Getting Wise (After the event): And why Stark3 took long! As I’ve mentioned before, when a manuscript is off with the editor for a week or four, I’ll be working on the next book, or indeed ideas for those after (please note: you’ll only get to read those if you buy, and encourage others to […]
Getting It Wrong: A belated confession. Forgive me Reader, it has been a long time since my last post… Through this website contact’s page I have received a delightful drip-feed of positive feedback from the people that count, the readers. I try to respond to them all, so please do keep them coming. This said, […]
Getting published – again: Your second book hits the shelves, and life goes on… Through happy chance, my first book hit the bookshops as I was waking beside the Mediterranean, celebrating my 10th wedding anniversary in style (see blog #15). When my second hit the shelves on 8th September 2016, I was dropping the kids […]
Getting my crow – The killer detail: So here it is… If you’ve seen the Books page of this you’ll know the title of Book 2. Here now is the cover. I hope you love it as much as I do. This is actually the third or fourth iteration of the cover. You may have […]
Getting Good Grammar – Copy-Editing: So you’ve survived the editing process and the book is finished. But before you reach for that bottle of prosecco you stashed away, there’s one more hoop to jump through (briefly described in my earlier blog #8), copy-editing. Your publisher sends the manuscript away to a professional, who applies their […]
Getting Feedback – The Sh*t Sandwich: This term was suggested by a friendly writer I know to describe the lovely layers of fluffy praise offered by editors in hope of disguising the unsavoury feedback within. The sucker punch I mentioned in my earlier post #20 about book 2 draft 1. Sadly, this proved to be […]
Getting an Award – And acceptance speech terror…: Thirty-six hours earlier I’d been laid up in bed with tonsillitis and fever. The antibiotics were starting to work but I couldn’t drink for courage, I’d pushed my food around my plate for an hour and if the adrenaline didn’t kick in soon I was about to […]
Getting On – With Book 2: The difficult second novel… I’ve let myself get rather behind with these posts, but life has continued apace. If I Should Die was published first in hardback in June 2004, and the Paperback hit the shops on New Year’s Day 2015. But in truth my last sight of it […]
Getting ‘The Question’ – And whether to lie: The list of things no one told me continues to grow, but an interesting one is how to react when an interested blogger or keen-eyed literary journalist turns to you at your first PR event, drink in hand, and utters the seemingly innocent icebreaker… ‘So, what do […]
Getting one thing straight – The known unknowns: Another thing no one told me was pick a genre! As far as I’d paid any attention I thought the prevailing advice was, write what you know. Or write what you read. Or was it choose your favourite author and emulate? The best advice, commercially, is see […]
