The year is winding down which means in Japan the temperature has dropped at least ten degrees overnight and the hot-water bottles have come out of storage. The Japanese claim to have four seasons but really spring and autumn are…
The year is winding down which means in Japan the temperature has dropped at least ten degrees overnight and the hot-water bottles have come out of storage. The Japanese claim to have four seasons but really spring and autumn are…
They (specifically Christopher Booker) say there are only seven basic plots (overcoming the monster, rags to riches, the quest, voyage and return, comedy, tragedy, and rebirth, since you ask). Considering the sheer amount of stories that have been told over…
Will Self recently announced the death of the novel in The Guardian newspaper. I was moved to pen a reply which Freight Books kindly posted on their blog here.
It is done. My novel, The Wasting Embers, is done. Many of my friends will be thinking “but you’ve said that a number of times before?” I have, it is true, claimed this novel to be complete more times than…
As usual I have been busy going in several directions at once. My biggest weakness as a writer is finishing things. I’m much better than I used to be. It wasn’t until I was doing my Creative Writing MPhil that…
The course of a novel never did run smooth. I first had the idea for this novel while I was at university (oh so many years ago). I originally envisaged it as being a thinly-veiled fictional reportage of my grandfather’s…
