As we stood in the Plaça Catalunya this year, grapes in hand and waiting for churchbells to chime, it struck me that once again, I was celebrating New Year’s Eve upon an unknown shore. Ten seconds to midnight, the crowd started counting down, ten, nine, eight. And then, at midnight– Nothing. The fireworks were aContinue reading “Facing 2023”
Tag Archives: fiction
March – On Rejection
There are things they don’t tell you about being an agented fiction writer. Some of this stuff, I learned the hard way when I briefly picked up the interest of an agent’s assistant on my first novel, way back in 2012. The interest proved to be short-lived. When you’re in the querying trenches, it seemsContinue reading “March – On Rejection”
Visitor’s Guide: Ravenscourt Manor
About an hour’s drive from Eboracum in the north of Anglia, deep in the pre-historic forest known as the Blackwood, the crumbling ruins of an ancient manor house lie abandoned to the elements. The oldest stones of the house that once dominated Ravenscourt Manor were laid back in medieval days. Between then and now, however,Continue reading “Visitor’s Guide: Ravenscourt Manor”
Salvaging Stories: On the Publication of Like Clockwork
Click Here to read Like Clockwork. Back in 2007, I found myself in a place that was becoming all-too-familiar in the worst possible way. Once again, my mind and body had betayed me, and several weeks removed from the flow of my life was the result. From the barred window of my room in theContinue reading “Salvaging Stories: On the Publication of Like Clockwork”
That Expat Girl’s Guide to Writing a Novel
A couple weeks ago, I wrote the first post in what I intended to become a series on the editing part of writing a novel. Editing is the place I’m in right now, and I was super excited to share my editing journey with you. But coming back to write the second part of theContinue reading “That Expat Girl’s Guide to Writing a Novel”
Boyars, Orphans, and Other Creatures of the Night: Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s The Deathless Girls
If you’d told me several months ago that within the next few weeks, I’d be completely consumed by a teenage vampire novel, I would’ve laughed. But The Deathless Girls is so much more…
That Expat Girl edits a novel | Part I: Editing Goals
If, like me, you currently have a sprawling, vaguely-sensical monstrosity of a first novel draft on your hands, you may very well be wondering what to do with it. Let’s figure it out together.
A Spark in the Darkness: Liz Hyder’s Bearmouth
Read my original post on The Book Slut here. “You sed it taykes one person to start a revolushun, but that ent true is it? Taykes more than one. One to start it and uvvers to believe it can happen.” Bearmouth, by Liz Hyder The genderless protagonist of Liz Hyder’s Bearmouth goes by the nameContinue reading “A Spark in the Darkness: Liz Hyder’s Bearmouth”
After Narnia (a Flash Fic)
When Lily Underwood, Queen of the Eight Lands, Empress upon the mountain, Consort of the God-king Achram Lord of Light, and Goddess of the Five Seas and the Islands of Orawn stepped back through the wardrobe door, she found that not a moment had passed. Her scepter was gone, and her royal robes, and sheContinue reading “After Narnia (a Flash Fic)”
Altered Memories and Other Worlds: My Top Five Reads of 2019
Read my original post on The Book Slut here. Let’s be honest, 2019 went way too quickly, and regretfully, I didn’t manage to get as far through my TBR list as I’d hoped. Whereas in 2018, I read a ton of YA fantasy, 2019 saw me branching out more, turning back towards more literary newContinue reading “Altered Memories and Other Worlds: My Top Five Reads of 2019”
The Venture 