mjschofieldauthor

Where do ideas come from?

A novel starts with an idea. Of course, it takes more than just an idea to create a novel – time, commitment, passion, all these things will be needed before an idea becomes a novel. But none of these things will make a novel if there is no idea to get them going. Ideas are theContinue reading “Where do ideas come from?”

The Bookshop Years

It’s all very well knowing that you want to be an author, but it’s not exactly a job you can apply for. Going through school, college and university, I knew that I was going to have to find a job to keep me going until a publisher discovered my work and offered me a publishingContinue reading “The Bookshop Years”

Arris – an extract

I know I said that Arris would probably stay my own private Fantasy novel, but I thought I would share a little with the world and give Arris a moment in the sun. This extract is taken from a draft that has not been worked on for over ten years and is reproduced exactly how it wasContinue reading “Arris – an extract”

The Arris Project

At some point after beginning the Arris novel, I made a huge discovery, something that was to be a massive influence on my writing. In short, I discovered Fantasy Fiction. Up until that point, I had honestly thought that I was the only person interested in Fantasy. I was writing it with no idea whoContinue reading “The Arris Project”

Writing in the Garden on a Bank Holiday

That counts as work, right? But seeing as today is a day of indulgence, I am “indulging” in some editing – of a novel that I have already published. Oops. Was it really finished? Is anything every really finished? That is the most difficult thing to judge. But I know that when I read oneContinue reading “Writing in the Garden on a Bank Holiday”

Here Be Dragons

In the summer of 1988, on holiday in Cornwall, I bought my first dragon. It was a tiny model of a baby dragon emerging from its shell. I was still obsessed with dragons, and even though my second novel had featured dragons, I wanted to write about them even more. And so I began aContinue reading “Here Be Dragons”

The Second Novel

I can’t recall when I finished that first novel, but I do know exactly when I started the next one, because that manuscript is clearly marked with a date – 22nd January, 1988. This was just a few days after my 15th birthday, in the fourth year of secondary school, well into my GCSEs. ItContinue reading “The Second Novel”

My First Novel

So, I was definitely growing up as a girl who loved reading and writing. My love of The Famous Five had taken me from wanting to be a detective when I grew up to wanting to be a librarian. My best subject at school was story writing; funnily enough, I can’t remember many of theContinue reading “My First Novel”

Welcome to my Shop

The sun is shining, the sky is blue, it is a perfect day to launch a new venture. So this is it, the day I confess to everything I have been up, while trying not to squirm at this blatant self advertising – hey, I’m English, I’m not good at this. BUT, I can’t help beingContinue reading “Welcome to my Shop”

I Owe Everything to a Box of Enid Blytons

I’ve said on my profile page that I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was seven, which sounds like the kind of thing all writers say, but I can say exactly how I first knew that, with sound, historical facts to prove it. From a young age, I loved books. I canContinue reading “I Owe Everything to a Box of Enid Blytons”