Today I have a guest post with great writing tips from the multitalented Catherine Brophy. Catherine is an Irish writer, story teller, broadcaster, teacher, lecturer and workshop facilitator. She has written four novels, numerous short stories and scripts for both film and TV. She’s at http://www.catherinebrophy.ie when she’s at home. The Emotional Heart… it sounds like the title of a love story.…
Can Terrible Books Make Great Movies?
Yes, of course they can! We tend only to talk about the great books we know which were assassinated by bad films, but we forget that there is another side to the coin. Filmmakers are always looking for ideas, and screenwriting tutors will tell you that it’s a hell of a lot easier for an unknown writer to…
A whole host of Guest Posts for December. Christmas stories from around the world…
I’m guesting today over on Annmarie Miles’ fiction blog, with a little piece for Christmas. Annmarie had the mighty idea of advent-calendaring her blog, posting one piece of short-short fiction from all over the world every day from now until December 24th. I’m very proud to be first up, for December 1st, with a flash…
Small Publishers, And The Way They Might Look At You
In a previous post I said I was a little bit in love with the small press movement, and small wonder, with the successes brought about by these small publishing houses in recent years. Several international big-ticket prizewinners and nominees have seen the light of day only because a small press took a chance on them when nobody…
Respect Dead Authors. But You Got To Feed The Living
In a recent discussion with other emerging authors about book sales, a thought suddenly struck me. (It doesn’t happen often, but when I have a thought, I am very proud, and feel obliged to tell people about it.) Anyhoo. I thought about what most authors want; then I thought about what authors need, what they actually get,…
Mathematical Mondays: The Percentages of Plot
I’m sure someone wiser, prettier, and kinder to children than I am has already discussed this, but it struck me the other day whilst working on the NaNoWriMo novel (sometimes affectionately, sometimes disparagingly known as “No. 2”) that I didn’t know whether my plot was proportionately pleasing, so to speak. Is what’s happening, happening at the right time, or…
Writing Pyjamas
Word Count: Something or t’other. Deleted Words I Swore I Wouldn’t Edit: 10,000 I don’t often do personal posts, but writing 2,000 words a day during NaNoWriMo necessitates desperate measures, sometimes. Having no time to research anything informative which might actually be useful for any data fans out there, I’ve been forced to drag this…
On Assisted Publishing, Self-Publishing, And Insanely Optimistic Feelings
NaNoWriMo Word Count: 3 and a half, approx, give or take 1,000 So, even in the twilight hell that is NaNoWriMo, I’ve been exploring different publishing methods lately, mostly through the efforts of some very talented Dublin-based authors and their publishing experiences. And the results of these investigations are absolutely inspiring. I am a total pessimist (I have…
Dear Authors and Readers: I Am A Total And Utter Spanner
Bet you didn’t expect this kind of honesty this late in the week, eh? I thought not. But I need to admit I’m a twit before I make any other wild pronouncements this month. Define: Spanner For those of you not familiar with different designations of Irish eejitry, a Tool is a person of significantly limited…
What The Hell Do Star Ratings For Books Mean, Anyway?
My post on the general uselessness of 5 star reviews generated a lot of interesting discussion, not least because of how passionately some people – both authors and reviewers – defended their 5 star reviews, and how violently other people – including me – dismissed them. But it does raise an extremely interesting point: what…
Tara Sparling writes 