Nail Your Novel: Why Writers Abandon Books and How You Can Draft, Fix and Finish With Confidence

Reference

Morris, Roz

Words, Language & Grammar

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

'Genius premise ... characters you won't want to leave behind'  If your life is another person's past...   What echoes do you leave in their soul?  Could they be the answers you need now?   A suspenseful story in the vein of Life After Life. Carol is a gifted pianist who has never needed anything but her talent – until a mysterious injury forces her to stop playing and she has to confront an empty existence. She begins to see glimpses of her next life, Andreq. Is he really what he seems to be? And can he help Carol learn to live her life now??    ‘Reminded me of The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas (one of my Top Shelf Authors = I Want To Write Like That.)’  ‘Reminded me of Doris Lessing--though Morris is much more readable.’  ‘The ideas are fresh, the plot unpredictable, the characters interesting; I was entirely engaged and convinced. I liked the writing very much, with its story within a story having echoes of Atwood's 'Blind Assassin'.  ‘Distinct voice reminded me of Atwood's Handmaid's Tale.’  ‘Having read Hilary Mantel's Beyond Black, which also explores the murky lives of charlatans, I was intrigued by the subject. What I got was a first class page-turner.’  ‘I was reminded of Iain Banks; London is a gritty, grave place, where to step off the treadmill can leave one on the outside.’  ‘Reminded me at first of The Time Traveller's wife; strong imagery and layers of story within a story. However it grew into something quite different.’  ‘Gave me the creepy feeling of Rosemary's Baby or the Wicker Man’  ‘Like John Fowles's The Magus ... the sort of literature I enjoy reading .. an unsettling plot with hints of more beyond. Not the depressing realism of your typical Booker novelist or the light fluffiness of middle class city life.’  ‘Like Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland, although this book uses its double narrative in a more straightforward fashion (which I appreciate).’  ‘I have had to wrestle with monsters of professional jealousy to review this book. It is SO good.’  ‘Reminds me of the canny cultural observations of Barbara Pym or Penelope Fitzgerald. Prepare to be surprised, mystified, and sorry it ends.’  ‘Not easily categorised. Should I call it a literary novel? Science Fiction? Romance? You could make a case for any one.’  ‘Excellent. Will read it again soon.’   'I was always fascinated by tales of regression to past lives,' says the author Roz Morris. ‘I thought, what if instead of going to the past, someone went to a future life? Who would do that? Why? What would they find?   ‘Another longtime interest was the world of the classical musician. Musical scores are exacting and dictatorial - you play a note for perhaps a sixth of a second and not only that, there are instructions for how to feel - expressivo, amoroso. It's as if you don't play a piece of classical music; you channel the spirit of the composer.   ‘I became fascinated by a character who routinely opened her entire soul to the most emotional communications of classical composers. And I thought, what if she couldn’t do it any more? And then, what if I threw her together with someone who could trap the part of her that responded so completely to music?’  My Memories of a Future Life is a new addition to the great tradition of the 'who was I' tale for readers of Cloud Atlas, Somewhere In Time, Vertigo, Lady of Hay and The Blind Assassin.

My Memories of a Future Life

Literature & Fiction

Literary

How do you create characters who keep readers hooked? How do you write the opposite sex? Teenagers? Believable relationships? Historical characters? Enigmatic characters? Plausible antagonists and chilling villains? How do you understand a character whose life is totally unlike your own? How do you write characters for dystopias? How do you make dialogue sing? When can you let the reader intuit what the characters are feeling and when should you spell it out? Roz Morris is a bestselling ghostwriter and book doctor, and a literary author in her own right. She has mined 20 years' worth of writing, editing and critiquing experience to create this book. It contains all the pitfalls and sticky points for writers, laid out as a set of discussions that are easy to dip into. And it wouldn't be a Nail Your Novel book without a good dose of games, exercises and questionnaires to help you populate a novel from scratch. Whether you write a straightforward story-based genre or literary fiction, this book will show you how to create people who enthrall readers - and make you want to tell stories. Previously titled Bring Characters to Life.

