Clare Davidson's Blog, page 9

The spark behind Dragon Flight by J Keller Ford

I'm really pleased to welcome J Keller Ford to my blog today. Jenny was one of the first people I got to know on Twitter. She's a lovely,  supportive person and a great writer on top of that. Last year, Jenny had a short story in the Make Believe anthology, which was published by J.

7 Reasons why you should read

As an English teacher, I lost count of the times a parent asked me why they should encourage their kid to read. Of course, I had a whole host of stock answers related to the teaching and learning of English as a subject: reading improves your vocabulary; reading improves your writing; reading improves your use of punctuation and so on.

Good versus bad

(Image via freedigitalphotos.net) No, not as in Batman versus the Joker. I mean good boys versus bad boys in fiction. Warning, ramble ahead.A few months ago I have a conversation with fellow author and friend Kat Ellis about bad boys in fiction.

Write what you know

I’ve heard and read a lot of writing advice over the years. One of them always stuck with me for all the wrong reasons: write what you know.I must admit I balked against this piece of advice. Surely only writing what I know wouldn’t be exercising my imagination? How could I write convincing fantasy settings and characters if I was only writing what I knew?It took me a long time to realise I was taking the statement too literally.

Low self-confidence is a thing, right?

I’ve suffered with low self-confidence for as long as I can remember. It’s probably a direct result of being bullied in school. It started when my family moved to Leeds. I joined primary school mid-year (possibly mid-term, I don’t remember).

Being true to my characters

A while ago I blogged about being true to myself as an author, which led to me adding the ‘Writing without compromise’ subtitle to my website. I’ve been sticking to that when it comes to me, but somehow I got a bit lost with one of my characters.

Writing Update

Sorry about the unimaginative title, it’s the end of a busy week during which I’ve written 10,000 words on the third book of the Hidden series. I decided it was about time I gave you all an update on my writing.

Facing My Fears

Everyone is scared of something, often lots of things. Anyone who claims not to be scared of at least one thing is probably lying, probably through embarrassment. Why do we view being afraid as embarrassing or a weakness? Personally, I think it makes us stronger.

JL Mbewe's top ten books for teens/young adults

You might have guessed from past guest posts that I love top ten lists, especially of books. I think it's really fun to find out what books other people love and would recommend. Today, I'm welcoming author J.

Twenty-six hairstyles and counting

My daughter, Eleanor, started school in September. Since then she’s had a different hairstyle every day. That’s twenty-six hairstyles and counting.Why?Deep breath, admission time: Because it helps me feel less inadequate as a mother.