Author Archives

James is a full-time writer.

• Don’t rush a good thing

  By James Ellis on February 2, 2020 • ( 0 )

  Watch out, many of the baby boomers’ final cohort will be turning 60 this year – those born in the satisfyingly neat year of 1960 (it is so easy to work out how old one is, when there’s a zero… Read More ›

• The shape of something

  By James Ellis on January 12, 2020 • ( 0 )

  I have an idea, elusive and shadowy, but definitely there. The shape of something. The right something. It needs to be pushed and prodded (gently), given substance by being handled. Coaxed into the light so I can see it more… Read More ›

• Happy Family is being serialised

  By James Ellis on October 14, 2019 • ( 0 )

  

  As part of its pre-launch marketing process, Unbound have arranged for Happy Family to be serialised on The Pigeonhole. This is a great way to get reviews and build a buzz before its publication early next year. You can check it out and… Read More ›

• An Other’s Look has another title

  By James Ellis on September 28, 2019 • ( 0 )

  After much discussion the working title of my second novel, An Other’s Look, has been changed to Happy Family. I love this title because it works at so many different levels. The book is scheduled for release in early 2020… Read More ›

• Exploring the real world… volunteers

  By James Ellis on January 28, 2019 • ( 0 )

  January, 2019 It’s that time of year. Our Christmas tree is lopsided and the fairy’s fallen off. The decorations are pulling paint off the walls, our pots and pans are charred and ruined, black bags are filled with body parts,… Read More ›

• Exploring the real world… Goldilocks pubs

  By James Ellis on January 28, 2019 • ( 0 )

  February, 2019 According to a recent census there are almost 10,000 people living in the parish of Bradford on Avon (north and south wards). More than 80% are 18-years-old or older which means there are roughly 8,000 adults living in… Read More ›

• Exploring the real world… a Christmas Carol

  By James Ellis on December 5, 2018 • ( 0 )

  December, 2018 Bah! That’s what I used to say to Christmas. Humbug! An annual mugging of my hard-earned moolah. Decorations? Boughs of holly? Spare me the jingly bells and chestnuts roasting on an open fire. I was a writer, jaded… Read More ›

• Exploring the real world… the canal

  By James Ellis on December 5, 2018 • ( 0 )

  November, 2018 In 1794 the first sod of the Kennet and Avon Canal was cut in Bradford on Avon. What interests me about that moment is the phrase, ‘first sod’. Every description of that inaugural digging uses those words. Not… Read More ›

• Stuck for ideas?

  By James Ellis on November 22, 2018 • ( 0 )

  

  Brighten up a book lover’s stocking this Christmas… Available here.

• It was a dark and stormy night…

  By James Ellis on November 11, 2018 • ( 0 )

  As the old joke goes: ‘There are three rules to writing novels. Unfortunately nobody knows what they are.’ I like that. Recently, I was a guest speaker at a writers’ workshop and I was asked what rules I follow. I paraphrased Elmore… Read More ›