Jo Zebedee's Blog, page 2

Word of Mouth

Recently, I’ve had a slew of friends bringing out books. With the other hat, as a bookseller, I’m seeing a slew of books coming out that people are asking to buy. Sometimes the two meet in the middle, which is lovely, and sometimes they don’t, which is harder. I have no idea which of the […]

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This… this is what it is to be a writer *sobbing quietly*

Questions writers get asked, a lot – where do you get your ideas? What motivates you to write? Ladies and gentlemen, a case study. This week, I wrote a quick facebook post about what I’m reading, which is a book called the ‘Lamplighters’ (very good it is) by Emma Stonex and I said, I love […]

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ON CULTURE AND WRITING

    Long ago, when an agent took Inish Carraig under their wing to form it into something worthy of submission, we had discussions about how I might revise the book. One aspect stands out to me above all others. Where, in this science fiction story about aliens, was the Northern Ireland the readers would […]

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Storybundle – a new experience

One of the things I love most about being a writer is how new experiences come along from time to time. A few months ago, I was approached by Melissa Snark, a long time facebook friend and writer of the Hook series of books, as well as a tremendous bundle of energy, who was curating […]

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Everyday Magic – I need you!

I’m excited to share my new project with the world! Having found myself unexpectedly underemployed – due, mostly, to Covid-19 – I returned to a project I first conceived of last autumn. As time has gone on and the world has become a changed place, it felt more and more relevant, as a project of […]

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On creativity

I have been, metaphorically at least, blind. When I teach about creativity and how to encourage non-creative people to be more confident at creating, I always emphasize that we must make time to create. We need time to think, to dream, to take in the world around us and let it touch us. We need []

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Accidentally full time writing

Covid-19 has had such an impact on so many things for me, Ive found myself underemployed for probably the first time in my life. My management consultancy work, usually busy through May and June as the academic year comes to a close, is pretty well at a standstill. Some marking to do, and some []

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On Paying it Forwards

Yesterday, I had a lovely day. It was the day many people heard from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland if they’d been successful in receiving funding for some writing this year (some more will hear on Monday, I’m expecting). It was especially lovely because, this year, I wasn’t waiting to hear about anything (having […]

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On the thorny issue of rejection

Rejections happen to writers. They have happened to all your favourite authors. They happen to every jobbing writer I know. They may not get talked about a lot, but they still happen. A la CBT it’s up to each writer how they take those rejections – but you can twist every thought in your head […]

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Being the first, not the next

As ever, this blog has percolated, punctuated by a number of thoughts and events and conversations. Event the one – working on a new project where the weird brain and ideas and the mish-mash that makes any speculative writer, are well suited. The love of finding a quirky ‘what-if’ and turning our world around to […]

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