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 repeatContinue reading “Striking While the Iron Is Hot – A Regime”

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 thinkContinue reading “A Return to the Blog (and a return to the novel)”

More About My Struggle With Poetry

So, on Thursday night, I was listening to someone read a poem about a rocket disaster (don’t ask me the reason, it’s too complex).  The poem began with some beautiful imagery about the preparations for launch, then switched, two-thirds of the way through,  to some very factual sentences reporting the disintegrating situation that led to allContinue reading “More About My Struggle With Poetry”

The Problem With The Synopsis

Ever had that feeling that you know too much about the book you’ve written to condense it down to a page and a half for an agent or publisher’s edification?  Yeah, me too. I mean, what is it with these guys?  They’re supposed to be in the business.  Do they really read that slowly?  DoContinue reading “The Problem With The Synopsis”

What to Write Next – the Author’s dilemma

So here I am, sitting at a desk, wondering in which direction I should let my mind wander. Here’s my problem: I recently finished a first draft; it’s out there sloshing from slush pile to slush pile, no doubt so wet by now that the ink has smudged and it’s hard to read the words.Continue reading “What to Write Next – the Author’s dilemma”