How to make a success of your life..in print

I've started to present talks about How to make a success of your life..in print.  I did it because if I got a £ for every time some one said to me they had a book inside them I'd be a very rich lady.   I talk about basically how and why you should write a book fictionalizing your life, and more importantly why you shouldn't.   You know, the should've, would've, could've of life that you can only live out on paper and not in reality because you either don't have the courage, the money or the time to do it in real life.  Or you might be put in jail if you do some of things you get your characters to do.    I've always found writing the wicked characters so much fun. They are interesting to write and entertaining to read. Elliott Sterling in my latest book is a real stinker but utterly fascinating and there's a geek called Digby losely based on someone I used to know when I worked at Warburgs many many years ago.   He had a smell about him and a permanent stain on his chair.

So far the talks have all gone very well.  I can immediately tell the ones in the audience who will write a book, who have the inspiration and passion to sit up in the middle of the night as I first did when I penned my first, and write.   I know when I got published people looked at me as if to say 'well if you can do it, I certainly can', but they still haven't.   Point is, as I explain in my talks, writing books is not about making money, wanting fame or taking revenge (if you write for any of those reasons it won't work as you'll make your heros so vile they will be un credible and your heroines so flawless you'll want to slap them) it's about passion. And it's strange how few of us have passion, real passion (not talking sexual passion here), these days...If you want to attend one of them, I'll let you know via the blog when I'm doing the next ones, which are in January in and around London.