Category Archives: On Writing: General
Interview: The Pretty Little Dead Girls of Mercedes Murdock Yardley
The wonderful Mercedes Murdock Yardley talks about her new, beautiful, mournful, whimsical work, Pretty Little Dead Girls (which T O Munro reviews here.)
1. So, what do new readers need to know about Mercedes Murdock Yardley?
I’m
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The Writing Life: full-time or part-time?
So, a some weeks ago I sat in the audience at a writing salon (i.e. a few writers who’d already been to the pub beforehand then staggered to a bookstore and talked about writing) and listened to a discussion of how people
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Bad Women: Flip
This week Kathleen Jennings nominates her favourite “bad” woman:
My favourite “bad” character is Flip, a sullen, difficult, way fashion-forward… assistant seems the wrong word for her. She appears very early in Connie Willis’ charming novel
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Spectral Book of Horror Stories: Simon Marshall-Jones
And now, a word from our publisher, the delightful Simon Marshal-Jones, on what inspired the genesis of Spectral Press, why and how the Spectral Book of Horror Stories came about, and the future of horror.
1. What inspired you to start
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Spectral Book of Horror Stories: Angela Slatter’s The October Widow
Yes, the tiara helps me write
In which I talk to myself, quite legitimately, so the Men in White Coats cannot take me away – although my Significant Other is giving me some strange sideways looks. My Spectral Book
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Spectral Book of Horror Stories: Stephen Laws’ The Slista
Mr Stephen Laws is the author of eleven (count ’em! Eleven!) novels, myriad short stories, and the recently re-released collection The Midnight Man. He’s also a columnist, reviewer and film festival interviewer; his Spectral Book of Horror story is the intriguingly titled
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Bad Women: Miranda Priestly
My friend and talented newcomer, Linda Brucesmith has nominated Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly (Beastly Priestly) from The Devil Wears Prada as her favourite “bad” woman:
There’s no forgetting the wonderfully surnamed Miranda Priestly as Meryl Streep created her in “The Devil
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Spectral Book of Horror Stories: Brian Hodge’s Cures for a Sickened World
Mr Brian Hodge is so often one of my ToC buddies nowadays that if I don’t see him in said ToC I get a bit nervous and assume he’s met with an unfortunate accident. I am therefore very pleased to find him in The Spectral Book of Horrors
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Bad Women: Goneril
The delightful and talented Thoraiya Dyer has chosen her favourite “bad” woman: Goneril from King Lear.
So, King Lear is supposed to be all about how shit it is to have ungrateful children. He has three daughters and also a massive
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Spectral Book of Horror Stories: Alison Moore’s Eastmouth
The fact that Alison Moore’s The Lighthouse was shortlisted for the Man Booker should tell you all you need to know about the quality of her work – but I just can’t resist adding a quote from Black Static’s Peter
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