Nail Your Novel: Bring Characters to Life

Writing, Research & Publishing Guides

Createspace Independent Pub

How do you create characters who keep readers hooked? How do you write the opposite sex? Teenagers? Believable relationships? Historical characters? Enigmatic characters? Plausible antagonists and chilling villains? How do you understand a character whose life is totally unlike your own? How do you write characters for dystopias? How do you make dialogue sing? When can you let the reader intuit what the characters are feeling and when should you spell it out? Roz Morris is a bestselling ghostwriter and book doctor, and a literary author in her own right. She has mined 20 years' worth of writing, editing and critiquing experience to create this book. It contains all the pitfalls and sticky points for writers, laid out as a set of discussions that are easy to dip into. And it wouldn't be a Nail Your Novel book without a good dose of games, exercises and questionnaires to help you populate a novel from scratch. Whether you write a straightforward story-based genre or literary fiction, this book will show you how to create people who enthrall readers - and make you want to tell stories. Previously titled Nail Your Novel: Bring Characters to Life.

Writing Characters Who'll Keep Readers Captivated: Nail Your Novel

*** SHORTLISTED for the People's Book Prize. LONGLISTED for the World Fantasy Award ***   'Marvellous, powerful, beautiful' KIJ JOHNSON, multi-times winner of the HUGO AND NEBULA AWARDS  ‘Beautifully written, meaningful, top-drawer storytelling. An extraordinary novel in the tradition of great old-school literary science fiction like Atwood and Bradbury’ - LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY AUTHORS  Misty woods; abandoned towns; secrets in the landscape; a forbidden life by night; the scent of bygone days; a past that lies below the surface; and a door in a dream that seems  to hold the answers.  Paftoo is a ‘bod’; made to serve. He is a groundsman in the last remaining countryside estate, once known as Harkaway Hall and now a theme park. Paftoo holds scattered memories of the old days but they are regularly deleted to keep him productive.   When he starts to have dreams of the Lost Lands past, Paftoo is thrown into a nightly battle for his memories, his soul and his cherished connection with Lifeform Three.    Includes an appendix of suggested questions for reading groups.  ‘I really didn’t want this book to end; it’s that good’ - BUILD ANOTHER BOOKCASE

Lifeform Three

Henry Aaron grew up in a Mobile, Alabama, neighborhood during a time when black men were not allowed to play major league baseball, and the only reason was the color of their skin. The teenage Aaron never was the best student. He got in trouble for skipping class. But he was a star at the local baseball diamond. He was so good that the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro League hired him when Aaron was just 17 years old. When the rules changed and black men were allowed to play in the big leagues, Aaron was one of the first black men to be hired. And he wasn’t just good. He was great. Before he retired, he hit more home runs than any other player in the history of major league baseball.

Henry Aaron: Dream Chaser (Alabama Roots Biography Series)

Children's Books

Biographies

Seacoast Publishing, Incorporated

Twenty years ago, Hugo and Ash were on top of the world. As the acclaimed rock band Ashbirds they were poised for superstardom. Then Ash went missing, lost in a mountaineering accident, and the lives of Hugo and everyone around him were changed forever. Irrepressible, infuriating, mesmerizing Ash left a hole they could never hope to fill. Two decades on, Ash's fiancée Elza is still struggling to move on, her private grief outshone by the glare of publicity. The loss of such a rock icon is a worldwide tragedy. Hugo is now a recluse in Nepal, shunning his old life. Robert, an ambitious session player, feels himself both blessed and cursed by his brief time with Ashbirds, unable to achieve recognition in his own right. While the Ashbirds legend burns brighter than ever, Elza, Hugo and Robert are as stranded as if they were the ones lost in the ice. How far must they go to come back to life? A lyrical, page-turning novel in the tradition of Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano, Ever Rest asks how we carry on after catastrophic loss. It will also strike a chord with fans of Meg Wolitzer's The Interestings and Taylor Jenkins Reid's Daisy Jones for its people bonded by an unforgettable time; fans of Ann Patchett's Bel Canto, for music as a primal and romantic force; and Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air for the deadly and irresistible wildernesses that surround our comfortable world.

