Author Buzz | Say | Activity

Adam Bassman joined the group Say

Sun, 15 Mar 2026 18:27:19 +0000

Burty Burtman joined the group Say

Thu, 26 Sep 2019 02:19:29 +0100

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post Said is a good word in the group Say

Mon, 27 May 2019 15:00:26 +0100

Assuming that you convey enough emotion through description and action, said should be all you ever need. Assuming you even need it at all.Matt, Is “said” really so bad?

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post Sir Terry Pratchett on UK publishers in the group Say

Tue, 23 Apr 2019 09:00:51 +0100

…it’s easier to squeeze a melon through the eye of a needle than it is to get a UK publisher to think in other than Gutenberg terms.Sir Terry Pratchett on UK publishers

Sir Terry Pratchett apparently said t […]

Bob Bobson joined the group Say

Thu, 11 Apr 2019 15:41:41 +0100

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post Malorie Blackman on life in the group Say

Thu, 28 Feb 2019 10:00:00 +0000

Sometimes the things you’re convinced you don’t want turn out to be the thing you need the most in this world.Malorie Blackman, Boys Don’t Cry

Jason Latnar joined the group Say

Tue, 26 Feb 2019 15:14:00 +0000

Jack Dent joined the group Say

Tue, 26 Feb 2019 14:59:44 +0000

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post Beatrix Potter on writing in the group Say

Tue, 26 Feb 2019 10:00:00 +0000

There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you.Beatrix Potter

Matthew Brown commented on the post, Authors' research blog, on the groupblog Say

Mon, 25 Feb 2019 05:27:15 +0000

I’ve gone ahead and started one. https://ask.authorbuzz.co.uk/

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post Ian Dunt on Brexit in the group Say

Sun, 24 Feb 2019 10:00:00 +0000

Leave wasn’t an alternate economic or political model. It was a blank canvas which people could project their hopes, aspirations and frustrations onto. This was the only way you could get voters from the shires t […]

jeffjohns commented on the post, Should novel writing be taught in schools?, on the groupblog Say

Fri, 22 Feb 2019 16:43:47 +0000

This would have been so good for me.

jeffjohns commented on the post, Authors' research blog, on the groupblog Say

Fri, 22 Feb 2019 16:42:24 +0000

Does that mean you are in? (please say yes, please say yes…)

Matthew Brown commented on the post, Authors' research blog, on the groupblog Say

Fri, 22 Feb 2019 15:02:59 +0000

I quite like this idea. In principle at least…

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post Malorie Blackman on prejudiced in the group Say

Fri, 22 Feb 2019 10:00:00 +0000

I used to comfort myself with the belief that it was only certain individuals and their peculiar notions that spoilt things for the rest of us. But how many individuals does it take before it’s not the […]

jeffjohns wrote a new blog post Authors' research blog in the group Say

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 18:00:16 +0000

What I recon we all need is an authors’ research blog – somewhere that writers can post all the researching they do for writing so other writers can use it too.

I say we should start one.

Like and comment […]

Jason Latnar commented on the post, Valentine's day is bunk, on the groupblog Say

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 15:43:08 +0000

I far prefer being single. This is not an issue for me.

You can say the same about the other holidays too – all of them highly commercialised.

Matthew Brown commented on the post, Roald Dahl on inner beauty, on the groupblog Say

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 15:37:47 +0000

I loved this book when I was growing up.

Matthew Brown commented on the post, What Brexit means for authors, on the groupblog Say

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 15:36:17 +0000

I am not convinced the current government can be relied upon to ensure anything. Least of all free movement for authors. Remaining in the EU will give us this but Brexit, not so much.

Matthew Brown wrote a new blog post Valentine's day is bunk in the group Say

Thu, 14 Feb 2019 14:00:00 +0000

Valentine’s day is a lot of bunk.

Who decided that dating should become a national holiday? Not me, that is for sure.

When romance becomes a duty – another date where we feel compelled to buys cards and […]

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post What Brexit means for authors in the group Say

Wed, 13 Feb 2019 10:00:48 +0000

There is a danger that the end of free movement will create barriers for authors appearing at festivals in the EU, as well as European writers travelling to festivals in the UK. The Government must ensure that […]

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post Roald Dahl on inner beauty in the group Say

Mon, 11 Feb 2019 10:00:00 +0000

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like […]

Matthew Brown wrote a new blog post Publishers should tell the bloggers in the group Say

Fri, 08 Feb 2019 10:00:00 +0000

I have had a hard time getting publishers (especially the bigger ones) interested in advertising at me. I’m not sure if the larger publishers just don’t bother with press releases or if they look down on […]

jeffjohns wrote a new blog post Neil Gaiman on Mary Poppins in the group Say

Tue, 05 Feb 2019 10:00:00 +0000

Neil Gaiman’s view (and introduction to a book about) Mary Poppins.

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post Aldous Huxley on facts in the group Say

Mon, 04 Feb 2019 10:00:00 +0000

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.Aldous Huxley

Matthew Brown wrote a new blog post Reasons authors fail in the group Say

Sun, 03 Feb 2019 10:00:00 +0000

This one is mostly self promotion if I am honest – it is a post I wrote for Author Buzz on reasons why I think some authors fail.

What do you think are reasons some authors “fail”.

