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Readers Club
If you enjoy my books, there’s every chance you may enjoy the books I enjoy reading, and that I may enjoy the books you read. So here’s where we can share our favourites and explain what makes them special.
Readers Club
If you enjoy my books, there’s every chance you may enjoy the books I enjoy reading, and that I may enjoy the books you read. So here’s where we can share our favourites and explain what makes them special.
Creative Writing – The Seven Basic Plots
I’m going to go non fiction next, with The Seven Basic Plots: why we tell stories, by Christopher Booker. I had just begun the Open University’s creative writing course. My first assignment had been a short story which remains one of my wife’s favourites. However my...
What connects Alexander Dumas, Bob Geldof, and Rock Hudson?
I connect them. In late 1986 I spent three months managing the refurbishment of the cooling tower on the Port Sudan Oil Refinery. I had a team of five Irishmen, two Scotsmen, and dozens of Sudanese and Nigerians. Surrounding the refinery millions of people were...
Inspiration for Writing Style
The inspiration for my style of historical fiction writing comes from my reading. I read several Dennis Wheatley books as a teenager. Wheatley is probably best known for his occult novels like The Devil Rides Out. However the ones that most influenced me are The...
On Writing
Sticking with Stephen King. On Writing is autobiographical and also packed with advice on the craft of writing. I loved it. I just opened it and flicked through it again. I came across this: “Not every book has to be loaded with symbolism, irony, or musical language...