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I was recently asked during a Q&A about historical fiction authors who have influenced me and I completely blanked. Of course Stacey Halls and Jessie Burton came to mind immediately because their levels of readership are my aspiration, but while…

We all know that if you want to write a novel, you have to WRITE a novel. But sometimes writing is the last thing you want to do. Sometimes our brains go on strike. And sometimes life is too full…

Last night I had the absolute privilege of speaking alongside my agent, Lucy Morris, with the current cohort of Curtis Brown Creative’s Three Month Novel Writing Course. I was completed the Six Month course with CBC back in 2014 so…

OR, HOW DOES THE SUBMISSION PROCESS WORK FOR UK AUTHORS IN THE US? I googled the arse out of this when my UK agent suggested a US agent might want to take my book out in the US. Was the…

When my book was about to go out on submission to Editors, I spent a loooot of time Googling book deal stories. I wanted to read about those overnight pre-empts, the five way auctions, the clamouring of Italian publishers. But…

When I was out on submission, this was a question I asked Lucy in various forms probably a hundred times. This is her brilliant response: They have to rally their team! Usually it would go something like: editor reads and…

If you’ve not read Part 1 yet, you probably should or this will be high-octane level confusing. *RECAP* My book has gone out on submission. Responses are positive. A date of Tuesday 14th June is set for deadline of expressions…

Once you’re represented by a lovely Literary Agent, you’ll be glad to know that the 3am endless searching for stories on how people got their Agent will be vanquished, and finally you will sleep through the night once more. Here’s…

I am currently on Submission. Or, more accurately, Mrs Wood is on Submission. Whenever I think about what’s happening in the ether, I hear this weird mash-up of both the theme from Jaws and Here Comes The Sun. A discomfiting…