I was back on the schools circuit again today – my first school event of the year! Lately I’ve been doing fewer school appearances – in theory so I can keep more days for writing. But where do those writing days go? MYSTERIOUS THEFT OF DAYS IS HAPPENING. The side-effect of doing fewer school visits [...]
Author Archive > Joe
How To End A Story, How To Rant On Facebook
Whatever desire or need drives the story is fulfilled or finally dashed at the end. If anyone is struggling with their ending, it’s usually because there isn’t a strong enough desire or need driving their story. This is a problem with their story, their character, their entire world and everything they’ve written.
Putting in Chapters and Rewriting
Some writers do their plan in chapters – they work out what’s going to happen in each chapter. I don’t do that…
Jorge, Luis and Borges…
Today it’s the anniversary of the birth of Jorge Luis Borges. He’d have been 112 today, which is pretty old, even for a writer.
The Biggest Problem in Publishing
I just read a blog thingy over at the Guardian that included this lovely paragraph: “…the single biggest (but rarely acknowledged) problem in publishing today: most of the biggest firms are dominated by cynics and fools. The people in control care nothing for the quality of the product and will always put short-term gain before long-term [...]
How A Book Cover Changes
For my new book in September I’m working with a publisher I haven’t worked with before. It’s been really refreshing to see how my editor there has responded to my thoughts about the front cover. The process started off with my editor sending me a first version of a possible cover. It looked like this: [...]
Fans Make Great Movies
The talent of my fans is inspiring. This just turned up on youtube and I love it. It really captures the spirit of my books.
Three Years of Unusual Words
Ravensbourne School is somewhere in Kent and it’s a great place – I’ve visited four times now. It’s always a fun visit with lots of creativity and a lovely warm welcome. Not only do they invite me to visit, but they also have a WORD OF THE WEEK. And they’ve just posted on their blog a [...]
Some Simple Thoughts About Libraries
Why stamp our feet and throw a tantrum to save a Victorian system? Let’s put our creative energy into re-inventing the whole concept of a library. Less money? So what. I say less money can mean more reading, more knowledge, wider access. Let’s make something better.
Libraries of the Rich & Famous
In the gallery I’ve posted pictures of libraries from the homes of 5 famous people. I didn’t sneak in and take the pictures myself. That would have been mainly illegal, except in the case of one of the celebrities, who happens to be my natural father.
