Tim Atkinson's Blog, page 119

52 Poems

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"Boys being girls being girls being boys..."

Writing Therapy is told in the first-person by the book's main character, Frances Nolan (though later in the book she decides to be called Sophie Western). She's a teenage girl; she's struggling at school; she reads a lot of books. In fact (just like her alter ego) she sets herself a challenge - to read every work of fiction in the library, alphabetically. Unlike the protagonist of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, she doesn't get very far. A catastrophic crush on a male teacher, school refusal and an e

Boston Book Group

Yesterday I attended what was probably my first real author 'gig' - an evening with the Waterstone's Book-Club, answering questions and discussing and signing copies of Writing Therapy. Quite the celebrity! Well, hardly - but getting feedback (WT had been their book of the month) from people who had read it, liked it, had a view on it and even an opinion on the cover (mostly negative) was fascinating. I remember the late John Mortimer saying that the reason that he wrote plays instead of novels

Bob Dylan on Writing Therapy!

Interviewed by Caroline Smailes

The author of Black Boxes, In Search of Adam and Disraeli Avenue, Caroline Smailes e-mailed last week to ask me if I'd be prepared to be interviewed on her blog. You can read the all about it here. It's the second interview I've done since Writing Therapy came out. The first was on local radio station Endeavour FM and concentrated solely on the book. But as a successful writer, Caroline wanted to know all sorts of things about my writing in general - how I wrote, or why, and what else I'd had pu

Writing (as) Therapy

It's no accident that the title of this book can be interpreted in different ways. It is, of course, the title of the novel but also the name of a bona fide form of psychotherapy. In the novel, the protagonist uses writing as a way of curing her depression. Forms of writing therapy have been in fairly common use for some time. But I have a question. Can anyone provide any anecdotal evidence that what Frances Nolan does - i.e. 'write herself well' - is actually possible?

Writing (as) Therapy

It's no accident that the title of this book can be interpreted in different ways. It is, of course, the title of the novel but also the name of a bona fide form of psychotherapy. In the novel, the protagonist uses writing as a way of curing her depression. Forms of writing therapy have been in fairly common use for some time. But I have a question. Can anyone provide any anecdotal evidence that what Frances Nolan does - i.e. 'write herself well' - is actually possible?

Sold Out!

Passing Waterstones, Boston, today we popped in (as you do) in order for me gratuitously to see my own book on their shelves and got a shock - no books. Nothing. Not a sausage. Panic. Thankfully, one of staff came over to explain that they've all gone because, well, they've all gone. Sold out. And more are already on order! So that's alright then.

In other news, I've been booked to appear at the meeting of their book group next month, to talk about Writing Therapy (and maybe sign a few copies). S

On the buses!

Well, not quite but it's fun to pretend. You can have a go, too, here.

Scott Pack reviews Writing Therapy

Scott Pack is probably best known as Waterstone's former Head Buyer. He was once described as 'the most powerful man in book publishing' and now runs The Friday Project as well as his book blog, Me And My Big Mouth. He had this to say about Writing Therapy in his 'Quick Flicks' column:

An interesting concept. Is the narrator trapped within a novel of her own making? Is this a guide to writing fiction in novel form? Or just a story of madness? Possibly a little too tricksy for me but I can see som