Category Archives: Travel

Writer Life: Some words, but mainly yawning

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I’m very happy to reach the weekend. Yet another manic week is behind me, but then the next two are gloriously empty. I know life moves in cycles, but I seriously have to get better at managing them. Still, you live and learn. This final quarter of the year is all about experimentation and testing, so I’m braced for one or two failures along the way.

On the bright side, I had a lovely weekend exploring the very beautiful South West of England. There is nothing like sun, sea, sand and… the rest to make you appreciate life. A bit of fresh air and time to just think kept me sane for the weekdays that followed.

So, writing this week has been fractured but I’ve managed to make some progress.

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Creative – new ideas and first drafts

Things That Die In The Light has continued towards the end of the first draft, despite writing mainly from hotels and cars this week. I’m not sure that’s 100% accurate, but it is certainly how it feels.

I’ve also had a small plot bunny for a new lesbian romance that may or may not be interesting enough for me to bump it to the top of the list and the next project I work on. Only time will tell…

Editing – the slow, tortuous road to publication

Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. There simply hasn’t been time amongst the more mundane (yet thankfully bill paying) work.

Publishing – and all the other bits that go on behind the scenes

Dirty Little War has continued to receive some pretty great reviews, so I am really happy with that. I’ve got some fantastic readers out there that I’m grateful for.

STILL trying to get to grips with Facebook. I keep having moments of teenage style angst. I’m such an introvert, I have utter fears about coming across as desperate. Please like me! It’s utterly embarrassing for someone my age, but there you have it. We all have our weaknesses. This is one of my many.

Planning and dreaming – what’s coming up next week

It is the end of another quarter. I had some pretty big goals and dreams for the last one. I achieved most of them – even if the majority of the work I procrastinated on until September. So I will be spending some time this weekend planning how I round out the year. The remaining three months will give me the information I need to determine how many side projects I can (and am willing to) take on next year. I’ll be deciding which book to draft next as well as picking the next one to edit. Some more big decisions, but I’m sure taking the time to think about them properly will be worth it.

Writing Best Bits

The biggest win for me this week was actually getting out of bed to write despite feeling terrible. A mixture of both mental and physical exhaustion held me back. So why was this a best bit? Simply because years of training myself to this point, along with an unwavering desire that writing is what I want to do for the rest of my life, allowed me to get up when normal people would have quit. That is worth celebrating.

Weekly success score: 5/10 (Not enough sleep. Will try harder next week.)

Writer Life: Busyness, business and books

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Wow, this week has been a busy week. Between consultancy work and non-fiction, I’ve been working 16 hour days to get everything done. The reward? I get to spend the weekend exploring the beautiful south coast of England, giving my brain time to relax. I went tramping through a forest last weekend and was amazed by the boost just being outside with time to breathe and think gave me. So I’m trying to make this a feature of my life, to compensate for the hours spent in hotel rooms or chained to the desk.

I’m also now weighing up an iPad Pro for work on the road, so if anyone has any experience of whether that works or not, then hit me up.

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Creative – new ideas and first drafts

Book four in The Lazarus Hunter series – now tentatively titled Things That Die In The Light – had to go on the back burner this week. I still managed to get around 5000 words completed to keep my brain engaged with the characters and the story. I like the way it is going so far but I can already see places where I need to ramp that tension up a bit! The title definitely needs some work though…

I also pitched the idea for another non-fiction book to a couple of people, so that’s an exciting step forwards too.

Editing – the slow, tortuous road to publication

Some final minor tweaks last weekend to the non-fiction book, but they were simply some references changes, so nothing too strenuous thank goodness!

Publishing – and all the other bits that go on behind the scenes

In week two, Dirty Little War has received some pretty great reviews, from people I definitely don’t know. There’s always a bit of a writer’s doubt that your mum is writing good stuff to make you feel better, like when you found out those Valentine’s cards you got as an early teen was just her using her left hand to write. Unsolicited stranger reviews are always amazing.

Okay, so I am still getting to grips with Facebook. I’m still not a huge fan, but have begun to see the real value it offers in connecting people. I’ve been able to talk with readers and other authors to get valuable insights into how I can write things that excite not only me, but also the people who want to read my fiction. So I guess Facebook is going to stay part of my life for awhile.

I’ve published a non-fiction book as my alter-ego this week, which has been an altogether different experience to publishing genre fiction. It’s been exciting though and I’m feeling really positive about it.

Planning and dreaming – what’s coming up next week

I’m having the weekend off now to spend time with my wife as she’s been somewhat neglected this week. Monday will bring with it a week of non-fiction marketing (honestly, no more fun for me than any kind of marketing) and getting back to Things that die in the light. If I can get 8000 words drafted in that small space between getting up and having breakfast, then I’ll count the week as a success.

Writing Best Bits

The best writing bit this week was letting something go. That sounds strange and with better timing on my part, I wouldn’t have had two large projects come to a conclusion so close together. One of my goals for next year is to better plan the contingency time so that if other people slip, then the pressure doesn’t fall on me!

