Inspiration For Writers
I’ve just read this superb post by writer Graham Dinton and wanted to share it with you: ‘Drawing Inspiration from Hockey – 9 Lessons’. While art is a great starting point for any writer in need of a dose of inspiration, here Dinton shows how…
The Devil is in The Detail
Research is a wonderful thing for writers, it makes us feel like we’re writing – doing something constructive that will assist our writing, while at the same time not actually having to put those words together to form well crafted sentences. Ehem… Several writers I…
Where do you write?
Writing.ie are running a really interesting series on where writers write. As a writer I’m extremely nosey, so looking at where authors create their magic is particularly fascinating. What’s even more interesting than what’s on their desk, are the locations they chose, here is a…
What Mystery Editors Are Looking For…
This is an excellent post on the Penguin Book Country Business Blog (now that’s a mouthful), that is really useful for aspiring mystery writers. Book Country is a Penguin initiative where readers and writers of genre fiction come together to read original fiction, post work…
Ten Best Hooks: Opening Lines
It’s the start of a New Year and time to make writing resolutions! New starts got me thinking about opening lines – writing a great hook, catching your reader in that opening line is a real skill and one essential to thriller writers. These are…
Creating Cinematic Characters with The Script Lab
Characters are the life blood of good fiction and this is a very interesting post from lovely people at The Script Lab. It has huge resonance for novelists, so is well worth a read, and more importantly contains some great links to The Script Lab…
100k Words in 100 Days?
For anyone who has tried National Novel Writing Month in November, and for anyone who wanted to but didn’t, there’s a new kid on the block! Sally Quilford has had stories published in most of the major women’s magazines, and had seven pocket novels published My…
10 Bestsellers That Got Rejected…
Rejection is a part of life for a writer, like it or not, if you want to write you need to develop a thick skin. Literature is subjective – what one editor loves, another may hate – the key to their job is identifying books…
About Sam Blake
Sam Blake is Vanessa O'Loughlin's alter ego. When she isn't reading or writing crime fiction, Vanessa runs the Irish writing resources website www.writing.ie and brings best selling authors to Inkwell Writers Workshops to guide and inspire aspiring writers. Vanessa is PRO for Irish PEN. As Sam Blake, Vanessa gets to do what she enjoys most - write! Find out more about Sam Blake...
