I am ensconced in a two-bedroom apartment all to myself. I have not bathed in such luxury since I left my three-bedroom London squat in 1993. There is a very friendly woman across the corridor from me called Fazna, whom I quiz. "How many bedrooms do you have?” “Two. The same, like you have.” “And how many … Continue reading Maldives 6
Maldives 5
HIH Pool at Sunset I have managed to scrounge up two young men (who, strangely, do not speak English) to clean the gaggable filth left behind by the previous tenants. Nazrul is very dark and average looking whilst Habab is the best looking man I have ever shared breathing-space with. A visage normally residing within Italian … Continue reading Maldives 5
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Maldives 4
Fellow Passengers On my way back home, a man catches me up. He saw me at HIH and wants to get together. We arrange that for tomorrow. The man from last night turns up at my hotel. We get a taxi to the Royal Garden restaurant (a two-minute walk) and he hands the driver a $100 bill, which … Continue reading Maldives 4
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Maldives 3
My “processing” begins with the aid of Shiva, a debonair Indian with a lush moustache worthy of writing home about. I suspect he would be better looking sans moustache but I can hardly say that. I imagine I will get around to it, however. Shiva takes me to stay in the Abalone guest-house. The Abalone is, at best, the … Continue reading Maldives 3
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Maldives 2
The Police station is opposite me. Quite what they do I cannot imagine, especially as the station appears to be bigger than the hospital. Often I see the policemen fishing. They give me a fishing line and suggest bread as bait. Despite lots of interest, I never ever catch a fish. Another day I try chicken sausage as … Continue reading Maldives 2
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Maldives 1
Islands from Air Taxi Sea-Plane The fish market. The enormous, rotund, shiny tuna fascinate me. There are also hundreds of smaller fish being delicately placed by size on the tiles in a precise pattern. “Heel-oh, my good man. Yes; I’m looking for something bigger than a squirrel-fish but smaller than a rainbow runner.” “Certainly, Madam, come this way … Continue reading Maldives 1
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Memoir and Voice and Why You Need to Sharpen Up
Whilst Frank McCourt [Angela's Ashes] and Augusten Burroughs [Running With Scissors; A Wolf at the Table] survived accusations of inaccuracies in their memoirs, James Frey's highly successful A Million Little Pieces, 2002 [featured on Oprah's Book Club] did not help the genre when it was later revealed he made up 70 per cent. However, the truly … Continue reading Memoir and Voice and Why You Need to Sharpen Up
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The Worst Book Review Ever But It Stops Me Being Deluded!
This post is a bit long but I hope it is worthwhile trawling through to the bitter end (!). Following is a terrible review I received about some chapters I released from my Maldives journal (at that time called I Can Laugh - NOW). I was very clear that it was my journal and not a … Continue reading The Worst Book Review Ever But It Stops Me Being Deluded!
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Listen, Drongo, You Are Not Elizabeth Gilbert and You Never Will Be
Writers Week (7-12 March) was part of the 2014 New Zealand Festival in Wellington (21 Feb- 16 March). I attended some seminars from the Writers Week, one of which was Life After Eat, Pray, Love [EPL] with Elizabeth Gilbert [EG]. EG said she vowed as a young woman to be published and was not at all deterred by SIX … Continue reading Listen, Drongo, You Are Not Elizabeth Gilbert and You Never Will Be
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If Professional Authors Need a Promotional Plan So Do You
These days it is up to new authors to come up with their own marketing and promotional plans because it is all about platform and making yourself stand out in the various marketplaces. The following is an abbreviated article taken from the Bookseller site and illustrates how even the most famous of authors - in this … Continue reading If Professional Authors Need a Promotional Plan So Do You
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Identify Your Target Audience by Joanna Penn
Writers: 5 Tips on How to Identify Your Target Audience by Joanna Penn [June 13, 2013] http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2013/06/13/identify-your-target-audience/One of the most difficult questions for an author is figuring out ‘who are your target audience?’ If you’ve tried to pitch an agent or publisher, you will have been asked about ‘comps’ or comparison authors which is just one … Continue reading Identify Your Target Audience by Joanna Penn
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How Not to Be a Writer by KM Weiland
Ever wonder if you’re doing this whole writing thing wrong? We have a bad writing session. The words are all glomming up in the back of our minds and refusing to flow across the page. Our editor hits us with a tough critique, in which he offers the humble suggestion that we change, well, pretty … Continue reading How Not to Be a Writer by KM Weiland
My Muslims 