How do you decide who to follow on Twitter? A quick glance through my Twitter feed offers an eclectic mix of other writers (of all genres), journalists, parent bloggers, beauty bloggers (my guilty pleasure), police forces, bookshops, publishing types, and Real Life Friends (yes, I have some). I asked some of my crime-writing buddies to […]
Caught in the Act
There are few people who don’t admit to doing a spot of people-watching from time to time, and for a writer such an activity is positively compulsory. It might seem a luxury to relax in a cafe or on a park bench watching the world go by, but I can assure you it’s serious business, […]
Should fiction be accurate?
Novels come from an author’s imagination. They are the printed (or digital) product of days and weeks and sometimes years of glorious day-dreaming, created so that readers, too, can disappear into this make-believe story for a few hours or days. But should fiction be accurate? In the last few weeks I’ve been fortunate to receive […]
How books are made
Last week I went to Clays in Suffolk to find out how books are made, and to watch the paperback of I Let You Go being printed. It was a fascinating and incredibly emotional day, and if you are an author and ever have the chance to see your book being made, I’d wholeheartedly recommend […]
Throwaway words
I haven’t blogged for a while. I’ve had my head down, working on a rewrite of my second book, which means Christmas and New Year passed in a bit of a blur. For three months I got up at five to write before the school run, stayed at my desk all day, and returned to […]
Judging a book by its cover: an interview with Toby Clarke
Next week I’ll be revealing the brand new paperback cover for I Let You Go, which is very different to the trade paperback version, yet still manages to completely reflect the story. Not having an artistic bone in my body, I’m fascinated by the process of book design. To find out more about it, I […]