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Tag: reading

The devil is in the detail

Novelists can usually be divided into two camps: those that enjoy research, and those that loathe it. I belong to the former, and spend hours trawling through books and articles for subject-related matter. But how much detail should end up in a novel is open to debate. Too much and you risk the reader’s irritation. Yes, some readers enjoy textbook…

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…

In the Lion’s Den

Novelists are a sensitive bunch on the whole. So it was with some trepidation that I agreed to face a library book club on a cold, wet Monday afternoon, to hear their comments on my novel The Butterfly Collector. One of the things a writer fears most is criticism. You’ve spent hours labouring over your magnum opus and expect the…