Authors Electric

Publishing independently doesn’t have to be stressful. Many aspiring authors rely on networks of fellow writers like Authors Electric to grow their knowledge of the publishing world and its multiple facets. Because we all know the labours of self-publishing don’t stop at writing — they also involve editing, designing, and marketing your book.  But not everyone has a support network at their fingertips. Many talented writers have no idea where to start with self-publishing (or even traditional publishing) and need information on some of the more technical aspects of making your book available to the public. For anyone looking to learn about publishing, I’m here to tell you a bit about Reedsy’s marketplace and free educational resources.  What is Reedsy ?  Reedsy is a digital marketplace connecting authors with publishing professionals (editors, designers, illustrators, marketers, and even ghostwriters). You can browse the handpicked profiles of some of the most experience...

  We have a new blogger for the 30th of every month but unfortunately the poor lady is unwell. So, here I am filling in and struggling for inspiration. Actually, I'm not struggling for inspiration as my brain is always whizzing with ideas.  By now, you are probably wondering what my image is about. What does a comic tortoise have to do with inspiration? A lot it turns out. Let me educate you in the ways of the tortoise or this particular one. I first need to explain that another of our new bloggers, Ruth Leigh, received copies of her debut novel earlier in the week. She duly dispatched them in the post to those who were waiting, or so she said. I was a little sceptical as the book was never arriving in Scotland. I had glimpses of the book in the wild as other people received their copy, but mine was nowhere to be seen. I could only surmise that she had dispatched mine strapped to the back of a tortoise which she then pointed in the direction of Scotland. I said so in the Faceb...

So, last month I promised to be boring about my new book. Today, as a woman of my word, I deliver: you can tell I'm not a politician. I thought for the sake of brevity I’d interview myself: we’re in lockdown who else is going to do it? So, Nicky, where do you get your ideas from? This particular idea came from reading far too many stories of global warming. I love dystopian and apocalyptic fiction and JG Ballard’s Drowned World has been in my head for years as has Pullman’s Gyptians.  I live near the Thames and walk on the tow path most days. There are a number of old barges moored on the Twickenham side. They are covered in plastic and odd bits of timber, but in all the apparent chaos there is order: herb gardens and strange solar panels, half-built inventions put together from scrap. The boats got me thinking about surviving in a drowned London.    Ollu my heroine is one of a group of respected bargers. She lives on ‘the Ark’ a matriarch boat built before The Chaos, wi...

  Image by Viviane Monconduit from Pixabay I love it when cats tell the story. One of the best books I read was Jennie by Paul Gallico. On my favourite app Good Reads I looked it up again because my umpteenth copy has long gone missing... Do you know it? It's about a boy who wakes up as a cat. He does not know how to be a cat but luckily he meets Jennie, a real cat who teaches him all he has to know.  This is my memory, and it often fails so maybe I am getting it all wrong. My point is: can books be written from a cat's point of view. My answer is: yes of course they can. Why not?  But then I remember when enrolling into a writing course, I was told in no uncertain terms that cats made flat story tellers. So for a long time, I didn't. And then I read another fantastic cat book: The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa. I am looking at a copy right now. It is not so much what is said in the story but what is left out. The travelling happens in Japan and follows the c...

  My Christmas stocking this year included “Russian Roulette – The Life and Times of Graham Greene”, the latest biography of the novelist by Richard Greene, a Canadian professor of English, (and no relation). The book reminded me vividly of how much of an influence Graham Greene, and "Greeneland", have been on the directions my life has taken, particularly regarding the destinations that have left me with the most emotive memories and powerful stories. Haiti, and especially the Grand Hotel Oloffson, more than lived up to all the promises of dark excitement that I first felt when reading “The Comedians”, right down to the fact that one of the original characters Greene had used in the book, (Aubelin Jolicouer who inspired the character of Petit Pierre), was still propping up the hotel bar. I was a little later getting to the Hotel Continental in Saigon, which featured so prominently in “The Quiet American”. But despite the fact that Saigon has turned into Ho Chi Minh City ...

My winter reads with my daughter this year had very little to do with winter! Instead, we had a good dose of history, where we met a whole lot of gutsy women... 'Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls' The new year began for us with a huge surprise - the best there can be - with the gift of a book: 'Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls', by Elena Favilli. Fourth in the 'Rebel Girls' Series, the gift came from one of my dearies - Anurima Chanda. Srishti is blessed with a sizable army of aunts (sister-friends from different phases of my life) who spoil her every chance they get. But this is one of the most thoughtful gifts that she has ever received. “Srishti is both Indian and Dutch, a true citizen of the world. I wanted to gift her stories that would expand her horizon”, Anurima told me, when I called to thank her. It's true. Srishti was born in the Netherlands and spent the first five years of her life in Amsterdam. She is a Dutch citizen, born to Indian paren...

The trilobite in his rocky bed. Photo: Wikimedia The Lay of the Trilobite by May Kendall   A mountain’s giddy height I sought, Because I could not find Sufficient vague and mighty thought To fill my mighty mind; And as I wandered ill at ease, There chanced upon my sight A native of Silurian seas, An ancient Trilobite. So calm, so peacefully he lay, I watched him e'en with tears: I thought of Monads far away In the forgotten years. How wonderful it seemed and right, The providential plan, That he should be a Trilobite, And I should be a Man! And then, quite natural and free Out of his rocky bed, That Trilobite he spoke to me And this is what he said: ‘I don’t know how the thing was done, Although I cannot doubt it; But Huxley – he if anyone Can tell you all about it; ‘How all your faiths are ghosts and dreams, How in the silent sea Your ancestors were Monotremes – Whatever these may be; How you evolved your shining lights ...