and I … Continue reading
I’ve started up a blog for my WORLDSHAKER tours – 2 weeks in the US – then 2 weeks tour in the UK – then a bit of holidaying and visiting my French publisher in Paris, etc. I’ll try to … Continue reading
This one was for Cat, who asked for a post on narrative drive. ‘Beware the sagging middle’ refers to the middle of your book. Or more precisely: Narrative Drive There’s quite a lot on Narrative Drive out there on the … Continue reading