I’ve been thinking and talking about creativity quite a lot lately. First of all, I participated in a podcast which veered a long distance from its normal subject matter (wargaming with miniatures) because my co-host and prolific blogger, Neil Shuck, has decided to retire from his role as a regular columnist…
Just what is it about Joanna Penn that makes her such a wonderful companion on the road from novice to pro? Her authenticity, that’s what. I read her books, listen to her podcasts, watch her vidcasts and now engage in her Facebook Live events — and for every single second…
I’ve written previously about how I gain inspiration from a piece of music, and some tracks take me so firmly in their grasp that I just have to write with Spotify on a single track loop until I wrestle that sucker to the ground and get it out of my…
This week, I interviewed Roz Morris who tutored our group of enthusiastic writers at the first ever Creative Retreats in Italy event, hosted by my sister Janys Hyde in Venice. Q 1: Hi Roz and thanks for agreeing to tell my readers something about the course you ran recently in Venice.…
In precisely two weeks time, I shall be in Venice. The last time I was there was 2005 – distressing, given how much I love this unique city, la serenissima. And especially shocking, since my sister lives there. Ten years. How is that possible? Well, a lot has happened in…
This time, I’m going to open by giving a mention to one of my favourite people, the fabulous Roz Morris, writer and editor of fiction and non-fiction, ghostwriter, blogger, teacher, broadcaster and horsewoman. (Don’t ask her whose novels she ghosted, she may have to shoot you…) She’s one of the…
I’ve had something of an epiphany, thanks to yet another of Joanna Penn’s podcasts. This is getting to be a habit. In the latest episode, she interviews Guy Windsor, who has been an enthusiastic martial artist for most of his (still young) life. He is clearly exceptionally dedicated to rediscovering…
Joanna Penn, ‘The Creative Penn’ has just launched a new series of free videos – you can sign up for free access to the series here. I don’t want to spoil the content for you, but if you’re keen to become an independent ‘authorpreneur’ (a fancy way of saying self-published author,…
I’m spreading myself too thin, with a host of different blogs, running on separate sites and under different domain names. As well as this, I of course design and edit a monthly magazine (Miniature Wargames), provide graphics work for a number of clients and now have contracts for three new books…
Bloomsbury Publishing organised the Writers & Artists conference “Self-Publishing in the Digital Age”, which took place at The Wellcome Trust on Euston Road, London on Saturday 29th November. I didn’t count the numbers present, but it felt like well over 100 people in the sixth floor venue had come to…