Banish Writer's Block

Ever suffer from writer's block?

I don't.

Over the years I've developed a bunch of strategies to keep writing no matter what. These include techniques for changing direction, ideas for injecting life into text, and just simply taking a quick break.

I put these ideas together in a little book called Knock the Socks off Writer's Block. It's available from Lulu.com by following this link.

I know lots of writers who tell me they never suffer from writer's block, or that they don't need any external motivation to overcome it. That's fine with me. But not everybody's so lucky.

If you're one of those people for whom a blank page can be daunting at times, then I think you'll find some of these techniques useful. If so, please be sure and let me know.

A Load Of Nonsense!

Introducing the How To Be Funny course...

Ever wanted to write jokes, gags, one-liners?

Every time you see a comedian on stage, you can bet there's another person behind every clever word that comes out of his or her mouth.

We sometimes forget that joke tellers need people to sit down and write those jokes for them. And that includes one of my favourites types of joke, the limerick.

Limericks are easy to write once you get the hang of it. Typically they're five lines long with a rhyme scheme a,a,b,b,a. Here's a famous example by Dixon Merritt:

A wonderful bird is the pelican
His bill can hold more than his belican
He can take in his beak
Food enough for a week
But I’m damned if I see how the helican

Part of the fun with limericks involves playing with language, and even sometimes corrupting the rhyme scheme altogether, such as this corker by W.S. Gilbert:

There was an old man of St. Bees
Who was horribly stung by a wasp
When they said, “does it hurt?”
He replied, “no, it doesn’t –
It’s a good job it wasn’t a hornet”

Or this well-know anonymous sample that pokes fun at the structure of limericks:

There was a young man from Japan
Whose limericks never would scan.
When asked why this was,
He answered "because
I always try to fit as many syllables into the last line as ever possibly I can."

Limericks are lots of fun, for sure. But they're also quite creative. Finding words that rhyme (or don't!) and still managing to write something interesting can tax the best of us.

This is just one of the techniques you'll find in the How To Be Funny course. There's also information on Spoonerisms, tongue twisters, and puns; tips on comedy timing and creating jokes out of thin air; and techniques for incorporating comedy into your social life.

It's a great book, full of useful tips for budding comics, writers or otherwise. I've read it myself, and it tickled my funny bone.

Hopefully it'll do the same for you :)

Famous At Last!

Flutter Bunnies causing a stir!

I've just done an interview for my local paper, The Citizen.

The interview has also been posted online, and you can read it by following the link below:

http://www.citizenweekly.com/index.cfm?sid=211292&sc=139

Colour Some Bunnies!

Read & Colour In!

Have you read my children's book Flutter Bunnies yet?

Well, thanks to illustrator Kit Grady, now you can go all interactive...

Kit's produced some colouring pages to accompany the book, which you can download below. There are two pages in total, extracted from the pictures in the book itself. It's a chance to get even more familiar with some of the characters in the story while exercising a bit of creativity in the process.

To download the pictures, simply right click on the images below and select "Save Picture As..."











If you haven't read the book yet and want to give it a try, you'll find it on Amazon by following this link.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

P.S. Kit's added another page for you to colour in on her blog, which you can get to by following this link. :)

Write Jokes & Laugh All The Way To the Bank!

Want To Write The Funny Stuff?

It's no laughing matter. Writers can make LOADS of dosh writing gags and one-liners.

There are even companies like Reader's Digest that pay hundreds of dollars for humorous stories. And somebody has to write it all.

Why Not You?

Got a humorous side? Like to write quips, jokes, comedy sketches? Limericks?

Then the How To Be Funny course could be just the ticket!

If you enjoy making up and telling your own jokes, then you could be in for some serious money. And if that doesn't tickle your funny bone, then maybe this will...

Order your copy of How To Be Funny, and I'll make sure you receive:

A Full Ten Bucks Off!

To pick up a terrific bargain TODAY, simply click on the link below:
Click Here for How To Be Funny Discount

P.S. I can vouch for the contents of the course, too, because I was involved in doing some of the research. :)

Flutter Bunnies at Amazon!

Now it feels real!

My first children's book, Flutter Bunnies, is now available at Amazon. Seeing it there amongst all the other books I've browsed over the years is a great feeling. Let's hope it sells well and gets a few decent reviews...

I've also heard from my publishers, Guardian Angel Publishing, that they'll be publishing another of my children's stories in the near future. This one is for a slightly older age group with a bit more gore and terror. But nothing too bad. :)

Please keep checking in for updates on both of these books.

My First Children's Book Published

My first children's book has been published!

When I started writing full-time, I dreamed of having a book in print with my name on it. And now it's happened.

It's hard to believe, but I wrote the first draft of this story back in 1992. I sent it to a few of the big publishers, who weren't interested. Over the years I did some editing and revision, and also asked people to read it. Then, about 18 months ago, a publisher agreed that it was as good as I thought it was.

It just goes to show that you should never give up.

Flutter Bunnies is the first of several of my books for children that will be published in the forthcoming months. Check back here at my blog to find out when the others get released.

The pictures have been provided by artist Kit Grady, and they really help bring the story to life.

Copies of the picture book are available from Guardian Angel Publishing at http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com/flutter-bunnies.htm