One of the last checks I do in a novel before I send it to my publisher is a voice check. I read through every main character’s dialogue from beginning to end, and only that dialogue, to make sure they each sound consistently like them. Because how a person speaks…
Launched! When Dark Waters Burn is officially out in the wild for those with an adventurous spirit and a warm heart. Just watch out for the water-ants, snap snap! – “Cements Shapter’s reputation as a master of immersive worlds.” Tawny Frogmouth Magazine – “An emotional read which doesn’t let go.”…
Contemplating real-life distances to ensure the fantastical is believable…
Wow, what a wonderful review of my upcoming release When Dark Waters Burn in this month’s The Tawny Frogmouth magazine! The full review is over here (on p44), but here’s how it begins: “When Dark Waters Burn… cements Shapter’s reputation as a master of immersive worlds.” Funnily enough, I love…
We all know that experiences change a person – their outlook on life, how they process thoughts and emotions, how they interpret events and places. But I have personally never felt this as starkly as when I recently returned to Greece after a gap of twenty years. Parts of Athens…
This weekend I was at the 2025 Manly Writers’ Festival, talking on a panel, presenting a workshop, enjoying book signings, literary trivia, mingling with readers, and more! It was so much fun! I also learnt a little about myself as a writer. While on the panel, I had the pleasure…
History is all around us. Wherever we walk, someone has walked before. After all, Homo sapiens have been on Earth for approximately 300,000 years, so that’s a lot of feet covering a lot of ground. And I love wondering who might have walked where I now walk, what they were…
