Meet my character Blog Tour

In the eternal battle of character versus plot, I reckon no one wins. Why? Both of them are vital to a novel, and have to be developed together, because without either of them a story falls, meanders without reason. Plot or situation forms and shapes the character and, equally, a character, their personality and background, […]

Starting as you mean to go on

‘Nothing so solidly anchors a work of fiction in readers’ minds as knowing when and where something is taking place.’ Ron Rozelle, Description & Setting. Nancy Kress says in Beginnings, Middles, & Ends, ‘The truth is, you have about three paragraphs in a short story, three pages in a novel, to capture that editor’s attention […]

Characters made real

Getting sick and forced to stay in bed does have its advantages; I got to start reading books I have stacked in a pile of ‘must reads’. In fairness, the ‘must read’ pile has been growing for ages; it takes up a whole shelf in my study so it’s about time I made a dent […]