If writing dialogue set right now in the real world is difficult, writing historical dialogue is even harder. Surprising as it sounds, you don’t want absolute accuracy. The deeper into the past you go, the less likely it is that... Read more
Walter: Castor beans. Jesse: So, what are we going to do with them? Are we just gonna grow a magic beanstalk? Huh? Climb it and escape? Walter: We are going to process them into ricin. Jesse: Rice ’n Beans? Walter:... Read more
Is your character based on a real person? This was the first question from Richard Beard, director of The National Academy of Writing who chaired The Writers’ Conference, organised by freelance editor, Ali Reynolds and held at the Bristol Festival of Literature last week. Patricia Ferguson, author of The Midwife’s Daughter,... Read more
Writer Isabel Costello kindly asked me to write a guest post for her blog, The Literary Sofa . I hope you have a chance to read some of her other posts, all highly informative with some interesting tips. I had the unfortunate fortune... Read more
As I’m going to be chatting about creating great characters with Richard Beard, from the National Academy of Writing, and Patricia Ferguson, author of, The Midwife’s Daughter at the Bristol Festival of Literature I thought I’d share with you some... Read more
….and when Peace here does house, He comes with work to do, he does not come to coo, He comes to brood and sit. Peace by Gerard Manley Hopkins On the 8 September 2013, my Dad, James O’Connell, died at... Read more
I used to be dreadfully bad at spelling and grammar. Now I’m just bad. I’m better than I was thanks to spell check, practice and copy editors. Necessary as good punctuation and the correct use of... Read more
I’m an award-winning thriller & nature non-fiction writer. I teach writing to people who want to be published.
