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The Literary Sofa

Blog tour!

 

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been on a bit of a blog tour! A number of bloggers, some are authors themselves, have kindly hosting me on their sites. Here’s a round up of where I went and what we chatted about.

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‘Make no mistake – fairy stories are dark tales of misogyny, social climbing, child abuse and infanticide. If narrative is part of our soul, fairy stories are cautionary tales about human nature.’ 

Talking about fairy tales in thrillers and the theme of Little Red Riding Hood in Bone by Bone with Women Writers.

‘We live in a multi-racial society, yet I don’t see this kind of diversity reflected in the literature I read.’

Discussing the lack of ethnic diversity in thrillers with Asian Writers.

Followed by a Q&A

It’s hard to imagine Wuthering Heights without the Yorkshire moors…’Read More »Blog tour!

Editing my Novels

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.

theory of mind by sanjida o'connellI had the unfortunate fortune to be barely edited when my first two novels, Theory of Mind and Angel Bird were published by Black Swan. Fortunate, because editing is a painful process, especially when the person who is paying you is pointing out your shortcomings. Unfortunate, because it gave me the misguided impression that writing a novel is all about the writing. As Ernest Hemingway said, ‘The first draft  of anything is shit.’ For your work to shine, you need to write, rewrite and then get some help!

Read More »Editing my Novels