Maybe it's because I'm older. But as I'm officially in the later stages of my life, I'm not as gung-ho as I used to be about my writing. I think it's because I've had to re-evaluate what's still on my bucket list, while my health still allows me to do it. At the time of …
Not all scenes are created equal
Occasionally scenes write themselves. Most don't. As authors, we know this, and in the 'most don't' category, there are many sub-categories. So, for this blog I'm sharing the different dilemmas we encounter while writing scenes. 1. The scene we thought was perfect, until continuity raised its head. I can think of two recent examples with …
As an author, how are you perceived?
Several things happened recently which made me reevaluate. I had an email conversation with one of the staff of our local queer book store. In his last reply he encouraged me to submit manuscripts to certain publishers. But they were all Romance publishers. My books are rarely in their store while self published friend's novels …
To hell with my outline!
Apologies for not posting for a while. My time has been dominated by listening to, and preparing promotional materials for, a new audiobook. But today's blog is a follow on from my last where I mentioned I've been panstering for a while, rather than sticking to my refreshed outline. And on the days I haven't …
The curse of modern social media
I had to play nurse to my husband for a month. After he had minor surgery, we had weeks of sleepless nights because we couldn’t find a pain killer which actually dulled his pain. I missed many yoga and Zumba sessions while our apartment just didn’t get cleaned. I was too tired to read and …
Adultery and the Romance genre
As an author of gay fiction, I’m often pigeonholed by friends and family as writing Romance or Erotica. Yes, I did dabble in both of these genres briefly, but a majority of my work is Magic Realism. The other genre I’ve written is Dystopian. In the US, there is a huge demand for gay romance, …
Fictionalising my life
Stop fictionalising your life! This was advice a friend's psychologist told him to tell me. Both me and my husband are talked about often during his sessions, and his analyst has read my books to gain a better understanding of his relationship with us. In a recent writer's hashtag, someone wrote: Trying to get my …
Re-visiting that abandoned manuscript
When Covid-19 hit, I was halfway through a first draft. It was a novel set in the 1990s and I was writing it to celebrate a decade I was young enough to fully enjoy. I still have the outline but, at the time of writing this blog (28/10/2020), haven't looked at it since March. This …
Never read your reviews!
New book. Time to check for reviews. Because at time of writing this I was addicted to Google, searching said book title plus my name. All authors do it. We need the quotes for marketing while the novel is still fresh. No reviews on Amazon several weeks after release, but a few on Goodreads. But, …
Genrecon, Brisbane
In short, Genrecon was a blast! Held at the State Library of Queensland, it was three days of learning, participating and making new friends. This was the third writing conference I've been part of, and as well as listening to some amazing speakers, I was invited to be on two panels and got to present …
