I came across this review of Hunters in the Dark by Lawrence Osborne, written by none other than Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher novels. I’ve pulled out his intro below, which contains an uncomplicated and practical definition of ‘literary’ as opposed to ‘suspense’ writing. A valuable distinction for genre writers wanting to move…
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My final post as blogger-in-residence for the ACT Writers Centre can be found here (or below, as usual). Thanks for coming along for the ride, and prepare for the brutal honesty… Keeping the Dream Alive I want to be a writer. For the longest time I found this difficult to admit. I guess I thought…
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At its best, sport may be the pinnacle of story-telling. All the key ingredients are there: larger than life heroes, egotistical villains, a grand stage, the weight of history and expectation. But it also has something fiction does not: reality. The story hasn’t been made up by some overstimulated Hollywood boffin, it has been written…
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I am very pleased to announce that the first draft of my third novel, Blood Artist, is complete! It has been a total blast to write this crime thriller, and I know you are going to love it. As a special treat, here is the first chapter. I hope you enjoy! There is, of course,…
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My fifth CAPITAL YARNS blog post is up. This time the topic is how to raise children while also trying to find time to write. If you have kids, this should all sound horribly familiar. If you don’t have kids, stop reading now because this may put you off entirely… Original post is here: actwritersblog.com/2016/04/19/writing-with-kids/….
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My next CAPITAL LETTERS blog entry is an interview with Capital Yarns author Sean Costello. The original post can be found here, or, as usual, you can read it all below! I was in Harry Hartog’s in Woden the other day when I came across something unusual on the counter. Neatly folded in a…
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Ever thought about setting your fiction in the place you live? My latest blog post on the ACT Writers Centre website (actwritersblog.com/2016/03/23/setting-your-fiction-in-canberra/) looks into this very issue, weighing up the pros and cons. It is about my hometown – Australia’s capital of Canberra – but most of the concepts apply wherever you live. In case…
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My next CAPITAL LETTERS blog post is up! Head to actwritersblog.com/2016/03/08/first-encounters-with-a-poetry-slam/ to read about my adventures at Canberra’s biggest poetry slam, BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT!. Or you can just scroll down! First Encounters at a Poetry Slam Poetry is intimidating. For many (me included) it can come across as pretentious, or stuffy, or borderline incomprehensible….
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I’m so excited! Earlier this month I was lucky enough to be selected as a blogger-in-residence at the ACT Writers Centre. For the next three months, I will be blogging on their website (www.actwritersblog.com). What will I be writing about? Writing, of course! Better yet, my first post has just gone live! Check it out…
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I have taken some time off work, to write. For six months my family and I will be dribbling by on half a long service leave pay packet, freeing me up to spend some time at the computer, to walk my eldest to and from school each day, and to maybe see a movie with…
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