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Rathlin Island… or is it Farholm?
On our way home we stopped in Ballycastle, County Antrim and had a wander about, a cup of tea, piece of cake and took some photos. My novel ‘Farholm’ starts with Deke catching the ferry to Farholm from...
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The Missing
I have just finished rereading an excellent book by Andrew O’Hagan which is not just about people who are missing, but people who miss them… or not. His book ranges from stories of nineteenth century...
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Butter fingers!
When I published my first book as an e-book, it was one of seven which I had completed over years of writing but had had no success with finding a publisher. I had to work hard to edit ‘Farholm’,...
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The green-eyed monster
Iago: O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-ey’d monster, which doth mock The meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss, Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger: But O, what...
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Pleased… but surprised
I wonder if it’s the same for other artists – painters and musicians for example. Do they have favourite pieces of their own work, some they think better than others, some they prefer to others? Are...
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The old year
January – my birthday, a special birthday for my cousin Diana, and I start the Dharma Foundation Course February – a trip to Iceland, I miss the Northern Lights, and St.Valentine’s Day! March – the...
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Writing from the side of my eye
I was listening to Desert Island Discs this morning, and the castaway was the writer David Almond. Now, I went to college, the famous College of Commerce, with a Dai Almond, from the same place,...
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Farholm… continued?
The first book I published, Farholm, received some lovely comments and some helpful criticisms and quite a few of the remarks were along the lines of, what happens next? After an exciting and...
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Excerpt
One of my unfinished novels which at present has no title, is about a college lecturer, Frederico Milan, whose wife left home three years ago and has never been seen since. Her father Paul believes...
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Secrets
I was talking to a friend the other day who very kindly gave me some feedback on my novels, of which she has read three, she has not yet started ‘Night Vision’. She remarked that a common theme to all...
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A particular time
There is a particular time, when the tide just pauses for a moment, as if considering whether to continue drawing in or to begin to recede. There is an opposite time when the tide is as far out as it...
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Titles
I was listening to Front Row on Radio 4 tonight and all the features were about crime writers as the annual Crime Writers’ Festival is on at the moment in Harrogate. Kate Atkinson was being interviewed...
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Thinking back to Farholm
As I get nearer to publishing my latest book, Flipside, I have been thinking back to the first book I published as an e-book, Farholm. The story is set on the island of Farholm, which is a bit of a...
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A mere coincidence
I always put a dedication at the front of my novels, and Flipside is dedicated to my friends, colleagues and people I taught in Oldham, where the novel is set. Unusually I also added a small preface...
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Where I would like to be!
I would like to be on a book shelf, in a book shop, sandwiched between Brett Easton Ellis and Ben Elton… not literally me in person I don’t mean, but I would like to see my books there. Would they be...
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A new project
As I mentioned yesterday I have created a web-site to try and promote my books… I guess it will take a while for me to decide whether I have set it up as I like it, and whether it looks OK… as part...
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Magick cover
I am about halfway through my next novel, Magick, a sequel to Radwinter… and I have come to that boggy stage where I seem up to my ankle in words and can’t seem to step forward… I know I will get over...
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What’s the date
The one thing which I neglect and which I should make more effort to think about when I write is the time of year when it happens, and sometimes the actual dates that things happen in my books. Apart...
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Are my heroines me?
I’m thinking of pulling together and publishing a guide I wrote to writing – originally for my students when I was teaching and preparing them for their exams, and more recently for my adult friends in...
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Blurbs… enough but not too much
Blurbs are the most difficult thing to write! To entice your prospective readers, to draw them into your book but without giving anything away! To hint at plot lines and narrative twists without...
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