Helena Halme's Blog, page 23

Virtual Book Club

 

While in London we are shivering in chilly winter temperatures below 0, over at Jane Davis blog things are hotting up. Jane runs a highly popular Virtual Book Club, and I’m delighted to let you know that she has selected me as one of her featured authors!

With her characteristic directness, Jane quizzed me about the romantic scenes in The Navy Wife, how being an expat Finn has shaped my writing, and much, much more. You can read all my responses here.

To my Finnish and Scandinavian readers, I know it’s absolutely freezing over there at the moment, but here in London we just aren’t used to really cold weather. The Englishman told me I should hand in my passport when I complained about how parky it was. Yes, I know, I’ve become far too English.

Hope you enjoy reading about Jane’s  book club. If you want to be kept up to date with my writing life, sign up for our newsletter here.

 

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5 Books for the New Year

I love January and the new year, because I get more time to read than in the busy time leading up to Christmas. This year, because I am a fully-fledged Driven Woman, included in my reading list for the first time is a self-help book (for lack of any other description), which was recommended to me by one of the members in the network. And, as usual, there’s also one Nordic Noir title, and an indie book on my virtual bedside table.

The Chimp Paradox by Professor Steve Peters

This book was recommended to me by Miisa Mink, founder of the Driven Woman concept. I have yet to start it, but she speaks highly of Professor Peter’s ability to explain how our mind works, and how the Chimp inside us is often trying to protect us in situations where we do not need it. I can’t wait to read this book.

Blood on Snow by Jo Nesbo

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, or follow me on Goodreads, you know I love this Norwegian Nordic Noir author. Nesbo has now come up with a new thriller series following his highly successful Harry Hole books. This novel is already on my Kindle, and I’m very tempted to download the next book, which is called Midnight Sun, too, but am holding my horses until I’ve read this one. (Difficult to resist, though). I shall report back what I think about the new characters and plot in a book review soon.

The Beggar & The Hare by Tuomas Kyrö

I picked up this book when I was last at the Waterstone’s flagship store in London’s Piccadilly. The Beggar & The Hare, a retelling by Tuomas Kyrö of the modern classic, The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna, sounds intriguing. I read the first few pages on the tube on my way home, and was immediately hooked. If the rest of the novel is half as funny and surreal as the The Year of the Hare, I’m in for a treat!

Marry in Haste by Debbie Young

I was given this next book free as a review copy, but only because I asked for it. Debbie Young is a fellow indie author, and has written several collections of short stories. These 15 warm, witty short stories take an affectionate look at the institution of marriage, offering five gentle tales about each of the following stages: seeking a partner, committing to marriage, and surviving the long haul. Perfect for the tube!

Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty

This is an author that I absolutely love reading. If you haven’t come across her books yet, you’re in for a treat. Liane Moriarty is a hugely successful Australian author who writes witty, engaging and intelligent books about family life – and romance. Three wishes is a story about three sisters, so it couldn’t be more perfect for me. The novel is out on the 28th of January, and I’ve already pre-ordered my copy.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my book choices for the new year. What books do you have on your Kindle or on your bedside table?

Want to read more posts like this? Sign up to my Newsletter here. If you want to check out my books, please click here. You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

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David Bowie Is No More

I, like millions of other people, woke up this Monday morning to the terrible news that David Bowie had died at the age of 69. He’d been battling cancer, but in typical Bowiesque manner, had only just released his latest album, Backstar, to critical acclaim.

I was introduced to David Bowie by my older sister, and I remember the first time I heard his music in a record shop in Turku, Finland. Bowie had by then already released his sixth album, Aladdin Sane, and while my sister and I shared a set of headphones in a listening booth in 1974 (English rock music took about a year to reach Finland in those days), I looked at the strangest album cover I’d ever seen. Who was this man who dared to wear make-up? But the music, the music was nothing like I’d heard before. At the time, I was into Suzy Quatro, Slade and Paul Simon (I was still mourning the breakup between him and Art Garfunkel). And yes, I had a poster of David Cassidy on my wall even though I didn’t own any of his LP’s (but he was a very pretty boy).

