Rhyming Love Poems (I Was Going Through a Phase)

In my youth, I went through a phase of writing rhyming love poems. I managed to find one such “masterpiece”  in my memory box to publish. At the time, I was super proud of what I wrote. Now, it makes me feel a little nauseous and I think to myself:  I must have had a lot of…

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Fact vs Fiction – Writing a Thriller Novel

What I’ve learned about writing a thriller novel Writing a thriller novel is no mean feat. I can’t count the number of people who told me I should write a thriller. This is because most of my stories involve someone getting murdered or accidentally killed. I have no problem writing a murder scene – that…

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My First Day at Secondary School…

First Day at Secondary School I’ll never forget my first day at secondary school. I felt as if I were floating when I walked up the smooth concrete path towards the wide glass doors with their chipped paint. I was aware of the other children staring at me because I was different, something new, something…

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What I’m Writing: Dark Comedy Thriller

An accidental dark comedy thriller This is an excerpt from my dark comedy thriller. I didn’t set out to write a comedy, it just sort of happened. I embarked on this story when I signed up for the Curtis Brown, Starting to Write your Novel course last year. It was a great course, plus I won…

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Novel Writing: Words to Avoid

Words to avoid like the plague! As a writer, there are so many words that I’ve been told to avoid, it’s no wonder that I can get any writing done without pausing mid-flow to ask myself, is this on the list of words to avoid? And then there’s the nagging ‘habitual word usage’, whereby you…

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Book promotion websites

There are plenty of book promotion websites on which you can advertise your free eBook and Kindle countdown deal. Some of these will amass no sales or downloads, some will only make a dent, others will make you a sizeable profit. The majority of promotional websites will ask you to pay a fee. These fees…

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Self-Publishing: Marketing Your Book on Amazon

About marketing your Book on Amazon Writers often ask what are the best methods for marketing your book on Amazon? Some self-published authors have phenomenal success with book marketing while others yield few results. There are two reasons why you need to market your book on Amazon: to drive books sales and to build your…

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James Patterson Masterclass Review

James Patterson On Writing masterclass Curious to discover what I was doing wrong or what I could do to improve my writing, I decided to embark on the James Patterson Masterclass. I’m not going to give away the content of the lessons because it wouldn’t be fair for those who paid up – like myself….

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How to Promote Your Book on Your Website

Set up your website to promote your book Your own website is the best way to promote your book. It allows you to build an audience – providing you get the right traffic. To achieve this, you’ll need to add lots of relevant and unique content, and also inject the right keywords and descriptions. Your…

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The Once Man – A Short Ghost Story for Adults

I wrote The Once Man as part of my assignment for the Curtis Brown novel writing course. The Once Man: A Short Ghost Story I drive down the narrow country road flanked by lofty trees. The road is clear up ahead. I wind down the car window and breathe the damp air. My skin tingles….

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