Serbs in Corfu 1916

    A Time for Peace is set, in part, during the Great Retreat from Serbia. The exodus of government, army and people from its country to escape the feared atrocities of its occupying force. On 21st January 1916, the first of the Serbian army landed on Vido,...

Before and after the Referendum

Before the Referendum, Jan Fortune, editor of Cinnamon Press wrote: ‘Freedom of movement doesn’t only give business a much expanded work force, but also brings European artists, thinkers and writers into our creative networks, whilst British artists and...

Final Edit

The final request for an edit arrived in the same week as the Referendum. It took less time than the other edits but even so I was surprised that there were errors. Overall, the majority of mistakes I picked up were spelling and punctuation. Spell check had helped...

2nd and 3rd edits

Jan’s request for a 2nd edit came before we went on holiday. I was surprised at how much work there was to do. This wasn’t about altering the way the story was told but ensuring the layout, punctuation and spelling were correct. I noticed errors in clarity...

Editing the novel

Last September, I emailed Jan at Cinnamon Press the final draft of A Time for Peace. Before the end of 2015, I sent her the map of Serbia my niece, Rachel Duckhouse drew, as well as a list of acknowledgements, a brief account of the Historical Background and the...

Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones

‘Freeing the Writer Within’ by Natalie Goldberg was one of the many books I used to inspire me. Natalie noted a connection between the physical act of moving the pen and the heart that moves it. It helps get away from the rational side of the brain which...