My sister shared an interesting little story with me about a well-travelled man who decided to drop in on a tribe of cannibals – not my first choice of people I’d like to have dinner with, let me tell you. Apparently, the first major hurdle in getting to Cannibal Land was to find someone to …
Why it is important to choose your dining companions with care Read More »
Sometimes, people ask me why I write historical fiction. “Why such a difficult genre?” they ask, which in itself makes me a tad irritated, as historical fiction, IMO, is not a genre – it’s an umbrella under which all other genres coexist. In essence, the “historical” in historical fiction merely indicates that the story is …
It’s strange, isn’t it, how the creative juices start flowing the minute you lie down to sleep, Well, come to think of it, it’s not all that strange. There you are, halfway to dreamland and your mind just goes “aaaah” after a long day and relaxes. Your synapses open wide, an odd word or scene …
… and it sure doesn’t come natural to me, which is why writing a good synopsis is something of a challenge. It must be short, give an insight into the characters’ personality, tell the main plot, reveal the end and all of this preferably in 500 words. Aaagh! My 110 000 word novel and they …
Sometimes the characters in my novels spring to rather scary life. In my head, I mean. I don’t see hallucinations. Initially, I control the plot and the characters. I decide what they say, what they do, how they feel – well, you get the picture right? As the characters flesh out, they start deciding what …
I have this thing about birds. Not only are they the last remaining dinosaurs on earth (I know, I know; that’s stretching it a bit) but they also know how to fly. Not all of them, of course, but the majority of our feathered friends can soar through the air more or less gracefully. People …
Writing novels set in the seventeenth century has its disadvantages. Like when your heroine ends up in a situation where you just know she’s dying for a piece of chocolate – except that chocolate hasn’t been invented yet. Or when the scene you’ve just written calls for cold fingers clasped around the comforting warmth of …
In my mother’s attic there’s a little black notebook in which my grandfather detailed the expenditures of his early married life. Year one there is a new winter coat for my grandmother, a dining room table with two chairs, three shirts and a pair of shoes. That’s it. The dining room set becomes complete three …
Sometimes people ask me why I write books. “Are you hoping for a bestseller?” they snicker. “Pfff! Don’t be silly,” I say with a depreciating little shrug. “I just want to share my work with others.” Ha! I’m lying through my teeth. OF COURSE I want my book – all my books – to be …
I daydream. Well, when I’m not bugged by people requiring my full attention on something as mundane as a monthly closing or an unapproved invoice. Some people daydream about winning loads of money on the lottery. So do I occasionally, which is a very stupid daydream seeing as I don’t buy lottery tickets (What do …
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