Why interview a novelist if I'm advising non-fiction authors?

Yes I'll hold my hand up and say there was a certain amount of self indulgence in my choice of R J Ellory.

He's a thriller writer and I'm a long time fan. But there was a more altruistic reason too.

You can learn from him.  Why? Because he's a master story teller.

Confession time now - yes he knew I hadn't read any of his books before I met him last year. When I did read, A Quiet Vendetta, I wouldn't say it was the happiest choice for me. Full of blood and guts, yes lots of them and a great deal of other kinds of nastiness.

However, what it had that kept me reading was the parallel stories of two men whose lives collided, accidentally once and deliberately once.

Think about it. Your favourite novel. Maybe one you reread. What is it about the story that takes you back to the book, especially when you already know what happens.

Now think about the non-fiction book you want to write. What's the story in it that will keep people reading?

I tried something the night before I talked to Roger Ellory. I opened the book at random and began to read to see what would happen.

Bang! I was straight back into it. In this particular instance, making my way through a swamp on my way to commit a crime.

If you've watched people look at non-fiction in bookshops, what's their behaviour? Yes they'll look at the front cover, read the back, maybe the contents page. But often they'll dive in at random. Not read logically.

That's one of the tests your book needs to pass with flying colours. Hold the reader's interest no matter where they enter.

Hm. Maybe needs a good story?

To listen to the interview with Roger, go to http://www.eileenparr.com/ Click on the Conversations about Writing page.

To find out more about him, go to http://www.rjellory.com/  On both occasions he was charming, encouraging and interesting about writing and the writer's life.

Eileen Parr; new writing resolutions in June

It's a month since I blogged. Part of me can't believe that a month has passed since I did this. But when I look at what I've put my energy into over the last month I can see clearly where the time disappeared.

Since the beginning of the year I've given a lot of thought about where I want my business to go. I have let it run down somewhat over the last couple of years. Taken a break from the fee paying work and paid attention to writing fiction.

At the moment that effort hasn't offered me any concrete results. No publishing contract or link with a literary agent.

It's improved my writing though. Sending some off for a professional review in January I was pleased with the assessment. Showed distinct signs of my having worked to some effect.

The thing is that I don't think I'm just a writer. Like it or not I have that something inside of me that wants to help others progress. Came out all the time when I was employed even when I didn't label it as mentoring. And after years of my profession being guessed as teacher, I did go into teaching.

Only when I had something I was passionate to share though. At that time aromatherapy and reflexology.

So it seems I can't get away from that and I've decided to give it another whirl, this time to help writers.

One of the fun things I've done in the last month is to record some video interviews about writing. I've started a series Conversations about Writing which will begin to go live when my new website goes live next week. There'll be some podcasts to; I recorded the first of those with Farhana Shaikh in Leicester last week.

And that was another thing that demanded my energy. The website. The writing of it is no problem. It's the technical stuff that drains my energy. Getting all the bits to work together.

Still I'm improving at that too. Taking responsibility for it. Been bad at that in the past, relying too much on others to sort it out for me.

So all in all, it's been a hectic, but productive May. Here I am ready to go with a new website... and a new plan.

Let's see where it all leads me!