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Read about my journey into becoming a creative freelancer, interviews and reviews with great authors, and advice on writing and creative living.

If there's something you'd like advice on or a book you'd like me to take a look at, do get in touch, I'd love to hear from you.

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Sep 26, 2016
3 min

Be Bold

Summarising a DeLillo novel is always a tricky task. Well, it’s about football, but also about nuclear war, but then it’s about power and masculinity, about language and the way we use it and are used by it. That’s summary of End Zone. Technically, it’s a novel about a kid called Gary Harkness who goes to play football on a college scholarship in Texas. Along the way, he meets a girl he likes, spends some time with football players (not sure they could be called friends) and

Sep 23, 2016
3 min

On Finishing a First Draft

It is done. I have typed the last word, finished the last scene, put my (relatively) new characters to bed. In celebration of this, I wanted to share some piece that I figured someone would have written about how great it was to have accomplished this. Alas, I was wrong. All of the posts I found revolved around what comes next. Where to go next, how to edit, all of that stuff that I was really hoping not to think about for a few weeks. I can understand the need to focus on im

Aug 15, 2016
3 min

After Me Comes the Flood

Last month, I went to the Emerald Street Literary Festival. Filled with intelligence, literature and inspiring ideas, it was a fantastic day out. And, best of all, it had a bookshop. In the end, me and my friend decided to buy three books each, that way we were effectively getting double for our money, as we could swap as soon as we’d finished. Nothing better than the feel of a weight of new books in your hand. The first I read was a debut novel by Sarah Perry, After Me Comes

Jun 29, 2016
4 min

The Versions of Us

A very interesting concept – three possible outcomes for the same couple. We’ve all questioned the ‘what ifs’ in our lives, so this novel has a go at unpicking the actual outcomes of decisions made over the span of an entire lifetime. What keeps you flicking the pages in this book (and I did read it very quickly) is the short chapters and the unusual concept. I would have liked for it to be executed with a little more finesse. Eva and Jim meet at a chance encounter while at U

May 13, 2016
4 min

The Dark Rooms Writers Have to Enter

Yes I’m a little late, but I have just devoured Emma Donoghue’s wonderful book, Room. Not since Christmas have I found a book that made me pause at every moment I could on my journeys around London, and even had me walking down the street reading in order to just get a few pages in before work. One of the most beautiful things is the voice. A child narrator can sometimes be a little trite and affected, but Donoghue’s use of subtle syntax, vocabulary and slightly skewed perspe

Apr 22, 2016
2 min

An Instruction

His breathing labours over my shoulder, huffing out breath perfumed with ham and disappointment. My hands clunk over the keys, slip off the C sharp, snag on the C. I can feel the wince behind me. Eight bars to go. I stretch out the middle finger, labouring too long in the shift in chords on the left hand, out of time. Rest for one, back in on an F. Should be sharp, it’s in the key signature. My shoulders tighten. No retribution. Maybe he didn’t notice. The last bit is easier.

Feb 25, 2016
2 min

Characters we Love to Hate

I’m far more tolerant in fiction than in the real world. Hours of page-turning will be spent on characters I thoroughly despise, who wouldn’t last more than a few minutes in conversation or who would get a quick ‘delete’ from my social media if they expressed similar views. Or possibly an extensive reply under an offensive Daily Mail article, depending on my mood. I recently encountered such a character in Hygiene and the Assassin by Amélie Nothomb. For hundreds of years, wri

Jan 18, 2016
10 min

100 Books of Me Part III

This is an interesting bunch. At a time when I was searching to find my own ‘voice’ in my writing, I turned to as many varied authors and narrative perspectives as I could. From DeLillo to Atwood, from a story that explored the entire basis of christianity (The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ) to childhood incest (The Cement Garden), I was on the hunt for as much exposure as possible. Even when I turned to ‘classics,’ or at least books that I felt I really should hav

Jan 6, 2016
4 min

The Self-Conscious Writer (Review of The Blind Assassin)

Ah, I love the holidays. I’ve been putting off reading The Blind Assassin for ages, simply because I despaired at how long it would take me to read, never mind the extra weight it would add to my bag. A combination of relaxing holiday time, a six-hour train journey to France and a bad back (I’m getting old) all conspired in me finishing the 600-page tome in less than a week. A merry Christmas indeed. How I love Atwood. Her combination of engaging characters, subtle plotting a

