Post natal writing

Hello all, it's been a while. Six weeks ago Eden Rose was born and its pretty tricky writing with a newborn.  At the moment I am tapping away one handed on an iPad whilst nursing. I'm doing a lot of nursing - I feel like a dairy cow. It's hard to get the time to write at the moment. It puts me in mind of a quote I read somewhere (was it Mslexia?) in which a female writer claimed women had to be childless to be a writer. Of course, this sparked a furore - but was she in any way correct? I am certainly struggling with time (and fatigue) at the moment.  However, motherhood has not taken away my intellect, or passion - sometimes life just gets in the way for a while.  I refuse to see this period of my life as wasted writing time, instead I am seeing it as reading and thinking time.  It is easy to read on a kindle one handed and there is plenty of time for thinking - I've already plotted half of a new book.

Perhaps all writers should take a reading and thinking sabbatical once in a while? Maybe it could even help us refine our craft?

The Guardian Great Sci-Fi Hunt part two - reflections

My last post was about this sci-fi hunt and since then a few things have annoyed me about this.   I followed Damien Walter (no relation) on Twitter and so kept up to date with his 'hunt'. I found it very disappointing.

He used it as an opportunity to (to my mind) criticise self-published indie authors.  These are writers who write for love, not glory, and just want people to enjoy their stories. Many are given away free.  These people cannot afford an editor and yes, mistakes will creep in.  I mean, I've seen mistakes in books published by large publishing houses - they happen!  He said the writing was not of a good enough standard - whether he got to fairly test this or not I can't say as there were a lot of books for him to read in a short period of time.

The 'winners' were (3 out of 5) published by independent publishers, not self published and so benefitted from editorial support, art, formatting and limited promotion.  Of course, the standard of these is going to be higher, they have a team around them to make it so.

He claimed only these five books out of eight hundred had any merit.  I wonder how he found time to read even the openings to eight hundred books in a matter of weeks.

I don't begrudge these winners, but I am disappointed this was not the opportunity for the unknown writers out there that it purported to be.  I'm sure for The Guardian and Mr Walter it was great publicity though as the sci-fi community is huge.

To all the truly indie authors out there - keep going and the audience that appreciates you will find you.

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...

Sneak Peek - PI4

This is the cover for PI4, so yes - now you know I am committed to writing it.  I was going to call it Risk, because there is a huge game of Risk involved - watch out for Al the Guardian Angel, I'm not sure he can be trusted to honour pacts.  It's new title is 'Into the Realm of the Fae' and I think you can guess from that what it might involve.  However, I intend to write something completely different before I move on to PI4, perhaps something historical which is my passion.  I love the past - perhaps that is why I made Leo a time traveller so I can live my time fantasies through her - should she ever master the skill that is.  Right - I can't hang around here all day, I have several chapters to attempt to finish.  Adieu.

Jane Austen

There is something very comforting about curling up and losing yourself in the world of Jane Austen.  I'm not one hundred per cent sure what it is: a bygone world of civility?  Stories where the good people always end up with the right outcomes?  A joyful romp through Regency England?  Whatever it is there are times where only Austen will do.  At the moment I am surrounded by boxes and bags as we pack up to move out of Leo's Cat Hill flat that has been our for three years.   It is not chaos, but it is not a comfortable environment at present.  Little wonder then I long to escape to the world of Miss Austen, the only question is which novel should I step into?  Old favourite Persuasion or perhaps one I am not so fond of, such as Mansfield Park?  Let me find my Kindle and choose...

The World of Paranormal Investigations (Cockfosters) - the Cat Hill Flat

Feline Court

As I am sure you know Leo lives in a tiny flat on Cat Hill in East Barnet.  I know this flat intimately because it's mine - at least it remains so for another sixteen days until I move out.  I have been on Cat Hill for three years and last November when I was looking for a fictional home for Leo it seemed the easiest thing to make mine her's - it saved on imagining a fictional place.  This is something I have done with almost all the settings in PI - they are all real and if you wanted to, you could do a little PI tour of Barnet and Cockfosters.

I chose my flat as the setting because I wrote PI1 for Nanowrimo last November; I was writing quickly and wanted to make my life as easy as possible in those thirty days.  There are aspects of my life in Leo's (although not all) and much of her background mirrors my own.

Trevor's culvert in the car park

It is a tiny flat and would be very crowded with all the strange visitors and family Leo has descend on her, so as I move it may also be time for Leo to move on.  I guess I'll just have to see how attached to the flat Leo is and whether I can make her part with it.  She has some money coming her way so it would be possible for her to move on - I just can't imagine her being anywhere without Bob across the hallway and that might be enough to make her stay as I move on.