In the eighth decade of my life and after having three books traditionally published-a travel memoir 50 years ago and two novels more recently-I am pondering the wisdom of writing a very personal memoir.
Simon Pearson looks back over the three years that he and his wife, Fiona Gorman, spent researching and writing the biography of the eminent heart surgeon Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub, which was published this week
Having grown up with the old Foyles as my playground I have always loved books, and having spent much of my childhood in a boarding school where the weekly routine included the obligatory letter home, and my young adult life working overseas in the days before international telephone services were affordable, writing has always been part of my life.
At first glimpse, memoir and historical fiction may seem worlds apart. But many of the decisions historical novelists have to make to create a compelling narrative overlap with memoir more than you'd think-especially for writers of biographical historical fiction.
Literary agent Rachel Mills has called for mental health provision for authors of memoir, as well as mental health training for the publishers and agents who work with them. In a column for The Bookseller published today (Monday, 6th February), she argued that more should be done to support memoirists, who often delve into the darkest moments of their life by necessity. Read more
When I mentioned to friends and colleagues that I was thinking of writing a memoir focused on my mother, they looked quizzical. Why would I bother switching genres after so many years writing successful fiction?
Most of us write the first draft of our memoir chronologically, setting down what happened in order, or thematically, thinking of what happened and expanding from that time, place, or feeling. Both are terrific ways to generate a first draft. Read more
When I dipped my bicycle tires into the Atlantic Ocean in Yorktown, Virginia, in early November 2000, my yelp for joy was followed by a lengthy sigh.
At last, I had finished my absolutely-must-do, solo, cross-country trek of 4,250 miles. Completion liberated me to focus solely on conservation and energy articles for newspapers, magazines and online publications. Or, so I thought. Read more
It might seem that writers live pretty safe lives. Yes, there are some, mostly journalists, who immerse themselves in troubled and war-torn countries, and they can and do get hurt. But most of us who write sit at keyboards or notepads every day and create stuff - poems, plays, stories, essays-mostly from our heads.
This website offers a wide range of tips on photography and provides an easily accessible guide for the amateur providing guidance and suggestions for photographing everything from babies to pets, headshots to nature. There's also helpful information on equipment.
‘Even if you are writing stark realism, I think there is magic in this age group, because they are at an age at which possibility is at its most colossal. They are still on the brink of becoming the person that they will be, and there is magic inherent there. I wanted to say to children, "I think you have been underestimated.
"What's going on with the book market?" an agent asked me this week. The big books are not showing up, the débuts are passing by too fleetingly, while genre titles, the brands, and backlist books are shifting to the centre ground and taking root. In short, for this year's trends, look to last year's hits. Rinse and repeat.
In my previous blog, I outlined five ways in which publishing can, and likely will, use AI to streamline and make its operations more efficient. I'd like to turn your attention to how AI can help sell more books.
Labour achieved a landslide win in yesterday's general election, with Sir Keir Starmer due to enter Number 10 Downing Street for his first term in office.
A new survey commissioned by the Publishers Association (PA) has shown that children's reading for pleasure remains a priority for adults across the country, despite a decline in reading.