Authors Electric

  ….. wrote  nobody, ever. Even Dinah Washington couldn’t have made that scan. But sometimes it’s good to look back and that’s what I’m doing with this, my last ever blog for Authors Electric.   Back in January 2021, I’d just published my first novel, the diary of Isabella M Smugge and I was riding high on adrenaline and the joy of realising a lifelong dream. That same month, the redoubtable Wendy H Jones asked me if I’d like to start contributing to Authors Electric.   “Would I?” I replied jauntily, flexing my fingers and cracking out a new ink cartridge. “I love a blog.”   And so I do. Writing for the More Than Writers blog (thanks again Wendy) is what got me my start in publishing fiction and the discipline of turning out 600-800 engaging words once a month honed my style no end. The enormous header tank of ideas sloshing around in my head was ready to be plundered and I loved the freedom Authors Electric gave me to write about anything I fancied. Knowing...

Happy New Year everyone. My goodness, January has started off well! I just came back from an invigorating run, my juice fast has left me pounds lighter and with a glowing complexion and my royalty statement hit six figures for the first time. Life is perfect!   It’s OK! You can keep reading. I made all that up for a laugh. I broke into a trot last Wednesday when I realised I’d forgotten to put the bins out, but apart from that, life remains much the same. I ate a lot of satsumas over Christmas, but they were accompanied by mince pies and Christmas puddings and selection boxes and suchlike. I’m still waiting for the royalty statement, but I don’t suppose I can retire just yet.   Last year, I took the plunge and booked myself on to a series of events all over the county. At each one, I met lovely people and learned how to dress my table and present my books. Height, interest and texture are all important and so is your pitch. It’s no good sitting glumly behind a stack of untou...

I do love a bit of wordplay and those readers old enough to remember Jeff Beck’s 1967 chart-topper will appreciate the punning framework of my title today. Research is a huge part of my writing career but it falls into two distinct camps. Every time I get a new client, I have to become an expert on their subject. Ask me anything about Farrow and Ball paint, flowers, high-end property in East Anglia or unreached people groups. Go on. Ask me. My brain is fizzing with weird, unrelated facts, all of which are deployed for my writing at some point or another. I’m currently researching a tribe in Yemen, a country about which I knew nothing a week or two ago. There is never a dull moment.   Since I started writing fiction in the summer of 2020, resulting in two books and a third on the way, I’ve had to do a different kind of research. My heroine, insanely successful lifestyle blogger and Instamum Isabella M Smugge has her perfectly manicured fingertips in every modish pie going and as ...

I’ve never been a great one for trends. Probably the last time I paid attention to fashion was the Eighties. Somewhere, in a triple-locked lead-lined vault, photos of me exist proving that I wore white stilettos, jackets with padded shoulders, huge silver earrings in the shape of fish skeletons, legwarmers, hair mascara and high-waisted jeans with belts. Not all at the same time. Trends come and go in writing, fashion, interior design, food and weddings. Since I became a published novelist in February, I’ve spent a lot more time researching what’s considered “in.” And what’s the good of research if you don’t share it around? I can reveal that if you are thinking of investing in some new bathroom towels, Smoke Blue is the hue for which to plump. Kitchen cabinets painted navy blue (preferably in Farrow and Ball’s Stiffkey [1] Blue) and bathrooms with tongue and groove panelling in the same colour are smoking hot. Top shades for interiors at present from Farrow and Ball are olive green, ...