Bowie changed the way I listened to music. He had the ability to stretch your appreciation and expectation of what rock music should be. And as my life changed, and I started at yet another school in Espoo, near Helsinki, so did David Bowie’s music. My sister and I took turns to buy his albums, I got Pin Ups, she Diamond Dogs. By the time I was doing my finals at Hanken school of economics in Helsinki, Bowie too seemed to have grown-up, singing ‘Let’s Dance’ wearing a sharp suit.  That song always takes me back to one night at a particular disco in Helsinki with my good friends, celebrating the end of our studies. But then all of Bowie’s songs take me to a particular time in my life. Recently, when I took a completely different direction in my life, a Bowie song, again, best conveyed how I felt, so much so that I quoted his lyrics on a blog post and my final editorial.

Rest in peace David Bowie.

The post David Bowie Is No More appeared first on Helena Halme.

5 Ways to Learn Your Craft: Advice for New Writers Part 5

In the previous posts I wrote about how practise makes perfect, but I also said that writing, like any form of art is something that can be taught. You need aptitude and talent too, but these two alone may not be enough to make you into a successful author.

Learning you Craft

In this post I will talk about the various ways that writing is taught. These are all my own experiences, so this is not a conclusive list, but I hope it’ll be helpful to you.

1. Online resources and books.

This is a good start. You’ll find out what you already know, learned from writing essays at school, college or university, and if you join a few online communities which you like the look of, and take part in the discussions, you can really develop your writing skills. I tend to find interesting posts on writing through Twitter, and articles that my fellow members of the Alliance of Independent Authors recommend on their Facebook group.  But there are other organisations, and many, many blogs on writing. Two that I can wholeheartedly recommend are Nail Your Novel blog by Roz Morris and Jessica Bell‘s series of books on writing.

2. Writing courses

There are several short courses on creative writing. Some of these can be quite costly, so it’s worth considering the outlay carefully, and (if possible) talking to people who’ve taken part before signing up. A few years ago I took The Story Seminar course with Robert McKee, and although it was expensive, it was the best decision I’ve ever made. This is a scriptwriting course and if you didn’t love Casablanca before, you will after the course. Even though I’m a novelist and not a scriptwriter, during the long weekend, I learned the structure of a story in a way I’d never done before. After The Story Seminar, I wrote The Red King of Helsinki, and rewrote Coffee and Vodka.

Other courses that I’ve heard good things about in the UK (sorry, I have little experience in other locations) are organised by Arvon Foundation, Writers and Artists, and The Guardian.

3. MA in Creative Writing

I wrote a whole post about my crazy year at Bath Spa University a few years ago, and if you are interested you can read the post here. All I’d like to say now is that taking a year-long course is a real commitment, something which I was prepared for at the time. The main benefit for me was that the MA made me finally believe in myself as a writer. However, I do think that you can get the same experience online, or by attending shorter courses these days (I took my MA over ten years ago). But, if you can immerse yourself in learning creative writing from the best for a whole year, go for it.

I certainly wouldn’t change that year at Bath Spa for anything – it was the best and, at the same time, the most difficult year of my life.

4. Writing

This seems so obvious, but you’d be surprised how many new would-be authors shy away from actual writing. I’ve said it before in these series of posts, but this is so important that it is worth saying again: Writing is a craft – you get better the more you write. It’s as simple as that. Think of it as any form of art or craft: knitting, drawing, painting, woodworking, baking. Your first batch of biscuits or loaf of bread is not as good as the 100th…so just as Hemingway famously said, ‘Apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair and write’ (or someone said something to that effect, see this article).

5. Reading

As much as writing, reading is really vital to learning how to write. It’s good to read in the same genre as the manuscript you’re working on, but the most important thing is to read a lot, whatever the genre. Sometimes when I’m in the middle of a manuscript, I find it easiest to read something else, such as my guilty secret, a Nordic Noir crime novel by Jo Nesbo, for example. Sometimes if I read in my own genre, women’s fiction (or literary romance), I find myself struggling to keep my voice. When I’m editing, however, I find reading in my genre very useful. But that may just be me.

Finally, here is a great article from the Guardian, ‘Ten rules for writing fiction’. Have a look at this for fun, but remember, like all rules on writing, these can be broken too.

I hope you’re enjoyed this series on Advice for New Writers so far. The next post will be up early February when I’ll talk about traditional versus self-publishing, and whether such a choice will still exist in the future.

Now it’s over to you. Have you taken any courses on creative writing, or would you consider one?

The post 5 Ways to Learn Your Craft: Advice for New Writers Part 5 appeared first on Helena Halme.

Free Kindle book offer!

To celebrate the publication of the long-awaited sequel, The Navy Wife, the first book in the series, The Englishman, a stylish 1980s Nordic love story, is FREE on Kindle for 5 days only!

