Creative Writing

Read more about the article Sunday 6th March

Sunday 6th March

Work in Progress I'm going through the editing process of Murder in the Highlands before taking the work forward. This helps me to refocus my attention and sets the stage for the final third. I'm almost two-thirds of the way through so it makes sense to do this now, making sure that what I've written so far is making sense. At this stage in almost every book I've written, I hit a brick wall and get a little bit bogged down by my internal critic. Once I come out of editing mode, I'll be able to silence the critic and switch back into creative mode! Looking forward to that. To be honest, I've been distracted by world events of late... who wouldn't be? Other Stuff As it was Sunday, I tried to take some rest and get other more mundane things done around the house. I went to virtual church as I have been doing since the pandemic started. Funnily enough, I've been able to go to a church in London which I went to when I lived in the capital forty years ago. All Souls Church in Langham Place has been putting on virtual services throughout lockdown and is continuing to do so. I've enjoyed returning to somewhere that seems familiar in spite of the number of years that have elapsed since I last went there physically. Literature Festival In 2018, I founded a literature festival which I now chair. I spent the morning creating and adding the final few graphics for events to the website and put the day pass tickets on sale. Tomorrow, I'll need to read through some guest blog posts for the site. I love doing the festival but while it was cancelled for two years during the pandemic, I'd forgotten just how time consuming it…

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Read more about the article Cozy Mystery Writing Conventions

Cozy Mystery Writing Conventions

Genre Fiction I’m a mystery writer with my fiction falling into the cozy/cosy crime niche. I've now published seven books in one series with an eighth on the way. Cosy mysteries and the majority of detective novels fall into the category of writing known as genre fiction and on the whole, follow a defined set of conventions. Agatha Christie Monument These conventions/rules developed out of the Golden Age of Crime novels. Authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Margery Allingham, Dorothy L Sayers and Agatha Christie created the widely recognised genre. The cosy mystery has evolved over the past few decades as new writers attempt to stretch boundaries, although many still adhere to the Decalogue or ten commandments described by Knox in 1929.  Escapist Literature I admit to being challenged by proponents of literary fiction and literary debate such as Albert Camus, but I prefer to write books to enable people to escape from the reality of life. This is one of the reasons I write books where the criminal is always found and justice is served. The popularity of genre fiction could highlight the need for people to feel safe while - at least in terms of crime fiction - being given the opportunity to experience vicarious excitement. The excitement comes through readers exercising their brains to solve the puzzle, working alongside the sleuth.  As a former nurse, I studied Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Needs in great detail. He described the need to feel safe in the hierarchy. He postulated human beings needed to satisfy certain needs in order to grow, mentally and physically. Maslow’s definition of safety was more about protection from external elements. Such safety requires a person to have shelter and security of body and mind; order in the world outside; laws that reinforced safety; stability in work and…

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Read more about the article Crime Writers’ Daily Writing Habits

Crime Writers’ Daily Writing Habits

Crime Writers’ Writing Habits I thought it would be fun to select a few crime writers and discuss their writing – or not – habits! Much emphasis is placed on ritual and routine when it comes to art, but as these few examples show, every writer is different. Ian Fleming (1908-1964) Ian Fleming described himself as a writer rather than an author and writing in an article on the topic or writing he suggested that writing 2,000 words per day, five days a week for six weeks enabled him to produce his first draft for his Bond novels. The novels he produced were around 60,000 words which is acceptable in series writing even to this day. Agatha Christie (1890-1976) Agatha Christie didn’t have a special room to write in and carried notebooks around and jotted down plots, labelling her notebooks. She wrote longhand and then typed it up later. In later life she dictated her books. She never had a daily routine of writing and would nip off to write when the opportunity presented itself it. Strangely, it appears that Agatha Christie was the only one of these four to admit to having difficulties writing with the process causing her much stress at times. And yet it is Christie’s works that are among the world’s top bestsellers with her estate claiming she is third only to Shakespeare and The Bible. Her books are still enjoyed today with Miss Marple and Poirot being crime mystery staples. I remember seeing The Mousetrap on stage in London, the longest running play in London still enjoyed by so many readers today. Dorothy L Sayers (1893-1957) Dorothy L Sayers wrote at night as she worked full time for a London advertising agency. I couldn’t find  anything written about her habits but would assume that as one of…

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Read more about the article Nursing biography published & goodbye to the London Chest Hospital

Nursing biography published & goodbye to the London Chest Hospital

Posted on 11th August 2017  https://youtu.be/TblBMWRrS6M I finally finished the second book in the Hurry up Nurse series. I must admit that I enjoyed writing this one just as much as I did the first. It takes place in London and brought back wonderful memories of working at the London Chest Hospital. This post is written with fond memories and gladness that I have finished my second nursing biography but tainted by a tinge of sadness at having to say goodbye to the London Chest Hospital. Products from Amazon.co.uk Bittersweet Whilst writing the book I discovered that the wonderful London Chest Hospital that has stood for over a hundred years and survived bomb damage in the Second World War has now been closed and like so many old hospitals, it is soon to become modern housing. I was pleased to see that after much campaigning by the residents in the area, that some of the older features will remain and be incorporated into the new build. The grounds also featured one of the East End’s oldest Mulberry Trees – I believe permission was granted for its removal by the developers. The tree stood beside the chapel which was destroyed in a bombing raid in World War 2. It will be transplanted but is unlikely to survive the move, it makes you want to cry. London Chest Hospital London Chest Hospital 1980 Situated in Bethnal Green, the hospital cornerstone was laid by Prince Albert in 1851 and it opened in 1855. It was principally a respiratory hospital for its first fifty years. Victorian England was rife with what was known as consumption (TB) and the hospital was a Godsend for people living in the overly populated and poverty stricken East End. Later on heart treatments were introduced and when I worked there from 1980-1982 it was a cardio-thoracic…

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