Cancun, Mexico: holiday time, a time of adventure, a time for having fun. Two American couples in search of foreign enlightenment—Jeff and Amy, Stacey and Eric—meet a German called Matthias on a diving trip and go in search of his brother; but what are the strange ruins where Henrich has set his heart on going? And why would there be a hill in the middle of the jungle covered in tiny red flowers, swathed in strange vines, surrounded Read the rest of this entry »

I did it all wrong: one day I just decided that I wanted to write novels and started to write them. Strangely enough I’d barely read more than a few books before this, and didn’t consider that to be a disadvantage. Subsequently, like most beginners, I had no idea that it would be years until I had any kind of idea what I was doing, or what I was doing wrong. One advantage of this naivety, of course, is that Read the rest of this entry »

1: Writer’s block is stopping me from writing

The notorious ‘Writer’s block’–more a symptom of underlying issues concerning the efficient formation of ideas, rather than any psychological problem–can be easily eradicated with a number of simple techniques. Some helpful suggestions:

1) Record notes while at work / out walking; a mobile phone is the writer’s best weapon to hide those all important ideas from the boss or passerby.

2) If you can’t or don’t feel like really writing, make notes Read the rest of this entry »