When a young Finnish student Kaisa is invited to the British Embassy cocktail party in Helsinki to celebrate a Royal Navy visit to Finland, she’s not looking for romance. After all, her future has been carefully planned: she’s to complete her degree, marry her respectable, well-to-do Finnish fiancé Matti, and live happily ever after.

Enter the dashing Peter, a newly qualified naval officer. Like a moth to a flame, Kaisa falls head over heels in love with the handsome Englishman. The young lovers steal passionate kisses in the chilly Esplanade Park and promise to meet again.

Kaisa and Peter embark on a long-distance relationship, but at the height of the Cold War, while the Englishman chases Russian submarines, Kaisa is stuck in Finland, a country friendly with the Soviet Union.

Can the love between Kaisa and the Englishman last and go the distance?

The Englishman is FREE on Kindle from 30th December 2015 until 3rd of January 2016

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5 Books for Christmas

There is still time to get last minute Christmas presents, and what would be better than a book? Books make perfect gifts for those members of your family or friends who are the most difficult to buy for. Books also make excellent treats for yourself during the holidays when we all should have a little more time for ourselves.

Here are some of the books I’d recommend as good presents – or good reads during the holidays.

If you know a fan of Nordic, or Scandinavian, culture, or anyone interested in cooking, you cannot go wrong with The Nordic Cook Book by the famed Swedish chef, Magnus Nilsson. I was given this book by a friend, who also introduced me to Nilsson’s Fäviken restaurant in Northern Sweden, and I am delighted with it. This is the most comprehensive guide to the food and the cooking of the Nordic region. It even has all the Finnish Christmas recipes that I cook every year. I’m going to use the recipes from this book for our traditional Christmas Eve supper the first time. This is a major departure from using my old newspaper clipping that I’ve been following for the past 30 years. The Nordic Cook Book by Magnus Nilsson

2. I’ve been a fan of fellow indie author, JJ Marsh’s series of books featuring Detective Beatrice Stubbs, for a while now, so I was delighted to hear her latest book, Human Rites, is set in Germany during the run-up to Christmas. There’s snow, art theft, a nun and a shaggy dog. A highly enjoyable police crime novel for Christmas. Human Rites by J J Marsh.

3. Need a gift for an uncle, an aspiring physicist, or anyone who is interested in science? This Sunday Times bestseller, Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, is written by Carlo Rovelli, an Italian physicist. This book provides everything you need to know about modern physics, the universe and our place in the world in seven enlightening lessons. Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli

4. As Red as Blood is the first book in The Snow White Trilogy by Salla Silmukka is a thriller set in Finland where a feisty teenager fights the dark forces in a snowy landscape. This will be the perfect present for a teenager, but because the books are set in my home country, I really enjoyed these books too. As Red as Blood by Salla Silmukkka

5. Finally, a literary romance never goes amiss at Christmas. After You by Jojo Moyes has been on my wish list for a while now. This is the long-awaited sequel to Moyes’ bestselling novel, Me Before You, a novel which reduced me (and many thousands – millions? – like me) to tears. If you haven’t read Jojo Moyes before, you’re in for a treat. Her books are full of “damaged people with complex lives, described with humour and pathos”, and I challenge you not to get hooked on her writing. After You by Jojo Moyes

Hope you enjoy my list of last minute Christmas books. If you can’t get to a bookshop, you can order from Amazon until Christmas Eve (see your local last day shipping dates here).

The post 5 Books for Christmas appeared first on Helena Halme.

The Navy Wife is now out on Kindle

The Navy Wife , the long-awated sequel to the Nordic tale of long-distance love, The Englishman, is now out in Kindle form. I know it's been a long time coming, so I am absolutely delighted that I can finally say the novel is published.
To buy, click this link.

Marriage to The Englishman, Peter, was a mere dream for Kaisa when she was a student in Helsinki. It’s now 1984 and Kaisa wants a career as well as Peter. But no one wants to give a job to a young, foreign Navy Wife. Kaisa’s frustration creates bitter rows between the newlyweds, which she regrets each time her submariner husband goes away.
Enter rich, charming and clever Duncan, who seems to have all the answers to Kaisa’s problems. With Peter away on a long patrol, can the lonely and bored Kaisa resist Duncan’s advances?
The Navy Wife is available on Kindle here (US) and here (UK). It is also available on other international sites, please see your local Amazon store. Download it now! 
New Website
My new website is also now up and running, so please go and visit www.helenahalme.com. I will be blogging there as usual, but please remember, if you are following me on Blogger, you will no longer get notifications that way, so please sign up for my newsletter here or on the new site above.
As always, don’t be shy – share the news of my latest book release on Twitter, Facebook or by email (or shout it from the rooftops!).Thank you!

