Phil Rickman
Blog posts in total 41
Posts
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Excorcism, atheism and ebooks
It鈥檚 now 40 years since The Exorcist hit the big screen and was promptly banned by local authorities all over the UK because of its graphic scenes of demonic possession.
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Is it just Christmas, or is literature living in the past?
You look in a bookshop window and there they all are, the characters who live forever on the sales charts. Currently, you鈥檒l find it鈥檚 James Bond and Bertie Wooster. Even the ones who are officially dead can鈥檛 be counted on to stay that way.
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Cops and criminals
Real-life cops might generally be more efficient these days but, for writers of crime fiction, where the rule book tends to get discarded, policing is just not as much fun.
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Hay-on-Wye: fighting back
It was Peter Florence, director of the Hay Festival, who said, 'Why did it take you so long?' He meant writing a novel set in Hay-on-Wye.
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Perfect for fans of Dan Brown
It's 10 years since The Da Vinci Code聽was first published, which coincides with the publication of聽The Camelot Code and the return of Phil the Shelf to 成人论坛 Radio Wales.
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Aspiring authors: write what you know
Would-be novelists are always told: write what you know. What this actually means is that you have to look like you really know what you're writing about. Which can lead to interesting situations.
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The psychological corridors of crime fiction
OK, I haven't yet read JK Rowling's pseudonymous crime novel... but in one way it looks very much like good news. The title, anyway, The Cuckoo's Calling.
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Phil the Shelf: exploring 'faith-lit'
Let's face it: if it wasn't for God, being an atheist would be no fun at all.
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Do you want to be a published novelist?
Wanna be a published novelist? You know... properly published, by a real publisher? That situation where the book is printed on actual paper and the only handover of money is from the publisher to you?
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The Secret World is a seductive place
Crime writers who turn detective always do well on TV - particularly in the US. But in real life, of course... Well, actually, in real life it happens, too.
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Life at the literary coalface: chapter three
Another bad week on the book. Not enough words on the page... again. This time you could say it's my own fault. Can't leave things alone, see. Particularly the bitterly controversial issue of books covers.
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Life at the literary coalface: chapter two
Just over two months to go to the Deadline from Hell. I've been given till the end of April to finish a novel, set in Hay-on-Wye, to get it into this year's autumn schedules, and it's hard going. It always is.
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Life at the literary coalface: chapter one
Sorry if some of this sounds faintly hysterical and full of a thinly-veiled desperation... only I'm writing a novel.
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Could you be the next Shelfstarter?
Just two more programmes to go in the current series of Phil the Shelf, and we're turning them into a double opportunity for new writers.
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The perils of e-publishing, and sockpuppet reviews
Earlier this year we did a Phil the Shelf about how publishers were losing their iron grip on writers' careers because writers could publish their own work as ebooks. Publishers, though few will admit it, are still sweating but nothing is as it seems, and writers are far from confident.
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Discovering fantasy fiction - and enjoying it
No question, doing a long-running book programme can really widen your shelves. You find yourself reading stuff you normally wouldn't go near, and enjoying it more than you could ever have imagined. Chicklit, for example. Surprising what blokes can learn from chicklit.
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Self publishing? Get some expert advice from Phil the Shelf
Things move fast in the book world these days. When we finished the last series of Phil the Shelf in the summer, it was all leather belts and bondage. Now, at number one in the e-book charts is a love story about pensioners, written by a granny. 聽
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"If you like Harry Potter, you will hate this book"
This is one of those weeks when you can understand why JK Rowling doesn't like to read what people are writing about her. "If you like Harry Potter you will hate this book," says one reader. And obviously there's an element of truth here, especially if you're only 11.
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Are Welsh publishers interested in historical fiction?
Doing a gig at the PENfro Book Festival, near Cardigan, last weekend, I was asked if I knew that Welsh publishers just weren't interested in historical fiction. Well, no, I didn't, really, and I'm still not sure how true that is.