Has AI ruined it for novelists?
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Category Archives: The novel
Lee Child’s critique of writing rules
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.
My latest release – Love in the Counterculture
Love in the Counterculture, Book 5 in my Sixties Series, has been released on Amazon in paperback and ebook and on many other internet platforms.
North and South
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.
Smashwords Summer/Winter sale 2026
All my titles are available at 25% discount
The Decline of the English Department
This is an interesting account of how the university English Department drifted from its original purpose, which is the study and assessment of the Canon of English literature, but there is no doom prediction in the survey. Indeed, Adam Walker senses a renewed interest in reading and literature, but outside the university.
An Alternative description of The Counterculture Goddess
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.
Where is self-publishing going?
This is a very good look at the recent developments in self-publishing and suggestions of how to manage them. The YouTuber is a successful self-publisher.
Something weird is happening in Self-Publishing.
New cover for The Counterculture Goddess
I have had covers for two titles in my Sixties Series professionally designed. One is for Love in the Counterculture, which is due for release at the end of June 2026. The second is for The Counterculture Goddess, published in 2025 and revised in 2026, which I have just received.
I have also provided a character and other information sheet for readers. My plan is to provide a similar information sheet for all my fiction titles.
Johnathan Franzen’s ten rules for novelists
John Matthew Fox, of Bookfox, critically runs through Johnathan Franzen’s 10 rules for novelists, which have apparently infuriated many writers, even some of the best-known. I agree mostly with him. He dismisses 6 of the 10. The only comment I wish to make is on the claim that ‘Substituting then is the lazy or tone-deaf writer’s non-solution to the problem of too many ands on the page.’ Even worse is using ‘and then’. I say rubbish, bunkum and piffle to that. Listen to the way English-speaking people speak.