“Happy Land is a transporting multi-generational novel about the stories that shape up and the dazzling courage it takes to dream” As the year draws to a close, this will be the last blog of 2024. I want to wish everyone and happy and healthy Christmas, and New Year for 2025. Thinking about looking ahead […]
Author: Guest Blogger
Three Iconic Christmas Books “I have always thought of Christmas-time […] as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time” (Dickens,10) The year has a habit of arriving slowly, then gathering incredible momentum towards its grand finale of December. I want to share three iconic Christmas books from the 1800s, 1900s, and the 2020s. […]
The Instrumentalist by Hannah Constable, Book Review “The colours begin to layer until a landscape forms- green mountains and purple flowers, orange sunlight, bursts of white.” (17, Constable) Welcome to the November blog. November has that cosy marshmallow toasting, deep autumn feel. What better on the darker nights than to recommend a book to read? […]
Quote- “Every leaf speaks bliss to me fluttering from the autumn tree”- Emily Brontё October is the time of year when autumn, really is majestically alive. The days have that crisp embrace when leaving the house and the colourful array of wool scarfs make an appearance for the next six months. As a young writer, […]
“There is material enough in a single flower for the ornament of a score of cathedrals” – John Ruskin. QUOTES What do they mean to life? They are an ever-present symbol of the great words of someone else. As a young writer, I see a quote used at the start of nearly every book I […]
Back in March I had the opportunity to launch my debut novel Folked Up with the assistance of the Centre for Childhood Cultures at Queen Mary University of London. Part of this involved running a creative writing workshop based around world building for YA audiences, where we discussed some of the things to bear in […]
It probably goes without saying that many of us writers are a solitary bunch. We should, in theory, be experts on not leaving the house for a while. Once upon a time, social distancing may have been the ideal for many of us, but now it isolates and, in many cases, frustrates us. So, how […]
Becoming an author is not an easy decision to make. New writers have to convince an agent or publisher to take them on, write a novel that will appeal to readers, learn about the industry, improve their writing skills, and in most cases balance a job and family commitments too. At times it feels like trying to climb […]
Have you ever followed a single path in your life and then found it has suddenly divided and branched into many new directions, right underneath your feet? This has happened to me, just last week in fact. I have a new life, my first book, and a new blog, right here! I’ve been excited, surprised […]