Authors Electric

Do authors need a website is a question I have been pondering for a while. More specifically do I need a website now I am a published author. I already have an online presence. I’ve been on Facebook for many years, just a personal account, mainly to keep in touch with friends but I tend to make my writing related posts public and shareable. Many years ago, I started on Twitter to connect with other writers. After a while my writing bubble burst so I deleted my account. A few years later, my username was still free so I started again   – things had changed a lot, then the changes went too far and I quit for good earlier this year. I’m on Instagram – a fellow writing friend told me I need an online presence there, and now I’m on Threads too, which I am enjoying but I’m not sure if being there is helping with book sales or even general recognition. It takes time to grow an audience, but how do some people’s innocuous posts garner viral status - if I try to be funny, there is n...

  I've been thinking a lot about consistency recently. Probably because a recent book tour of the states has had me being somewhat inconsistent. An exhausting schedule and different time zones meant that a couple of my podcast episodes got missed as did a couple of blogs, including this one. So, in what ways should we be consistent and how does it help us to be better as writers. This one will not come as a surprise to anyone reading this blog - it is important to show up consistently to write every day. In order to be a writer it is necessary to write. Yet, often writing can get pushed out by all the other things necessary in the business of writing. Writing every day is what helps us to be more creative, to complete our manuscripts and to release books. So, why do we so often let it slide? If this is you, pull out your diary and block out time every day that is sacred writing time. Being consistent with our writing is part of our contract with our readers - an unwritten contract ...

  I know, I know, I'm preaching to the converted here, but hear me out. In order to be a good writer, one must first be a voracious reader. Hands up if you agree with that. Perfect we are all on the same page then, so this will be a short post. Well, no, actually.  'What?' I hear you say. We do need to be voracious readers. Yes, you are right and before you think I am going mad, let me explain. I am a voracious reader. I've been reading since I was three years old -- I was an extremely early reader. I'd read my way through the entire children's section of the local library before I was ten and was fortunate enough to be given an adult library card. Don't ask how that happened. I think it involved sacrificing chickens and my mother spending many hours wrangling with the head librarian. To be honest, I think the librarian gave in just to get this mad woman out of her library.   Anyways, I had read my way through the following series -- Cherry Ames Nursing Boo...

  How can you resist a writing blog that starts with a view like this? In case you're wondering, that is the Caribbean Sea, and that's me writing. Before you think I spent two weeks drinking cocktails whilst channeling my inner Hemingway, that wasn't quite the case. Let me backtrack. I was fortunate to receive a research grant from the Society of Authors in order to got to Antigua and research Nineteenth Century Naval History and Antigua in the Nineteenth Century. Therefore, I was actually out there doing research. Yes, I really was and what an amazing time it was. So, how does one go about doing research in another country? The perfect starting point is by realising that it's not going to flow as smoothly as it does in the UK. You really are on Caribbean time. Now, don't get me wrong, everyone is lovely and really keen to help and support, it just takes a little longer than when it does in the UK. The people in the archives were amazing, bringing out a microfiche a...

My kids couldn’t believe it. It was literally a few days after Christmas, and the shop was selling Easter Eggs! Is it me, or are they even earlier this year than normal? They’re all mixed on the shelves with Valentine merch. At least, it means as a writer, your timeline doesn’t have to be too precise. That’s my excuse, anyway. It’s a nice detail to include in your story, something like a poisoned cream egg, for example. Your time frame is from the start of January, all the way through to Easter. You can describe the victim, walking through the supermarket, tutting at the fact that Easter Eggs and Valentine's hearts are right next to one another. Maybe she dislikes the passing of the seasons, feels it’s like wishing your life away. She might hesitate between cream eggs and valentine hearts, with the killer peeking between the shelves to see if his dastardly plan will succeed. It could confuse your readers, I suppose. It makes the timeline less precise. Writing about seasonal s...

  I’m writing this blog in the peace and quietness of my study. Behind me is a stack with maths books for four children, paper tape to keep one of my children happy building stuff, a Viking helmet that needs a bigger box and Velcro dots to be attached to pictures. A few years ago I found writing a wonderful release at the end of a manic day. Just me and my laptop, daydreaming up stories when the kids were in bed. Such a peaceful, private hobby. Occasionally, hubby would bring me a glass of wine or one of the kids would wake up with some complaint, but my evenings were spent serenely and relaxed. Since then, life has taken on all kinds of twists and turns. My fun stories became a little more involved. I thought more about my characters and what they would like for dinner. Before I knew it, I had a novel and a publisher willing to look at it. I tried to explain that English wasn’t my first language and they were very tactful about what exactly they meant by ‘substantial editing...

