-
Heaven: A Visitor’s Guide
Back in November, I blogged about Hell because the central character of our collaborative novel has spent a lot of time there and I wanted to get a feel for the place. Well, now, as we start to think about some of the celestial beings we will ultimately be pitting him against, my thoughts are…
-
Feedback from Birmingham Writers’ Group
We had feedback this week on two of the chapters we’ve written for the Clovenhoof novel. To make life interesting, these were chapters three and six, as we decided it made more sense to start in the middle. We’re still happy with that decision, as Iain has just written the beginning, and felt it came…
-
Judging a book by its cover: The title
Names are important. They shouldn’t be but they are. In their brilliant book, Freakonomics, US authors Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner compile top ten lists of children’s names that are most likely to indicate low income backgrounds and low academic achievement. For example, the top five boy’s names that indicate low income and…
-
Research: It’s a damn odd job but someone’s got to do it.
Writing requires research. The adage ‘write what you know’ holds very true but I agree with those who say that, in this day and age when information is so easy to find, the adage ‘know what you write’ is truer. It is perfectly possible to write short stories, articles and novels without any research. The…
-
If Heaven was a corporation
In our novel, Satan loses his job and is given ‘indefinite leave’ which he is forced to spend on Earth. Such a premise requires that the realm of the afterlife, perhaps both heaven and hell, is run rather like a private company or a large public corporation. The afterlife story arc that runs through…
-
A Writer’s Year
Okay, it’s post-Christmas and I’m considering my accomplishments as a writer in 2011. In fact, as it’s the season for lists, I listed them. Now, this is not a bragging list. I’m actually going to make a point here. Here’s the list. Iain’s List Of Writery Things He Did In 2011 1. I began writing…
-
End of Year Round-up
Statistics Blog entries made 42 Total words written for manuscript 28973 Pubs used for planning 3 Tellings-off from old ladies 1 Church services disrupted 1 Copies of Birmingham A-Z defaced 1 Bored children made to endure planning sessions 2 Index cards used for fun planning games numerous Thoughts on the process so far Heide…
-
Old Harry’s Game – Christmas Special
It’s festive and satanic and funny. And available until 30th December. Merry Christmas from Idle Hands. (only available in the UK. Sorry)
-
The Devil and the W.I.
What links the devil with the Women’s Institute? Or, more precisely, who? Go on. I’ll give you ten seconds to work it out. I got thinking about this person whilst doing a spot of research for a chapter of our Clovenhoof novel which features a children’s choir (and animal slaughter, fake blood and credit card…