Today I’m delighted to welcome fellow Choc Lit author, Morton S Gray, to the blog. Morton’s debut novel The Girl on the Beach won Choc Lit’s Search for a Star competition, and I’ve been waiting to read it ever since. At last the time has come; the novel was released across all ebook platforms on … More Morton S Gray shares her writing process
I’m celebrating today as my second Cambridge mystery, One Dark Lie, is now available across all ebook platforms. It’s set in the run-up to Christmas: cue lots of snowy pics! Writing a novel can be a bit of a long, slow process, and encouragement along the way truly helps, so it seems like a … More The making of a novel – inspiration & method
So, the edits for my second novel are finally finished. Once again, it’s been a really thorough process, making me feel that every aspect has been considered, to make the book the best it can be. Here’s how the system works for those published by Choc Lit: The Tasting Panel Choc Lit has a panel … More My experience of the editing process
I attended the RNA Conference for the first time this year and it was fantastic. I was only around for the Saturday, but I still managed to catch up with a lot of friends and the talks were fascinating too. One of the huge learning curves for me since getting published has been self promotion. … More Highlights from #RNAconf15
Today marks the sixth birthday of my publisher, Choc Lit, and we’re all celebrating. There’s a birthday round robin story to follow on Choc Lit’s blog and you can also join in by checking out #choclitparty on Twitter. And in a tenuous birthday link, I’m sharing the six bits of writing advice I’ve found most useful over the years. … More Six top writing tips (& Happy Birthday Choc Lit!)
A few weeks back, I put up a jolly post about how I was going to embark on a novella, a sequel to my first novel, You Think You Know Me. I’ve begun a Cambridge-based mystery series since completing my debut. I find the city fascinating; it’s such a place of contrasts. But, having taken a break, I … More Writing: getting started once you’ve stalled…
I recently finished Joyland, by Stephen King. It’s only the second novel of his that I’ve read, the first being 11 22 63. I can’t think why I didn’t start sooner. Neither of these particular examples belong to the genre that King’s most famous for, but each has elements that waive the normal scientific rules … More Stephen King’s Joyland, and the benefit of hindsight
Anna, the heroine of my debut mystery, You Think You Know Me, is in a smart London gallery when she meets the man who calls himself Max. She feels an instant connection with him, but then she finds he’s given her a false name… Anna’s London is a world of bright lights, wintery glitter and … More The perils of the partially familiar location – London calling
And these are just my known unknowns…! Facebook You can have more than one name on your profile page. If you’ve got a pen name, you can have that in brackets under your real one, or vice versa. I have a Clare Chase author page, but my personal account was still solely under my legal … More Publishing Promo – Six (semi) techie things I’ve learned
I don’t know if my brain’s flagging, but sorting out the plot of my next mystery has felt like wrestling an octopus. I normally enter a series of pivotal events into Excel, but this time that didn’t do the trick. I started casting around for software that might help, and realised I ought to explore … More OneNote for many – plotting my new novel
