Colin Mulhern

I got a bit of a surprise on Christmas morning when my wife told me, "I've got tickets for you and Dean to go to a concert in Newcastle." - Dean is my brother-in-law. "Great. Who are we going to see?" "Morrissey!" Me, confused: "Morrissey?" "You do like him, don't you?" All of my life I've listened to punk, thrash metal and goth. But I have got a Smiths album somewhere, and once had a girlfriend who had a poster of Morrissey on her bedroom ceiling. Does that count? "Erm... yeah. Love him. Great." I met up with Dean a few days later. "Here, was this your idea? Morrissey?" He gave me the same confused look. "Morrissey? I think I've got a Smiths album somewhere." It soon became clear that the present was more the night out than the actual gig, but I wanted to get the most out of it so I started out on a diet of nothing but Morrissey for the next few weeks. Every time I got i...

The Author Twilight Zone - that's something they don't tell you about in those writing manuals. It's a special little place where time stands still and frustration grows like an itch you can't possibly scratch. For anyone who has followed this blog, in particular the development of Buttercup , you might have the idea that things in publishing run slowly. Actually, in the case of Buttercup , it's racing along at top belt. Bearing in mind that this time last year, I hadn't even started on the first draft. Often it takes more than a year to just place a manuscript, never mind all the edits and other stuff. One of the hardest things is keeping the major details under wraps. I've blogged about the process: the pitch, meeting an agent, working on edits, sketches and illustrations - because I think that's interesting to anyone who wants to write and go through this process. But I've avoided giving any official details of the book, the publisher, relea...

I missed the cinema release, so I read Adam Nevill's novel while I waited for the DVD release. The DVD was released today so I can review them together. First up, I liked the movie and I liked the book, but they are quite different, and in a way, that's what makes both the more interesting. One of the things I really liked about the book was the references to Swedish death metal bands. It felt like I was getting a nod from someone else in the know - bands like Bathory are very much an acquired taste. Yet strangely, even though I felt more in tune with that part of the book, it was the only part of the novel to flag. It felt like something I know I'm guilty of in my own writing, and that's putting personal preference over story. That's very much where editors come in, but I'll defend Adam's angle to the hilt, because it's those personal touches that give novels a sense of heart. So I was expecting one hell of a movie score! Bring on the speed metal ...

I love this book. Love it. It's short, simple and funny. Kid wants a dog - kid finds a dog and keeps it secret. I work with reluctant readers, so something accessible, entertaining and short enough to get through in a couple of sessions is a great find, but I also liked it for what it is - just a great little story. The illustrations are deceptively simple, just stick figures and line work, but they work. What's more, it gives another great message to kids because they are easy enough to copy, showing that you don't need to be a brilliant artist to tell a fantastic story. Brilliant. I'd give it six stars if I could!.

Quite odd that at the start of the year I decided to quit writing, and at the end I find myself in a stronger position than ever - certainly a situation I never would have imagined back in March. Personal stuff. There was a good deal of personal difficulty at the start of the year. My brother-in-law and friend for almost twenty years had been diagnosed with a brain tumour in August of 2016. He went through treatment and seemed to be doing very well, but as we moved into 2017 it was clear things weren't going well. At the same time, we were approaching March, which would mark the second anniversary of Matthew's death. On that particular day, and that particular time, I know where I should be, but that was also the date of a consultation for my brother-in-law. We thought it was just going to be a question of getting his pain under control, but ended up driving through to a palliative care hospice in Sunderland where he died a couple of weeks later. What shocked everyone was ...

Quick Buttercup update. Two weeks back, I met Steve from Maverick. Before he became a publisher, he used to have his own photography business, so he wanted to do some promo shots. We spent a stunning, but cold, Sunday morning flying around North East landmarks including The Angel of the North, some strange statues in South Shields, Stadium of Light and Penshaw Monument. The best shots are going to be used for press releases early next year, but this one makes me smile. When we went to the Angel, it was early so there weren't many people about. The same in South Shields. There were a few learner drivers in the car park of the Stadium of Light, but by the time we took this one, at Penshaw, there were people walking past giving us some strange looks while I staggered down the slope, zombie style. All part of the fun of being an author-superstar. On the illustration side, things are going well. The drawings are taking much longer than I thought. I draw directly onto a compute...

The book is written, I've done the pitch, made a sale and got a top agent to negotiate the contact. Now it's time for the real fun to begin. It's editing time! Working with an editor is very much like being back at school. You've done your best piece of work ever - and it must be good if you've got an agent and a publisher, right? Right, but that doesn't mean it's perfect. It's the editor's job to take a good script and make it even better.  Here's a screen shot of a page somewhere near the end of Buttercup. There are two colours of comment box because I've got two editors working on this.  No one writes a perfect script. Even Stephen King says that every writer needs and editor. That's simply because it's often impossible to see your own mistakes. Not just typos but continuity errors - someone out of breath in one scene, fine in the next. Wearing a yellow scarf on one page, a purple hat in the next. Also, because you...