This was my first year visiting the London Book Fair. It’s an event that seems to be growing in popularity with authors, despite primarily being a trade show. I’m glad I went – there were interesting and practical seminars and it was a good place to catch up with a handful of contacts in one [...]

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A working paper published today by Nesta and written by science writer Jon Turney looks at the relationship between innovation and science fiction – something that immediately piqued my interest. Can SF provide the ‘inventive seed’ for new developments and innovations, or is that just wishful thinking on the parts of daydreaming scientists and writers [...]

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The first taste of success

February 11, 2013
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See? I told you those rejection letters were the start of something good. I recently found out that the editor of the Stupefying Stories anthology wanted to publish my short story, A is for Android. Actually, that’s not quite how it went. He wrote to me to say that although he had very nearly thrown [...]

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Deciding when your novel’s good enough

November 29, 2012
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A title which poses the immediate, unspoken question: will it ever be good enough? And that’s where I am at the moment, with a novel that only exists on my laptop and in a few email attachments to my agent; 100,000 words that may or may not ever be considered worthy of publication by those [...]

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Knowing what you’ve got is a story

October 19, 2012
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I’m procrastinating. And I’m getting rather too good at it. To the left of my laptop is a piece of A4 paper folded up into quarters. It’s probably a bill, so I daren’t unfold it again. Written on the paper, in my neat handwriting, are 53 words – 7 bullet points – that are the [...]

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Why I’m loving rejection

September 25, 2012
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With my first novel-length manuscript lying on the desk of my agent, I’ve spent the last few weeks going back to the basics I perhaps should have started with: short stories. It’s been fun and tough, and a great way of pushing me to hone my craft. I’ve written three so far, none of which [...]

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Should I write a sequel?

September 17, 2012
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These days, it feels like it’s a trilogy or the highway. It seems that any decent author worth their salt should be able to produce at least three books using the same characters, in the same world, following the same narrative thread. And with one novel completed, I’m up for the challenge. Honestly, I am. [...]

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Authors: does it matter what you look like?

September 7, 2012
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Rumour has it that J.K. Rowling’s publisher printed only her initials in case boys didn’t want to read a book written by a woman. This suggests author image – either visible or shrouded in mystery – is very important when it comes to playing the marketing game. Countless women have published using a male or [...]

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Signing on the dotted line: getting an agent

August 28, 2012
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I’ve spent the last week revelling in what feels like a victory, if a small one. I signed with a literary agent. What does that mean? Well, if I’m lucky, and if I’m in the right place at the right time, they are going to represent me in my writing career and will approach publishers [...]

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Getting real: are we losing the ability to tell stories?

August 14, 2012
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Hello, my name’s Holly and I watch The Only Way Is Essex. Sometimes, not avidly, and not on a regular basis. But sometimes I watch it. I feel a bit ashamed admitting that. Why? I’m sure I’m not just a snob, I’m sure it’s because I’m a writer. Should I be spending my spare minutes [...]

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