I bought Modern Lovers by Emma Straub because I'd read and thoroughly enjoyed The Vacationers by the same author. Moden Lovers is set in Brooklyn, NY and tells the story of two families. Elizabeth is a local realtor, married to a boy she met at college, Andrew. They now have a 17-year-old son, kind … [Read more...]
Why reinvent yourself for a sequel novel?
One of the most common questions I get from the readers of The Faithful Heart, my sequel to The English Heart, is how much of the story is true. Of course, this is a perfectly sensible and appropriate question, being that The English Heart is the story of how I came to be in England. Although … [Read more...]
My Summer Reads
As you know if you read my (bit of a cheat) mid-holiday post from Provence, I have been on a self-imposed internet detox for the past two weeks. Contrary to my fears, the world hasn't forgotten about me (hurrah), and my books sales didn't completely collapse during the break either. So, what did I … [Read more...]
My Romantic Helsinki
All of my Nordic romance novels are partly set in Helsinki, so I thought I'd take you on a pictorial tour of the city, as featured in The Nordic Heart Romance series of books. In my latest title The Finnish Girl, Kaisa is 14 when she moves with her sister Sirkka and her mother Pirjo to one of … [Read more...]
5 Tips for Writing Historical Fiction by Clare Flynn
Clare Flynn is the author of A Greater World, Kurinji Flowers and Letters from a Patchwork Quilt. Clare's latest novel, The Green Ribbons, which is set in England in 1900 will be published in May 2016. But as luck would have it, today you can pre-order a copy of the new novel. (Tap here to order … [Read more...]
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
My heart sank when I opened 'My Brilliant Friend' and saw the 'Index of characters'. I'd really been looking forward to reading this book, especially as I knew it was the first part in a series set in Italy – and had been written by a woman. All details that attracted me to 'My Brilliant Friend.' … [Read more...]
5 Questions for Crime Writer JJ Marsh
I've been a fan of Beatrice Stubbs, the female sleuth of murder mystery novels by JJ Marsh, for a long while now. When the latest book, Human Rites, (number 5 in the series) came out before Christmas, I again consumed the novel within a week. I've written several reviews of the novels in the series … [Read more...]
Advice for New Writers Part 4: How to Increase the Speed of Writing
In Part 2 of this series of posts, I talked about editing your work, and how the first draft is always just that, a draft – an incomplete piece of writing. Having said that, without getting those words out, without that first draft, you cannot move forward and produce a finished product - your … [Read more...]
Are you doing NaNoWriMo?
What is NaNoWriMo you ask? Well, it's the National Novel Writing Month, which takes place each year in November, when thousands of authors, or aspiring novelists, challenge themselves to write 50,000 words (I know, not quite a full-length novel, but nearly) in 30 days. That means exactly 1,667 words … [Read more...]