Jack and the Beanstalk is a great parable for creative people. The world around us often devalues creativity – thinking it useless and tossing it outside the proverbial window. But we know those seeds can grow into something wonderful if we tend and water them. I hope this blog will both encourage and entertain readers and inspire writers (and other creatives) to climb their own beanstalk and reach for the heights.
*Please note that some of the links in this blog are affiliate links. This means that if you buy a product or service using one of my links I may recieve a small commission – but it won’t cost you anything more. This helps me pay for things like web hosting and writing this blog. I only recommend products that I use myself and find helpful.
Should Authors Design Their Own Book Covers?
Should authors design their own book covers? I did. Here's what the experience taught me ... You probably have heard the age-old saying you can't judge a book by its cover, but that's bad advice for an author. People judge books by their cover all the time. The first...
Resistance is Futile!
Resistance is the psychological force that pushes back against us when we try to create. In the realm of physics, resistance reduces to the ability of a wire to conduct electricity. The larger the resistance, the less electricity passes. In the same way, resistance to writing holds back the creative flow.
How to Keep Wagging Your Tail During a Pandemic
One of the most encouraging and helpful voices emerging on social media last year, was Pluto, a miniature schnauzer who has been ‘breaking the internets’ with her wisdom and humour in these tough pandemic times. In honour of Pluto and the other dogs and cats encouraging us humans for the past year and a half, I decided to invite my dog, Nikita-the-ShiChi, to guest blog today :).
Should the pandemic shape the settings of our novels?
One of the dilemmas authors face if we write contemporary fiction or begin our speculative stories in a present-day setting, is whether or not we should refer to the Covid-19 pandemic. I’ve written one young adult (YA) novel and I’m currently developing a contemporary, amateur sleuth mystery series. My problem is that both stories begin in the ‘present day’. Do I acknowledge the pandemic, or not?
When Characters Have a Life of their Own
Have you ever felt as if your characters have taken over your story? In one of my works in progress my characters keep taking over the narrative. I want the tale to go in a certain direction and voila I wake up the next day and the characters insist on doing their own...
Dead Ahead
Please play nicely
Comments are welcome on my blog. I encourage healthy debate. But if your words are rude, intolerant, or spammy – if you swear or otherwise make a nuisance of yourself – I will feed your comments to my dog.
She’s not nicknamed The Piranha, for nothing!
