Kathy Sharp's Blog

Discover a new author

An interesting blog-post caught my eye the other day: “I can’t find anything to read!” wailed the writer. When I mentioned this at my writers’ group they collapsed with laughter and frank disbelief. Can’t find anything to read? The internet’s bursting with books. https://kathysharp2013.wordpress.com/...

A Tale of the Riverbank

It’s nothing unusual for me to be inspired to write by a place. I do it all the time. But the place that inspired Whales and Strange Stars has been waiting a very long time – half a century, in fact – for me to write the book it deserves. https://kathysharp2013.wordpress.com/...

Why Not Wisdom?

There has been much discussion recently in the Facebook group Books for Older Readers. Is this the right name for this emerging genre, we ask – and what types of books does it actually include?
Is the word older problematic or just honest? Do other words such as third-ager have an uncomfortable touch of the euphemism about them? Should the books feature older characters and tackle the issues, good and bad, that come with later life? Or should they be written by older writers? https://kathysharp2013.wordpress.com/...

It's a Book's Life

Books, of the paper and ink variety, often have interesting lives once they leave the publisher and go out into the world. They have stories to tell far beyond the stories they tell, so to speak. https://kathysharp2013.wordpress.com/...

Books for the Mature Adult?

My post on books for older readers – Mature Adults – a New Genre – attracted a good deal of attention. The next question, then, is what sort of books should we include in such a genre?
When I think of the Young Adults genre, the books that come to mind straight away are the Twilight series and The Hunger Games. There are many more, of course, and they are not all vampire or sci-fi stories, although those have been immensely popular.
So what do Mature Adults prefer to read? https://kathysharp2013.wordpress.com/...

Mature Adults - A New Genre?

The wisdom of maturity is a rather unfashionable concept these days. When I was young I wanted to be a writer – but quite honestly I didn’t feel I knew enough about any subject to write about it credibly. https://kathysharp2013.wordpress.com/...

Voice and Volubility

It is a truth universally acknowledged that when two or more writers are placed in a confined space the volume of chatter will threaten to blow the roof off. I suppose it’s the solitary and silent nature of most writing that makes us all so voluble when we meet. https://kathysharp2013.wordpress.com/...

Boats in the Air

Back in 2012 during the London Olympics, I stood in a crowd at Newton’s Cove, Weymouth, watching the sailing events. Ben Ainslie won his gold medal for GB, and we all jumped up and down and cheered like mad. It was a special moment. Five years later I stood with my hands on the gunwale of the boat he sailed that day. That was a special moment, too.
This was one of the wonderful exhibits at the National Maritime Museum (Cornwall) at Falmouth, which I visited a few weeks ago. https://kathysharp2013.wordpress.com/...

The Last Plantagenet?

My guest on the blog is fellow-writer Jennifer C Wilson. Welcome Jennifer!

Hi Kathy, and thanks so much for inviting me onto the blog today, on launch day for my new release, The Last Plantagenet? This is a debut in a couple of ways for me – my first timeslip historical fiction, and my first attempt at self-publishing. Happily, I’ve learned a lot through the release of the Kindred Spirits series through Crooked Cat, so it isn’t quite as scary as it could otherwise have been.
The Last Plantagenet? follows history-lover Kate as she’s transported in a heartbeat from July 2011 back to the same month in 1485, just weeks before a certain battle, and most of us know how that ended for Richard III… https://kathysharp2013.wordpress.com/...

How the Book got its Name

So here it is, the cover for my new book, finally revealed. Whales and Strange Stars. Now then, people say to me, that’s an intriguing title. What on earth does it mean? Is it about whales? Or, Heaven forfend, whaling? The short answer is no. Allow me to explain… https://kathysharp2013.wordpress.com/...