Authors Electric

What is pc when writing for children? I was struck by the woman on a recent programme about children’s television who said that the early programmes were ‘too middle-class.’ They were certainly voiced by people with impeccable diction and no trace of regional twang. Now, one thing that seems to unite most TV presenters, whatever they are presenting, is an inability to pronounce the letter ‘t’. It has become a glottlestop. Oops, I’ve digressed into a personal gripe. Sorry. Where was I? Yes, this woman on the TV made me think about whether we should write from where people are (or where we think they are) or from where we would like them to be.             Aspirational, that’s the word. Is it wrong? The woman of TV mentioned Grange Hill as more appropriate to the needs of modern kids. Well, I’ve been there; spent two long terms in a local secondary school trying to interest and enthuse 14-year-olds in writing stories for younger ch...

I have just met the electronic version of Miss Whiplash, the editor from Hell. I’m talking about Autocrit which is described on their website as manuscript editing software for fiction writers. As you probably know I’m a sucker for software. I got seduced by Scrivener about a year ago and now swear by it as an organisational tool to whip your first draft into shape. The other software I’ve succumbed to is Dragon. I have the professional version and it’s superb. I’ve also added lots of other software bits and pieces to my long-suffering computer, but the programmes I’ve mentioned are the ones that stand head and shoulders above the rest. And if I run this through Autocrit it will smack my fingers for using such a blatant cliche. Now, there is no writing software on the market that will write your book for you, or if there is I haven’t found it yet. But what software will do is provide tools to either organise your manuscript into some kind of sensible order, or to highligh...

Though these women look quite pleased with themselves, I must admit, it's not myself and Mel This time last year, I would never have believed that I could say I am a self-published author. If I was also told I’d be embarking on a new crime series with New York Times Bestselling Author, M.A Comley, I’d say you were pulling my leg. But look at me, it’s happened and it’s a dream come true.      After speaking to a variety of authors online, I’ve come to realise co-writing isn’t for everyone. Some even say it would be their worst nightmare. And I can totally understand that. Having someone grill your work, edit it and not agree with your ideas could be frustrating. But look at it from a different perspective and it could mean that person is enhancing what you’ve written and enriching your ideas.      I find myself in a lucky position. I am working with an experienced author who has published over 35 books in five years and definitely knows her...

Ever since the financial crash of 2008, money has become a far more popular topic in fiction, and the TV series Follow the Money had us on the edge of our seats as it dealt with financial malpractice. However, the fact that they were talking in kroner made it timeless for us Brits! How you deal with money in fiction is an interesting topic on its own, though. Times change, and if we could predict how some of us would be a lot richer than we are. If you’re writing a book that you expect to be of zero interest in three years’ time then the issue isn’t a critical one. But if you’re hoping that people will carry on reading it and regard it as contemporary, rather than historical, the scenario is somewhat different. The examples I’m giving here aren’t all e-books, as we’re dealing with past publications, but that’s why they’re relevant. Missing Link   was finally published in 2009, fifteen years after it was originally written. It was set in what then seemed the far distant future ...

I have been thinking a lot about technology recently. In today's society we spend a lot of time using technology. This can be even more true as writers. Even if the entire book is written by hand, at some stage it will need to be transferred into a document which can be sent to agents or editors. Technology can transform our lives in so many ways. It is ingrained in our lives in aspects we could never have imagined in the past. The ways we us technology are too numerous but the main ones which I, and many others use, are: Writing  Blogging Social Media Research As writers we may all have different computers, be they PC or Mac. I am certain we all have one product in common - Microsoft Office. This is one of the most versatile software programmes around. If you don't use this this you may use one of the equivalents such as Apple's suite of office apps. These not only provide a platform to write books, but also allow us to do presentations or keep our accoun...

The good old days -my father and Pop Meadows heading for France. WW2 not so far away.... Off to France in two days time, if our English football charmers have left any of it to go to. And while I’m there the referendum will take place, in which a large proportion of the fighting English will express their contempt for people of another race (any other race), happy in the knowledge that they’re superior. Fair enough, it’s what we have to get used to as we grow up and learn world history, but this one is something of an eye-opener anyway. Firstly, the idea that referendums are more democratic than democracy. Which, taken to its logical conclusion, means that hanging should be brought back if enough people push for a vote, and that’s only for starters. Nigel Farridge, the man of French extraction who pronounces his surname like a Frenchman and has a German wife, will be on the loose. The five most stupid men in the Cabinet (and boy, that’s saying something) will be in control. ...

I never thought I would equate myself with the 'lady from the provinces' on the Lord High Executioner's 'little list' in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. But circumstances have conspired to make me. The last two months have been really rather extraordinary. Up till then, my writing life had proceeded like it has for the last four years. There's been perilously little new writing. Two big projects , the completion of the Ellen trilogy and The Second Man from Porlock, my Coleridge novel, keep being put off partly because other things persist in turning up and partly because I sometimes think that, deep down, I'm a bit afraid of them. Instead I've been preparing, and, twice, almost rewriting, books for Kindle, making selections of short stories from over the years on Createspace and at last publishing new work both on Createspace and for educational publishers. And there are two books nearly ready to go on Createspace, which I blogged about before....