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Tag: e-books

The Butterfly Collector

‘What happens when everything you have is not enough?’ I first penned The Butterfly Collector in 2007 in a couple of hardback notebooks. It started, as most of my novels do, with a single idea – in this case, a couple meeting for the first time in the kitchen at a party. Peter Calliet is a property developer who has all…

The Enemy Within

My son informed me recently in solemn tones that he had some bad news for me. Steeling myself for the worst, I waited. The news as it turned out was indeed rather distressing.  He’d found a typo in my second novel. Given the times I’ve read the manuscript, not to mention the proofreaders and editors who’ve also been over it…

Life as a QR code

Imagine how many bloggers there are out there, filling the world with unsolicited text. Solitary voices in cyberspace, looking for recognition. I began to wonder at the purpose of it all. What drives us ordinary mortals to pen these quaint little ramblings? Surely, we all have better things to do? For one thing it’s practise, I suppose. The more you do,…

What would my mum think?

I thought it might be amusing to compile a list of the excuses I have used in the past to convince myself I couldn’t make it in the writing game. Some of these are old recurring themes, others have popped up more recently. Here we go ….. I haven’t been to university I’m too old I have tattoos I don’t…

Rise of the New Barbarians

Jonathan Franzen says he doesn’t like Twitter. Neither does he like the tide of self-published dross that’s threatening to destroy literature forever. The reasons he gives for this dislike are understandable. As an author accorded almost god-like status by the critics and hailed as the last great American novelist, he can afford to be sceptical. But do his views have…

Last man standing

The publishing world has changed. Authors no longer need to follow the traditional model in order to see their work in print. They can simply upload their work to Amazon and be in business in a matter of minutes – a privilege unheard of in previous decades. Forward to the deluge of grateful readers and the six-figure advance from Harper…

Self-publish and be damned (Part Two)

A short while ago, I made the decision to self-publish my first novel The Butterfly Collector. Far from being a whim, or the result of excessive vanity (although I have enough of that), the decision was taken after some consideration. Prior to this, my novel had undertaken an extensive tour of agent’s offices and publishing houses without any offers. The waiting time…

Publish and be damned?

All writers want to be in Waterstones shop window, now, today, this minute. One small obstacle stands between us and the realisation of a lifetime’s dream. Publishers. Today’s climate is not encouraging for the budding novelist, intent on seeing his work in print. Literary agents, those much maligned creatures who practise cunning evasion techniques to avoid dealing with the slush pile,…