Some things in life should only be attempted by experts. Among them are brain surgery, crossing a tightrope suspended above Niagara Falls, and writing sex scenes in fiction. In the words of fiction-writing bible How Not to write a Novel, ‘giving a reader a sex scene that is only half right is like giving her half a kitten. It is not half as cute as a whole kitten; it is a bloody, godawful mess’.
I’ve always avoided writing erotica, which is why you may be surprised that I lost my fictional sex virginity this morning. And, yes, it’s [...]
Here’s some flash fiction about ducks and death. You can hear me reading the story by clicking here:
Vee reading ‘The man with a duck on his head’
Or you can read it yourself:
‘When a duck landed on James’ head, he didn’t expect it to stay for 13 years.
“Gerroff,” he shouted, flailing his arms like helicopter blades.
His girlfriend couldn’t move the duck. Neither could he shoot it on a rifle range, slash it with a machete, poison it or lose it skydiving.
Instead, it pooed – like warm stilton soup – down his neck. The [...]
Are some creative writing students using imagery from Harry Potter because they’re saturated in consumer capitalism and unable to distinguish pop culture from reality?
This question came up in my creative writing MFA literary theory seminar last night along with the usual tired tropes of left-wing academia. For anyone unfamiliar, the wildly-oversimplified version is that we’re embedded in a society of the spectacle. We’re all lonely, isolated, overworked and brainwashed by brand marketers who beguile us to buy, buy, buy with fantasy images of glamorous pilots drinking Coke.
Eventually, the theory goes, we drown under the bombardment of [...]
How do you get a publisher to look at your epic science fiction or fantasy novel? Simon Taylor, editorial director at Transworld, ran a masterclass at FantasyCon 2011 about how to submit genre fiction to a publisher.
First, the good news. There’s never been a better time to be a genre author. According to Simon Taylor, publishers like Hodder & Stoughton are looking to get more genre fiction on their lists. Genre novels are the only fiction which haven’t seen a fall in backlist sales – sales a year or more after a book was published that provide [...]
Novelist China Miéville is discussing whether ‘…writers [can] bring about political change’ tomorrow night at the Tottenham Palestine Literary Festival. Novelist James Miller, brill lecturer on my MA programme, is also speaking.
China Miéville is among my favourite authors. He creates cities, characters and scenes that blend the mundane and mind-blowingly strange. Take, for example, the scene towards the beginning of his novel Perdido Street Station where scientist Isaac and his insect-headed artist lover have breakfast. A few pages into the first chapter, the camera pans back and Miéville writes:
‘Isaac and Lin sat naked on either side of the [...]
