Ghostwriting – Why it’s Not (usually) Documenting the Paranormal

‘So, what’s it all about, this ghostwriting business, then?’ I was at a party (remember those) when someone asked this, predictably followed by, ‘I suppose you write ghost stories?’ Cue much laughter.

‘Well,’ I smiled sweetly. ‘Actually, sometimes we do.’ I had just written a book for a psychic and there were plenty of ghosts in it. ‘But mostly we don’t.’

Ghostwriting is a much misunderstood and occasionally maligned profession, so perhaps it’s time to explain what it is that we’re actually all about.

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Why Memoir is Having a Moment

While this is definitely a year that most of us will be happy to forget, what many people are doing, as they wait out the seemingly endless days in lockdown, is looking back at their memories.

As we have felt under threat and life has changed in painful and unexpected ways, there has been a shift in our collective values, away from the frivolous and material and towards what matters most – the people we love. And this has given rise to a longing, in so many of us, to write our personal stories. As a result, writing memoirs has never been as popular as it is now. Memoir is having a moment, and it is bringing enormous pleasure, both to those who are writing them and to those who read them. Read more “Why Memoir is Having a Moment” →

Working with a Ghostwriter

You’re excited. You have a great idea for a book; you know what you want to say, you can picture the cover, you ran the idea past your friend/colleague/partner and they loved it.

You can almost smell that scent of newly-printed pages and see the cover on the table in the bookshop…

 And that’s where the fantasy ends. Because to get to that glorious moment when you hold your published book in your hand, you’ve got to write it. And that takes a lot of time, thought, effort and creativity, when actually, your life is already overfilled and you really don’t fancy getting up at 4am to fit in a couple of hours of writing.

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And so to Other Worlds…

As we continue with the lockdown that sometimes seems – despite glimpses of the light ahead – to be going on for ever, we must continue to find ways to cope and adapt.

I’ve been reading Amor Towles wonderful ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’. In it he quotes from the Essays of Michel de Montaigne, ‘If a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them’. It’s a similar sentiment to the one that Victor Frankl expresses in ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ (a book that begs to be read in lockdown) when he says, ‘When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves’. Read more “And so to Other Worlds…” →

What Can a Ghostwriter Do For You?

It’s an extraordinary feeling that ranks alongside some of the biggest and best occasions in life. After all the hard work and effort, all the care and patience, all the doubts and decisions, the moment you finally hold your published book in your hand is a remarkable one. For most authors, there’s a combination of awe, excitement and pride. And, of course, a great sense of achievement.

That ‘I’ve finally done it’ feeling is hard to match.

Nothing on a screen – no website or blog – can match the substance of a printed book. The feel and weight of it, the unmistakable heady scent of freshly printed pages, the design – and your name on the cover. Read more “What Can a Ghostwriter Do For You?” →