S.C Newland - Writer

  Just started a new job delivery driving to get a bit of an income. Still giving me enough time to write. So, I wondered what kind of jobs famous writers might have had to make ends meet. Here are a few: JK Rowling – had several jobs before the arrival of Harry Potter, including working as a bilingual secretary and researcher at Amnesty International, for the Manchester Chamber of Commerce and in Portugal teaching English. Stephen King – the prodigious horror/fantasy author once worked as a janitor in a school. His novel ‘Carrie’ was allegedly based on the said experiences. Harper Lee – worked as an airline booking clerk before her famous Pulitzer Prize winning novel To Kill A Mockingbird took off. Kurt Vonnegut – famed for works like Slaughterhouse-Five – one time opened a Saab dealership in Cape Cod with limited success. By his own account, he made a terrible salesman, but the lack of customers gave him time to write The Sirens of Titan . The dealership even inspired t...

Hah! In the local newsagents and discovered Grand - The Journal of One Grand Books. Very enjoyable read. Fiction, Poetry, Memoirs and interesting biographies - Edna O'Brien the standout read.  Now, interesting aside - the article shows a black and white picture of Edna sitting by a window in her Chelsea home in London, in 1971. That's just about the time I used to travel to see my grandparents in the same area. Not saying I saw Edna, but in a peculiar way, it's comforting to know a writer of her literary talent was just around the corner. Sad to read about her soured relationship with husband Ernest Gebler (an author - yes, I had to look him up). Turns out, Ernest was a divorcee when he met Edna in 1952. His fame was a novel which became a movie starring Spencer Tracy: The Plymouth Adventure. Edna was working in a pharmacy. He became a Svengali of sorts - introducing her to publishers, perhaps encouraging her writing and probably wished he hadn't when her debut novel Th...

  I'm pleased to announce that the Tavistock Writers Independent Group - TWIG - have released their first anthology - an E-book exclusively available from Amazon Kindle. A couple of short stories of mine are featured together with some excellent fiction from other members of the group including poetry.  In-Between Dartmoor on Amazon

Inspiring words from a coaster I picked up from a gift shop in Lynmouth, Devon. Typewriter looks a bit out of date though. Maybe a smart phone or tablet or lap-top would have been better. But the message is sound. Something to aspire to.  

It was Ian Fleming's birthday yesterday and I noticed several lists popping up on the internet citing the best Bond books in order - a countdown if you like from 14 - 1. I haven't read them all, but when I do pick them up, I usually enjoy them. The books are not all novels. Fleming wrote two Bond short story collections: For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy.  One thing I noticed was that the least favourite story was: The Spy Who Loved Me. It's written in first person from the point of view of a female character called Viv. It's about her life. Bond doesn't appear until halfway through or so. I found this frustrating when I read it years ago in my teens, but did enjoy the gangster plot and the tension Bond brings to his scenes. It's become one of my favourite's over the years and doesn't in any way match the plot of the Roger Moore movie - which is cracking. An oddity in the Bond canon, but then Fleming also wrote Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang. Nuff said. Here...

It's world Dracula Day today. The seminal vampire novel written by Bram Stoker was published on May 26th, 1897. Bram Stoker's Dracula was meticulously crafted, drawing from folklore, history, and extensive research. Here are some fascinating facts about its construction: Epistolary Format : The novel is told through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles, creating a fragmented yet immersive narrative. Historical & Folkloric Influences : Stoker researched vampire legends and historical figures, including Vlad the Impaler and Countess Elizabeth Báthory, though recent scholarship suggests he may not have directly based Dracula on them. Whitby Connection : While vacationing in Whitby, England, Stoker discovered the name "Dracula" in a public library and chose it because he believed it meant "devil" in Romanian. Extensive Notes : Stoker compiled over a hundred pages of notes while developing the novel, ensuring a rich and detailed world. Binary...