Blogger’s Block

 

Blow this for a barrel of laughs. Here am I trying to think up an interesting subject for my first blog – and here are you – yes, you, dear reader – who probably stumbled over this by accident when you were placing your order for Tesco/Sainsbury’s/Waitrose (delete according to aspiration).

Attention Seeking

Now you’re here, tell me one thing: why read? I mean, what entices you to select a book from among the hundreds of thousands out there in book-land?

What makes you open the first page, and then stick with it to the end? Curiosity? Determination? A sense of duty that once started you must finish? What marks out a book for success – what sets it apart from all those others?

These are not idle questions but ones which many writers contemplate as they bash out their next masterpiece. To wildly mix metaphors (because it’s not allowed and because I want to), there are some long-standing authors about whom you can detect that writing has become a chore, when a certain recipe which has worked before is trotted out again. Writing is stale, storylines take on the semblance of distant cousins and, through inter-breeding and repetition, give rise to unwelcome features. Language depleted, taste-buds jaded, and that which once sparkled, loses its allure.

 

Shining Opportunity

For others, each page is an opportunity to shine. The writing remains fresh and the language evocative. Like a new dish, each turn of a page is an adventure. Some authors manage to keep their writing alive and kicking because they relish the writing process and the prospect of entertaining their readers. Others have a message and use their gifts to deliver it.

 

Giveaway – UK

So, I’m curious – whatever makes you pick up a book and read it? Let me know what you are reading, and why you chose to read it and, for the most convincing answer, I’ll send you a free signed copy of Mortal Fire to tickle your peepers and keep you reading.

 

Giveaway – USA

For an opportunity for visitors from the United States to receive a copy of Mortal Fire, Kregel Publications has organised a giveaway. Follow the link below and see where it takes you…

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...