The League of Extraordinary Booklovers

An interesting thing from Scottish Book Trust here. I'm not sure if I have time to apply, let alone do it, but I will fully support and tweet about it. Do consider signing up, all you passionate book-lovers!

Actually, having said I didn't have time, I'm now being carried away at the thought of all the books I want to recommend!

Dear silly writer

At least once a week, I get an email from someone asking for free advice. I don't just mean someone asking a favour; or someone asking a simple question; I mean someone saying, for example, "Hi! I've written a book. Can you give me some advice about getting published?" Bearing in mind that this blog and my books are FULL of such advice, my internal responses to these emails are not really fit for

Spinach, strawberries, and the Society of Authors Children's Literacy Campaign

"Reading for pleasure" is a phrase we hear a lot. It's become a bit of a cliché and the real problem with clichés is that we stop thinking about their meaning. They lose their power.

The other problem with the phrase is that "pleasure" often implies less importance or worth. It implies that perhaps we shouldn't do too much of it, that we should make sure we've done the "work" parts of our

OPEN LETTER FROM THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE BOOK

I know this blog is about how to get published but if there are fewer libraries and librarians there will be fewer readers for your books when they are published. Therefore, campaigning for libraries is what I will continue to do. I blogged the other day about my anger. Now, I am copying below the Open Letter to Members of Parliament, Jeremy Hunt  and Ed Vaizey, Ministers at the Department of

SOAP-BOX: ME ON DISGRACEFUL POLITICIANS

I don't see why I should allow other people to have a soap-box spot on my blog if I can't do it myself. So, here goes. And beware: I'm angry.

Got my Oxfam gift catalogue recently. Bought a few things for some people I know who don't need anything bought for them and are delighted to have something bought on their behalf for people in places where they really do need things.

One of the more

MEANINGS AND CONTROL

I am away this week so I am taking the easy option by drawing your attention to a relevant post on my Wasted blog here.

As well as the points I make there, about control, power and the themes of Wasted, I find it interesting and important how very often readers will take meanings that are different from those we intended.

We mustn't be upset by that. I'm certainly not.

Only a very shallow book

THE END IS NIGH

I recently tackled how to begin your story and now blog-reader Sleepycatt wants me to tackle endings. What you all don't realise is that middles are the really tricky bit: we must work very hard to avoid saggy middles. I think it's the chocolate and sitting down all day hunched over our keyboards what does it.

Telling you about endings is easy. Writing them is easy too. You just put "THE END"

WHAT DO YOUR READERS READ?

I've talked before [and elsewhere] about how, as writers, we need to know our readers. All readers are different, thank goodness, and we can't write for all of them, but we need to have a sense of who our intended readers are. More than a sense, in my humble etc: we need to know the way their hearts beat, how to shiver their emotions and wrench each kink in their colons.

It strikes me that one

BOOKS SAVE LIVES

'Tis the season for some of us to be thinking about Christmas. 'Tis also the season in which a few years ago I had a bit of an issue with Oxfam. Now, I know that Oxfam does a great job. Obviously. Thing is, they made a Big Mistake and so now I choose to support other charities that help in just the same way.

So, obviously you want to know a) why and b) what the hell it's got to do with books and

WRITE FOR READERS

I have always believed that we should write for readers, if we want to be published. Actually, no, I haven't always believed that: I used to believe I should write for myself. But then I realised that it was this selfishness, this solipsism, this narcissism, that was stopping me becoming published for all those horrible years. Now, I have absolutely no problem marrying the twin aims of writing

YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE HEARD

Certain readers have dared to say that I've lost my crabbit touch. (Catherine, are you quaking?) Feedback is all very well, but that's plain insulting.

Well, see if you say the same after this one. (Not to mention the fact that I am very very close to spilling the beans on some SHOCKING covering letters I've just seen. But that's for another time. You don't believe the direness of the slush pile

OF BOOKS, MAGIC and YURTS

I only have a few minutes to bring you a post today, as I'm about to go to lunch with my agent to celebrate the start of September (I know: I don't need much excuse for lunch); the end of the Edinburgh Book Festival; a glorious sunny day; and the fact that I have a new novel brewing and the shocking first chapter is tantalisingly poised to be written but I am holding myself back.So, just having a

SAVE OUR SCHOOL LIBRARIES

I am not here. To all intents and purposes - stupid phrase - I do not exist. I am having a rare weekend off. And when I say "off", boy, do I mean "off"? Indeed I do. Let me tell you what I am doing. (And there will be a serious point to this post, as ever.) When I say "am", this is confusing, because actually I "am" writing this post in advance of doing the thing that I "am" doing. But, having

DANGEROUS READING

I now bring you a heartening school story. Message from an English teacher to me today: "Some of my pupils were reading Deathwatch under the desks last lesson as they needed to find out what was happening next - very gripped! (No I didn't tell them off!)"Hooray for teachers who so much like the fact that their pupils read that they turn a blind eye when they read in the wrong place!But it leads

PIGEON COMPETITION RESULTS

Well, well, my husband surprised me. He went for the literary novelist. Hmm, note to self: the pen is mightier than the sword. Here's Harry's verdict on your pigeon post pieces. (By the way, he is a man of few words so don't expect any gushing): "I congratulate the bloggers and their creativity. Every entry brought a smile or a shiver. All should win prizes. (Steady on there. You're

WHO KNOWS BETTER? READER OR WRITER?

Interesting piece on BookBrunch here. The woman who button-holed Trevor Dolby is making the same mistake as some unpublished authors - believing that there's some kind of conspiracy amongst agents and publishers not to publish good writing. (Er, hello, can someone please suggest a single sane reason why such a conspiracy might exist????) It's another deluded idiot symptom and will get her