Historical fiction is baffling in its complexity, and the writers baffling in their academic endurance. True historical writers spend months, if not years, researching their given period in such depth that their world comes alive in magnificent, anachronistic fashion. ‘The Song of Achilles’ is not conventional historical fiction,  yet Madeline Miller spent 10 years researching Ancient Greek […]

Who is Brandi Lynn Ryder again? Brandi Lynn Ryder was born in a small town from California and she began writing at 9 years old (Treasure under the Nile). Her writing career was influenced by her passion regarding art, philosophy, travelling, literature, classic films and things related to the European […]

  I saw the Magicians Guild in a charity shop for £2 and so I thought, why not? The story is part of a trilogy titled The Black Magician.  Summary In the city of Imardin, located in the Kingdom of Kyralia lies the high-brow Magician’s Guild. The King employs them in an annual […]

I recently undertook a Creative Writing Workshop with CoolTan Arts, as part of some training we are undertaking for an up-and-coming newspaper release called The Dickens News. It will be sold within the Southwark Newspaper at the end of November. It is to be in the style of the famous Dickens Pickwick papers and we are […]

Before I launch into “A spot of bother”, I think it would be useful to provide the blurb: At fifty-seven, George is settling down to a comfortable retirement, building a shed in his garden, reading historical novels, listening to a bit of light jazz. Then Katie, his unpredictable daughter, announces […]

Big Macs and Whoppers vying to become integrated plot devices in fiction novels? Cans of Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper defining compelling character arcs in YA/tween fantasy? Hip, young, internet-aware fiction characters using the nutritional and manufacturing advice on corporate web sites to argue their choice of everything from fast food […]

Some say that all you need to become a great writer is a healthy imagination and a way with words. I believe this idea to be both true and false, in equal measures. I don’t dispute that imagination is needed; if writers such as C.S. Lewis, Douglas Adams and J.K. […]

Two brief pieces of fiction with  a theme of family. My Friend Walks alongside me Always interested Needs me Loves me Tells like it is Innocent in thought Copying ways Perfect in all 2.5 feet tall 1095 Days Sunrise to Sunset My son, my friend Heaven ‘Yes darling, God made […]