by Anne Goodwin | Oct 5, 2021 | Diversity and Inclusion
Mental health is a popular theme in fiction but negative stereotypes abound. Charlotte Brontë has a lot to answer for with her madwoman in the attic in the classic novel Jane Eyre. As a former clinical psychologist turned fiction author and book blogger, I’m always on... Read more 
by Anne Goodwin | May 4, 2021 | Diversity and Inclusion
In a 2013 Guardian article the novelist Penelope Lively, then aged 80, bemoaned the depiction of older characters in fiction: The stereotypes of old age run from the smiling old dear to the grumbling curmudgeon. In fiction, they are rife – indeed fiction is perhaps... Read more 
by Anne Goodwin | Feb 2, 2021 | Diversity and Inclusion
Minority rights aren’t only deeply important for minorities. Like the canary in the coal mine, they can also indicate a society’s flexibility, respect and overall health. Equality benefits everyone, so LGBT+ History month in February is an opportunity for all of us to... Read more 
by Anne Goodwin | Apr 9, 2020 | Guides and Resources
Books to console, inspire and escape into… With all but essential workers on lockdown, and our social lives on hold, the time seems ripe for a (lockdown) reading revolution. But this is no holiday; anxiety will skew what and how we read. Perhaps you want to... Read more 
by Anne Goodwin | Nov 17, 2019 | Diversity and Inclusion, Guides and Resources, Publishing Industry
I often get to the end of a novel and think Now I know where it’s going, I’d love to read it again. But, as a book blogger reading around 150 contemporary novels a year, I rarely do. But short stories are different. There’s always time to reread those we particularly... Read more 
by Anne Goodwin | May 23, 2017 | Guides and Resources
Over a decade ago, the children’s charity, Barnardo’s, ran a controversial advertising campaign aiming to raise awareness of the damaging impact of being born in poverty. The Advertising Standards Authority received almost 500 complaints about the ads, which showed... Read more 
by Anne Goodwin | Aug 12, 2015 | Inspired Quill News
It’s a great privilege to have the opportunity to work with the extraordinarily talented authors here at Inspired Quill. But it’s easy to forget that our readers don’t have the same insights into their creative process, professional backgrounds,... Read more 
by Anne Goodwin | Jul 20, 2015 | Inspired Quill News
I had to smile when I discovered, via Twitter, that a group of writers had set up a website to combat the invisibility of authors publishing their first book over the age of forty. Forty? I thought, echoing one of my characters’ consternation at a friend’s untimely... Read more 