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Rob’s 2022 Year in Books

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Rob Gregson

Goodreads Author

Born

in Liverpool

Website

http://www.nullroom.blogspot.co.uk

Twitter

#RobGregsonWords

Genre

Fantasy, Humor and Comedy

Influences

Bill Bryson, Stephen Fry, Douglas Adams, Robert Rankin, Gore Vidal and ...more

Member Since

April 2014

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/nullroom

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Rob Gregson spent much of his youth reading fantasy novels, immersing himself in role playing games and generally doing everything possible to avoid life in the real world. In his defence, we're talking about the late 1980s - a time when ridiculous hair, hateful pop music and soaring unemployment were all very popular - so it wasn't altogether a bad decision. However, had he abandoned the realms of elves and wizardry at an earlier age, he might have developed one or two useful life skills and he would almost certainly have found it easier to get a girlfriend.

Since that time, he and reality have developed a grudging tolerance of one another although their relationship still goes through the occasional bad patch and his first two novels - Unr ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Rob Gregson I'm not sure it's good to listen to too much advice - at least, not if that advice feels like it's trying to mould you into a fine, upstanding mainstr…moreI'm not sure it's good to listen to too much advice - at least, not if that advice feels like it's trying to mould you into a fine, upstanding mainstream author. There are more than enough of those in the world already. If you want to enjoy writing - rather than turn it into just another job - then keep your quirks and your individuality. Otherwise all you're doing is maintaining a facade.

For that reason, I'd never presume to offer any advice on writing style. After all, it's not as though it's difficult to find it elsewhere. Plenty of publishers and agents offer good, pragmatic guidance on their blogs and websites. If you hope to engage with them and produce something that's actually saleable, then it's probably an excellent idea to listen to their house rules.

Paying due regard to professional advice is one thing, but (as with sweets and puppies) I think you should be very wary of accepting suggestions from strangers. Act on every new word of advice you receive and you'll soon end up writing by committee. In recent years, I've had feedback from all sorts of people and, sometimes, I suspect that what they consider good writing is just whatever matches the style of their favourite author. It may be well meant, but it won't always be well reasoned, so be ready to consider advice if you wish, but be equally ready to discard it.

That said, I do think it's worth involving yourself in writing groups and eliciting feedback where you can. That's 'feedback' as opposed to 'advice'. It's easy to make assumptions as a writer - about what works and what readers will intuitively understand - but run your early drafts by a few fellow authors and you'll quickly unearth issues and ideas that would never otherwise have occurred. For me, that all started on the much-missed Authonomy site and, ever since, I've found that 'reciprocal feedback' approach invaluable. There are some really bright, kind and insightful people out there, and discovering some of them has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my whole writing experience. (less)

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Why do you feel this 'work' of your is worthy of our consideration, considering in retrospect that in hindsight the work must be 'made' worthy rather than achieving worth in the pre-order?

Rob Gregson Um... Yes. And Tuesday, in that order.

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Combine Editions
Rob Gregson’s books

Average rating: 4.53 · 51 ratings · 28 reviews · 3 distinct works

	Unreliable Histories 4.61 avg rating — 23 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shelf Life: The Book of Better Endings 4.32 avg rating — 19 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Endless Land 4.78 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

30 posts
Rob Gregson's Blog

November, National Novel-Writing Month

On November 13th 2019, two Lancashire libraries will help to celebrate National Novel-Writing Month by playing host to a couple of short talks for local reading groups, aspiring writers and anyone else with an appreciation for the written word.
I mention this mainly because I'll be one of the speakers.
The first will take place at 1pm at HeyshamLibrary. The second will be held at the Harris Museum, Read more of this blog post »

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Published on October 26, 2019 06:17

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Rob’s Recent Updates

Rob Gregson made a comment in the group CLOG - Comedy Literature Only Group — Introductions topic " Raymond wrote: "But it's a good resource for comic writing and no one gets out no one gets out and there are many literate folk who have insights into ...more "
Dec 09, 2022 09:24AM
Rob Gregson made a comment in the group CLOG - Comedy Literature Only Group — Is travel humour the perfect compromise? topic " I think Bill Bryson is an excellent example of a comedic travel writer who blends memoir, humour and social / political observation. He's a favourite ...more "
Oct 26, 2022 01:01AM
Rob Gregson rated a book it was amazing Small Stories: A Perfectly Absurd Novel by Rob Roy O'Keefe (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 30, 2022 02:57PM · like
Rob Gregson rated a book it was amazing The Heart of the Antarctic: The Farthest South Expedition 1907-1909 by Ernest Shackleton	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 30, 2022 12:49AM · like
Rob Gregson has read Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide (BrightSummaries.com) by Bright Summaries	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 30, 2022 12:47AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (Book Analysis) by Bright Summaries. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (Book Analysis) by Bright Summaries <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rob Gregson liked an answer from Raymond St. Elmo: Do you ‘polish’ your drafts much? This curiosity follows from another question about your prose being exceptionally good, so the effort required interests me! Is it mostly there in your first draft, or is there agony getting there? I have no literary talent but when I wrote technical reports at work I could never resist ‘polishing’ though mostly to correct poor grammar rather than add any witty insights about Life. Poor writing done badly is awful to me. I doesn't like ever doing such, and I feels the most poetical and insiteful prose is spoiled when oblivious mistakes are maid. That said: I get the main story done in draft #1. What I clean up afterwards is spel See Raymond’s answer. Raymond Elmo
Jul 02, 2022 02:39PM
Rob Gregson rated a book it was amazing In Theory, it Works by Raymond St. Elmo (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Another predictably excellent tale from Mr St. E. This brings the ‘Texas Pentagraph’ series to a fun and fitting finale, but it prompts me to wonder which I now prefer: this or the Five Clans collection? Fortunate that we needn’t choose, I suppose. W ...more
Jun 25, 2022 04:43AM · 7 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of In Theory, it Works by Raymond St. Elmo. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — In Theory, it Works by Raymond St. Elmo <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rob Gregson and 12 other people liked Lukasz's review of In Theory, it Works: "4.5/5 but I'll round it up. The Devil arrives in Theory. Instead of a small-town reality and small-minded people, she finds the world’s only upside-down skating rink. A soap bubble dragon monster. A romance and a touch of drama. Not to mention robot m" Read more of this review »
Jun 25, 2022 04:26AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of In Theory, it Works by Raymond St. Elmo. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — In Theory, it Works by Raymond St. Elmo <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rob Gregson and 12 other people liked Steve's review of In Theory, it Works: "I’d be disappointed if I got anything less than excellence from this author and I’m not disappointed one bit after reading this book. It’s certainly vying with only a couple of other books for my favourite read of the year. As usual superb prose, so m" Read more of this review »
Jun 25, 2022 04:25AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of In Theory, it Works by Raymond St. Elmo. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — In Theory, it Works by Raymond St. Elmo <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rob Gregson rated a book it was amazing The Charioteer: A Roman Adventure Story by Jemahl Evans (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 06, 2022 03:25AM · 1 like · like