Colin Mulhern

source: laurieboris.com The challenge Rather than do Resolutions I can't keep, I thought I'd kick off the New Year with a little writing challenge.  This challenge comes in three parts. Write an entire novel in January. Edit and clean up in February (possibly – see below) Submit to Agents in March. Background One of the surprises that came out of doing a degree in Creative Writing was finding that I have strengths in areas I thought were closed off. There was one story in particular that resonated, a short piece about the son of a grave robber. Dark fiction was something I found quite difficult after Matthew passed away, but this felt good. Unlike my Victorian vampire novel, which I had peppered with humour as a kind of safety net, this was pure, dark gothic fiction with an honest, earthy folk horror feel. Gearing up The genre of folk horror got under my skin and I found myself revisiting old classic movies like The Wicker Man (1973) and Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971) - a movi...

Three years ago, I started out on a part-time BA in Creative Writing. This was an accelerated course, meaning a minimum of 37 hours of work per week and no summer break. credit: Chris Spiegl, Unsplash While that's a lot to take on when you work full-time, the course seemed to be exactly what I was after. It was structured for personal development as a writer and to explore subjects, genres and formats I would otherwise not consider.  Some of the things I've written over the three years include: Fantasy Magical Realism Creative non-fiction Podcast scripts Evergreen blog posts Poetry for Performance (and performing it!) Comedy scripts Writing for theatre Interactive fiction RPG game Romantic Comedy Screenplay for an animated movie (partial) Screenplay for a sitcom (full). Screenplay for a drama (full). One thing I did enjoy was writing for film and TV. Initially, the strict formatting and strange headings (INT. CAFE - DAY) were completely alien but once I realised the creative el...

2023 was a busy year writing-wise because I rewrote my first romcom in 1st person and relaunched it under a new title, Trust Me, I'm a Liar , then got to straight to work on book 2.  While this was going on, I was also working full-time and doing a part-time degree in Creative Writing. This is a fast-track degree, so it's a lot of work and there's no time off during the summer. Year 1 was a breeze and a lot of fun. Year 2 stepped it up a notch and then in September, I started my third and final year, which made writing Trust Me, I'm an Artist a big challenge to fit in.  But, I did it. Yesterday, I uploaded the final manuscript to Amazon. This is the first book I've put up for pre-order, so it doesn't actually go live until the 5th of January 2024. I thought putting it up for pre-order might spur me along into finishing it, which worked a treat. Who doesn't love a bit of totally unnecessary pressure?  Looking ahead to 2024, I've got a bit of a choice. I ...

I've been playing with a budget Chromebook for the past few months and have to say, a Chromebook is a pretty good choice for writing. I'm using an Acer CB314-1H which cost me a whopping £79 (thanks to a £100 cashback deal). It has a bright, crystal clear FHD screen, a fantastic keyboard (much better than my HP laptop) and it is super lightweight. As far as the keyboard goes, on first impressions, it seems that the keyboard has no delete key or CAPS lock, but both are available with help from the ALT key. It also seems that there is no way to turn the Trackpad off. This takes about ten seconds on Google to enable debug shortcuts, but to be honest, even with the option available, I rarely use. I catch my laptop trackpad all of the time, but hardly ever on the Chromebook. The next thing to consider is software. There's Google docs. You can waste time searching the internet for alternatives, but this means enabling Linux and playing about and it's really not worth it. I man...

 It all began with a duck. Two ducks, actually. They appeared in the middle of a housing estate and were waddling about outside my front door. I went out to get a photo and they were really friendly. They were curious too. This messed with my mind a little. I mean, ducks with personalities. You can’t eat something that’s friendly. That's just not right. But the ducks flew away and I got over them. Well, kind of. But then last week, we were on holiday in Scotland with a farm right next to us. Our back garden looked out on a field full of cows. The cows had calves. They were friendly too, and curious. They kept coming over to see how we were getting on then skipping about the place exactly like cows don’t.  Suddenly, I felt a bit guilty about the huge block of minced beef I’d bought for bolognese.  The thing is, I've never had much success when I've tried going veggie before. I usually fail when it comes to ordering take-away or going into a pub for something to eat. But th...

I first decided to make writing a career when I realised that my son’s disability meant he would always need someone at home. It didn’t seem fair that my wife would never be able to return to nursing, so in 2003 we swapped roles. I became Matthew’s full time carer, wrote when he was at school and began submitting book after book. image c/o seatletimes.com It took five years and six novels to get “The Call” and when it came, I was ecstatic. This was it, the beginning of a new chapter! We’d be able to make a better life, buy a decent car, maybe even move out of our council house. A first look at our new council house. Image: Colin Mulhern Things didn’t work out quite like that. The world of traditional publishing wasn’t quite what I expected. Promotion The publisher offered a promotional package that included a London book launch, a professionally produced YouTube trailer, press releases, newspaper reviews and an ebook version – this was the early days of Kindle, the ideal time to break ...

Image c/o Dean Wesley Smith In 1947, Fantasy Press released Of Worlds Beyond: The Science of Science Fiction. This was a short collection of essays by various Science Fiction authors. Robert Heinlein was one of those authors, and he concluded his guide with a list of business habits, explaining that they were: “a group of practical, tested rules, which, if followed meticulously, will prove rewarding to any writer.” and became known throughout the writing community as Heinlein’s Rules. Heinlein’s Rules You must write. You must finish what you start. You must refrain from rewriting except to editorial order. You must put it on the market. You must keep it on the market until sold. Many writers overlook their simplicity, but consider the fact that Robert Heinlein wrote 32 novels and over 50 short stories - perhaps there is something in his method. Do the rules actually work? In 1981, Dean Wesley Smith was on the cusp of giving up on his dream to be a writer when he chanced upon Heinlein’s...