What writers want.
May 14, 2018
Ever wondered what the writer in your life wants from you? Here’s a handy guide. … More What writers want.
Tag: Novel
Festival Fever (Sunderland Creative Writing Festival 2018)
February 14, 2018
Sunderland Creative Writing Festival 2018 It’s been non stop in Parkinson Palace this week. I had a couple of freelance blogs to finish, I’d committed to doing my Winter Olympics blogs and I’ve finally begun to get my half marathon training back on track. Most exciting of all, the tickets went live for the Sunderland … More Festival Fever (Sunderland Creative Writing Festival 2018)
Time to write. (How long does it take to write a novel? Pt 4)
October 2, 2017
It’s been a while since I posted about the editing of my new novel as I’ve been a little bit busy with other stuff. More to follow on that in another blog soon. In my last blog on how long it was taking to write Troll Life, I was up to 158 hours. I’ve had … More Time to write. (How long does it take to write a novel? Pt 4)
Sunderland 2021 City of Culture bid (Community champion)
September 18, 2017
As you may have gathered from previous blogs, I am a big supporter of Sunderland’s bid to be UK City of Culture 2021. I believe that we have the most to offer and the most to gain from winning and I was proud to be selected as one of the 21 community champions adding our … More Sunderland 2021 City of Culture bid (Community champion)
Time to write (How long does it take to write a novel?)
July 20, 2017
Writer’s get asked many questions “what’s your proper job?”, “are you rich?” and “have you thought about writing about a wizard who lives under the stairs?” being just a few of them. One of the most frequent questions is “How long does it take to write a novel?” It’s a question I rarely have an … More Time to write (How long does it take to write a novel?)
Softly, softly. (The cautious approach to book launches.)
June 22, 2017
On Tuesday, almost two years on since I released Idle Threats, I launched my third novel, Life In The Balance. More accurately, I released it over a week ago but chose not to tell anybody. This may appear to be counterintuitive. Why wasn’t I shouting it from the rooftops? The answer is simple, I wanted … More Softly, softly. (The cautious approach to book launches.)
Life In The Balance
June 11, 2017
How far would you go to make amends? Manuel Frost is obsessed with right and wrong. Each day he logs good and bad deeds that he witnesses into a ledger that nobody is allowed to see. Each night, if the books don’t balance, he sets out to perform deeds of his own to even them … More Life In The Balance
Judge a book by its cover. (Part three). The rebrand.
April 20, 2017
We’ve discussed the disasters I’ve had and the improvements I made to my book covers but now I’ve decided to change again. ‘Why?’ you may ask. There are a number of reasons, some that I outlined in my previous blog but the driving force was that I wanted a consistent theme across all my book … More Judge a book by its cover. (Part three). The rebrand.
Judge a book by its cover. (Part two) Making improvements.
April 19, 2017
In my previous blog I discussed some of the awful mistakes I made with book covers in the early days so it is no surprise that when I came to publish my second novel, Idle Threats, I decided that I needed some help. The dilemma that every self-publisher will face is knowing when and where … More Judge a book by its cover. (Part two) Making improvements.
First draft, how to set a word count target and stick to it.
April 3, 2017
As well as trying to amuse and educate you with my etiquette blogs, I do have other writing priorities such as writing novels. My ‘proper job’ if you like. Novel number three should be out in early July and I’ve been slaving away on number four recently. Today marked one of the major milestones in … More First draft, how to set a word count target and stick to it.
Alan Parkinson 