Monday 24 October 2011

Book covers

As November draws close so does Nanowrimo... the month in which we create a 50k word novel between the first and thirtieth.

I intend to publish as I go on Smashwords so am creating a novel from scratch rather than working on an existing idea.  To enhance this I put out a call on Facebook for creative friends - I need a book cover.  Michael Farmer (New Splicer) answered my call and has been busy at work creating 13 different possible covers for me - dang it's hard to choose - especially when they all look so good!  There are two main ideas and both look great, it's just a case of deciding which suits the potential book best.  

This is the blurb in a nutshell, so maybe you could help me decide which one to go for:

Leo Fey runs 'Paranormal Investigations' on behalf of her mad aunt Mildred, the problem is Leo doesn't believe in the paranormal and spends most of her time spying on spouses.  Then, as her thirtieth birthday draws closer, Leo realises the paranormal does exist - or so the zombies on the underground tell her.
What do you think?




Sunday 9 October 2011

Nanowrimo 2011

Well, the biggest event of the writing year for us writers is almost here - next month we start our efforts to write a 50k novel during the month of November.  I am once again going to attempt to 'win' Nano although I have not got a clue how, as a teacher with Ofsted hanging over her head, I will find the time.

I have found it best to have an idea of what to write before November comes; the first year I did it I made it all up as I went along and the outcome was... different to what I would normally write.  Last year and the year before I had chapter overviews to guide me and I was much happier with my finished product.  Mind you, I say finished - The Histories made 60k words in November and then it took another ten months to write the same again to complete the draft.  Last year's book I am itching to edit, but The Histories is still taking up what little spare time I have.  And ultimately that's what Nano is for me - a month to get something on paper, a way of carving out some writing time that otherwise would be given to my actual job... or cleaning my flat.  Once November has gone it's on to editing and that is a thankless task as you face confronting the agony of your bad prose and paper thin characters - but just occasionally you stumble across a nugget and think - wow!  Did I really write that?  That makes it all worth it.

See you on the online Nano forums or at the Piccadilly write-in.