We Need To Talk About Deadlines

There’s an old New Yorker cartoon that shows a writer typing at his desk as a conveyor belt delivers him inexorably to a large meat-grinding drum. A sign above the drum reads ‘DEADLINE’.  I’ve always liked the cartoon. And – confession time –... Read More

Why Writers Read

‘Can I be blunt on this subject? If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.’ That’s Stephen King stating the indisputable relationship between good writing and reading; or rather,... Read More

How to Date a Ghost

You walk into the coffee shop, searching intently for the person who matches the emailed description. In the corner, a person sits at a table looking around, fiddling with a bag of sugar. You make eye contact, fashion your facial... Read More

Planes, yachts and … tractors: ghosts in the field

Recently I read my diary entry from about a year ago when I was working in Malaysia: ‘Bizarre ghost-writing adventures number 327: spent the morning trying to get the missing pieces of X’s story. He had to fit in a... Read More