It is a truth universally acknowledged that a writer in possession of a published work must NEVER allow their readers to look elsewhere! Well, besides the downright plagiarism of Pride and Prejudice, that is certainly how it feels for anyone who gives the online writer groups out there so much as a cursory glance! Authors are not Sharers I have chatted about the ongoing issue with readership a couple of times and my opinion hasn't changed. To be clear, I believe (especially i

I've waxed lyrical about the issues faced by new authors desperate to break the glass wall of public relations but for many of us, Friday 13th was truly unlucky. God HATES the 20's! There's something about the 20's isn't there? 1720 Europe was caught by the plague.1820 was pretty good (Florence Nightingale was born as was Anna Sewell the author of Black Beauty) with the exception of a Cholera outbreak. 1820 Spanish Flu appeared and now 2020 brought to you by the Carona Virus.

Disclosure... First of all, this is a response to the disgusting, homophobic targeting made against Dark Pond Creations' first full novel 'Mother, Dearest' (aka author Patrick Scattergood). Why? Because Mr. Scattergood had the audacity to use a homosexual main character in a piece of fiction where the nature of the character's previous relationship is mentioned a magnanimous twice (if you are really looking) and has nothing to do with the rest of the plot! I Read It... I trul

Recently an article appeared on my social feed with the following title: "Authors are Poor and Can't Sell Their Books". While that seems like a pretty dire title, I can certainly relate to the seemingly insurmountable task of marketing and trying to establish a readership as a relatively new author. The Glass Wall of Publicity The glass wall of publicity is something every author comes across. Sure some us breach it easier than others (a lot of them pay for a window to be ope

The Whirlwind... Wow has today been a whirlwind! So I woke up this morning. A normal day. Get up. Get dressed. Check social media. Go to work (yes I work - you think that everyone earns millions off the back of one book!) and then... then I checked my emails. In fact I had to check and then Google just to be sure. Nope. There it is in cold, hard, black and white, size 10 Arial - WHSmith is taking pre-orders on Drau: Blood. No - It Can't Be True! So there it was, no doubt abou