The Writer Laid Bare

I’ve always loved the personal essay genre, especially because of the freedom embedded within it. A personal essayist can say whatever they wish directly; unlike in fiction, there is no need to couch their views, or research, in an imagined …

Once, when my mother-in-law was murdered by her husband, I dealt with the shock and subsequent anger of it all by writing it out of me. Dubious poetry poured from every pore, and my freelance writing for newspapers and magazines …

Last year, a few months after the publication of my first novel, I began writing my second book. I thought it would be easier this time, as I was armed with knowledge and experience and wouldn’t make the rookie mistakes …

Over the past five years, I have written about 300,000 words of my current novel, and I have thrown out about 299,998 of them. This process has been one that I have carefully cultivated and developed, and in all honesty, …

In the months before my first book, a novel, went to print, my publisher offered to send a few preview copies to friends and colleagues in the writing world in the hope of generating early ‘buzz’.

I was both delighted …

When the Twin Towers were burning in New York, I spent the night in bed with my mother. I was 33 years of age. While the two incidences are unrelated, I could hardly believe when I woke the next day …