After spending three days in London recently, at the much-talked about London Book Fair, I’ve had several conversations trying to explain to friends and family what it was all about. ‘No, it’s not like a big bookshop.’ ‘No, it’s not like a wedding fair.’ So, I thought I would share the distilled version of these conversations with your good selves. So, what is it? In its own words, London Book Fair (or LBF as it...

So, I did it. I finally took the plunge and self-published my novel, The Girl Who Came Home, on Kindle this week. It’s an exciting, nerve-wracking, exciting, terrifying, exciting experience! So, why Titanic? Why Kindle? Why now? Ever since I was a child, I was amazed by the story of Titanic: the ship, the people who sailed on it and the unimaginable scale of the disaster. From the age of about twenty, I’ve been saying I’d...

With the onset of Lent, there is a lot of talk about giving something up – chocolate, wine, TV, housework – whatever it is, it will require a certain amount of commitment, discipline and steely resolve to stick with our pledge of abstinence. For most of us, there will probably be a dangling carrot to keep us going – a treat or reward we have promised ourself if we make it through the month. As...

…..‘That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.’ Well, I suppose Mr Shakespeare has a point, but when it comes to the name of a book, perhaps not… The title of a book is a hugely defining and important thing to get right. Of course. No brainer. Just like the cover, the title can express so much about the book, its themes, its style, its subject matter and can...

I saw a documentary a while ago (I can’t remember exactly what it was about – sorry), but it stayed with me because of a particular scene where novelist Jeffrey Archer was sitting at his desk, writing one of his blockbusters. I’ll describe the setting. His desk was about 10ft long by 5ft wide (i.e. HUGE) and was placed within a spacious, calm uncluttered room. The desk faced a floor-to-ceiling panoramic window from which Mr...

There comes an inevitable point during the writing of a novel when you really have to show your work to someone. It’s all very well tapping away at your laptop with the cat curled up perfectly on your lap, a mug of freshly brewed ‘Christmas Blend’ coffee sending heady, plot-producing smells your way. ‘Check me out,’ you think smugly to yourself. ‘Check me out – writing! Being a writer. An actual, proper writer.’ Lovely, romantic,...

Hazel Gaynor considers the importance and motivation of coincidences There are a few things which keep me going when I’m writing: strong coffee, biscuits, Twitter, my long-suffering husband and a relentless stubbornness which only a Taurean could sustain, to name but a few. But, there’s something else. Something which keeps me believing and writing more than most of the other things which play their part in motivating me and cheering me on, and it is...

Hazel Gaynor launches her new guest blog with some soothing words; Keep Calm and Carry on Writing. It’s becoming an all too familiar sight – another fresh, crisp, blank Word document in front of me, the cursor winking away expectantly. ‘Come on then, write something. Write that bestseller you’ve been promising us for, oh, what must it be now, twenty years or so?’ Yes, that’s me. I’m ‘that’ person – the eternal optimist, searching for...