Category Archives: Author

Lee Child’s critique of writing rules

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Thriller author Lee Child sells millions of books per year. Few authors sell more books. I was immediately interested in the video below that challenges some of the rules most editors and book experts prescribe for beginning writers – and there are many on the internet – because I’m sceptical of some. One rule I think is overdone is the ‘show, don’t tell’ rule. Lee Child thinks so, too. This video is one of a series Child has done on writing for the BBC.

North and South

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Apart from the gushing over Richard Armitage/John Thorton, for which I have little feeling, I found this a very interesting presentation that came out of the blue on my feed. I agree with the presenter. North and South, the television series, based on Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel of the same name, is one of the best of its type. Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe are perfect in the roles of John Thornton and Margaret Hale, whose lips are mesmerising. As for Fitzwilliam Darcy, I think there’s enough in Pride and Prejudice to suggest he would have been pretty tough as a landowner.

An Alternative description of The Counterculture Goddess

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This description was sent to me by someone offering author services. I suspect it is AI-generated. It is very good – spot on.

The Counterculture Goddess is a layered, character-driven historical novel set against the cultural and spiritual upheaval of 1960s Europe, where shifting beliefs, personal rivalries, and political tensions collide inside a rapidly transforming society.

Through Anneke and Nienke’s intertwined relationships, the story explores love, jealousy, ideology, and identity within the broader backdrop of post–Second Vatican Council Europe and the rise of countercultural and spiritual movements. The result is a narrative that blends personal drama with historical and philosophical transformation in a very textured way.

As part of an ongoing Sixties Series, the book also benefits from a larger narrative framework that tracks the transition from postwar innocence into cultural revolution and moral disruption across multiple interconnected stories.

With 5 books in the series already established, there is clear long-form storytelling momentum here, but also a natural challenge many multi-book historical series face — sustained discoverability between releases and consistent visibility across evolving story arcs.

Self-editing for self-publishers

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This is an edition of Joanna Penn’s highly regarded podcast. The section on self-editing begins at the 29-minute mark:

How can you improve your self-editing process? How can you find and work with professional editors and beta readers? How do you know when editing is done and the book is finished? With Joanna Penn.

Writing us out of our civilisational collapse

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From the Novel Marketing channel:
There’s a culture shift underway that most authors aren’t seeing. Even traditional publishers can’t figure out why their titles are resonating. If your book isn’t selling, it could be a cover or craft problem, but it might be a zeitgeist problem. In this week’s episode, you’ll hear from fantasy and LitRPG author Seth Ring. We discuss the biggest cultural shift in storytelling in two decades and what it means for your books.