EV Bancroft

Blog

  • Exploding Out of Writer’s Block

    Okay that’s a tad dramatic, but to be honest I’ve been struggling the past few days to get words on the screen, for my latest novel, working title Love in a Green Climate. Ironically, I wrote more words per day when I was on holiday in Lanzarote than I have at home with no distractions.…

  • Everything is Blue and Yellow

    Facing down the barrel of another war it is too easy to slip into helpless rage and sorrow, even though it may be pointless. I don’t normally make political comments but I detest unfairness and lack of compassion and humanity towards the Ukrainian refugees. I wrote a poem after the capitulation in Afghanistan, but sadly…

  • To Read or Not To Read, That is the Question?

    There is nothing so excruciating as hearing your own voice played back with all the stumbles and sibilants. I take my hat off to the professional voice actors who do this day in and day out. My editor suggested that I record me reading my debut novel, Warm Pearls and Paper Cranes. I would have…

  • The Unexpected Emotions On Completing the Shitty First Draft

    I’ve completed the shitty first draft of my latest novel with a day to spare. The revised goal was to complete it by the end of the year, and it has been a struggle as I’ve spent a large chunk of the last few months looking after my 92-year-old Dad and my brother who has…

  • Tea with the Vicar, or How (Not) to Market a Book

    I’ve been looking after my 91-year-old dad who has just come out of hospital after a bad fall. His confidence has been knocked and we still don’t know why he blacked out, but I can tell he’s improving. He’s started working on the fiddly bits of the galleon he’s building from scratch again, and there…

  • Pre-release Anxiety and Excitement

    As it comes closer to release day for my debut novel, I’ve started to shred my nails, even though I haven’t bitten them for many years. I think I’m as nervous as when my daughter had her first day at school, knowing she needed to be out in the world, but hoping she wouldn’t be…

  • Should You Judge a Book By Its Cover?

    For the last week or so I’ve been trying to work up a design for the book cover for my debut novel, Warm Pearls and Paper Cranes. Having got a number of suggestions back from designers, I spread them all out neatly on the floor so I could do a compare and contrast exercise. Jerry…

  • Coping with Reopening Anxiety… ( kind of)

    I’ve had a very fortunate lockdown and I’m very grateful, because I live surrounded by beautiful countryside, I enjoy the company of the people I live with, I’ve been able to go out for walks with friends and I’ve been working on my novel. So I’ve been busy, engaged and even enjoyed zoom quizzes, poetry…

  • Getting “In The Mood”

    Most of our visitors never see Jerry, our neurotic cat, they just catch a glimpse of a white flash as he retreats to his nearest hiding place. But whenever I am working he appears at my side, “helping” with the writing by batting at my fingers, sitting on the keyboard, or in this case, choosing…

  • The Unintended Consequences of Research

    One of the wonderful things about writing is that you can unravel quirky facts, or read around a subject and call it research. I’ve been researching World War Two for my current WIP and have asked questions of both my Dad (who’s 91) and my ex-father-in-law (who’s 92). Both have provided me with fascinating details…