The Blogging from A-Z Challenge continues today. Throughout April I’m posting about my life as a writer, including my inspirations, frustrations and celebrations. Today, I’m sharing some of the tools that I use for writing. Traditional Tools Pens! Most writers have hundreds of them and I’m no exception. I have ball point pens and rollerballs in various colours for when I want to get my ideas down quickly. My favourites are Parker Jotters and Uni-ball UB-157 Eye Fine Rollerballs. I come up with my most creative ideas when I use a fountain pen. There’s just something about the smooth indigo […]

The Blogging from A-Z Challenge continues today. Throughout April I’m posting about my life as a writer, including my inspirations, frustrations and celebrations. I’m a great believer in the old adage that writers should be avid readers. Whether we read novels, poetry or non-fiction articles, it’s a great way to learn new words, techniques and a sense of style. It also inspires ideas, challenges us to think beyond our own perspective and exercises our imagination. I read for all those reasons, but first and foremost, I read for pleasure. Like most writers, I fell in love with books at a […]

The Blogging from A-Z Challenge continues today. Throughout April I’m posting about my life as a writer, including my inspirations, frustrations and celebrations. I love the process of naming characters. I probably take it far too seriously than I should, as I spend a lot of time thinking up interesting names. Here are some of the criteria I use when considering character names: Has an interesting meaning or association, preferably not too obvious. Fits with my internal image of the character. Works well in context (i.e realistic for the time period and setting). Looks aesthetically pleasing when written down. Sounds […]