Most Recent Blog Posts

  • A Question of Tense – part 3

    If you’ve read Parts 1 and 2 of this blog title, you’re probably sick of hearing about verb tenses by now.  I’m going to start thinking about something else, I promise, but here’s the last thing I’ve got to say on the subject. Suppose, we are sitting having a drink in a cozy pub and Read more

  • A Question of Tense – part 2

    Now I’ve had some time to stew on the question of ‘tense’ and its relation to narrative voice, I’ve come to an unexpected conclusion: ‘Tense’ isn’t a part of narrative voice, unless you deliberately mess with it.’ I was struck by the number of books I’ve read recently in which the tense changes. ‘The Goldfinch’, Read more

  • A Question of Tense

    OK, now getting close to the end of Week One of the book edit. I’ve hit all the 6 a.m. mornings, so feeling quite proud of myself. However, the problem of voice and style, and in particular tense have been troubling me much. I have four narrators and they refuse to stick to one time Read more

  • Striking While the Iron Is Hot – A Regime

    Striking while the iron is hot?  What’s all that about? It’s about me getting hold of the book edit I’m engaged with and making it happen, forging ahead (and other inspirational clichés). Quite an apt metaphor, I’d say, given the name of FT Publishing.   Just stand in front of the damn mirror and repeat Read more

  • A Return to the Blog (and a return to the novel)

    So here’s the thing: I haven’t posted much in a long while, but I have a good excuse: I’ve been working on the first draft of a new book. Well, not so much a first draft as a zeroth draft: 90,000 words of unconnected vignettes that don’t hang together.  No change there, you might think Read more

  • Review of ‘The Bullet Catcher’s Daughter’ – Rod Duncan

    I don’t usually blog about books I’ve read, but I’m going to make an exception for the Bullet Catcher’s Daughter, known to its friends as TBCD.  The book deserves all the hype it’s getting elsewhere, and if you haven’t heard about it, then you’ve been spending too much time on the Scottish Referendum.  The real Read more

Subscribe

Enter your email below to receive Forged Truth updates and blog posts.