Advice for New Writers Part 4: How to Increase the Speed of Writing

In Part 2 of this series of posts, I talked about editing your work, and how the first draft is always just that, a draft – an incomplete piece of writing. Having said that, without getting those words out, without that first draft, you cannot move forward and produce a finished product – your novel.

Of course, the faster you can write the first manuscript, the better.

Now that I have taken the bold step of giving up my day job to be a full-time author entrepreneur, I am hoping to write at least two novels per year, as well as some non-fiction books, so I’ve been looking into how I could speed up the process of writing.

Having time to write is crucial, but it’s also important that you make the time to write

As you know if you follow this blog, I took part in the National Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, to motivate me to write about 2,000 words every day. It worked, and I now have a first draft of a novel. I am also now so used to the daily writing routine that I feel strange if I haven’t put down at least a few words, even if I cannot manage the 2,000 every day.

During this process, I found that one way to speed up your writing, is to have to have an idea of the plot, characters and setting for the novel. I’ll go into more detail on the various main elements of the first draft of a manuscript below.

Plot

Since you are already thinking about becoming a writer, and want to write a full-length novel, you must have an idea of what you want to write about, even if it isn’t a fully fledged plot. Two of my published novels took shape after I got obsessed with a story from my past, or a piece of news I saw. My virtual desk is full of half-finished novels, which came about in a similar way; and I intend to revisit each one. Nowadays, however, I try to plot ahead a lot more, simply because it makes the writing process so much easier, but this is something that is different for ever author I know. We all have our unique ways of working. An ideas board is a great way to start – just jot down what happens in the book and develop them into a plot. You’d be amazed how easy this is. Or think of the story in a summary: “Jane is in love with a guy who won’t even look at her. One day, she sees him sitting in a cafe alone, and Jane bucks up the courage to talk to him. It turns out they have something crucial in common…”

Characters

The characters often come first, before the plot, but there are no hard and fast rules. With most of my published novels, the characters emerged as I wrote, which meant a lot of editing afterwards to make sure the descriptions matched throughout the novel. Sometimes, however, the characters are so clear from the beginning, that all you need is to keep a record of the gender, age, look, inner conflicts, role in the story and particular mannerisms and so on. Of course it depends on whether you are describing the main protagonist, or one of the main characters in the novel to which degree of detail you go into. Having said that, I tend to know up to the level of what shoe size any of my characters wear, or what their favourite lunch-time spot is. In the third book in The Englishman series, I got to know a very minor character, one of Kaisa’s bosses in England so well, that I described his hairy calves in one scene. And no, he’s not a love interest. (Or is he? You’ll have to wait to read the book to find out!)

Setting

Most of my novels are set partly in Finland, my country of birth, and a place I seem to be obsessed with. It’s good to write about a place that you have experienced yourself, or you have a vivid idea of. Of course the setting doesn’t have to be real, and you can change things around in a place to suit the story, as long as you make sure the changes are consequential. With Google Earth and Street View it’s easy to find out what places look like, but remember this means it’s also easy for your readers to see if you’ve made a mistake. Most readers want a book to take them somewhere new, or different. If I had a penny for every time I hear that my readers loved learning about Finland through my books…

No plot, no characters, no setting?

Don’t worry if you are writing your first novel, and haven’t sorted out a definite plot, all of the characters or settings. Once you start writing a story, these tend to sort themselves out anyway. The most important thing you can do is to write every day – even if you don’t get to more than a few hundred words per day. Just get into the habit of writing – whatever happens and wherever you are. At home with a cold, on the train to work, in a cafe, on holiday – I even took my laptop with me when my husband was in hospital (it was a routine op, but still). And don’t give up. I wish someone had told me not to give up when I first started writing seriously. I would now have a lot more novels under my belt, and a few less half-finished manuscripts in my drawer…

A few tricks

If I’m struggling with a manuscript, I have learned a few tricks to get me going with the writing again.

