Fran Macilvey's Blog, page 34

Interview with John Bayliss

Interview with John Bayliss

John Bayliss, author

 

To mark three years since the publication of his second detective novel, A Fistful of Seaweed , I caught up with author John Bayliss to find out about his latest writing projects. 

I first met John on the HarperCollins’ writers’ on-line community Authonomy, where I achieved my first big break, securing a coveted first-place gold star and editorial review, thanks to the generosity and tireless support of John and hundreds of other readers and...

Loneliness or being alone

Loneliness or being alone.

I guess it is easy, being alone at home, to feel lonely.

Even so, most us us know, there is no guarantee that, even with a houseful of people, we won’t feel lonely; which is not a good feeling.

Miranda, The Tempest, by John W Waterhouse

 

I love sitting peacefully listening to silence. And when I sit quietly, that is when answers come and I feel less alone. It is part of a greater realisation that I am actually never alone. If I can only remember, on the days I feel...

Writing Update – works in progress

Writing Update – Works in Progress

Okay, so perhaps three weeks ago, I completed what I thought was the ‘second full edit’ of my first novel, Lisa Somerville, and set it aside with a great sigh.

Then something rather strange happened. Quite apart from editing, I really itched to write again. And I discovered that I write best in silence. I have been listening and writing in the silence and what I have discovered quite surprises me. Perhaps you can recognise some of this.

I love, love, love!!...

I work best in silence

I work best in silence

A strange discovery, hardly worthy of a blog post, you might think.

But despite the joys of free music on the internet, and despite our obsession with free, instant, brilliant music available 24/7; despite knowing that some of my best musical discoveries – Take That, Bruckner’s seventh symphony, Frank Field – have been made while I was writing, I have also re-discovered that I work best in silence.

Yes, you might think, that was fairly obvious for the close-focus line-...

Doing something badly or not at all

Doing something badly or not at all

Doing a thing badly or not at all, is a question that has rather haunted me.

When I was younger, I was a disciple of perfection, so tended not to do anything, unless I could do it perfectly. That, of course, is rather meaningless, and entails doing nothing for long periods of time – what a waste.

But rather like the drinker who crawls inside a bottle for twenty years to escape the pain and finds, on her re-emergence that all her lessons are still waiting t...

To do a thing badly or not at all

Is it better to do a thing badly or not at all?

To answer the question, Is it better to do a thing badly or not at all? I take refuge with something I say a lot these days.

It depends.

We need both motivation and caution, bravery and guile. A tag team of two players works well if one has the courage, another focuses on detail.

As I get older and bolder, personally I tend to the view that it is better to do a thing than sit and think about it, or wish I had done it. I hate regrets. I hate say...

Advantages to working from home

Advantages to working from home

Harold Harvey, ‘The Letter’ 1937

Yes, there are advantages to working from home. I can work at six in the morning and eleven at night – though not in the same 24 hours. I can hang up wet washing and bring it in if it rains, as it has been doing all summer. TIP: during a long, wet Summer, we need only one clear hour to flap off the worst of the moisture from our clothes.

Working from home, we can also be available for Monday bank holidays when the schools are sh...

Disadvantages to working from home

Disadvantages to working from home

Okay, so we are here working at the computer, and the phone rings. Again. It is someone speaking indistinctly on the line from Delhi or Manila and asking for someone whose name we don’t recognise. Oh, that’s us, is it? Well, no, sorry, not this time.

There’s a knock at the door – would I mind taking this parcel for the bloke upstairs, whom I know is running a small garage on our communal parking lot? Actually, yes, I would mind. He leaves oily footprints on...

Happiness Workshops

Happiness Workshops

Happiness is one of these life qualities – a life skill? – that eluded me for many years.

It is only with the gradual dawning of my writing career, which started so quietly in June 2007, that I started to really look at what happiness is, what is can be, and how we can all have more of it. I don’t suppose we can have it all the time. If we did, we probably would not be able to see it. But even so, happiness matters. It is important – it imports into our lives meaning, pur...

Keeping our eye on the main chance

When we work from home, it is vital not only that we work hard – everyone does that – but that we keep our focus on the tasks we are hoping or needing to achieve. Maybe I can illustrate this by taking a look at how I used to work.

“Ho hum, it was nice to see so-and-so, and great to chat. Oh, dear, I’m awfully late, and I’ve SUCH a lot to do before hubby gets home. Better get a move on….”

“Better see what we need in the way of shopping – I can always pop into the supermarket on my way home, I...