Authors Electric

Image Credits:-  Most images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. One photo taken by me at the Bridge House Publishing celebration event on 4th December 2021. One lovely thing about being a writer is we are easy to buy for. I don’t think it’s possible to convince non-writers new notebooks etc are vital. We know there is no such thing as too many. Just try telling them that… We will want books, stationery, pens etc. Then there are book related presents such as mugs with your book cover on or that of a favourite author’s as most have merchandise. I like that as long as the product is good. Pens, mugs, postcards, and book marks work for me. Things like clothing with books on do not work for me though I liked examples of writers creating face masks with their covers on. So, other than books, what would you have as writing related presents? To Have Pens advertising my books (have these. They look good. They go down well at events. Pens are always handy). Postcards (likewise and ...

Foreign travel has always been an invaluable source of inspiration for me, and I have used icy settings on more than one occasion – Jinx on the Divide , and Ice Feathers in particular. Covid-19 meant several cancelled trips abroad, and about ten months ago I looked for the place least likely to present problems. Greenland has a population of just over 56,000, so no danger of massive crowds anywhere, very few cases of coronavirus and no deaths. There were a lot of hoops to jump through to get there, and although we booked the holiday last March, thinking there was very little chance of it going ahead, by sheer chance we managed a small window of opportunity between when Greenland would let us in and whatever changes the new Omicron variant may bring. And what a source of inspiration it turned out to be. We didn’t manage to see the Northern Lights, due to cloud, but that was the only downside. We were based at two centres. Two nights at Kangerlussuaq, which is where the main airport i...

I'll be honest and say I was struggling to know what to write about for this blog. I thought of several ideas and dismissed them again, hence the reason this blog is coming to you late in the day. I must admit to having borrowed the idea for this blog from someone else but I promise none of the ideas are borrowed from that blog. I deliberately did not read that one until I had written this one. I cannot remember who the original creator was but I am indebted to them and I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart. So, what to give the writer in your life for Christmas? The number one present has got to be books, books and more books. Writers have got to be the biggest readers in the world as it is difficult to be a writer without first being a reader. wondering what type of books they read? Try looking at what they write - I can guarantee you they will read in that genre. Of course, you could try using the boundaries and buy them a bookseller recommends book as I know I ...

Believe it or not, but today is Cat Herders Day. It seems to be an international day, according to the National Day Calendar. Taking my kids for a walk often made me exclaim, “It’s like herding cats!” Who knew there was an international day to celebrate this kind of endurance sport? Tomorrow it’s ‘National Chocolate-covered Anything Day. Maybe to make up for the cat herding? Many things in life can feel like herding cats. Trying to get your characters to behave. Getting enough research done so you can figure out whether the unfortunate events befalling your characters will allow them to make it into the next novel, or whether you have just lost your main antagonist and need to start looking for another villain. Then there is the editing. Trying to herd commas into the right place. Grammarly and I disagree somewhat, so now I’m relying on my editor to decide who’s won the comma herding. Herding ideas onto paper in itself can be like herding cats, as tiredness can make thoughts disapp...

 When everyone seems to have mastered the art of crying it out at the top of their lungs, and we feel deafened by the roars, what are we to do?   --They've just finished writing their new novel of the month. --Once again they've written 10K words a day. --They've just landed a 3-book, 7-figure contract. --They've lost a hundred pounds and signed on with a modeling agency. --They've landed a new job at twice their salary and half their hours. And on and on and on, until our own cry is crushing: So, with lumps in our throats, we get back to the slogs we seem trapped in: crappy sales...zero online visibility...unending rejections...a novel that threatens to need at least 5 more revisions...age discrimination... I'm no Pollyanna telling you that this is the best of all worlds for us all. But I believe we can better our chances and lives by starting now to do  two things:   1) Devise effective strategies for staying in The Zone and in fighting trim.   2) Take real pl...

Now there’s a question. I’m still waiting for the Number One Question Writers Get Asked (according to – well, everyone.) JK Rowling, Marian Keyes, Sophie Kinsella, heck, probably even Dickens himself got asked it. “Where do you get your ideas from?”   Back in the day when I was just a freelance writer and hadn’t started writing fiction, I didn’t need to have that many ideas. I interviewed people then turned two pages of rambling notes into 600 words according to the brief I’d been given. I didn’t have to make stuff up or come up with a new and exciting take on the writing game.   These days, I’m fortunate enough to write for two blogs and even occasionally my own. Most of the time, I’ve got a topic up my sleeve, but this month it’s been hard. My parents (combined age 187) have getting rapidly frailer and last week involved a mini stroke, a seizure and blue flashing lights.   My husband and I run a catering company and this is our last year. I’ve juggled my burgeoning ...

Can I be honest? Right now, I feel like a terrible wife and mother. I also feel like an inconsiderate friend. I am in the process of writing another novel and it has simply taken over my whole life. My day to day life is already busy. I have a very demanding job and three children to look after. Working from home is not practical as I tend to blend my home life into my work life. I put on the dishwasher between meetings, cook dinner, clean the house and do all the things I would normally wait till the weekend to do if I was working from the office. This means that I am constantly on the go.  Throw a book into the mix and suddenly, my life is filled with late nights, early morning and lots of fast food. I feel guilty. I am not spending as much time with family or friends. I have had to step back from various aspects of my everyday life like social media so I can have the time to focus. Although it seems like a small price to pay, I have missed big things like - My own birthday wishe...