Weekly success score: 7/10 (not enough downtime – even if I’ve done a lot, being a workaholic loses points, not gains them. Life is for living!)

Contact for credit

Contact for credit

Big changes ahead

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As I’ve indicated a couple of times this year, I’ve been in a crazy place when it comes to work and life. The good news is, a few key projects that have been consuming so many of those projects have finally begun to wrap up.

What does this mean? It means that after a year of not publishing any fiction, I will be in a position to begin putting my time and effort into this again to a much greater degree. I still intend to work on other projects, but my C. K. Martin fiction is some of my favourite. I love to spend the hours creating these women and their lives, so the prospect of being able to indulge myself is really very exciting.

It has been a year since my last book, which in independent author terms is sometimes seen as the equivalent of being dead. My current goal is to get back to the publishing rate of three books per year, which I was on course to do until the last twelve months hit. I spent a significant amount of time over the past weekend working out how I get to schedule my time in a way that works for me and helps me to achieve a higher quality output. September to December will be the real test of this. If it doesn’t work, then I may have to go back, tweak the approach and continue to push forwards.

Dirty Little War

The most exciting thing now is the thought of finally being able to share characters and stories with you that have been more neglected over this past year than I would like. So there are exciting times ahead. Next week, I’ll be publishing my first lesbian romantic standalone novel and I’m a mixed bag of nervous and excited about the response. Regardless, I’ll be opening a bottle of wine when it appears on the kindle store, as a way of marking a new chapter in my life if nothing else.

Quiet does not equal ‘not busy’

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Yes, things have once again been quiet on the social media front. To my horror, I didn’t do a single blogpost in July. But quiet certainly doesn’t mean that things have been slow and relaxed around here. Exactly the opposite in fact.

There has been a lot of travel for the non-fiction projects in my life (these, whilst being considerably less enjoyable, do pay the majority of the bills), which means less time for fun things like blogposts and twitter. Isn’t this often the way? Sometimes I think there are a lot of people telling everyone about their life, rather than being in it and being present. However, social time has been something of a luxury, in real life and virtual.

Plus, it’s always harder to work in the summer when it is delightfully warm. Every task then feels like suffering when you cans see the sun outside and the beach is calling. I’m just being honest here.

However, projects have indeed been progressing nicely in the spaces between. I am happy to be writing the fourth book in The Lazarus Hunter series, which is great fun. I love my little foray into the world of urban fantasy and my favourite vampires. I’m also waist deep in the final edits for my new romance novel, which has slipped slightly off track but is still on its way out into the world during the next four weeks. Pesky days, only having twenty-four hours in them.

I hope everyone else is having as productive a time as me! Either way, enjoy the weekend. Friday night and the wine bottle is OPEN.

The return to the desk

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It feels like I have been away for a very, very long time. Which I have, I suppose, in the grand scheme of things.

As usual, time off to travel has given me a chance to ponder life and the directions it sometimes takes us. It’s also given me a chance to refresh myself when it comes to my writing schedule, which after the previous twelve months, was very much needed.

Today marks the first proper return to the daily routine. It actually feels quite exciting. I’m working on a new project, as well as getting the final stages of my next fiction book under my belt. As I’ve discussed many times, the editing process, that painful road which takes a book from first draft to published, is my least favourite part of the process. So to be able to come to it again with a renewed sense of what I want the book to achieve is actually a wonderful thing.

The flip side of the coin is that I’ve returned to England, which can only be described as in a state of turmoil. There is a clear divide between those of us who like to travel and have new experiences, and those who don’t really see their place in Europe. It is something I am still processing as a human, as a citizen and as a woman. More than ever, it highlights that writing is an escape that I will return to whenever things get tough.

Which is exactly what I shall go and do now.

Current Status: Off to South America

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Things have been quiet around here lately, publicly at least. One of the reasons for that is because offline, things have been crazy busy. I’m always envious of those authors who can have a manic real life and somehow still maintain a nice active social media presence – without massive oversharing of course. Having surgery, come snapchat with me and I’ll show you my scar is really not my kind of thing.

All of the busyness is now culminating in what is likely to be another bout of radio silence, albeit intentional this time. I am off to South America to spend some time with my wife-to-be (who will be my actual wife by the time I get back to posting again), to take a much needed break. Plus, I get to see some new places, which is always fun when you’ve traveled around the world as much as I have.

This will be part relaxation and part business. I’m hoping that the former will segue into the latter, so that once I return, I will be ready to hit the ground running with the next set of projects that are relevant here. I have a new book to draft out and one to polish up before its release at the end of July. I’ll also hopefully be better at scheduling time for this kind of stuff now my larger offline projects are out of the way.

So thank you for reading, thank you for your ongoing support, and I look forward to having some shiny new stuff ready for you soon. Until then, go and make some time for your own mental and physical health like I am. It will be worth so much more in the long run.

Setting my goals for the coming year

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Wow – 2015 was a crazy year. I ticked off some pretty big goals and I have taken a little time over the holidays to take stock. It’s a good way to actually recognise the achievements, rather than just ticking off a box and moving onto the next thing.

