Authors Electric

 Image Credit:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. I love writing workshops. I’ve learned so much from them and now I’m running my own (flash fiction, the ups and downs of being a writer etc). I like workshops which give me plenty to think about and  exercises I can polish up at home. I want to be “doing” as well as listening. Knowing what I like has helped me tailor my workshops. I think good old-fashioned pen and paper still has a valuable role to play. This shows up best at a writing workshop. No worries about whether your PC battery will die halfway through the workshop. No worries about whether there will be enough charging points for said PC to avoid that. You just pick up a pen and jot down points of interest. Okay, there is a dilemma to be faced with pen and paper. Just which notebook will I use? Which pen to go with it? Is there any writer who doesn’t have a surfeit of notebooks and pens? When I worked in Winchester many moons ago, I avoided going...

As I shall be in hospital on the 17th (again!) I didn't feel up to a long post, so I thought I would simply paste a few poems in.  Inside the Powder Room, at last.  You’re in, through the wedged- open door, gritting your teeth, minding the pees and queues.   And then, suddenly, they don’t matter -- not any more. It’s one of those Ladies’ moments. The snake of people inside is as out of order as the plumbing, curled in on itself like intestines. You start by talking floor area, cubicles, urinals, male architects.   You could be any vintage, from geezer bird to hot flush to blue rinse.   As you wait, the temperature rises.   Now you’re privy to period pains, polyps, Prozac, uncooperative partners, ungrateful progeny, quashed ambitions, quick abortions, quiet affairs -   but no hot air, no soft soap, no flannel – you’re dishing your own dirt, relieving yourselves of skeletons you won’t be revealing outside.   The te...

Summer has arrived this week, and I’m loving it. I’m feeling less horrified by the early morning starts with our puppy and more alive in the evenings, so I’m itching to pick up my WIP again. Now that my mind is no longer filled with puppy needs as well as kids’ needs, it’s time to visit Elabi again.  Looking at my family around the nice weather, there is a range of different types of characters I can think of. There’s one, a fair-weather person. They love adventure or trouble, but only one kind of adventure. Maybe they’ll be happy to go on a dangerous expedition but stay away from equally dangerous city trouble. Then there is number 2, oblivious to the weather, danger I mean. They do their own thing and accidentally stumble upon danger, unprepared and ill-equipped. They enjoy danger and adventure and are always willing to be pulled into adventures but might be overdressed. Number three loves the idea of adventurous days, but hates it when it comes to it. They might grumble or...

  So far I haven't heard P-51 Mustangs or Spitfires roar overhead or seen aerial bombs oh-so-glad to go off...but I can say my own war's on the way. I'll explain.  On August 2, I'll leave Seattle, Washington, by train, bound for my new place in Tucson, Arizona. The apartment is unfurnished, my personal effects arriving in increments--by movers, mail, and UPS. The absolute essentials I must bring with me by train since I need to hit the ground running when the war begins in Tucson: hunting for a job and continuing my WIP. I've been anything but idle, carefully packing boxes and bags for the movers and mail. I've even set up an advance Tucson delivery address for furnishings from Amazon. A collapsible desk will await me. But till now I felt buffaloed by the vast conundrum: How, with my life in such chaos can I access all my immediate needs--easily and quickly? From flash drives to sun protection shirts, from Moleskines for my WIP to Tucson maps and travel docs, fr...

  As I may have mentioned, on 1 st January this year I took a leap into the abyss and became a Full Time Writer. This was at once terrifying and thrilling. Yes, I had my well-established freelance writing career, but just as I laid down my other source of income for good, one of my biggest clients changed things around and I haven’t had any work from them since. I got writer’s block for the first time ever while trying to write my third novel. My elderly parents needed even more care and attention which sapped my mental strength and even though I’m a fairly brave and optimistic person, I sat in my Palace of Creativity in the cold, dark days of January thinking to myself, “Ruth, how on earth are you going to make any money?”   A fellow writer, the magnificent Sheila Robinson, had mentioned years before that she booked herself a space on local craft and book fairs and sold her books directly to the public. This seemed like a splendid idea. Having spent twenty years running my...

Yesterday, my new novel was released. Hooray to me! As I’m sure you’d agree, the process of writing to editing and publishing can be a difficult journey, with twists and turns and ups and downs.  My journey has been one of those. My personal life has been marred with many challenges and the distraction of this new novel has been welcome. It’s a nice thing to worry about a book when it helps you not worry about life so much.  I almost got away with book publishing lala land until a close friend asked me the dreaded question “when is your book launch” ……  To be honest, I had not thought much about it. My first and last book launch was 2 years ago and even then I thought it would be my last one. I carried that thought in my mind until I was asked the when question.  “Does every book need to be launched” I responded defensively and somewhat defiantly. The memories of the stress I endured 2 years ago danced slowly in my already tired brain. Life is stressful enough, plann...

  Lark or Owl? I’ve been giving this some thought recently. Are you one of those people that wake with the sun, or do you stay sleepy and grumpy until much later in the day? Then when the larks are fading are you up partying until the early hours? Or as a writer is that when you do your best work? For me there is no question. I am a lark. At the moment I’m waking at around 5. 30 and if it were not for a certain reluctance to actually get out of bed, I am ready to start my day. Because, in spite of the date, the weather has not been particularly warm in the UK, I lie there and let the ideas flow through my brain. Once at the computer, I can work productively all morning. Until the dreaded afternoon arrives. I hate afternoons. Even the best of them trails an aura of ennui laced with unspecified sadness. The hours between one and five pm should either be spent having a long, long lunch with friends, or being absorbed in a book, or watching a film. As for writing, at this point...