Authors Electric

I see a lot of posts on social media about   whether  to write in first person or third person, if a story   should  be in past or present tense or if it’s   OK  to use one or more of the above at the same time. I’m not sure why anybody thinks they need permission to do anything. You can do what you like how you like and when you like – although in my opinion it does help to know what the rules actually are, so that you can break them properly and carefully, as opposed to driving a tank through them and leaving the poor little rules squealing on the ground in pain … I find with novels, I’m best using third person past tense. I can’t really sustain anything else for the length and depth of writing that a novel really needs. I have a lot of admiration for writers who can gallop along in first person without tying themselves up in knots, but I can’t do it. I like to get up close and personal with my characters, but they are not me and writing first person seem...

When it comes to ebooks, unless you sell by reputation, it’s often accepted that there’s an order of things by which people might be persuaded to buy your book. Impress your potential reader with all 3 and you’ll likely have a sale: 1.        Cover 2.        Blurb 3.        Sample A cover is what generally first attracts the reader.   For my first attempt at my first ebook,   Hamelin’s Child , I didn’t have a clue. I had a lovely image designed by a talented friend of mine which worked well as a big image but not so well at thumbnail   (Pete also did the cover for my short story collection, Maniac , which works beautifully and I absolutely love). I subbed Hamelin’s Child to Criminal-E - an interview/review site run by crime writer, agent & editor Al Guthrie. Al kindly told me the cover didn’t work, but he introduced me to his designer JT Lindroos and held my hand ...