So what do I plan for 2016? Not as many books, that’s for sure! I self published three novels in 2015, in the interests of getting my books out there to share with you all. I learned some pretty hard lessons along the way too. That’s also good – hard lessons are easier to learn and move you further forwards than a smooth ride.

So this year I’m planning to release only one book. It was originally going to be the sequel to Blood Inheritance, but after some careful review and discussions, it became clear that I was going to do that because it is the one I most want to do, not the one that other people want to read. Getting that straight in my head has been tricky, but I’m there now. It’s a bit too early to say what the next book is going to be (as the first draft is only just now being completed), but I think it will have more of an appeal to my core audience.

I’ve also got a wedding to plan, a month honeymoon to indulge in (under strict instructions not to do any business) and some additional travel. My alter ego has a book to do as well, so in the interests of not killing myself, I’m planning things out a bit more this year. I guess that means from a writing perspective, as well as a life perspective, the overarching theme for this year is:

Work smarter, not harder!

I hope that you’re all working towards your dreams this year, and wish you every success.

Slips back into the world innocuously…

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Well, it’s been a crazy, relaxing month since I last posted. Forgive me platform-building gods, for once again I have sinned.

November really was a month of contradictions for me. I had just over two weeks where I did nothing other than read amazing books and lie by a pool in wonderful tropical heat. No business books, no personal development, just fiction of all genres. I told myself I didn’t have to do any writing at all, there was no pressure unless something started buzzing into my brain and needed to be let out.

Luckily, I came up with a tonne of creative ideas, which was just a bonus. Most of them writing related, but some not.

The other two weeks of the month were solid writing. I mean, SOLID. In a few days I completed NaNoWriMo at the beginning to get traction on a project I needed to get done. So I was pretty wiped out after that, because 10,000 words per day when you have forty hour day job commitment going is tough. The there was a (lovely) surprise request for a full edited manuscript. A structural and line edit on a 120,000 novel is a tough thing to pull off in ten days but I think I just about squeezed it across the line.

So crazy and relaxing just about sums it up.

So now I have until the New Year off from writing, to concentrate on letting my brain recover and planning for the coming year. I have a couple of business and personal goals I’d like to achieve, so I need to give them the attention they deserve.

Also, I need to begin Christmas shopping. I’ve still got ages though, right? RIGHT?

Restless Wanderer

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It doesn’t matter how good life is, or what else is going on, there are still moments when I get a hankering to just hit the open road. I’ve decided that Instagram is a deadly force when it comes to generating these feelings. All those beautiful sunsets and places to see that I’ve yet to visit. I’m fairly well travelled, but there will always be a part of me that wants to see what the world has to offer.

To close out the year, I’m just going to have to settle for a little bit more Europe. Hardly a burden, I know, and a luxury that I am most definitely grateful for. With NaNoWrimo kicking off this weekend, I’m using it as a serious motivator to get a deadline met. A healthy dose of competition never hurt anyone. But as soon as it’s done, I’m packing a suitcase and going undercover for a couple of weeks. I’m going to escape the grey for the beach.

I need a mini writing sabbatical (given the last one was spent doing last minute editing that was requested and therefore not really what I wanted) to get my brain in gear. To also let it be completely out of gear so I can do some creative free-wheeling for a while.

But first, time to psych myself up for a little bit of crazy writing time. Coffee, chocolate and late nights, here we come!

A break is as good as a rest!

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As I begin to wrap up my vacation time, I’ll be sad to leave the holiday feeling behind. Yet I know that it has been as essential as it has been fun.

My notebook has new ideas in it, as well as some amendments to existing projects. Sometimes, physical distance can allow you to see things with new eyes. For example, the Lazarus Hunter series has been fairly well plotted to the end for quite some time now. The first three books are completed and book four is down on the list as one of my next writing projects (I’d love to do it sooner, but I have other commitments which are stopping me). Yet a missing piece of conflict that I needed has been elusive up until now.

With nothing to think about, this piece finally snuck up on me and smacked me between the eyes.

So I will be returning from my break with a renewed sense of enthusiasm. I love writing, but my life is like balancing three full time jobs sometimes. My creativity can stutter if I don’t take a break every now and again. When I do, it is worth every penny, both in literal money and also time.

I’ve not got any C K Martin books planned for the release for the rest of this year. I’ve not tracked the sales of A Taste To Die For while I’ve been on vacation, because I’ve not wanted the time to be about number watching, no matter how addictive it can be.

So I can go into the last third of the year feeling more relaxed about what I still need to do. I know one thing that people have wanted in the Teddie McKay books is a little bit more lovin’ for Teddie. As neither books in the series are romances, it didn’t feel right at any point to put a good sex scene in, not without it feeling entirely gratuitous. So I’m playing around with an idea for a short story to let the woman get a bit of action. It would need to be fun for everyone (including me) to make it work.

So, despite saying there’d be no more publications this year, part of me is already thinking never say never…