I’m writing this before I start editing for the day, because it turns out when I get focussed on editing I get really focussed. It’s actually a bit of a problem. My health is suffering a bit. My birthday is coming up this month and if I still have edits to do I’m probably just……

It’s 4am, it’s a million degrees in the shade and I can’t sleep, so I’m editing. This may or may not be the reason I couldn’t think of a good title for this post. I initially went for something quirky and self-referential but after about twenty seconds I couldn’t stand to look at it any…

I was having a good time writing a first draft of the next book, but then my editor got in touch to say she’s nearly ready to send the current big project back to me. So I’m having a quiet week now, trying to reset, clear my head and rest in anticipation of getting that…

As mentioned earlier, the publisher and I talked about the state of the industry right now and decided to push back the launch of my political murder mystery Not In My Name back until next year. Since then, I’ve been gradually processing how that feels. I signed two book contracts back in May: One for…

There is a flaw in my writing. No. There are many flaws in my writing, but one of the flaws has been identified. I don’t know what this flaw is, because the person who has identified it won’t tell me what it is yet. I’ve started too far into this story. Let me back up.…

Another piece of writing advice I read a long time ago is ‘writing the novel is the easy bit’. I thought this was insane when I first read it. It’s absolutely true, if a little simplistic. Writing a first draft, for me, in my personal experience, is one of the easiest parts of writing. In…

I hired a publicist for my second novel – Confessions of a Gentleman Arachnid. They worked miracles, to be honest. They got me a couple of good reviews for an incredibly niche book. These reviews didn’t translate into any actual sales, because book publishing is a capitalist nightmare and it’s almost impossible to achieve any…

It used to be the case that… no matter what my health was doing, I was always able to write. For the last couple of years that’s been less true. I’ve been plodding along with this new project and it’s pretty fun but when I’m at my lowest, I just can’t bring myself to do…

When I started writing what would (eventually) become my first book, I didn’t know what I was doing. I opened a blank word document and started typing. What I ended up writing was a 54,000 word mess which started with a teleporter accident and ended with humanity ascending to a new plane of existence. I…

There are these articles on the internet with titles such as ‘How To Edit Your Novel Like A Pro!’ and most of them are filled with tips that would make anyone who’s been writing for a while roll their eyes. I picked up one piece of advice from one of these articles that was invaluable.…