setting the scene in Pitkirtly
I noticed there was an article in The Guardian the other day about the difficulties of writing during the pandemic - here's the link in case anyone is interested (it focusses mostly on writers failing to find anything to be inspired by during lockdown, but there is a mention of a problem I had about …
I was complaining the other day on Twitter about not having anything to write after finishing the two things I had been working on, and someone suggested writing a silly short story in a new genre, so here it is in all its silliness (disclaimer - there is no award-winning children's book and I don't …
I would like to wish everyone reading this the best Christmas and New Year season they can have under the circumstances. Apologies for not being more whole-hearted about it. It doesn't mean my wishes are less sincere, just that I know it's already been a difficult year for many people and at the time of …
I see it's some time since I wrote a new post here. In the months following the previous post I've retired from my part-time day job as a database manager, published the 21st of the Pitkirtly Mysteries and taken part in a mad project to write 14 screenplays in 14 days. Fortunately all these things …
Thanks to NaNoWriMo, in which the target is set to 50,000 for everyone, getting to 50,000 words in a novel always feels like almost the end. Actually 50,000 words or even 60,000, which most of my mystery novels conclude at, is fairly short for a novel these days. My writing session this morning has just …
I include this classic picture of Venice, taken by me on a visit there with my mother in about 1972, just as a random example of the kind of place I won't be going to this year, or for the foreseeable future. I still have a plan in my head for a trip down the …
I had a really pleasant surprise when I looked at my Twitter feed yesterday and noticed the word 'Pitkirtly' lurking in among all the politics and name-calling. I don't mind getting into an argument about politics on occasion, in fact as I worked on the family history book I've been writing this month while I …
First of all, this is only a 'perfect' novel from my own point of view, and I don't expect anyone else to find it perfect - as long as it turns out to be more or less readable that's enough. I just wish all my novels were as easy and enjoyable to write as this …
Although not ideal in almost every other way, I'm finding this a surprisingly good year so far for writing productivity. As mentioned in a previous post, after finishing Pitkirtly 20 in mid April, I went on to finish my draft of The Heir to Nothing and found myself racing on ahead with another novel in …
Even by my standards what has happened this month has been a bit strange, to say the least. I would like to blame Camp NaNoWriMo, another of these writing months that I like to sign up to, but actually this time it is mostly my own fault. Unfortunately I went into April with two unfinished …
