A Good Week

There have been two highlights in the last week. Firstly, I attended the launch of Dark Aemilia by Sally O' Reilly (published by Myriad Editions); the story of Shakespeare's 'Dark Lady.' The novel was written as part of Sally's PhD. I have started it and can't stop reading - wonderful. Secondly, I gave a paper at a conference - Remembering and Writing Women's Wartime Lives. The conference was held at the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire and was organised by the Midlands Region of the Women's History Network and the University of Worcester. After three years of work it was great to be able to share my research on women war workers and WW1 novels.  

How to be a Writer

Last night I went to the book launch of How to be a Writer by fellow student Sally O’Reilly. As the book description states “There are hundreds of books that will take you through the writing process or provide advice about how to get your work published, but none that explain how to transform your talent into a long-term career”. Sally offers practical advice, including case studies, on everything from using the Internet to how to find a day job. Even if you are not yet published, it is a valuable way of anticipating risks and finding ways to mitigate them. It also helps to manage expectations. Sally is a published author and Creative Writing tutor and so has a great deal of knowledge and experience.

The launch was held at the famous Groucho Club in London. It was a great night and it was lovely to see so many friends. Sally also read from her latest novel which I’m very much looking forward to reading when it’s published.

Sally blogs at http://how2beawriter.blogspot.com/