Authors Electric

                                                                      I consider the ups and downs of being a freelance businesswoman and creative, and why it is sometimes a battle to be taken seriously. It’s a stormy day in what promises to be a sweltering summer, and am I relaxing with my feet up on this ‘day of rest’? Don’t be silly, I’m self-employed! Time off? You must be joking! Whilst you nine-to-fivers can make plans for the weekends and evenings, every time I do something other than my actual job, I lose money. So, I work seven days a week, every evening and a bit of Saturday and Sunday morning. Yes, I love what I do, and you know what they say – if you love what you do you never work a day in your life. Well, it sure feels like hard work sometimes, I can tell you. ...

    The hosta that grows in a pot near my kitchen door. The pink petals have fallen from the climbing rose above. I was told that hostas grow best in damp, shady places and don't like growing in pots. I suspect I was told wrong because this hosta is living its best life-- in a pot, in the sunniest, warmest spot in my garden.  It's starting shooting up arcs of delicate, bell-shaped, lavender coloured flowers.  Another view of my garden in all its scruffyness. Seed trays piled on the bench. A watering bucket making the place look untidy.    This peaony -- paeony -- peony is called 'Bowl of Beauty.' No argument from me. And it's a sight easier to spell than 'peony'.     The herb trough - marjoram, thyme, sage -- and a tiny olive tree poking up at far right. It is now covered in miniscule yellow flowers.  The yellow flag in the pond.  The roses, hanging in swags from their broken arch. Light through hazel leaves, and the roses... Writing? I ...

To mark the halfway stage of my reading year and Derby month, I'm reviewing not one but TWO titles by Clare Balding. Both are for young readers and inspired by horses, which fits perfectly with the author's background as the daughter of a racehorse trainer. First up is fiction, and it's a fun read for ages 7+. T he Racehorse Who Wouldn't Gallop by Clare Balding illustrated by Tony Ross 10-year-old Charlie Bass lives on the family farm with her annoying brothers Harry and Larry, a dog called Boris, and a herd of milking cows named after celebrities. When their farm is in financial trouble, the whole family is invited to think of ways to raise some cash. So Charlie buys a racehorse entered for the Derby... bear with me, this is fiction! The only problem is, Noble Warrior ('Noddy' for short) won't go anywhere without his pony friend Percy, and the Bass family can only afford to buy him because several trainers have already given up on him. To be fair to our plu...

Image Credit:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images. Do you have favourite themes in writing, whether this is in your work or someone else’s? I’ve always wanted to see justice done in stories. This is one reason I still love the classic fairytales, as well as the more obvious home for this topic, crime fiction. Even as a child, in the fairytale world I knew the rotters wouldn’t get away with it. Pity that’s not more true in life! I will often use themes as my way into creating characters and stories. If I know my theme is going to be honesty, say, I will create a dishonest character and show them not getting away with it, or I will show a truthful creation being rewarded for their honesty (not necessarily in money).   I lead an online flash fiction group for a Christian writing organisation I’ve been a member of for years. It’s fun to do and this has led me to rediscover the joys (and otherwise) of PowerPoint after a break of many years from it.  But I’ve fou...

Manifold Magazine folded many years ago on the death of its editor, Vera Rich. In each edition she would propose two challenges, one subject related, and the other to be written in a specific poetic form. I really looked forward to these – they were terrific stimuli to write something that might well get published. The Spectator performs a similar function, sometimes 150 words of prose sometimes a poem, 16 lines maximum. I only discovered these competitions a year ago; they kick-started me, and I’ve had several published. But near-misses also get a mention, so I thought I’d give some of them an airing here. Blissfully ignoring – something you dislike about your loved one The distinctive call of an eider duck Plus the sound of an airbed deflating Or the distant growl of the M25 Then the huffing of two hedgehogs mating. A grunt that trails off to a whistle is next, Then a silence, a false dawn of hope – But it never lasts long, and the snuffles resume, The top of that ...

  So you've finished the novel you've worked on for months or even years. You've done three drafts or five or ten. You've proofread it frontwards and backwards, then hired a good editor. And this is as good as it gets, you believe. Time to move on to the next one. But is the game really over? Might you still have a strong trick or two up your sleeve? These thoughts were on my mind as I came to the finale of a novel I've worked on for nearly six years. In the long stretch I'd lost sight of certain details and made changes I hadn't expected. I'd also lost track of the time that had passed and couldn't be sure, in my mystery, that the clues had been placed to perfection. When I chanced on the term punch list, a dandy tool for use when a novel appears to be finished. Setting the ms. aside next month, I'll compose  a good long list of things my instinct tells me have to be added, deleted, or fixed. I'll tracked the placement of the clues and the t...