Amazon just made purchased ebooks downloadable as ebook and PDF, and I’ve been hearing a lot of concerns. Here’s why you shouldn’t worry. The two key concepts you have to understand are that: I think the second point is pretty clear. While Amazon has a “customer focus” that applies to the one with the wallet, […]
Writing
Jury Duty
As a devoted reader of my novels*, you know that as Felix or Jack get called to court on occasion, in their pursuit of dealing with offenders. I do love writing a bit of courtroom drama, Cicero long-winded speeches notwithstanding. So, naturally, when I got the summons for jury duty my first thought was “bloody […]
Blurbing Books 🤪
I see variations of this floating around the net: Funnsies aside, here’s an explanation of why authors find it hard to write blurbs for their own books (so you feel smarter) and what to do about it (so you can act smarter). Why do we find it hard to blurb our books? This comes down […]
What’s alternate about history?
This post originally appeared on Simon Williams newsletter. He writes dark fantasy, and we’ve hosted his characters on The Protagonist Speaks. Go check his work out! Readers are often surprised that straight-up historical fiction requires “world-building,” a term most often associated with fantasy and science fiction. I mean, it’s just history, right? Don’t we know […]
Researching Historical Architecture (and its Embedded Ghosts)
In writing the Sydney Sandstone novella, the very first DI Jack Finkel case, I ended up doing a lot of procrastination research into the early history of the City of Sydney. In the process, I uncovered some amazing material, which I thought I’d share with you here. This is both about the beautiful historical nuggets […]
Philosophical Discourse about the Nature of Stories, wrapped inside a Book Review
I’ve heard Matt Dicks on a podcast, and since I’m always trying to improve my storytelling craft I dove into his books as well. What to Expect Expect a very easy to read book, filled with stories and anecdotes that helps explain Dicks’ take on storytelling. Dicks takes you through recognising moments in your life […]
Tools of the Trade Book
You have your manuscript all debugged edited and proofed, sorted out your cover. Before you rush over to hit publish, there’s this thing about producing your book — making the paperback and ebook files. Sure, you could just upload your Word file. In terms of book design, that’s the equivalent of using spell-check for editing […]
Reflections of Past and Future
As I’m wont to do at this time of year, here are a few reflections on the past year and the coming one. This isn’t anything earth shattering, insightful, or dramatic — just a touch more personal post than usual. Books! Yes, well, that’s the main focus of this blog and my creative efforts. That’s […]
GenAI is like an Angle Grinder
There’s a lot of froth about AI — specifically Generative AI — these days. I have been a creator (author) for nearly a decade. I’ve also, in my day job, been building software products for 25 years, managing and launching new products for 15, and had AI modules in their products for about 6 years […]
Unusual Crimes Squad – a new series
As of last weekend, I finished an introductory novella in the new Unusual Crimes Squad series! I am super excited for you to meet Detective Inspector Jack Finkel, as he works through a most unusual crime 😉🕵️ This was written as a response to the prompt of colours as a central theme in Purple Toga’s […]
FELIX THE FOX MYSTERIES 