Enjoy the latest collection of reviews and interviews from Neil Daniels. "Read as widely as you can. Read the classics of your field and of others too. Observe wherever you go and the people you meet - how they really speak, how they behave. Base your characters on your observations, not on how people have behaved in fiction (especially the conventional kind). Tell as much of the truth as you possibly can. Enjoy language." - RAMSEY CAMPBELL (author of The Doll Who Ate His Mother) "Don't get so hung up on being a writer (ie: going to parties, conventions, award ceremonies) that you skimp on doing the writing (the sat-at-a-desk bit)." - KIM NEWMAN (author of Anno Dracula) "It's also a very difficult way to make a living - never knowing when the next cheque's showing up is no fun. There are a lot of people out there who'd like your job, and most editors and publishers know that, and aren't afraid to take advantage of it. So expect to be jerked around by idiots (no difference there from most jobs I guess) and to have more than a few lean months living off toast and blind optimism. If you understand all of that, and still fancy picking up the proverbial pen, then good luck - you'll need it - in my experience shit floats rather more buoyantly than cream!" - GAVIN BADDELEY (author of Lucifer Rising: A Book of Sin, Devil Worship And Rock n' Roll) "I'd start with the dictionary then take it from there. Just to read is enough. Newspapers. Poetry. Classic novels. Hello! magazine. Pornography. Anything and everything." - BEN MYERS (author of The Missing Kidney) "Believe in yourself, tell the truth and don't give up." - GARRY BUSHELL (author of Two-Faced)