The book features the works of established writers, classic authors and fresh voices. Some stories are spooky, some downright scary, while others pose a puzzling mystery. Continue reading Another Rider on the Haunted Train
I am currently assembling an anthology of wolf stories to benefit conservation groups – so I had wolves on the brain. Put wolves and trains together in a creepy context, and you almost have to end up somewhere in Eastern Europe. Continue reading A Rider on the Haunted Train
There is just enough detail to bring a face, a room, or a street to life without over burdening the reader with too much dull description. Continue reading Bringing Fresh Light to the Japanese ‘Enlightenment’
I think fiction must feature settings that are taken from the author’s imagination, whereas historical fiction must, by its nature, be set in real places in order to lend authenticity. Continue reading Open Book Blog Hop, 20th April
“I grew up on Stephen King, Edgar Allen Poe, and Dean Koontz. Those guys were the be all end all for me. I couldn’t get enough. As I got older though and I read some of their newer stuff, (King and Koontz) I find that their style has changed and I am finding them harder to read now. Continue reading A Date With . . . Chris Robertson
This post from Rebecca Bryn resonated with me because I recently received a couple of critical reviews of Strongbow’s Wife. In one case the writer of the review kindly e-mailed me pointing out a couple of minor period details that I got wrong. The other claimed to have had his faith in the book destroyed by the appearance of a minor character who aspired to write ‘poetry in the Greek fashion’. Impossible in Medieval Britain according to my critic. Trouble is he was a real person who did indeed write epic poetry emulating Homer. Rebecca is definitely one of my … Continue reading Writers and Readers don’t always Understand Each Other
I didn’t really discover how much I enjoy doing creative things until I retired, but when I was clearing out all my teaching papers I found poems written inside covers, in diaries and on scraps of paper all over the place. Continue reading A Date With . . . Penny Luker
Earlier this week Stevie Turner posted a piece about character development. I commented on the piece, saying that I sometimes place my characters in difficult situations in order to see how they respond. Often these situations will be tangential to the actual work in progress. I’m posting here an example of that in which I explored aspects of the relationship between my main character in the novel Transgression and his partner through the partner’s eyes. I might add that it also impinges upon the recent discussion here about diversity in fiction because my characters are gay and I am not. … Continue reading Getting to Know Your Characters
the reality of the British Northern town grooming gang scandals is that the race element is the most explosive and poisonous part of it. Continue reading A Date With . . . Dominique Kyle
faith is a wonderful thing and is deeply comforting to many people Continue reading Mist and Mysticism
Frank Parker's author site 