Authors Electric

Every other writer in the whole world, ever, it seems gets asked the same question at live events. “Where do you get your ideas from?” It’s become a bit of a joke now, a well-worn trope in the industry. I have only ever been asked this once, at a school talk and I was so chuffed that I think I scared the student a little with my enthusiastic response.   However, questions that people do often ask include, “How do you think up your character names?” and, “Are they based on real people?”   When I was writing the Diary of Isabella M Smugge, my search history was peppered with things like, “posh girls’ names from the 1980s” and, “popular Suffolk surnames.” I didn’t introduce many new characters in the Trials of Isabella M Smugge, but by the time I was writing book three, I’d come up with an absolutely spiffing plan. I was out on the road for the first time, invited to both the Brechin Bookfest and the Scottish Association of Writers event in Dundee by the magnificent Wendy H J...

  Recently I have been doing some research for a novel. I write historical fiction so I like to mention real people, real places and real events. Anything to help give my historical setting authenticity. It was while searching for some of these ‘real’ people – as in people whose names and deeds are recorded in history – that I came across some intriguing names. My books are set in medieval Wales so that does explain some of the unusual spellings and meanings I have come across. The first that caught my interest was Gwenwynwyn ap Owain Cyfeiliog (d 1216). It bothered me because his first name sounded rather soft for someone who was regarded as quite a formidable ruler in his day. Too many ‘wyn’s for a start. And then my Welsh speaking   son informed me that Gwenwyn means poison. Ah, makes more sense, I thought! Incidentally, he was the son of (ap) Owain Cyfeiliog who was apparently a poet as well as a ruler. I guess he named his son?! My favourite find was Rhys Gryg, or in ...

                                     Imagine this: you've spent years developing your particular brand as a writer, from a series of books...to their singular hook (e.g. Southern Scotch)...to the template for your covers. Now, just as you're gaining some traction, the devil whispers in your ear. And you want to try something different. You see a spin-off series. In fact, you've started writing it and it's coming along wonderfully. Still, each day you feel a pressing need to get down and dirty, grappling with marketing hurdles. It's time now for the dirty word. You know the one:                                    Strategy Now, I have no trouble imagining this. I'd written four Boss MacTavin mysteries--all starring that Southern Scot and sporting cool Tartan covers--when I chose to try someth...