Dec 19, 2015
4 min

Make Me Believe

At this time of year, I’m inclined to throw off my cynicism. There aren’t many times you can walk through a crowded train station and have a huge group of stressed passengers, simply smiling at each other as they listen to a band or a choir singing some carols. Giant flashing reindeer may not be your thing, but there’s something about seeing twinkly lights flicker on as the sun goes down that just makes things seem a little more cheery. And it’s all about belief. From the lit

Oct 16, 2015
3 min

Foraging for Ideas

In the last few months, I’ve found myself running around Hampstead Heath thinking ‘I need to find an idea for a short story.’ Thanks to sites like Creative Writing Ink, I’ve got a monthly alert of short story competitions and deadlines for magazine submissions, all laid out on my Google calendar. The problem is, I don’t have that much of a back catalogue yet, so for each one I need to come up with something new. And, funnily enough, simply trying to think of ‘a story idea’ do

Oct 12, 2015
1 min

Let Me Clear My Throat

On finding the elusive ‘voice’ we all strive to find in our own writing and to hear in the things we read, and how blogging and non-fiction writing can be the route to hearing the version of yourself that you didn’t know existed. Read the article here. #writing #prose #literature #creativity #article #motivation #comment #productivity

Oct 10, 2015
7 min

100 Books of Me Part II

This second set of books started about a year ago. Now into my course, the shift is obvious. Almost exclusively first novels, my notes are geared towards what I can get out of it from a writing perspective, rather than as a reader. Which is the great thing about books. Maybe your interest is psychology, or politics, or sociology, or human nature, or relationships. Whatever you want to learn more about, you can find it in a novel. All of human nature is encompassed between tho

Oct 5, 2015
2 min

Starting to Succeed

The very fact of this title was difficult to write. Acknowledging any form of success seems boastful, inappropriate. It’s a bit like singing. If you say you play the violin, the piano, it’s ok somehow, because the hours of practice are deemed part of it, you are a skilled technician, as well as an accomplished musician. Say you sing, and it’s a boast, a singling out. I am better than you because I can sing. You can substitute ‘writing’ for that. Probably because everyone (pre

Sep 21, 2015
7 min

100 Books of Me

Just over two years ago I submitted my application to City University to study for an MA in Creative Writing. It was a last-minute decision, so I only just made the application deadline. On the train home from work a week or so later, I downloaded the email that invited me for interview. I wanted to tell the man opposite me, that someone thought maybe I could be a writer. As part of the interview, we had to bring along a summary of the last five books we’d read, and to choose

Sep 20, 2015
1 min

Verdigris

Thought I’d try out Scriggler. One short story posted and over a hundred views. Not bad! Check it out here. #creativity #literature #shortstory #writing

Sep 11, 2015
4 min

How to be Awesome

I’ve always been a perpetual starter. So many hobbies, instruments, sports, arts, languages, begun but never mastered. Yet I’ve just finished the third draft of my first novel, and have completed numerous half marathons and two full marathons. I don’t think I started out particularly better at these two things than any of the others, so what’s the difference? I tried to piece together the differences and approaches that have allowed me to reach the ‘end’ of these things, whil

Aug 14, 2015
1 min

The Enemy

The nugget of something Is there But in the act of putting it on the page It disappears No flare of wit or will Nothing to separate Me From all the other people struggling to take bits of language and string them together in a way that is meaningful Wavering in the face of the need to be Decisive Shadowed by all those Names and Ideas and Prose that people Praise Writer’s block Is simply the scorn of myself Nothing that can’t be seen In a mirror The wall that rise

Aug 5, 2015
5 min

Editing Backwards

I find myself in the glorious position of having completed the second draft of my novel. It feels infinitely more satisfying than the first. Then, I knew there was a mountain of work still to be done, endless shuffling about of scenes and ideas, and there was a long road ahead. Already, this one feels more polished and together, so although there’s still long way to go, it doesn’t seem quite as insurmountable. Thought I’d share a few thoughts on what worked for me. 1. Write i

Jul 9, 2015
5 min

Wasting Time

Sometimes it feels like the more time I have, the less I get done. I’ve had an erratic work schedule for almost two years now, doing everything from paternity leave in a school which took up five days a week, to doing nothing but evening and weekend tutoring to make ends meet while I write a book and complete my Masters. It’s a strange sensation, not having fixed work hours, a fixed income, a steady schedule to take you through each day. It also ups the pressure at the time I

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