Harry’s Blog

I’ve heard it said that it’s easy to buy a gift for a writer; however I suspect that the items actually purchased frequently fall into one of three categories – books, notebooks and ‘a nice pen’. If you or the writer in your life is anything like me, they can’t pass a book or stationery […]

I spent most of last weekend at OctoCon (The National Irish Science Fiction Convention). I first heard about it last year and went along, tempted by the Author Panels listed on the programme. A panel consists of three to four authors and a moderator presenting to an audience on a specific topic. Most people have heard […]

I have just finished reading ‘I Still Dream’ by the English author James Smythe, and it got me thinking about what makes a great book. Of course, the answers will vary from one person to another, influenced by preferred genre, personal interests, hobbies, and maybe even our upbringing or careers. However, I suspect that there […]

We all know there are benefits to writing every day, even just a few hundred words, but despite our best intentions and plans, Friday often arrives and we realise we haven’t added any new words to our book. The likelihood of this happening is increased for those of us with day jobs, kids or other […]

The Scenario. I usually write in the evenings after I get home from work and have had dinner. When I started Rogue 2, these sessions went pretty well but over the past two months, some evenings have been a real struggle. I blamed a combination of factors for this slowdown: fatigue from a day staring […]

Free Writing is one of the most undervalued tools an author has in their armoury. Actually, It’s a multi-tool, and unlike many of the gadgets you come across in your local store, each of its functions are genuinely useful. What is Free Writing For me, free writing is the act of writing with wild, untethered […]

We all love holidays. Whether it’s a short city break, a week in the sun or two weeks walking the Camino de Santiago, it’s a break from our day job and often a welcome dose of sunshine. But wait – it’s taken you weeks to establish your early morning writing habit, and you’re finally at […]

I was chatting with a friend over lunch today about working from home and the challenge of dealing with distractions. They are a common enemy among writers, especially those with day jobs who pursue their writing during evenings and weekends. These are the times when family and friends are off work and are more likely […]

With over 70k words written, I’m well into my current novel, a follow-up to Hard Choices. However, for the first three weeks this month my protagonist, Rogue, was very uncooperative. Worse, she was ignoring me! I wouldn’t have minded so much if she’d been changing my storyline and coming up with ideas of her own […]

January was a strange month for me. It passed quickly, and though I was aware of the dates advancing on my calendar, I somehow felt like I was an observer rather than a participant. When the 24th arrived, the day I had scheduled to start my monthly blog post, I was jolted awake and suddenly […]

The phrase ‘new year’s resolution’ has a mixed reaction among people ranging from excitement and enthusiasm, to fear and tension. The first group of people relish the opportunity to start afresh, with new plans and renewed hope, knowing that they may not achieve everything on their list, but happy that at least half of their […]