Observations
So you’ve spent a few hundred hours on a novel already and you’ve experienced all different forms of writer’s block, twice. In my case, one of the things I’ve discovered, is that my villain’s name (let’s call him Robert) just …
Category: Writing
My muse is hiding
Writer’s block – What is it good for? For no rhyme or reason, I sometimes manage to write 3000 words a day. Other times I have trouble just getting to the point of opening the Word document that contains my …
Another sentence down
Lately, the questions I am asked most often are “how is your book going?” and “when will it be finished?” The second question has a shorter answer, so I’ll start with that. “Soon, I hope.” The first will need a …
Music – our link to the past
Have you ever heard part of a song and instantly drew in a sharp breath at the memory it brings? Or felt feelings of nostalgia as you remember exactly how you felt the last time you heard it? I’ve tried …
Story world questions
About a week ago, I was at a concert with a great group of people. During the very first song, the people sitting in the seats in front of us told us to keep quiet. Of course, this had the …
Editing a manuscript
How many times can you stare at a sentence without wanting to pull your hair out? Or worse, without feeling the need to kick the one thing that is holding this whole operation together – my trusting little laptop, the …
Great expectations
After numerous people recently described a certain comedy as the funniest thing they had ever seen, I made sure to buy a ticket and go and see it myself. Of course, throughout the film, I couldn’t help but wait for …
Do first impressions always last?
Have I ever told you about my first encounter with a Champagne house? It was in March 2010 and we were walking from the Reims train station to Pommery. After about 40 minutes, we reached the halfway mark and as …
My African backstory
Have you ever wondered where you came from? I’ve been spending a lot of time lately, thinking about exactly that. Obsessing, you might say, about an Anglo-Saxon, Germanic past, which accounts for my genetic make-up, and the place where I …
Romance, whose idea was it?
Have you ever wondered who the first guy was, or be it caveman, who said “I don’t think women like being shoved in front of the stove (or fire) as much as what we thought they do, unless we’re both …