Ever Rest

Fabled Lands Publishing

You're writing a novel... Unlock your full potential and finish like a pro When Roz Morris first published Nail Your Novel in 2009, it was popular with writers of all stripes. This workbook enlarges that 10-step process for drafting, fixing and finishing, guiding you to: * tame your inner critic * devise compelling characters and surprising plots * find resonance * hit your essential genre/non-genre notes * find your best method for drafting and polishing * craft a standout title * write a slick synopsis and sales pitch * organise and complete your research tasks And much more. Use on its own or alongside the original book for extra depth.

Nail Your Novel: Draft, Fix & Finish With Confidence. A companion workbook

Self-Help

Creativity

Spark Furnace

As featured on BBC Radio Devon, BBC Lincolnshire, BBC Wiltshire, BBC Berkshire, BBC Oxford and BBC Bristol In life there’s the fast lane, and then there’s the scenic route. Take your time getting there and you might meet people whose stories are as gripping as those of any famous name. In Not Quite Lost, Roz Morris celebrates the hidden dramas in the apparently ordinary. Her childhood home, with a giant star-gazing telescope on the horizon and a garden path that disappears under next door's house. A tour guide in Glastonbury who is having a real-life romance with a character from Arthurian legend. A unit on a suburban business park where people are preparing to deep-freeze each other when they die. But even low-key travel has its hazards, and Roz nearly runs down several gentlemen from Porlock when her brakes give up on her. She takes her marriage vows in a language she doesn't speak, has a Strictly-style adventure when she stumbles into a job as a flashmob dancer, and hears an unexpected message in an experiment in ESP. Wry, romantic, amused and wonder-struck, Not Quite Lost is an ode to the quiet places you never realised might tell you a tale.

Not Quite Lost: Travels Without A Sense of Direction

Humor & Entertainment

Humor

'Taut plotting and sharp storytelling'
'Absolutely gripping story'
'Classy, stylish writing, a profound tale in page-turning fashion. Unreservedly recommended.'
'A strange and stubborn book, visual and visceral, original and odd... will stay with you long after finishing its final pages' - For Books' Sake
'Genius story ... characters you won't want to leave behind … full of suspense and enigma' If your life might be another person's past... What do they know of you? Could they have the answers you need now? 
Carol is a gifted pianist who has never needed anything but her talent – until an untreatable injury stops her playing. Terrified that it might end her career, she moves to a village on the coast to convalesce and teach singing. She becomes beguiled by glimpses of her next life – a healer called Andreq. Is he really what he seems to be? Does his life have any clues that can help her now? 
A duet between land and sea, past and future, trance and waking, My Memories of a Future Life shimmers with mystery and questions. It’s a novel about clairvoyants and charlatans, the all-consuming dedication of the professional musician, the shadows that shape us, the yearning for a soul-mate, the tyranny of small towns, and what we do when we lose the thing that gives us our identity.
'I was always fascinated by tales of regression to past lives,' says the author Roz Morris. ‘I thought, what if instead of going to the past, someone went to a future life? Who would do that? Why? What would they find?
‘I began to delve into the world of the classical musician. Musical scores are exacting and dictatorial - you play a note for perhaps a sixth of a second and not only that, there are instructions for how to feel - expressivo, amoroso. It's as if you don't play a piece of classical music; you channel the spirit of the composer. And I thought, what if she couldn’t do it any more? And then, what if I threw her together with someone who could trap the part of her that responded so completely to music?’

Spark Furnace Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Morris, Roz. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Morris, Roz

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Morris, Roz. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Nail Your Novel: Why Writers Abandon Books and How You Can Draft, Fix and Finish With Confidence

My Memories of a Future Life

Nail Your Novel: Bring Characters to Life

Writing Characters Who'll Keep Readers Captivated: Nail Your Novel

Lifeform Three

Henry Aaron: Dream Chaser (Alabama Roots Biography Series)

Ever Rest

Nail Your Novel: Draft, Fix & Finish With Confidence. A companion workbook

Not Quite Lost: Travels Without A Sense of Direction

My Memories of a Future Life