A sample list of published articles, interviews and reviews, including details of publication history and links to online copies where appropriate.

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Sample Published Articles

• Robert Carl Blank, interview for Acoustic Magazine, August 2010
• 3 Ways To Breathe Life Into Your Fiction, guest post for the writing advice website Write To Done, July 2010.
• Nils Lofgren, interview for Acoustic Magazine, July 2010
• Terry Emm, interview for Acoustic Magazine, July 2010
• Five Books That Changed My World, feature article for SF Signal, June 2010
• The Future Is Now, Irish Times feature article about the appeal and literary purpose of science fiction, May 2010
• How To Write A Press Release. A guide for writers and publishers, first published in Focus magazine, Spring 2010 edition.
• What Does Happen Next? An article exploring the lessons I learned from my first book launch, first published in Focus magazine, Spring 2010 edition.
• Creative Writing Lecture. Some advice given to creative writing students at Bath Spa University, May 2010.
• Space Monkey. An appreciation of the punk songwriter Patti Smith, first published on the Sci-Fi Songs website, February 2010
• Charlie Winston, interview for Acoustic Magazine, December 2009
• The Role of Science Fiction The text of a speech given at an arts event in Bristol, October 2009
• A Small Con With Big Ambitions A review of the BristolCon 2009 conference for the BSFA online magazine Matrix, October 2009
  
• How to Communicate More Effectively Part 1. A series of articles first published in Futurismic, January 2009.
• How to Communicate More Effectively Part 2. A series of articles first published in Futurismic, January 2009.
• How to Communicate More Effectively Part 3. A series of articles first published in Futurismic, January 2009.
• How to Communicate More Effectively Part 4. A series of articles first published in Futurismic, January 2009.
• How to Communicate More Effectively Part 5. A series of articles first published in Futurismic, January 2009.
• How to Communicate More Effectively Part 6. A series of articles first published in Futurismic, January 2009.
• How to Communicate More Effectively Part 7. A series of articles first published in Futurismic, January 2009.
• Turn Your Home Into A Health Farm. First published in Unique Magazine, January 1995.
• Your Stars For 1995. First published in Unique Magazine, January 1995.

Plus dozens of CD reviews and numerous interviews for Acoustic Magazine, June 2009 – Present.

Miscellaneous Online Articles

• 3 Ways To Increase Your Writing Time 3 strategies for increasing the amount of time you have available to devote to your writing.
• Avatar Film Review A review of James Cameron’s epic
• Moxyland Review A review of the novel by Lauren Beukes
• Near Future SF Why I think it’s still possible
• Should Writers Have Kids? Bringing up children takes time and energy
• Social Networking Twitter versus Facebook
• The Pitfalls of Setting Stories in Your Local Area Things to bear in mind when deciding where to set your story
• Twitter for Business Using Twitter for marketing purposes
• The Difference Between SF and Fantasy A brief discussion of the relative merits of each genre
• Do You Listen To Music As You Write? What kind of background music sets the mood when you’re feeling creative?
• Advertising and Fiction What advertising teaches us about writing fiction

Freelance

I’ve also used my writing talents to help organisations achieve their goals. In my time, I’ve written for ad agencies, software houses, charities, car dealers, housing associations, magazines, web sites, restaurants and schools.

My specialties include:

• Press releases
• Feature articles
• Newsletters
• Adverts
• Web pages
• Sales letters
• Brochures
• Annual reports
• Case studies
• Interviews
• Customer magazines
• Flyers
• Book and music reviews
• Profiles

I’m always on the look-out for new projects. If you have an assignment you’d like to talk about, please contact me here.

Today is the last working day of the six month contract I have with my present employer – which means from tomorrow until I find another job, I’ll be a full-time writer and house husband. I’m looking forward to spending more time with the kids; and I’ve already got a freelance project under way and a couple more lined up, as well as a novel and a handful of short stories to work on, so we’ll see how it goes. Wish me luck.

I have a number of reference books on the art of writing. Some are better than others, and some I dip into almost every day.