Walk away. Sometimes it’s good to take a break. Have a coffee, go for a walk, or if nothing else works, take the writing elsewhere – another room, a coffee house or the library.
Go onto a new scene. Leave the bit you’re stuck on and start writing another scene. Remember this is the first draft, so it doesn’t matter if scenes are incomplete. You can come back and write more on the section you gave up on, but often if a scene is difficult to write, it may not belong in the novel. In any case, you can fix all that in the 2nd draft.
Google it. I’ve talked about research before, and I use it a lot to get over a mini writer’s block. The more you learn about the subject, the more inspired you’ll feel to carry on. Sometimes, if you can, it’s good to physically go to the setting to be inspired. I dragged the Englishman up to Scotland on holiday last year, so I could see the place where my characters lived. While I wrote The Navy Wife, I often went back to look at the photos I took during our trip.
Start re-planning the plot on whiteboard, or on your computer. Just jot down ideas – anything – and you’ll soon find a scene you can write. Or go back to your original ideas. Don’t worry if it’s the ending and you’re written only 10,000 words so far. Those other words will come, I promise.
Re-read what you’ve written already. This is a bit of a last resort for me, because it means I will start re-editing and at this stage I don’t want to fall into that (time-consuming) pit. But needs must, and if there is part of the manuscript I particularly like, I return to that and hope that my inspiration returns.

Finally, a word on writing software…

The software you use for writing can speed up the process as much as the planning ahead can. I have recently started using Scrivener, as opposed to Word, and I have to say it has been a revelation. This software allows me to write a lot quicker. I can review my work more efficiently, and there are areas for research, characters and settings, which you can fill in when you think of them and then refer to easily. Previously, I had all of this on pieces of paper, or saved somewhere in a folder on my laptop, or just bookmarked on my browser. I could never find anything!

But remember, whatever software you use, the words you produce for your first draft aren’t going to be those that will be in the final print (or ebook) copy. Let you inner critic have a holiday and just write, write and write. That critic can have his or her field day as soon as the editing process begins.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this series of Advice for New Writers so far. The next instalment, ‘5 Ways to Learn Your Craft’ will be out in the New Year.

Until then, happy writing and please subscribe to my newsletter here for all book offers, news and more!

The post Advice for New Writers Part 4: How to Increase the Speed of Writing appeared first on Helena Halme.

Advice for New Writers Part 4: How to Increase the Speed of Writing

In Part 2 of this series of posts, I talked about editing your work, and how the first draft is always just that, a draft – an incomplete piece of writing. Having said that, without getting those words out, without that first draft, you cannot move forward and produce a finished product - your novel.


Of course, the faster you can write the first manuscript, the better.
Now that I have taken the bold step of giving up my day job to be a full-time author entrepreneur, I am hoping to write at least two novels per year, as well as some non-fiction books, so I've been looking into how I could speed up the process of writing.

Having time to write is crucial, but it's also important that you make the time to write
As you know if you follow this blog, I took part in the National Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, to motivate me to write about 2,000 words every day. It worked, and I now have a first draft of a novel. I am also now so used to the daily writing routine that I feel strange if I haven't put down at least a few words, even if I cannot manage the 2,000 every day.
During this process, I found that one way to speed up your writing, is to have to have an idea of the plot, characters and setting for the novel. I'll go into more detail on the various main elements of the first draft of a manuscript below.
Plot
Since you are already thinking about becoming a writer, and want to write a full-length novel, you must have an idea of what you want to write about, even if it isn't a fully fledged plot. Two of my published novels took shape after I got obsessed with a story from my past, or a piece of news I saw. My virtual desk is full of half-finished novels, which came about in a similar way; and I intend to revisit each one. Nowadays, however, I try to plot ahead a lot more, simply because it makes the writing process so much easier, but this is something that is different for ever author I know. We all have our unique ways of working. An ideas board is a great way to start – just jot down what happens in the book and develop them into a plot. You'd be amazed how easy this is. Or think of the story in a summary: "Jane is in love with a guy who won't even look at her. One day, she sees him sitting in a cafe alone, and Jane bucks up the courage to talk to him. It turns out they have something crucial in common..."

Characters
The characters often come first, before the plot, but there are no hard and fast rules. With most of my published novels, the characters emerged as I wrote, which meant a lot of editing afterwards to make sure the descriptions matched throughout the novel. Sometimes, however, the characters are so clear from the beginning, that all you need is to keep a record of the gender, age, look, inner conflicts, role in the story and particular mannerisms and so on. Of course it depends on whether you are describing the main protagonist, or one of the main characters in the novel to which degree of detail you go into. Having said that, I tend to know up to the level of what shoe size any of my characters wear, or what their favourite lunch-time spot is. In the third book in The Englishman series, I got to know a very minor character, one of Kaisa's bosses in the England so well, that I described his hairy calves in one scene. And no, he's not a love interest. (Or is he? You'll have to wait to read the book to find out!)

