Tag: writing
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Lenny Diamond
Looking back at my fourth novel, Chapel Field, made me realise how much I love the fictional Diamond family. I keep coming back to them in my writing and musings. The themes are so compelling: small town dysfunctional families, small town secrets; generational trauma. Chapel Field is my favourite novel in the mystery series I…
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You are no ruin
I entered this piece for the 2024 Nature Chronicles Prize. It didn’t get selected, but I quite like the piece. There are some bits from other pieces I have written, and the tone is quite formal, but if you’re a fan of Furness Abbey, you’ll understand the restorative atmosphere of the place! (title stolen from…
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Darkwater Farm
(Photo of Biggar Village courtesy of The Sankey Archive) I’ve had a read through my attempt at writing a historical novel set in Barrow. I based it on the farm at the bottom of Ormsgill Lane, reinventing it as Darkwater Farm. It was about twin brothers, William and Gabriel Ward, who buy the farm during…
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Black Ghyll Falls
I’ve been in the Lake District a lot lately, especially the Ambleside area, where I did my teacher training. Walking up Stock Ghyll got me thinking about setting a novel right there, and I penned a first chapter. I’ve put aside my epic romance now it’s finished, before I think about where to send it.…
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Moonlight, chapter two…
More rubbish news about my writing last week, and I had a few wobbly days. When I left teaching, I felt like every door I’d ever worked hard to open had been slammed in my face… this is how I felt last week, too. Then I remembered how those slammed doors forced me to search…
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Look for me by moonlight.
After four years of querying my children’s novel, Look for me by Moonlight, I’m giving up. I’ve had one full request (followed by a rejection), and hundreds of form rejections, or simple ‘ghosting’ from agents and publishers. Publishing is a brutal industry, but I knew that from the start, and I’ve accepted that trying to…
Paula Hillman, author 