A very, very belated Happy New Year! It’s been a while since I last posted here. I love keeping this blog. I love the responses I’ve had to my posts and the people I’ve met in the five years since I first started blogging. But I’ve reluctantly decided I will have to cut down on…… Continue reading What does it take to actually sit down and write your first novel? #amwriting #writetip
If you’ve followed my blog for a while you’ll know that over the past year I published two romantic suspense novellas – Palace of Deception and The Scottish Diamond. I’m planning to combine these two novellas into one full-length print edition (and into a boxed set for the ebook version), along with a short story that will bring…… Continue reading Have your romance novel title in print…and win a lovely prize!
“Show, don’t tell” is one of the most well-known pieces of advice for writers – and maybe one of the most difficult to follow. I’ve been thinking about this advice this past week as I edit one of my own books, and I understand just how hard it is to spot for yourself when one of your own passages is…… Continue reading #writetip: Why “show, not tell” is such a hard slog
Another month has gone by, which means it’s time for another Round Robin, and author Rhobin Courtwright has come up with yet another great topic for us: “Have you noticed how weather is used in writing? How have you used weather in your writing? Drama? Mood? Revelation?” I absolutely love all forms of symbolism in writing and art. Even…… Continue reading Pathetic fallacy – symbolism and the weather in fiction
I’m chuffed to welcome back Scottish author Jennifer Young today. Jennifer is a fellow member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, and she came to my blog last year (you can read her interview here). We’ve met several times in real life through the RNA, and I’m looking forward to meeting Jennifer even more often when…… Continue reading The importance of setting in a romance novel, with author Jennifer Young
It’s time for the first Round Robin of 2016, and this month we are to list “one or two writing projects” we have in mind for the coming year. I really like the idea of goals. Even if I don’t achieve them, it gives me something to work towards, and – if you work by…… Continue reading Setting goals, my writing projects for 2016, and some advice required
I can’t believe it’s time for another Round Robin. (I say this every month! Life is galloping away with me.) Today’s theme has got me thinking hard again. What current issues are important to you? How often do modern social/global issues have a place in your stories? These are both great questions. Here is my…… Continue reading Do social issues belong in novels? Or should fiction help us to escape the world’s problems?
If you’re a writer you’ll know you can’t just write a brilliant book, have it superbly edited with an excellent cover, and then upload it to Amazon and wait for people to buy it in their droves. (Ha! How I wish!) You have to let people know it’s there. A few weeks ago I enrolled…… Continue reading Making a success of your 5 free days on Amazon
Patience Bloom is a senior editor with Harlequin in the US, and I’ve been following her blog (Romance is My Day Job – great title!) for quite a while now. Although Patience doesn’t post very often, when she does it’s always useful, and I’ve picked up many a tip, especially on things to avoid when…… Continue reading Starting in the right place and staying focused on your story. 5 tips from Patience Bloom
A couple of months ago a manuscript I’m working on was shortlisted for the Exeter Novel Prize, and last Saturday the award ceremony was held in (of course!) the city of Exeter. So, at the weekend I travelled all the way to Devon for the ceremony. Exeter is a pretty long way away for me.…… Continue reading J.K. Rowling’s Exeter and the Exeter Novel Prize
Helena Fairfax 