Take The Elements Of Style for example.  So far I’d have to say it’s been the most useful book I’ve found in terms of day-to-day writing.

First published in 1935 and since revised and updated, this handy pocket-sized book is a first rate field guide to punctuation, grammar, and sentence construction.

It has been criticised in some areas for its championing of the active voice over the passive, but this is a minor quibble, and I’ve personally found it an excellent reference for basic things, such as the correct punctuation of dialogue and the difference between commonly confused words, such as “alternate” and “alternative”.

If you want to find out why this little book has been praised and recommended by generations of authors and professional copywriters, you can pick it up relatively cheaply on Amazon.

I’ve recently agreed to be a CD reviewer for Acoustic Magazine, and I received the first batch of CDs in the post a few days ago. As it takes me 40 minutes to drive to work in the morning, this gives me time to listen to most of an album in the car, then make some quick notes before starting my working day. So far, I’ve done three albums in three days. It’s a pleasant and productive way to spend the morning commute – time which would be wasted otherwise.

For the last week, my article “How To Communicate More Effectively” has been serialised on the Futurismic website. In case you missed it, there are links below to each instalment:

• 1 – Introduction
  
• 2 – Attract Attention
  
• 3 - Create Interest
  
• 4 – Inspire Desire
  
• 5 – Build Conviction
  
• 6 – Generate Action
  
• 7 – Bringing It All Together

“How To Communicate More Effectively” is aimed at writers, magazine publishers and book publishers in the SF&F field. I’m not claiming to have invented any of these techniques – these are tried and tested methods that have been successfully employed by commercial copywriters for the last sixty years – I’m simply trying to help struggling SF magazines by giving them some “extra ammo” in their appeals for the new readers and subscriptions they need in order to survive.

Since turning freelance, I’ve been reading a lot of books about the business and craft of professional copywriting, and below (in no particular order) are the ones I’ve personally found most useful, interesting and inspiring:

• How to Set Up a Freelance Writing Business by Jason Deign
• Gabay’s Copywriter’s Compendium by J.Jonathan Gabay
• Write To Sell by Andy Maslen
• The Copywriter’s Handbook by Robert W. Bly
• How to Write Sales Letters That Sell by Drayton Bird
• The IDM Marketing Guide Edited by Robin Fairlie
• Success… And How to Avoid It by Matt Coward

Plus, the following DVD is pretty good. I’ve seen Andy live several times and he has a series of online articles that will be of interest to anyone in the advertising or direct marketing industy.

• How To Write Copy That Really Sells (DVD) by Andy Owen

Do you have a favourite reference book that you always keep by the keyboard? Share it with us by leaving a comment.

Today’s been a busy day. I wrote a press ad for a new client (a local restaurant chain) and they liked it. The ad will shortly be appearing in a number of local magazines. I also answered some quesitons and supplied a profile of myself for a forthcoming interview with Concept Sci-Fi - which I believe will be published in a week or so (keep watching the site). After that, I caught up on some admin and even found the time to finish reading “Blindsight” by Peter Watts – which is an excellent book for anyone interested in psychology, the senses and what it means to be self aware.

Of course, I still have a pile of further things to do – including stories for two forthcoming anthologies, the opening chapters of two new novels, and a half-written collaboration with another Interzone author. Not to mention finding clients, earning money, etc…

Today was my last day working for Agresso. After nine years and two months with the company, I was sad to say goodbye. But also excited, because now I’ll be able to give my full concentration to copywriting and fiction, which is what I really want to be doing.

To quote Talking Heads:

Think about this little scene /Apply it to your life / If your work isn’t what you love / Something isn’t right

I have a client briefing scheduled for Monday lunchtime. Please see the “Copywriting” tab above for more information on my services and experience.

“Short sentences, short paragraphs, active verbs, authenticity, compression, clarity and immediacy.“

You can learn a lot about brevity and clarity by studying business writing. Here are a few websites I’ve come across in my day job:

• Writing advice from Phil Turner (link via Velcro City).
• Word Wise
• Andy Owen & Associates
• Writing Machine