by John | May 20, 2026 | How Is It Going?, General, On Writing
I’ve written the first thousand words of the new novel. It’s a near-future dystopia, set in a decayed and divided London. It centres on the networks of tunnels under the city: disused underground railway, sewers, utilities, old command headquarters, maybe...
by John | Apr 30, 2026 | How Is It Going?, On Writing
I have written the first words of a new novel. They are, of course, the title. This one is called To the Church in Philadelphia. Why THAT? What does it mean? Are we going to hear a sermon? That would be an immediate turnoff for 85% of possible readers....
by John | Apr 10, 2026 | How Is It Going?, General, On Writing
Going back to that sequel: the one I had pledged to my agent without any idea what was going to happen in it. I know why the industry likes sequels. A reader who has enjoyed the first book will want to read the second. Unlike the first time around, they have a good...
by John | Mar 30, 2026 | So you want to be a writer?, How Is It Going?, On Writing
This is a new departure for me. I am making a video. The video is of one of my short stories, The Curse of the Ferryman. The plan is to release it on social media to promote myself as a writer. (Cunning, eh?) But also it’s an experiment with live storytelling...
by John | Mar 9, 2026 | How Is It Going?, General
As promised, I have sent my agent a synopsis and first three chapters of a possible sequel to the latest novel. It needed to be done, and it is done, but as I have said, it’s not something I feel I’m particularly good at. Those three chapters in particular… They do...
by John | Feb 23, 2026 | How Is It Going?, General
You want to pitch a book to someone in the industry who already has an idea of the kind of thing you do. They’ve read the first in your series, and they’ve asked, ‘Is there a sequel?’ The good news is you probably won’t have to write the...
by John | Feb 9, 2026 | How Is It Going?, General
My wife and I spent the last fortnight cycling around Rajasthan with a couple of tour guides and a group of other Brits, all very lovely people. I had confessed early on that I was a writer, and my fellow travelers were interested. I was asked several times if I was...
by John | Jan 13, 2026 | How Is It Going?, On Writing
Right, settle in. Let’s talk about Magic. For this purpose, we’ll define it broadly. ‘Magic’ means anything that works or happens in your written world that cannot, according to our understanding of science, work or happen in the real one. It means dragons that fly...
by John | Jan 1, 2026 | How Is It Going?, On Writing
My draft manuscript has been to my favourite readers. Their reactions, in brief: Reader 1 said she needed to know more about how the magic worked; Reader 2 thought the first part was too slow; Reader 3 said he couldn’t tell until he was some way into the book what...
by John | Sep 15, 2025 | How Is It Going?, On Writing
The setting of your novel is as much a character as any of the actors in your story. It drives the action just as they do. It deserves at least as much attention from the writer. Well, I think so. The word “setting” covers many things. If you are writing...
by John | Aug 11, 2025 | How Is It Going?, On Writing
It’s a nice scene. It takes place at dawn, when the grasses are thick with dew. Under a cedar tree two sisters are discussing things that have happened, and why their world is as it is. We learn a bit about one of the sisters from the way she reacts. It It’s...
by John | Aug 4, 2025 | How Is It Going?, On Writing
“She was young to know such of life, and how to end it.” Does that work? As a first line, is it intriguing, or just pompous? Does it pull the reader in or put them off? To hell with it! What I have written, I have written: the first edit of my second...
