For those who aren’t writers and still in the lovely rosy world of ‘you write a book, find an agent and get published, surely?’ this is an eye-opener on the new world of writing. Book-publishing has changed enormously. Many publishers are now only interested in the kind of books that you’ll find in Asda, Sainsburys …
This is an excerpt from The Courage Game, the moment where Gladys is involved in the mass window-breaking in central London organized by Christabel Pankhurst. I approached cautiously, dodging vehicles – far more vans and smart cars than were yet evident in Birmingham. The vehicles screened me from view, so that I was able to …
I have been obsessed with mythology, particularly Greek mythology which was what I was brought up with, since I was a child. To prove it, here is a poem, written when I was sixteen, in the sixth-form of my boarding-school. No More No more are the mud-hut kings and queensIn their hovelled hound-bitten warsGaping chariots …
This is the episode where Hades actually kidnaps Persephone… He saw her some while ago in the meadow with friends and she is as fascinated by him as if he were a new breed of wild animal she has discovered. Having lived alone in the Underworld for centuries, with only the dead for company, his …
The three composers played in this inspiring concert all had one thing in common: they all suffered tragically early deaths in their thirties. It felt right that the musicians were all youthful too. The Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective is comparatively young having been formed six years ago by Tom Poster and his wife Elena Urioste, who …
I’m on a roll at the moment with it looking likely that I’ll finish the next book, on Hades and Persephone perhaps even by the end of this month. Then comes the long wait and all those crossed fingers that someone will take it on and publish it. The writing is always the best bit. …
When one goes to see an opera one hardly expects such an extravagant mix of song, acting, dance, art and music. In every sense this work demands everything it can of all its participants. To begin at the beginning. The show begins with the orchestra, always visible at the back of the stage, delivering an …
I have been asked to write a play version of the book and the idea has both intrigued me and made me feel that I’m in danger of becoming a one-horse wonder. What will happen to The Lonely God [the story of Hades and Persephone] and Oh, Caroline, the book about Caroline Herschel astronomer, both …
To pants as a writer is to fly by the seat of your pants. That is, you’re allowing the characters to lead you rather than the other way around. A writer who does this exclusively is called a pantser. Then there are planners who meticulously map their whole novel from start to finish. A version …
In one form or the other I am writing most of the day but not usually the same book. Yes, I know that sounds a bit flaky but for years I have had at least two projects on the go. This began when I was having to make a living as a writer of drama …