Month: June 2013

Three speeches that shook the world

The art of public speaking is something that can be honed and improved upon but at the core it is something that only very few people are blessed with as a natural talent. The ability to rouse emotions in others by the use of words or to transmit information in an entertaining and enlightening way …

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Fundraising on Facebook

Keep those donations coming in. I visited a bookshop back in early December to promote my novel, Covenant. At the time, the proprietor said he was fully stocked and suggested I return in a few months. So, as it’s June now…ta da! I handed him a photograph (a real 6 x 8) of Covenant’s cover, …

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A messy business

Some jobs turn ugly. In an ideal world, freelance writing is a straightforward process. Something like this: a) Client + defined requirements < writer’s experience and abilities.b) Client + writer’s abilities + time = satisfied client + promptly paid writer (+ recommendations). However, as every freelancer knows, a client’s ideas about what they want can be …

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Evolution of an idea

Back-copies still available for sale! Give me a writer who knows exactly where they’re going and I’ll give you – and them – a round of applause. Any writer I’ve ever met, be they published or yet-to-be-published, may have an inkling, or even an ambition, but that’s about it. In a sense, that’s part of …

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The sweet spell of success

Writers can be a little like children, who only stick with the kids that enjoy the same games. Only, in our case, we writers can suffer from genre-phobia.  Silly really, because the writing process is the same (inspiration, torture and progress, in that order) and the elements of good writing are the same (captivating plot, …

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