As those of you who visit regularly will know, my first novel is coming out in February next year. It's off to be typeset shortly, then printed. I'm excited and terrified - primarily that as soon as I flick through a printed copy I'll find a typo. These are the fears that keep a proofreader/editor…
The Cover Story
Everything is a bit secret squirrel when you're preparing to have your novel published. The title. The story. The launch plans. How the author managed to write the bloody thing in the first place. (If someone can tell me the answer to that one I'd be much obliged.) One of the most exciting (and terrifying)…
The Stories Within Us
My daughter turns 14 next week. As is always the case at this time of year, I'm reflecting on the difference she has made to my life, what joy she has brought, and what lessons she has taught me. And as I prepare for the publication of my first novel next year, my thoughts inevitably…
A Novel Contract
Yesterday I signed a publishing contract with New Zealand Publisher Cloud Ink Press. My debut novel will be launched in February 2022. A friend asked me how I felt (which I thought was rather lovely - most people offered their congratulations, which was fantastic and expected, but this friend, perhaps aware that signing a publishing…
The Pantser and The Second Act Sag (Or, more things I have learnt writing a novel)
I've finished my first novel, and plans are underway to publish it. As I bask in the afterglow (AKA the thank-feck-that's-over, Netflix-saturated, crap-magazine-reading malaise), I've been reflecting on the novel-writing process and what more it has taught me (You may also want to read my earlier post, Ten things I have learnt writing a novel).…
Point of View: How to Choose?
Today I thought I’d tackle the perennially difficult topic of point of view (POV). I’m not an expert, so I’m not going to offer “expert” advice. I’m simply going to share my own experience. I don’t think I need to list and define the various narrative POVs: Google “point of view” and you’ve got it…
Ten things I have learnt writing a novel
I’m giving my manuscript a final proofread before submitting it to a potential publisher later this month. It’s been years in the making, this novel. It has sat, untouched, for months at a time. Life has gotten in the way, including setting up my own editing business, raising my daughter, becoming single, rebuilding a life,…
Wrestling the Octopus: how to avoid writing a novel
At a certain point, a novel-in-progress starts to get a tad unwieldy. When you begin, you have a blank screen and the boundless enthusiasm of a puppy. After a few months you have a mountain of scrap paper scrawled with half-finished paragraphs and synopsis drafts, screeds of ideas jotted down and pinned all over the walls in your office,…
Endings
Today I'd like to say a brief word about endings. We hear a lot about beginnings, and how difficult/important they are. "A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step." (Lao Tzu) "The beginning is the most important part of the work." (Plato) "Every moment is a fresh beginning." (T.S. Eliot) "For fucksake…
Never Too Late
After a difficult year during which I felt no creative impulses whatsoever, I have started work on my novel again, rewriting and editing my way through a second draft. It had been sitting in a drawer for over two years. I'm excited, if a little rusty. I feel very out of practice and I have…
