So, how do you stop the ghosts of the past turning up in your future work?

Many of my author friends have an editing issue that seems to be fairly common: their word count on completed drafts is usually 120k+. In contrast, my second drafts are more commonly found in the 45k+ bracket, which means instead of culling scenes or even entire chapters, I have to bulk up my book. Having said that, the last thing I want to do is add words just for the sake of it. They need to have meaning and bring a richer element to the story. Over the past few years, I have grown...

It’s been said that if you have food in your fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of the world. If you have money in the bank, your wallet, and some spare change you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy. It’s a sobering thought. I don’t generally view myself as being wealthy. I think I have lived so much of my life struggling to make ends meet and living on an overdraft that it’s still a shock to realise I have money in the...