Speculative stories about spirits and the soul.
I first wrote Rats in the Capital in 2014-2015. That was the first draft, anyway. More drafts followed, but the story was notable because it was a very British novel set in the present day. There wasn’t any problem with that (or, at least, not so I thought). But then, in 2016, Brexit happened. And …
Continue reading “The Dangers of Near-Future Science Fiction”
As a Christian and an author, people naturally wonder if one thing informs the other. As in, ‘Are you like a modern-day C.S. Lewis or Tolkien or something, only not as good?’ Ahem. Well, that’s not how I’d market myself exactly. I don’t smoke pipeweed for a start. Still, on reflection, I’d probably go with something …
Officially, I’ve fought chronic pain for just over a decade. In my case, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and fibromyalgia. And while this isn’t the time for an idle chat about what that scrap looks like, the effect of this fight on my life has been pretty intense. To give you some idea, I spent four years unable …
After nearly two decades of writing fiction, a few things are clear. One of those is I’m quite bad at social media. Blogging and email feel like better alternatives, but I feel most at home locked away writing fiction. It’s cool. I’m at peace with this setup, but it does make the act of self-promotion …
Tough start to the year. Not sure why I thought it would be any different to be honest. But the good news is I’m back writing. Novels, shorts, blogs, all that good stuff. So it’s great to have such direction moving into spring. Stay tuned for an announcement.
How to sum up this year? Well, fiction-writing-wise, it’s been a real train-wreck. Despite being determined to do the opposite, I published zero fiction and wrote very little in my Word files. No doubt, such news would have frustrated the 2022-me intensely. But the truth is it’s not all bad. I’ve learned a lot over …
You know when you run out of books to read? Well, that was me about a month ago. But then I remembered ‘The Magus’ by John Fowles. My mate raved about it during our A-levels, and even though that was 25 years ago, memories of his enthusiasm were still fresh in my mind. At a …
I forgot to mention something in my last post. In case you missed it, the main gist was that all fiction writing has stopped for the time being. But in my excitement at explaining the mammoth business-writing project underway, I forgot to mention the gargantuan website-writing task that is happening simultaneously at work. So, two …
It’s a bit of a gamble. And if it doesn’t work, I probably won’t try it again. But – as explained in last month’s post – to find more time to write fiction, I’m now not writing any at all! This isn’t what they teach you in all the books. The adage is to write …
When you write in the small gaps around your day job, you must use yout time wisely. But that’s easier said than done when there are so many stories to write (and edit) and countless more ways to market yourself online. Business coaches often cite the 80/20 rule – also known as Pareto Principle – …
Continue reading “Can Pareto Principle Help Authors Get Better Results?”
