CREATIVE RAGBAG OF NEWS AND IDEAS…A new book after 15 years…A new library…A new blog feature
A NEW NOVEL Fifteen years after the publication of the massive bestseller (massive in size and sales) Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Susanna Clarke is bringing out her second novel … Continue reading
Harry Potter and the American election
A high-level study has come to the conclusion that Harry Potter fans won’t be voting for Donald Trump today. The Institute for the Study of Citizens and Politics (a non-partisan … Continue reading
7 Literary One Hit Wonders
Originally posted on Guy Portman's Blog:
This week sees the latest instalment in my famous author series. Last week’s post, 7 Famous Authors Who Died Poor, proved to be…
How non-fiction writers can win a publishing deal
I’m often asked to write reviews and rarely agree. I said yes to The Nonfiction Book Proposal Demystified because Wow! Women in Writing – an American e-zine – offered me … Continue reading
Why Talking Was Invented (maybe)
On Fridays I am returning to some of my favourite posts from the past. To paraphrase BBC radio: this is your chance to read again… This comes from April 2013 … Continue reading
Can writing be taught? And what do writing teachers teach?
Originally posted on Nail Your Novel:
The other night I was watching The Rewrite, in which a Hollywood scriptwriter reluctantly becomes a writing teacher. In the early part of the…
Seven books that convinced me making up stories was a fine thing to do….
On Fridays I am returning to some of my favourite posts from the past. To paraphrase BBC radio: this is your chance to read again… Alice in Wonderland and Through … Continue reading
LITERARY SNOBBERY and the harm it does…
Scottish writer SARA SHERIDAN argues that literary snobbery is a destructive and divisive force. She defines it as a prevailing attitude that prefers male authors to female, sees war as … Continue reading
A brutally honest book log – January 2015
I’m not sure if I will keep this up all year, but I’ve wanted to keep a record of what I’ve been reading for some time. Why brutally honest? Because … Continue reading
More literary insults…and this time it’s personal
A harsh review got an equally harsh retort this week, not from the author (authors are always told to keep quiet about bad reviews), but a clearly angry man who … Continue reading
Silent Monks Singing the Hallelujah Chorus – Happy Christmas Everyone
This will put a smile on your face if there isn’t one there already… Performed by a Public High School in America – wish I knew which school and where … Continue reading
Wouldn’t it be lovely if there was no such thing as books for boys…or princesses…or pink
I recently wrote about a Barbie book that should never have seen the light of day and now I’ve heard about a young girl in California who has managed to … Continue reading
Christmas tension mounting? Here’s a book that will help without mentioning turkeys or stuffing (although family does crop up quite often))
Think of Making Friends with Anxiety as an early Christmas present to yourself. Written by international bestselling author Sarah Rayner, it oozes compassion without a hint of patronising superiority or … Continue reading
Is there anything wrong with writing ‘for free’?
Originally posted on Sue Moorcroft blog:
£ I write for money. $ Writing, and all the stuff I do connected with writing (teaching, judging, speaking, appraising) is how I earn…
BRIDGET WHELAN writer 