My new book 'The Wolf in Your Bed' is coming out soon.
I was really inspired by this book 'Why Does He Do That?' by Lundy Bancroft. There is so much up-to-date research on emotionally abusive men - it's a brilliant book for anyone who is interested in this subject.
Oh, and when it comes to dark fairy tales, you can't do better than Angela Carter. Her 'Bloody Chamber' is a classic.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Everything is a Work-in-Progress!
If you want to make a living as a writer you've got two choices. Either you run with the pack. Or you go off into the woods on your own to find a different way of doing things. It seems to me that the easiest thing is to go along with everyone else for a while.
Let me explain. When you run with the pack you do an apprenticeship. You learn about writing, the art and the craft. You write so much rubbish it makes you cry.
You do courses, find friends to write with and you read as many books on writing as you can find.
You learn to take rejection. You learn how to take heaps of rejection and ridicule about your dreams to become a writer. You work in a bar or an office or a school. You never, never give up.
But it's all too easy to get stuck with the pack. There's safety in numbers. You can spend all your time dreaming and scheming and talking and writing but somehow, nothing ever comes of it.
That's when you come to the crossroads. Maybe you let the pack go on and you fall asleep on the sweet, cool grass. Perhaps, you wonder, perhaps you were a fool to ever think you could make a living as a writer...
And then, one day, you wake up - and you know who you are as a writer.
That's when you can choose to go off into the dark woods. The unknown. If you're really, really lucky - you'll have a writing friend, another writer who is off on her own too. She can see directly into the heart of your writing and make it all seem worthwhile. If you haven't got one, find one now. Without Jane, my writing buddy, guide and mentor, I'd be packing fish in a factory. Or something else I'd be useles at.
So, here in the writing woods you make a den. You've got a notebook and a pen and some supplies. This is it. There's no turning back now. You listen to the birds for a while. The smell of leaves. The feel of the earth under your feet.
This blog is about my time in the woods. I've just got here and I'm setting out my works-in-progress. That's when I realise that the first thing I need to do is organise. Organise. Organise!!!
So today I'm making a list of all the works in progress..
1. My self help book The Wolf in Your Bed needs proofreading before it comes out.
2. An ebook - The Wolf in Your Bed Workbook needs to be written
3. The crime novel, A Deadly Yearning needs some loving attention.
4. Oh, and I've got to write loads of stuff for the websites I've set up about loads of things that interest me...
This is who I am as a writer. Diverse. I like variety. I'll write about anything that fascinates me or moves me. Do you?
Or are you still running with the pack and writing what you think you ought to write instead of what you love to write?
Okay, time to stop babbling on and get back to work.
Let me explain. When you run with the pack you do an apprenticeship. You learn about writing, the art and the craft. You write so much rubbish it makes you cry.
You do courses, find friends to write with and you read as many books on writing as you can find.
You learn to take rejection. You learn how to take heaps of rejection and ridicule about your dreams to become a writer. You work in a bar or an office or a school. You never, never give up.
But it's all too easy to get stuck with the pack. There's safety in numbers. You can spend all your time dreaming and scheming and talking and writing but somehow, nothing ever comes of it.
That's when you come to the crossroads. Maybe you let the pack go on and you fall asleep on the sweet, cool grass. Perhaps, you wonder, perhaps you were a fool to ever think you could make a living as a writer...
And then, one day, you wake up - and you know who you are as a writer.
That's when you can choose to go off into the dark woods. The unknown. If you're really, really lucky - you'll have a writing friend, another writer who is off on her own too. She can see directly into the heart of your writing and make it all seem worthwhile. If you haven't got one, find one now. Without Jane, my writing buddy, guide and mentor, I'd be packing fish in a factory. Or something else I'd be useles at.
So, here in the writing woods you make a den. You've got a notebook and a pen and some supplies. This is it. There's no turning back now. You listen to the birds for a while. The smell of leaves. The feel of the earth under your feet.
This blog is about my time in the woods. I've just got here and I'm setting out my works-in-progress. That's when I realise that the first thing I need to do is organise. Organise. Organise!!!
So today I'm making a list of all the works in progress..
1. My self help book The Wolf in Your Bed needs proofreading before it comes out.
2. An ebook - The Wolf in Your Bed Workbook needs to be written
3. The crime novel, A Deadly Yearning needs some loving attention.
4. Oh, and I've got to write loads of stuff for the websites I've set up about loads of things that interest me...
This is who I am as a writer. Diverse. I like variety. I'll write about anything that fascinates me or moves me. Do you?
Or are you still running with the pack and writing what you think you ought to write instead of what you love to write?
Okay, time to stop babbling on and get back to work.
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