Turning words into stories.

Publishing. Writing. Blurbs. Covers. Fiction.

From Colin's blog . . .
Exogenous: 5 weird works that changed Exo
Exogenous: 5 weird works that changed Exo
Read More →
Ex libris: 5 books that shaped Exo
Ex libris: 5 books that shaped Exo
Read More →
Exo Extract 3: Year One
Exo Extract 3: Year One
Read More →
Exo Extract 2: Day One
Exo Extract 2: Day One
Read More →
Exo Extract 1: Day Zero
Exo Extract 1: Day Zero
Read More →
Exploring Exo – the headland of Dungeness
Exploring Exo – the headland of Dungeness

Discover Dungeness, the real-life inspiration for my novel Exo.

Read More →
Extra! Extra! Announcing Exo – a novel of murder and the end of the world
Extra! Extra! Announcing Exo – a novel of murder and the end of the world

After writing the words on the outsides of several thousand books, I’ve decided to take a shot at the insides of one.

Read More →
8. The Irresistible End
8. The Irresistible End

‘But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.’ – The House At Pooh Corner, A.A. Milne

Read More →

Discover my novel EXO
a story of murder,
multi-dimensions
and the end of the world

'Keeps the pages turning with twisty conspiracy theories and exciting scenes with cinematic flourish. Earnest and detailed characterizations and worldbuilding mark Brush as a sci-fi writer worth keeping tabs on' Publishers Weekly

Follow my Instagram

All the threes in @catamaroon and @unsung.books @clarkeaward shortlisted The Coral Bones. Three characters. Three times – past, present, future. Three plotty paragraphs in the middle of the blurb, telling one urgent story, reinforced in the top
Here it is, warts, inaccuracies, and all: 'At the center of Brush’s turbulent debut is a rogue ocean, the Caul, on an ecologically compromised future Earth. Scientists are baffled by its toxic, sirenlike lure and its ability to create new life
The excellent @clarkeaward shortlisted Ten Percent Thief by @lavanya.ln and @solarisbooks is a story of a revolution and, fittingly, is a mosaic novel, using multiple viewpoints and stories within stories to tell its big story. How to pitch that? Bui
Exciting times! Just received from @diversionbooks a box of advance review copies of Exo. Literal proof that I've written a novel – naysayers, it even says so on the front. The blurb? A classic three-parter: Setting. Situation. Promise. And th
Roll up, roll up! I'm appearing not once, but twice, at the Hastings Literary Festival Fringe in September to talk (not about my book Exo, available from all etc) and run workshops about how to write selling copy for your novel or non-fiction project
Blurbs in the Wild: to @samreadbookseller in Grasmere where I find @emapocalyptic and @solarisbooks The Vengeance. The three paragraph blurb is a neat example of the tri-part structure: beginning=set up our heroine and their world, middle=send them o
Blurbs in the wild: Space is big, dangerous and secondhand, according to the first lines of @gollancz blurb for Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds. We have aliens. We have genocide. And we have a scientist who'll take big risks to find answers. In
Blurbs in the wild: Pile on the intrigue. The blurb for @georgerrmartin and @harpervoyager_uk A Game of Thrones gives you the world in a four-line headline and then introduces us to Lord Stark and his problems. His problems, in fact, make up the enti
Blurbs in the wild: We read fantasy to be enchanted. And cosy fantasy seeks to put the magic in the mundane. For @travis_baldree and @torbooksuk Bookshops and Bonedust we're pitched the mundane in paragraph one: a wounded soldier in a sleepy town. Th
Immerse your reader. For @particularbooks and @sydney_padua The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, the pitch recreates the joy and fun of the pages within, emphasising both the informative nature of the project and sheer exuberant entertai
What you're reading isn't always what you're reading. The blurb for @solarisbooks and @aliyawhiteley @clarkeaward shortlisted and brilliant Skyward Inn works to undermine itself. The set up of the first paragraph is questioned by the second. The plot
What? How? Why? @vintagebooks and Ed Yong's An Immense World's blurb uses a classic three-part pitch over two paragraphs: What is it? How does it work? Why you should read it? Or: Here's a strange other world. The book explores it with you. Your hori