Tag: writers
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Flashback – A never published scene from The Alchemist of Paris
When I was sorting through my papers, I found this scene from an early draft of The Alchemist of Paris. Young housemaid Elise and her mysterious master are walking through the pre-dawn streets of 19th century Paris. Although there are familiar points, this scene has an alternative plot line. Can you spot three changes from…
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Map Monday – Ancient Egypt
“In Egypt, I met a man who called himself Albert Price. And that man has intrigued me ever since.” – Jean-Louis Champillon reflects on past journeys in ‘The Alchemist of Paris’ The book in the picture above was published in 1888. It was found in a book sale in a barn many years…
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The Surprising Difficulties of Photographing #Booksandmacarons
#Bookstagramming on Instagram combines three of my favourite things – taking pictures, microblogging and discovering new books. With hashtags such as #booksandnature, #booksanddogs #booksandcafes #booksinthewild etc etc, it all looks so chic and simple. However all those artful pictures are not as easy as they look, as I discovered when I decided to photograph ‘The…
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The Many Stages of Writing a Novel
The novel is almost finished! Writing is never a straightforward journey. Here is a rough sketch of my recent writing experiences in graph form (‘Writer’s Mood’ on one axis, ‘Time Passed’ on the other).
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Your Novel Stinks! Including all the Senses in your Writing
The quickest way to immerse a reader in your character’s world is for the reader to experience that world through your character’s senses. Most writers are familiar with the “show don’t tell” rule. The closer we are to the character’s actions and reactions, the more gripping the story becomes. Sight and sound are easy to…
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8. Decision Time
Sometimes Dwayne felt like he lived his whole life behind the eighth ball. No matter how hard he worked, he never seemed to get anywhere with his writing. On a particularly grim and chill autumn morning, the reality of his situation hit hard. He was staring at eight rejection letters, the only response to…
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Weekly Drawing 14 – NaNoWriMo – on the home stretch!
Good luck to everyone who is NaNoWriMo-ing this year!!
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Flash Fiction 6 – The Week Away
The writer had been working frantically all month. The words poured from her fingertips, filling her notebooks and speeding across the screen of her laptop. Ideas had come to her on the street, in the supermarket, on the train or during conversations with friends, sprinkling down like stardust. Her desk summoned her as she wrote…
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Flash Fiction 3 – “I did NOT murder my wife.”
“I did NOT murder my wife,” the email began. Roger stared nervously at the screen of his laptop. The email continued with various expletives, insults as to his writing ability, suggestions he might try another career, and then, the final sentence. “I demand you take this garbage down immediately. Derek.” It wasn’t fair. Roger was…