Nicole McAlinden: A Strong Voice Spoken Quietly
Today, my friend Nicole McAlinden steps into the attic. I’ve known Nicole for a number of years through a writing group of which we are both members. I can vouch not only for her writing, but that she is, in person, a strong voice spoken quietly. ‘I...
Camilla Hullick: My Happy Place
In the attic with me this week is Camilla Hullick. Camilla sent me this heartwarming story of how she returned to her ‘happy place’ after many years away from it. I related to Camilla’s conflicting emotions of enjoying solitude and physical...
Anthea Hodgson: The Drifter’s Heart
I don’t have the words to express how deeply this essay by Anthea Hodgson about her dad and his death from Alzheimer’s affected me. All I can say is that it’s beautiful and it made me cry. If you’ve never read a Writers in the Attic post...
Rebecca Freeman: Running Writing
I’m so proud to host of this series of essays and bring you a different insight into the writing life every week. Each essay is truly inspiring and thoughtful and really bolsters my spirits. They’re all too special, really, not to be published more widely...
No More Edits and That’s a Promise.
Last week, I finished editing my novel and sent it back to Allen and Unwin. A few days later, one of my editors emailed to say: ‘It has been such a pleasure to read the revised manuscript this week. I think you’ve tightened the pace of the novel and fleshed out...
Lauren Keegan: The Anchor That is Writing
If you’re an aspiring writer, this is a not-to-be-missed post about rejection and not giving up. A few weeks ago, I read a blog post titled, ‘How To Cope with Rejection and Keep on Writing’. The author of the post, Lauren Keegan, had sent her...
Jodi Gibson: Finding My Place in the World
Jodi Gibson, writer and blogger, has stepped into the attic today. I found myself nodding all the way through Jodi’s piece and wanted to underline so many of her sentences. I relate to what she says about blogging, about how it changed her life. It does;...
Rachel Nightingale: When Achieving Your Dream Makes You Sad
I have another moving essay for the attic today. This piece by Rachel Nightingale, about her dad and his influence on her writing, really touched me. There’s something special about the relationship between daughters and their dads. ...
Denise Mills: Writing is a Big Deal
When my Inbox goes ping and I see it’s another piece for Writers in the Attic, I feel a little thrill. I have to drop what I’m doing and read it straightaway. I can’t resist. Each of the essays I’ve posted has resonated with me in some way and...
Eliza Henry-Jones: Discovering How I Write
I have the extremely talented Eliza Henry-Jones in the attic with me today. Eliza is on the eve of launching her second novel, Ache. I first heard of Eliza in an interview with Natasha Lester in 2015, just after her first novel ‘In the Quiet’...