Avon Authors

Why we need role models for older generations

My mum used to love a good romance novel. I was brought up with books strewn everywhere around the house and my mum would always have her nose in one, whatever she was doing. She enjoyed Catherine Cookson, Rosamund Pilcher and Maeve Binchy, especially tales about the lives of working… Read More

Many Moons Ago…

I was born in 1943, during World War II, so I was a teenager in the 1950s, which was before teenagers or the term ‘youth culture’ had been invented. Of course, teenagers had always existed, there’d just never been a name for them before the Swinging Sixties. Read More

Why I love romantic fiction

I love romantic fiction and it’s all Jane Austen’s fault. Growing up, I was the typical bookworm child, with my nose always stuck in a book, racing through my full allowance of ten library books each week. I would read anywhere and everywhere – even in church… Read More

A Bookworm’s Guide to Social Media

It probably won’t come as a surprise to you that I’m an avid reader, and I get a lot of enjoyment with sharing the books I’ve loved on social media and building a community with other readers. As the social media coordinator for Britain’s biggest book retailer, I’m always interested… Read More

How to create a detective

The crime fiction market has never been more competitive, with so many brilliant books vying for attention. It’s a real challenge for authors to write something that stands out from the rest. We all strive to develop original concepts and riveting storylines, but one of the hardest parts to get… Read More

The Big Myth of Motherhood

When it comes to motherhood, women can be each other’s worst enemies. In fact, quite often, we can become our own worst enemies too as we launch ourselves into the world of procreation like a tribute in The Hunger Games. For there is nowhere in life where… Read More

5 tips on how to make the most of setting in your novel

Location always plays a pivotal role in all my novels, whether it be the ravished shores of Thailand during the 2004 tsunami in The Atlas of Us or the eerie underwater world of submerged forests in My Sister’s Secret. And it’s no different with my latest novel The Family Secret, which is set in… Read More

The Magic of a Good Book

Do you believe in magic? Or are you a more sceptical person who puts such frivolous notions down to coincidence and rational scientific explanation? I’m somewhere in between. I want to believe in magic and devour films and books that take me out of the real world and all its… Read More

Festive Fireworks – A short story by Tracy Corbett

Jessica Day had always loved the festive time of year. Not that she got to celebrate much these days. But that didn’t stop her imagining a time when she could put up decorations and lounge around her flat on Christmas morning opening presents with an attractive man by her side,… Read More

Sue Moorcroft’s Ultimate Christmas

Given a blank sheet of paper – or blank blogpost – to create my ultimate Christmas, I find myself almost unable to choose. Quiet? Or noisy? Busy? Or peaceful? Home or away? Do I hanker after Christmas in a posh hotel in a hot country, with lots of books and… Read More

A Woman of War

A Woman of War It’s an old adage, but one that sits well with me: ‘write what you know’. As a midwife of almost twenty years, it is a good part of my world, and so when I came full circle in my writing – having been a journalist in… Read More

The Darkest Fears Are Often Rooted in Realism

The Darkest Fears Are Often Rooted in Realism   What scares you the most? As a thriller writer, it’s a question I tackle in my writing daily. My goal is to uncover the scariest, creepiest things in life and put the reader at their mercy. These fears certainly… Read More

The Story of the Pear Drum

The Story of the Pear Drum Two children, sisters – Turkey and Blue-eyes. They had wandered off one day, out of their mother’s sight, when they met a ragamuffin girl. The girl had a pear drum and she was playing it by the side of a stream. The sisters were… Read More

Christmas in 1943

Christmas in 1943 When Avon asked me if I would write a post for their website on what Christmas was like in 1943 – the year my latest book, An Orphan’s Wish, is set in – I automatically said yes. However, it’s a rather gloomy subject because the war was… Read More

Taking a Creative Writing Course

I began writing seriously some ten years ago but my development as a writer really began when I secured a place on the Curtis Brown Creative writing course in September 2013. It almost didn’t happen. Earlier that year I’d submitted my first novel, an historical spy story, to Curtis Brown… Read More

What zodiac sign is your cat?

Ever wondered how your cat’s zodiac sign affects its personality? What sign is the biggest hunter, or the most likely to be a lap cat? Which is the most fond of its food, or the most loyal? How does the zodiac sign affect their character? Can it also explain favourite… Read More