I recently made a vow to start drafting things longhand.
Continue reading “Think Before You Write”
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Freya considered Jala’s prone form – there really was an astonishing amount of blood trickling out of the fu-shaped cut made by The Whore of Knives. Freya was under no illusion as to the identity of Jala’s assailant – The Whore was in all the most frightening legends and bedtime stories and he was described in detail – the matted bearskin, the knives at his waist, the mad, staring eyes. And she, Freya, had bested him in a fight! Well, she’d helped Jala to do it, at any rate. What a great story that would make – if only any of her people had been left alive to hear it.
She had been avoiding thinking about all that, but seeing Jala lying there brought it all back – the screams of anguish, their cold faces, her mother’s tears as she bundled her into the safest space she could think of.
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In my line of work, people occasionally send me press releases about interesting booky things that are occurring. I received such a missive yesterday from the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust on the subject of a season of events celebrating Iain Banks.
Continue reading “Celebration of Iain Banks”
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Music is a way of telling stories, and so it stands to reason that you can learn a thing or two about storytelling from music. Nowhere is this more evident than in the words of Swedish pop band, Abba. Here are three things they have taught me.
Continue reading “Storytelling Lessons I’ve Learned From ABBA”
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Last weekend I did some writing in a coffee shop, as is the style of Edinburgh based persons with an interest in penning fiction for children.
Continue reading “What’s In A Name”
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Haven’t done this for a while, but this week’s photo challenge is curves, which was simple to put a bookish twist on!
The book in question is Hell’s Bells by John Connolly, a sequel to his YA debute The Gates. Both are very funny and worth a look – and if you enjoy them you’ll be pleased to hear the last in the trilogy, The Creeps, is due to be published in the autumn.
Disclaimer: I’ve never read Mr Connolly’s grown up thriller type books (although I have read The Book of Lost Things, which was fun) so you can’t hold me responsible if you love Charlie Parker and don’t like these!
12 Books in 12 Months 