This year I’m on a quest to read more Fantasy books. The reason? I wrote a Fantasy novel by accident (it happens ;) ), and now I need to familiarise myself with the genre. Normally I don’t focus on particular genres and just read books that appeal to me based on story or interesting characters.… Continue reading Fantasy Reading List
I wrote a Fantasy novel by accident. That’s not an easy accident to have; not like tripping over your own feet or walking into a glass door. It’s not that I was trying to write something else and it turned into Fantasy. I wasn’t aiming for any genre in particular – I just wrote the… Continue reading Fantasy Fiction: a genre distinction too far
As promised, here’s an extract from the first chapter of my novel about human angels, The Shining Ones. It’s set in the near future in a slowly disintegrating but familiar world which has been devastated after a solar storm. The storm triggered a mutation in a small number of people, called Deviants by the ARK… Continue reading The Shining Ones: first chapter extract
I’m busy sending my latest novel out to agents and it’s all rather nerve wracking. Part of this process involves writing the blurb and a pitch for the book. This is one of the hardest things you’ll ever do as a writer. If you think writing the book is hard, just wait until you have… Continue reading Introducing The Shining Ones
The rejections for my latest novel The Shining Ones are starting to roll in. The first came from Gollancz and I wasn’t that surprised, so the title of this post is a bit misleading. As writers we’re supposed to be cut up by rejections, but I couldn’t muster the energy to care. Perhaps I’ve got… Continue reading Slush Pile Woes: the first rejection cuts the deepest
Ideas for novels often spring from unexpected places. The seed that became the sprout that grew into my latest novel arrived in the form of a disappointingly bad writing exercise. The exercise itself wasn’t the problem. You just had to take the opening line of a novel and then continue to write for half an… Continue reading How a bad writing exercise seeded The Shining Ones
Here’s a randomly generated short story I created using Plot Generator – a site that lets you input various details and then creates a random story with your settings. You can use it to get inspiration or just to mess about and have a laugh. The results are proof that creative writing involves a little… Continue reading Proof that robots will never be authors
Last week we successfully avoided doing any work by looking at the eight styles of procrastination. But no matter what your style, you can’t keep putting things off forever. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to get stuff done. But first you need to figure out why you’re procrastinating. So here’s another thing you… Continue reading How to Stop Procrastinating – Now!
I’ve been meaning to write this for ages. It’s been on my list of possible posts for over a year, but I kept putting it off in favour of other stuff. Then around came the new year and it gave me the perfect excuse to stop making excuses and get it done. Everybody procrastinates some… Continue reading What kind of Procrastinator are you?
I never wanted to be a writer. I didn’t fantasise about seeing my words in print or imagine adoring fans hanging on my every word. I believed I was an inarticulate musician and sound engineer. Writing anything would simply confirm my deepest fears: that I was stupid. So it was quite a surprise to find… Continue reading A History of Addled: from idea to publication
Addled: Adventures of a Reluctant Mystic is a novel about spiritual awakening in a crazy world, and how the crisis of spiritual emergency can become an awakening. The story follows reluctant mystic Zoe Popper on her quest for inner peace and self-knowledge. Addled explores the line between mysticism and madness using the philosophy of Zen… Continue reading Addled Now Out in Paperback!
Jonah’s red and rusting transit van was a treasury of sweet wrappers, empty crisp packets and assorted fluff and sticky stuff. I was surprised. His flat was an oasis of order and cleanliness. I shot him a questioning glance as we drove into town. ‘Not me,’ he said. ‘The text writing bitch?’ He chuckled and… Continue reading Addled Chapter 2: Popper Originals
Jessica Davidson 