More Free Stuff + Updates
IS IT JUST ME or do hangovers get worse as you get older? I had a murderous one from last Saturday, and I swear, it’s only today (Thursday) that I feel 100% again. ‘Spose if you do the crime, you gotta do the time. My writing efforts took a hit as a result. Back on […]
The Review Team
I’VE BEEN BLOGGING since February 2014 with one primary motivator: Use it as a platform to promote my books. Almost four years on, I now feel like I have enough followers/subscribers to try something a little different. So, I’ve created a ‘Review Team‘ group.
Introducing…The ROT Collection
WHILE I WAIT for my editor to provide feedback on my third novel (Raising Lazarus), I decided to work on a little side project. This will be my third short story. I had a lot of fun with this one! It is Part 1 of what will be a collection of dark short stories which […]
No Tricks. Just Treats
For the past two weeks I’ve been working myself into a frenzy, cleaning up the manuscript for my third book, Raising Lazarus. Now, it’s in the capable hands of my editor (please be gentle, Gary!), so for the next few weeks I’m going to be working on a couple of short stories.
A Short Story Feast (plus a novel treat)
I’M CURRENTLY HOSTING a short-story promotion in association with the guys over at Instafreebie. There are over 150 free titles to choose from across virtually all genres – something for even the most picky of readers.
The Top 100 Quotes from the Top 100 Novels (BBC Big Read List – #51-100)
This is a continuation of the post – Numbers 1-50. These are the most popular quotes according to Goodreads that can be attributed to the BBC’s Big Read List of the Top 100 Novels of All Time. This list can be seen in its entirety on this page. Again, my favourites are in italics.
The Top 100 Quotes from the Top 100 Novels (BBC Big Read List – #1-50)
I’M STILL MAKING my way through the BBC Big Read List of Top 100 Novels. I’m parked at To Kill A Mockingird. For some reason I expected an old stuffy, court-room drama but it’s really surprised me – full of colour and character. As some light relief, I thought it would be nice to visit […]
Jacqueline Wilson – The Story of Tracy Beaker (Book Review)
Opening Line(s): My name is Tracy Beaker. I am 10 years 2 months old. My birthday is on 8 May. It’s not fair, because that dopey Peter Ingham has his birthday then too, so we just got the one cake between us. Book Cover Blurb: Tracy is ten years old. She lives in a Children’s Home […]
Patrick Süskind – Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Book Review)
Opening Line: In eighteenth-century France there lived a man who was one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages. Book Cover Blurb: His name was Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, and if his name has been forgotten today, it is certainly not because Grenouille fell short […]
Reading for Writing
YOU CAN’T EAT an elephant in one bite. But you can eat it one bite at a time. So begins my quest to complete BBC’s Big Read Top 100 Novels list. The list is a little dated now, publicised in 2003 to find Britain’s best loved book. The top 21 are presented on this page, as […]
John Steinbeck – Of Mice and Men (Book Review)
Opening Line: A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool. Synopsis: Streetwise George and his big child-like friend Lennie are […]
Louis Sachar – Holes (Book Review)
Opening Lines: There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. There once was a very large lake here, the largest lake in Texas. That was over a hundred years ago. Now it is just a dry, flat wasteland. Synopsis: Stanley Yelnats has bad luck (which is all because of his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather). When Stanley’s bad luck unfairly lands […]