Saturday 31 August 2013

Some of my recent blog posts elsewhere...

I regularly blog for a couple of collaborative blogs such as ABBA  

and also  Picturebook Den


and in case you have missed them here are a few of my more recent blogs


It's all up in the air- creativity is so fragile  

 on ABBA   about....how fragile creativity can be

'It is a fragile thing this bubble of creativity and it can so easily be burst by negative thoughts and worries. '

and

'...the real joy, and angst..' of being a writer.

Some of the other things a writer does when they are not actually writing the 'book words'.




 On Picturebook Den the post  Getting to the heart of a picture book 

Busting some common misconceptions about how easy it must be to write a picture book evidenced by comments such as

'there are so few words' and 'it is just a story for little children'

How do you get to the heart of a picture book text?  
Do you need rhyme? How trying to make the text rhyme can push the story out of shape and make the text unwieldy.

Talking about where to start, and how hard it can be to make it work with so few words.

There are lots of great posts by the other contributors on both ABBA and Picturebook Den, all members of the 'other SAS' the Scattered Authors Society,  so why not drop by !

Friday 23 August 2013

Bloody Scotland - International Festival of Crime

 A spatter of blood as a map of Scotland - it can only mean the Bloody Scotland Crime Festival


13th-15th September 2013   If you love reading crime it's a weekend to DIE for!

I am delighted to have been asked to take part in Bloody Scotland this year and I am sharing the stage with Sophie McKenzie, a fantastic writer and the award-winning author of a whole range of teen thrillers.

It looks like being a really interesting afternoon. Our event is called  Breaking the Boundary and will  give us a chance to chat about how we go about writing our books and what the challenges are when writing teenage crime novels. Come along and ask you own questions!

 http://www.bloodyscotland.com/breaking-the-boundary/

There is such an amazing programme of events, welcoming a fabulous array of crime writers from all over the world as well as a host of our own fabulous Tartan Noir. There is something for everyone to enjoy, discover new books and another writer to add to your reading list.

There are events with Lee Child, Jo Nesbo and Arne Dhal, Lin Anderson, Alanna Knight, Quentin Jardine, Alex Gray, Denise Mina, Christopher Brookmyre and Val McDermid and a host of other great writers.

On the website www.bloodyscotland.com you can vote for the Scottish Crime Book of the Year award and the Short Story Competition. You can book tickets and find out more about all the wonderful events and authors.
Definitely not to be missed!