Author Archives: pippo144

Four Reviews, Four 5 ⭐️s Reviewer: I Got Lost in a Book “I thought this story was wonderfully narrated. At times it felt like I was watching a movie rather than reading a book.” “I think this book would certainly appeal to those who like historical crime fiction. It was certainly a good read andContinue reading “The Alcoholic Mercenary- What the Critics Have To Say”

*** They said, “See Naples and then die!” Rachel had thought it was to do with the natural beauty of the place. A misconception she soon lost after … The Alcoholic Mercenary by Phil Hughes / #Extract #BlogTour @maryanneyarde @Phil_Hughes_Nov

Oh Look, Another Book! Are you ready for a road trip back to the late 70s? Hold onto your hats as Phil Hughes turns back time and takes his readers to Naples, a place where crime lords rule the streets. Things are not much better at the Nato base where those in charge seem moreContinue reading “Another 5 ⭐️ Review for TAM”

In this post, I outline the process I follow when writing a novel. It is not intended as a writing lesson but could be used by new writers to decide how they will write. Not the dos and don’ts — there are already far too many of those books — but the process. Stephen KingContinue reading “That Writing Thing”

The Book Bandit’s Library The historical mystery genre is one that I always enjoy, so I was very much looking forward to reading The Alcoholic Mercenary by Phil Hughes. The blurb of this novel was very convincing and I suspected that as soon as I started to read I would soon become swept up inContinue reading “5 ⭐️ Review of TAM”

The Alcoholic Mercenary is live. Universal Amazon Link: https://books2read.com/u/mlAvpZ

It is self-evident that a novel needs a cast. It doesn’t matter if a book is a plot or character-driven story, there still needs to be those around whom the story revolves and evolves. Depth of character is paramount in the modern reader’s perspective. Having read hundreds of one-star reviews of books, a common themeContinue reading “Characters”

When I have finished my corkboard — not forgetting that I am already writing — I create a Scene-Plan spreadsheet. The document comprises the post-it notes that survived my first cull transcribed into a spreadsheet with a little more detail. I use the spreadsheet throughout the book’s pre-publication lifecycle. For instance, I rely on itContinue reading “Spreadsheet”

After the spreadsheet is completed and once again culled, I create a skeleton document. This document will eventually become the manuscript. The numbers represent the scene number in the spreadsheet and are removed prior to publication. Although the graphic shows the document with chapter divisions and titles, they do not come in until much laterContinue reading “Document Skeleton”

Before I became a novelist, I spent more than thirty years as a technical writer and editor, the last ten of which I was the Documentation Manager in a Multinational Software Company. During those thirty plus years — and especially the last ten — I designed libraries of supporting documentation for enterprise-level software applications. ThereContinue reading “Plotting”