Even Roald Dahl’s first drafts were rubbish
posted on October 25, 2013 by Justin in Uncategorized
THE DOG THAT ATE THE BATHROOM (as read by author’s children – who were paid in lollies)
posted on October 25, 2013 by Justin in Blatant plugs
Recently I got my two girls (Sophie and Georgia) to read THE DOG THAT ATE THE BATHROOM. Just click on the cover to hear. I think they did a great job, though British accents weren’t part of the original plan. There were a lot of laughs. Maybe I should post the unedited version one day.
Bestseller Bowling Through India – for free. Nothing. Gratuit. Zilch.
posted on October 17, 2013 by Justin in Blatant plugs
For the next five days you can grab my travel memoir ‘Bowling Through India’ for NOTHING from Amazon. Don’t panic if you’re not into sport. Here are one reader’s comments: ‘Fantastic story of friendship male bonding and cricket. Far from your typical travel book you learn as much about the ways group of men treat each other as you will about India. Highly recommended.’
So get to it – and enjoy!
The only writing tip you’ll need from Man Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton
posted on October 16, 2013 by Justin in Wordy advice
Huge congratulations to Kiwi Eleanor Catton for becoming the youngest person to win the Man Booker Prize. Holy hell. What an achievement. And what a humble speech. You’ll be surfing on a rainbow right about now.
Recently, when I was struggling to string a sentence together in my new children’s novel I found a great quote from Eleanor which stuck. ‘If a book starts off funny,’ a thesis supervisor once told her, ‘It has to get funnier; if it starts off weird, it has to get weirder, if it starts off sad, it has to get sadder. Like all good advice it seems pretty straightforward at first glance, but I came to realise that having to trump oneself means having to outwit oneself, and that’s actually really difficult.’