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post Agatha Christie on depression in the group Say

Sat, 02 Feb 2019 10:00:00 +0000

I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow; but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.Agatha Christie

Matthew Brown wrote a new blog post More authors should blog in the group Say

Fri, 01 Feb 2019 10:00:00 +0000

It is my opinion that a lot more authors should have a blog. I also think that publishers should make press releases but that’s another story.

When we started the experiment that is The Say Blog, I assumed I […]

Matthew Brown wrote a new blog post Brexit or Remain? in the group Say

Thu, 31 Jan 2019 18:00:00 +0000

It is time for another your say – this time Brexit or remain, you tell us.

Brexit or Remain?

Do you think we will be “better off” outside the EU? If so can you tell us what the Benefits will be and how they […]

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post Orwell on writing books in the group Say

Wed, 30 Jan 2019 10:00:24 +0000

Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor […]

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post Neil Gaiman on his writing process in the group Say

Tue, 29 Jan 2019 10:00:00 +0000

Sometimes I’ll jot things down before I start, though. But normally I only find out what it’s about and what’s happening when it’s being written. Neil Gaiman (link)

jeffjohns wrote a new blog post Douglas Adams on deadlines in the group Say

Mon, 28 Jan 2019 10:00:00 +0000

I love deadlines.I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.Douglas Adams

Christian Writer wrote a new blog post Christians should question the church in the group Say

Sun, 27 Jan 2019 10:00:00 +0000

The christian church has gained a reputation for being married to illogical and frankly unchristian positions. I cannot help but feel this folly is due to a culture of not asking questions.

Rather than […]

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post P. G. Wodehouse on friendship in the group Say

Sat, 26 Jan 2019 10:00:00 +0000

There is no surer foundation for a beautiful friendship than a mutual taste in literature.P. G. Wodehouse

Matthew Brown wrote a new blog post Brexit: Bad for authors in the group Say

Fri, 25 Jan 2019 10:00:00 +0000

The post I wrote for Author Buzz about the reports that Brexit would be very bad for authors. The post expands on a report published by The Guardian.

Each year, roughly 200,000 books are published in the UK. […]

Matthew Brown wrote a new blog post Should novel writing be taught in schools? in the group Say

Thu, 24 Jan 2019 18:00:00 +0000

It is time to have your say – the topic today is should writing be taught in schools?

Writing has long been a core subject for school education. Is it time that we made creative writing and storytelling part […]

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post Neil Gaiman on dragons and fairy tales in the group Say

Wed, 23 Jan 2019 10:00:00 +0000

Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.Neil Gaiman, Coraline

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post J.R.R. Tolkien on what's worth fighting for in the group Say

Tue, 22 Jan 2019 10:00:00 +0000

There is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.J.R.R. Tolkien

jeffjohns wrote a new blog post Why Literary Festivals Need to be Both Accessible And Inclusive in the group Say

Mon, 21 Jan 2019 10:00:00 +0000

Literary festivals are wonderful events where readers, authors and publishers come together to celebrate the world of books and reading. […] This experience should be open and inclusive of everyone – which is w […]

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post Jane Austen on friendship in the group Say

Sun, 20 Jan 2019 10:00:00 +0000

There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post J.K. Rowling on human nature in the group Say

Sat, 19 Jan 2019 10:00:00 +0000

If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

jeffjohns wrote a new blog post The government should buy UK books in bulk for libraries in the group Say

Fri, 18 Jan 2019 10:00:33 +0000

According to The New Republic, if you publish a book in Norway, the government will buy 1,000 copies and distribute them to libraries. I think the UK government should do the same.

So long as a new Norwegian […]

Matthew Brown wrote a new blog post Gaiman on plot coupons in the group Say

Thu, 17 Jan 2019 10:00:00 +0000

Neil Gaiman recently re-posted his thoughts on what he calls “Plot Coupons”, why they are so limited, and how to learn the craft of writing.

There are several book recommendations towards the end. Due to the […]

jeffjohns wrote a new blog post Kayleigh Keam: Children's novels are not so easy in the group Say

Wed, 16 Jan 2019 10:00:00 +0000

Kayleigh Keam talks about the staggering difference between writing for children and writing a novel for children.

‘I’ve written for children my whole career, writing a novel for children will be a piece of […]

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post Orwell on speaking the truth in the group Say

Tue, 15 Jan 2019 10:00:06 +0000

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.George Orwell

Danny H joined the group Say

Mon, 14 Jan 2019 21:00:55 +0000

Matthew Brown wrote a new blog post Almost no one understands Brexit which is why it is insanity to blindly chase it. in the group Say

Mon, 14 Jan 2019 10:00:00 +0000

According to a government report, less than a third of people fully understand what a no-deal Brexit actually is, fewer still know what the customs union is. If the people don’t actually know what they are asking […]

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post Jane Austen on reading in the group Say

Sun, 13 Jan 2019 10:00:00 +0000

The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Matthew Brown wrote a new blog post Neil Gaiman on 2018 in the group Say

Sat, 12 Jan 2019 10:00:15 +0000

Right at the end of 2018, Neil Gaiman wrote a review of the year that was about to end.

It’s been a strange year. I’ve only blogged a couple of times, mostly because I’ve not had anything to write about except […]

Quote Bot wrote a new blog post Tolkien on wandering in the group Say

Fri, 11 Jan 2019 10:00:00 +0000

Not all those who wander are lost.J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring