Getting advice about writing

I’ve sent two bits of things to Lorraine Mace, one from Best in Show and the other from the draft of my latest attempt, asking for a critique. Both suffer from – not getting into the character’s head – so I must go back to the drafting board. I should really have taken that critique step years ago. Maybe not, maybe it’s better to get on to your feet before you start mucking about with your ‘voice’. I’m not certain what that is, except that I know the difference between my favourite authors and would recognise, P. G. Wodehouse or Mark Twain’s writing, even on the same subject. Actually what I’d been doing was reading a lot of non-fiction for research and the concentration on fact rather than character and atmosphere had rubbed off. I’ve found the solution to any of my writing problems is in how one of the best writers have solved it, or just did it automatically. If I feel I am selling the opening or a scene short I turn to that wonderful description of the earthquake at the beginning of The Clan of the Cave bear by Jean m.Auel, or one of the many in Bernard Cornwell. For overlapping of sequences or episoddes the best is C. S. Forester and Hornblower.