Quality over Quantity

I have been updating my various tutoring accounts in anticipation of attracting some new students. One element of that has been checking the ‘going rates’ for tutors in my field. It appears that covid has brought an influx of new tutors into the market, and they...

Writing WIA

Every occupation has its associated injuries. Miners, firemen, nurses etc, but writers? Apparently so. There I was quite happily typing in my research notes, assembling them into useful groups, and slotting them into the structural plan, when I felt a wee twinge in my...

Battle Plans

There is a truism in warfare that battle plans never survive first contact with the enemy. The same might be said of writing this book. I have been laying out my first tranche of findings, mostly background material, but I'm getting that feeling of sticking square...

Catching Up

I'm learning that there is no one way to write. The process for creating this new book, for example, is very different from the one I deployed for An Evil Day in Georgia. With Evil Day, I worked out from a single source, incorporating  new material into an established...

Who Reads Acknowledgements?

I had cause to reflect this morning as I typed up my latest research notes. I had been feeling a bit sorry for myself on Thursday as I trudged to the Metro from my latest shift in Newcastle City Library. It was raining, I didn't get a seat on the Metro, and I still...

Looking Back and Forward

It's been a while since I posted on my website. There are reasons for that, most of them not worth going into here. But with a new book length project underway and the start of a new year, it might be time to brush off the cobwebs and get this thing moving again. To...

Just Write!

It is easy to lose track of a blog, or any piece of writing for that matter. In the last two weeks, I have enjoyed a trip to Surrey and to a much lesser extent another knee surgery. The blog slipped away, perhaps as might be expected. Climbing back into the routine of...

Worth Your Time?

A study in February this year showed that a university graduate in England achieving a 2:1 or above will earn approximately 8% more per annum than a graduate with a 2:2 or below. With the average wage in England at around £27,000 that means an extra £2,700 per year on...

The Cat Sat on the Mat

Most of the tutees I work with are studying for their A-level exams. And most of those are failing to match their expectations. And most of those do not know why. The answer is almost always in their writing. The biggest issue is the perceived connection between...