Setting
Most of my novels are set partly in Finland, my country of birth, and a place I seem to be obsessed with. It's good to write about a place that you have experienced yourself, or you have a vivid idea of. Of course the setting doesn't have to be real, and you can change things around in a place to suit the story, as long as you make sure the changes are consequential. With Google Earth and Street View it's easy to find out what places look like, but remember this means it's also easy for your readers to see if you've made a mistake. Most readers want a book to take them somewhere new, or different. If I had a penny for every time I hear that my readers loved learning about Finland through my books...


No plot, no characters, no setting?
Don't worry if you are writing your first novel, and haven't sorted out a definite plot, all of the characters or settings. Once you start writing a story, these tend to sort themselves out anyway. The most important thing you can do is to write every day - even if you don't get to more than a few hundred words per day.  Just get into the habit of writing  - whatever happens and wherever you are. At home with a cold, on the train to work, in a cafe, on holiday - I even took my laptop with me when my husband was in hospital (it was a routine op, but still). And don't give up. I wish someone had told me not to give up when I first started writing seriously. I would now have a lot more novels under my belt, and a few less half-finished manuscripts in my drawer...

A few tricks
If I'm struggling with a manuscript, I have learned a few tricks to get me going with the writing again.
Walk away. Sometimes it's good to take a break. Have a coffee, go for a walk, or if nothing else works, take the writing elsewhere – another room, a coffee house or the library.Go onto a new scene. Leave the bit you're stuck on and start writing another scene. Remember this is the first draft, so it doesn't matter if scenes are incomplete. You can come back and write more on the section you gave up on, but often if a scene is difficult to write, it may not belong in the novel. In any case, you can fix all that in the 2nd draft.Google it. I've talked about research before, and I use it a lot to get over a mini writer's block. The more you learn about the subject, the more inspired you'll feel to carry on. Sometimes, if you can, it's good to physically go to the setting to be inspired. I dragged the Englishman up to Scotland on holiday last year, so I could see the place where my characters lived. While I wrote The Navy Wife, I often went back to look at the photos I took during our trip.Start re-planning the plot on whiteboard, or on your computer. Just jot down ideas – anything – and you'll soon find a scene you can write. Or go back to your original ideas. Don't worry if it's the ending and you're written only 10,000 words so far. Those other words will come, I promise.Re-read what you've written already. This is a bit of a last resort for me, because it means I will start re-editing and at this stage I don't want to fall into that (time-consuming) pit. But needs must, and if there is part of the manuscript I particularly like, I return to that and hope that my inspiration returns.

Finally, a word on writing software...
The software you use for writing can speed up the process as much as the planning ahead can. I have recently started using Scrivener, as opposed to Word, and I have to say it has been a revelation. This software allows me to write a lot quicker. I can review my work more efficiently, and there are areas for research, characters and settings, which you can fill in when you think of them and then refer to easily. Previously, I had all of this on pieces of paper, or saved somewhere in a folder on my laptop, or just bookmarked on my browser. I could never find anything!

But remember, whatever software you use, the words you produce for your first draft aren't going to be those that will be in the final print (or ebook) copy. Let you inner critic have a holiday and just write, write and write. That critic can have his or her field day as soon as the editing process begins.
I hope you've enjoyed this series of Advice for New Writers so far. The next instalment, '5 Ways to Learn Your Craft' will be out in the New Year.
Until then, happy writing and please subscribe to my newsletter here for all book offers, news and more!

Happy Independence Day Finland!

Today Finland is celebrating its 98th year of independence, and I'm a little sad, because I was supposed to be in my home town, Tampere, raising a glass or two with my sister and my father. Instead, I'm recovering from a nasty bug. Oh well, there's always next year, and in 2017 Finland will be 100 years old! The centenary celebrations are already being planned in Finland as well as by ex-pat Finns all over he world.

I did an interview with the Chairman of the Finland 100 Years Committee for a magazine a few months ago. Click here to read the whole article. (Sorry, it's in Finnish, but there's more about the celebrations on the 'Finland 100 Years' website in English here.)

Later tonight I shall be watching the annual Independence ball from the Presidential palace in Helsinki, to see who's been honoured with an invite, and more importantly what everyone is wearing. Here's hoping the YLE (Finnish Broadcasting Corporation) live streaming works this year...

I hope all you fellow Finns and friends of Finland, have a
Happy Independence Day!