27th August 2016 | By Bernie Steadman | No Comments
There is a peculiar moment between finishing a novel and waiting for it to be returned full of the changes and edits I will need to make in order for it to be enjoyed. I’m suddenly free of the necessity to produce a couple of thousand words a day. The story has matured and gone through major changes and some re-writing over the last few months. And now, for a few short weeks, I can do nothing. Read More
8th July 2016 | By Bernie Steadman | No Comments
The closer I get to the end of this manuscript, the harder it is to get myself to the computer to start for the day. It’s such a pull between the many other jobs that I could spend my time doing, like updating my blog (!) or cleaning the kitchen floor, or bashing out another few thousand words. Read More
5th June 2016 | By Bernie Steadman | No Comments
With a stimulating line-up of guest authors, I was looking forward to this year’s festival of crime. It was great to meet up with friends, and make some new ones. I go to Crimefest to link with other writers, but also to learn from the masters of the genre. Read More
29th April 2016 | By Bernie Steadman | No Comments
I set my first novel in Exeter, a beautiful city about twenty five miles from where I live. It’s a city small enough to feel friendly but large enough to support a bit of low-life murderous scum. One friend read my novel when it was a draft MS, fighting its way through several more drafts towards being a proper, finished book. Read More
6th April 2016 | By Bernie Steadman | No Comments
I’m at that stage in the writing process where the middle of a novel can get right away from you. It’s like the good intentions when you start a piece of knitting. All the stitches are even, you’re checking the pattern and counting the rows. Read More
16th March 2016 | By Bernie Steadman | No Comments
I twisted my knee the other week. My welly got stuck in the mud; my leg carried on walking, my knee didn’t. So I’ve been bandaged up and walking gingerly for the past few days. Which led me to looking at the way people walk and what it tells the writer about them. Read More
9th March 2016 | By Bernie Steadman | No Comments
I’ve been thinking hard about telling the truth in my writing. I make up stories, so they are fictional, but I know that the essence of a story has to be true, or the readers will know, and back off. Emotions give a story heart. Read More
4th March 2016 | By Bernie Steadman | No Comments
Betty Edwards, a much-respected teacher of drawing and painting in the USA published a book in the 1970’s which was considered revolutionary at the time. She put forward the argument that the left side of the brain is verbal and analytic, whereas the right side of the brain is more Read More
9th February 2016 | By Bernie Steadman | No Comments
Sometimes, you need to take a bit of time. I don’t know about you, but my mind is like a butter churn when I’m writing. It goes over and over stuff re-hashing, trying it another way, going back to the beginning. Round and round, over and over. Pity there’s no butter at the end of the process! Read More
20th January 2016 | By Bernie Steadman | No Comments
I had a romantic notion about being a published author, and changing my profile to read ‘Author’ rather than writer was a wonderful moment, even though I doubt anyone else has noticed or would care! The warm sensation of knowing that your own creation is out there does last for a Read More
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