When it comes to boosting creativity, there’s nothing like running. 2023 is going to prove a bumper year for me then, as I’ve signed up for three major events.

As Ernest Hemingway said, the hardest part about writing a novel is finishing it. Here are 7 top tips to finishing your novel.

Philosopher William Godwin was a force to be reckoned with in the intellectual life of late 18th and early 19th century London. What’s more, he looms larger-than-life in my new release, Maggie Almond and the Scandalous Sister.

Today the poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley would face a #metoo style reckoning for his treatment of his first wife, Harriet.

My passion is for writing stories about strong women. Here’s a book list I put together for Shepherd.com on that very theme.

Women were putty in the hands of the Romantic poet, Lord Byron. But it beats me what the ladies saw in him.

Mary Wollstonecraft was a trail-blazing feminist who had her reputation ruined by the man who loved her.

I love libraries! They’re a valuable resource for readers and a vital tool for authors. This week, I’ve been getting into them.

I’ve never driven to an unknown destination without a map. Why did I think I could write a novel without one?

When I first heard about the marketing strategy known in the independent publishing community as ‘permafree’, I was astonished.

The purchase of a pair of trainers, a home appliance or even an investment of time and emotion in a television program all require copious amounts of research. The act of buying a humble book is no different.

When I first began my research for The Hummingbird and the Sea, I didn’t know much at all about New England Puritans. Over the next few months I traversed a very steep learning curve. Much of what I thought I knew was wrong - ideas and stereotypes borne from American cartoons.

In The Hummingbird and the Sea, I write briefly about a woman called Anne Hutchinson. When she and her family come under attack from the wicked Reverend Dent, Leah Hallett mentions her parents had once been supporters of Hutchinson. It struck me that readers might want to know a more about this highly controversial woman.

Campbell based his study on classical myths, the heroes of which are male - the Golden Fleece, Prometheus, King Arthur and Dante’s Inferno to name but a few. Campbell’s theory excludes women entirely. They are left out in the cold, high and dry.

Movies like Pirates of the Caribbean and Treasure Island have spread so many false ideas about pirates that nearly all the average person knows about this group of high seas marauders is completely wrong. Thanks so much Disney!

“I could write a book, if I only had the time.” If only I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard those words spoken…

Many self-published authors think it’s okay not to have a book professionally edited before they paste their words all over e-book platforms. Well, it’s not okay. It’s not okay to get your mum or best friend to ‘edit’ your manuscript, even if they are avid readers.

At the moment, I’m particularly interested in relationships between males. This is an issue I’m exploring in the Dawnland series, which is why the ridicule hurled by Striker’s uncles fascinated me. I would never say to my fifteen-year-old niece, ‘Ask your parents to buy you a bra’ or ‘Tell us all about your menstrual cycle’.

Over the past few months, I’ve been hard at work flexing my short fiction muscles. As I ready my books for sale and complete the website, I’ve been writing a number of shorter pieces to use as ‘reader magnets’. Short fiction is not a form I usually write in.

It drives me crazy when I hear writers discuss the strict writing regimen they must follow to get the job done. Many authors talk about writing as though it’s a job where you can clock on in the morning, then clock off in the afternoon having written many thousands of words.