⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Lamb by Lucy Rose is one of those books that creeps under your skin almost from the first page, and once it’s there, it refuses to leave. It’s hard to believe this is a debut because the voice is so assured, the world so fully realised, and the atmosphere so thick with tension … Continue reading A Feast of Darkness, Beauty, and Motherhood
Every writer has a graveyard. It might be a drawer, a folder, or a hard drive, stuffed with stories that didn’t make it. Some sputtered out after a promising start, full of energy but unable to sustain themselves. Others ballooned into sprawling, unmanageable forms, leaving me tangled in their ambitions. And a few simply refused … Continue reading What It Feels Like to Kill a Story That Wasn’t Working – The Graveyard of Drafts
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Don’t Let the Forest In is one of those books that sneaks up on you. At first, it feels like a quiet story about grief, family, and the lingering ache of loss, but before long, it grows into something much darker, stranger, and more unsettling. C.G. Drews has a real talent for weaving emotion … Continue reading Haunting, Lyrical, But Just a Little Uneven
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This book floored me. I went in expecting a fun slice of horror and came out the other side completely obsessed. The Haar has everything I want in a read: eerie atmosphere, creeping dread, sudden bursts of nastiness, and at the same time, a real emotional core that caught me off guard. Sodergren has … Continue reading Creepy, Atmospheric, and Surprisingly Emotional
Dialogue is the heartbeat of a story. It reveals character, advances the plot, and immerses the reader in the world you've created. Writing dialogue that feels real and believable is an art, one that can significantly enhance your storytelling. Here are some techniques to help you craft dialogue that resonates with authenticity.1. Know Your CharactersBefore … Continue reading Writing Dialogue that Feels Real: Techniques for Natural, Believable Conversations
I’ve been writing for just over four years now, and so far, I haven’t written any kind of short story, well, until now, that is. The other week I had an idea for a story, and it was one of those where I just had to get it down to get it out of my … Continue reading A New (Short) Story Coming Soon
NaNoWriMo What is NaNoWriMo? NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. It is a challenge to write 50,000 words on a new novel or your current WIP. You keep track of your progress on the website, where you can see how everyone else is doing. You don’t lose out if you don’t manage to do the … Continue reading It’s NaNoWriMo Time Again
I've been doing the VSS writing prompts on and off for a year or so now, but like most people, I tended to do separate little stories, scenes or poems. But when it came to September, I had an idea. If you don't know what I mean by VSS365 writing prompts let me quickly explain. … Continue reading Who Lives Beneath: A VSS365 Story
Being a writer sometimes means that you have to juggle your different ideas. I recently asked my fellow writers on Twitter how they decide which idea to work on; I currently have around 9 ideas that are in various stages of development. Some are just a very basic idea, some have a number of notes … Continue reading What To Write?
If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll have seen earlier this week that I revealed a little teaser for my latest WIP. It wasn’t much, but I wanted to show you at least something about what I’m working on. And Then I Killed Her has been progressing quite well, until this week when I’ve not … Continue reading My Current WIP: A Teaser
Gareth Ellis - Author 