  During the month of August I have joined in with a book marketing challenge, which I have thoroughly enjoyed doing so far; although I will admit it has been a real challenge. Some of the days are tough but I've enjoyed working my way through them. This has got me thinking about these challenges - are they worthwhile and more importantly, do they drive book sales? Half way through I would say a categorical yes to the first part, while the second part is difficult to measure in tangible terms. Firstly, the question you are probably asking, how do you get involved in these challenges? I got involved with this one as one of my friends said she was doing it. I asked her if I could join in and we first cleared it with the authors who set the challenge. Whilst the challenge is out in the universe and I suppose I could have just done it, I believe it is polite to ask the originators as they have put the hard work into preparing the challenge, may have a specific reason for doing so and m...

  I started out as as author of adult mysteries and branched into adult humorous mysteries and young adult mysteries. I am sure you are sensing a theme here. Then, I was asked to write a children's book. This came completely out of the blue and my initial thoughts were , no way on God's earth could I or am I writing a children's picture book. However, the reason was intriguing and my more rational and sensible self talked me into it. I went from no way to why not. The original Bertie book, Bertie the Buffalo , was based on the true story of a baby water buffalo who went missing from a farm in Fife in Scotland, where he proceeded to roam the countryside evading capture for 14 days. This brings me to my top ten tips. About time I hear you say. Bear with me, I was pinning my credentials to the literary mast if you may allow me to mangle a metaphor. So my tips are: 1. Find a good story, one which hasn't already been done to death and which will excite young readers. 2. Try ...

This month on the blog I was going to write about researching your books in the real, rather than virtual, world, then realised my podcast on the topic was coming out the same day. If this interests you then you can listen to The Nuts and Bolts of Researching Your Novel . As well as being out and about doing research and having lots of fun in the process, I have also been doing a lot of reading and having lots of fun in the process. I feel this leant itself to a blog post about reading widely, not only for enjoyment, but to help you get background for your book and to steep yourself in the world of your characters. Whether fact or fiction, there is always something to be found in the pages of a book.  My character, Thomas Graham, having sailed around the world in the Royal Navy, found himself in China in the early to mid 19th Century where he died and was buried. So, some of my reading has been about China to get a flavour of both China and Hong Kong during that time. When reading ...

  Pablo Picasso Self Portrait 1965 It’s an absolute privilege to be invited to write a guest blog for Authors Electric. As a newly published author I find myself among very distinguished writer company here, and ever so slightly intimidated! My first novel was published in March of this year. It is historic fiction, set in medieval Wales in the time of Llewellyn the Great, but it is also a faith based story, set against the backdrop of Cistercian abbey life. I knew from the start that I was writing a book based on my own life experiences, but of course fictionalised to another time and place. Inevitably, my main protagonist bore more than a passing resemblance to myself - although he is a thirty -something world weary knight, and I am a fifty -something semi -retired grandmother. I did not set out to paint a self- portrait in my characterisation. That is referred to as ‘author surrogacy’ I believe, and a device used by manyan illustrious writer to tell their own story in the guise ...

  As I am merely one of the contributors to, rather than the owner of, this blog, I don't usually use my own image or that of my books as the main photo. I always think that would be rather presumptuous of me. However, I thought it was appropriate for this particular post and I am hoping the admins and you, as readers of this blog, will forgive me. There is a good reason for me using this today. Often, as authors, we only display a very public persona and what people know of us is what can be seen in the images we choose. These are most often chosen to show us in our best light. Of course, that makes sense as we want readers to invest in our books. From the image above you would see me as a confident prolific author, with numerous books to her name, across a range of age groups. I have also been published in, edited and compiled numerous anthologies which are not seen in the above image. Why are you telling me this, I hear you ask. The answer - you may think that words just flow fr...

It's midsummer, although you wouldn't know it from the weather as I write this (Spain is apparently sending us storms). So rather than yet another summer solstice blog post, I've been thinking about where we might be if you view the publishing industry as a single year. It goes something like this: JANUARY: Stone Age ~ 40,000 - 10,000 BC We live in caves. People tell stories around the campfire at night. Nobody writes them down but somebody might illustrate the most exciting ones on the cave walls. (January is a long, dark month.) telling stories around the campfire (Emeldil, CC*) FEBRUARY: Pyramid Age ~ 4,000 - 2,500 BC Europeans are still living in caves, but in Egypt they are building pyramids. Priests decorate the walls of their temples with religious texts in hieroglyphs, while further east in Mesopotamia people are writing similar texts on clay tablets using a clever pen-press language called cuneiform. Bestseller: The Book of Coming Forth by Day (Ancient...