The Guardian Great Sci-Fi Hunt

Just a quickie and bit of a request.  Thanks to Twitter I have spotted The Guardian in the UK is running a scheme to find the best independently published SciFi/Fantasy novels.

Nominations are made via the comments box at the bottom of this page and this is where I need your help. I would love it (if you love PI as much as I do) if you could add a nomination or recommendation.  To comment you have to register with The Guardian which takes about thirty seconds (just remember to uncheck the boxes so you don't get marketing emails).

Self published writers find it hard to get word out about their work without great big publishing houses and their budgets behind them - this is a real chance for you to nominate all those self published writers you adore.

Go on!  What are you waiting for?

Not procrastinating, honest.

What?  I should be writing?  I am, can't you see?  Oh, my next novel.  Well, yes I am.  I just thought I would take a little break to update you on my current projects.

Paranormal Investigations 4 is obviously on my agenda - although the title has changed from Risk to Into The Realm of the Fae as the plot has adapted.  Unusually this novel does not take place in London - although there is another English town featured.  I won't spoil it by telling you where this is, although I know some people are really going to enjoy this setting.

When I was looking for possible book designers (my fabulous designer for PI has been extremely busy with other things of late) I found a pre-made cover perfect for a historical novel I had written (although it needs a good edit).

I could not believe my good luck, so I quickly emailed the designer to reserve it.  I then had to decide on a suitable title which I did with the help of Facebook and Twitter friends.  Sometimes I guess simple titles are the best.

I've been editing Marian since then and have finished the first half (65k words).  Unfortunately I have now realised that was the easy half.  I want to change a character in the second half and that takes a lot more concentration than I have at the moment.  So, I have switched over to PI4 which is a bit easier as I can just make stuff up as I go.  I also wrote Marian before I discovered 'my' way of working.  What I do now is write a 3-5k chapter at a time and then have a quick edit to make sure it is readable and then move on to the next chapter.  What I did with Marian was write the whole draft first - which is why it has taken me so long to begin getting it into shape.  It takes forever to edit 130k words, especially when you need to make some important changes!

What?  Oh, okay.  I'll get back to some actual writing then.  Don't forget - you can follow me on FB or Twitter and read PI4 as it's written here!

Oh, and don't ask about The Reed Bed - it's another WIP I have to find time to work on.  I can't resist the world of PI though, it sucks me in every time.  I'm sure historical Norfolk will pull me back in it's own time...