Tag Archives: fantasy

Book covers, line edits and pre-order systems

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This week has been a busy one pulling out all the stops to make sure everything I needed to do in order to publish Blood Inheritance on May 22nd happens. It has been far from easy, and I’m glad that this initial launch is on kindle only. This means getting the final draft uploaded by a date they specify in advance of the book actually becoming available. Failure to do so means the loss of certain publishing privileges, so that’s something authors need to be aware of before pressing that button.

I did consider making it available across other platforms, but my experience so far is that they are less willing to promote authors who do not come with the backing of a traditional publisher. While I want to keep the two sides of my life separate, that makes things much more difficult than they need to be, but I suppose I can just keep working around the issues until they finally sort themselves out.

So, without further ado, the final cover design for Blood Inheritance and links!  *drumroll*

Blood Inheritance

Blood Inheritance on Amazon.com

Blood Inheritance on Amazon UK

I’m really excited to be able to share this book with the world. This story is very special to me because it grew out of never finding the urban fantasy book that I wanted to read. One where the female characters weren’t actually all about getting the dark brooding man who they knew they shouldn’t love but did anyway. I wanted to see women stand on their own two feet and work together, especially when everyone would expect them to be bitter rivals. Women, especially on TV (which is the media that most people these days see) don’t support each other, not without being relegated so the ‘supportive best friend’ trope where they have no story of their own. When they do, the shows are runaway successes, but only Shonda Rhimes seems to have picked up on that…

So I wanted action, I wanted vampires and the supernatural, but I didn’t need a woman in leather and impossibly high heels brooding over a bare chested man. Blood Inheritance is the book that starts my two heroines on the journey that is going to be fun, painful and at times bittersweet. But there will be rewards and successes, even at the darkest of times and against all odds.

Feel free to drop me any questions in the comments about the book, or the ups and downs of the publishing process and I’ll be happy to answer them. Thanks again for your support!

Blood Inheritance – Available this week for pre-order

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So things have been a bit quiet here as I have been frantically juggling all manner of things and trying to get my latest novel, Blood Inheritance, available for pre-order. Pending a final review from my merry band of editors and some final decisions on the cover, we are pretty much there.

So, let me tell you a little bit about this book. It is a labour of love: ten years in the making. To put that in context, one of the main characters started out surgically attached to her PDA, which over time became a Blackberry (remember those?) and now is just a cellphone. Given the rate of change, I didn’t even want to give her an iPhone in case they fall spectacularly out of fashion in the next six months.

I started writing this supernatural series before Twilight became a thing and changed how vampires were perceived for a generation. For centuries now, this comes in cycles, but it certainly did lead to a massive saturation in the market for a while. It even ruined the fun for me and I’ve always enjoyed the heroes with pointy teeth. But now I believe that a good story, strong characters and self-sufficient women can be interesting enough to put the sense of saturation aside.

Over the next two weeks I’ll be updating this website with more details, character introductions and all the other good stuff that I’ve loved about writing this series before we release on May 22nd. I’m excited to see where this will take me and I know that regardless, I’ll continue to work with these characters until their stories are finished. I just hope you’ll join me for the ride!

C. S. Lewis – Was it the thumb or the rhythm?

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C.S Lewis wrote under the pseudonym Clive Hamilton when it came to his poems, something he wished to achieve greatness in. His death was largely unreported because it unfortunately happened on the same day as JFK was assassinated. Oh, and he only had one thumb joint.

I mention that last point because C. S. Lewis never learned to type. That was what I discovered when I was looking at the arguments for and against writing longhand in the age of technology. Some have pointed at the weird thumb goings on as the cause, but it may not be anything as physiological. Instead there is the suggestion it is something much deeper. Something that all of us, as writers, should consider.

cs lewis writing

He apparently believed that the typewriter could not capture – perhaps even interrupted – the rhythm of writing. There have been many authors since who have followed the same argument; that there is something much more deliberate about writing with a pen and paper than there is on a keyboard. Today especially, when keys are whisper soft and require only the barest of touches, it is easy to pour out the words lightening quick. You don’t even have to press hard or do that thing at the end of the line when the carriage returns with a happy little ‘ding’ sound. Apologies to any younger readers who legitimately have no idea what I’m talking about. You should try and find a good old fashioned typewriter some time.

The pen forces a slowness, a deliberateness; each word can be thought about and selected as the hand forms its predecessor. For many authors today, especially those who are self-published and feel the pressure to release multiple books a year, there is a sense that every word must be captured as quickly as possible, in a format that will then make the movements from first draft to epub as smooth as possible. I would argue that in doing so, we lose not only some of the pleasure of writing, but some of the ability to fully utilise our skills as writers. We have a wealth of words at our disposal, and typing quickly might allow us to use a good one, but it might not allow us the time to choose the best one.

 

5 books that changed my life

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Most people have some books that fundamentally touched their soul in some way. I was discussing this with a friend the other day and it made me wonder what mine were. The list seemed endless at first, so I put some thought into it and distilled it down to five fiction books that had a great impact on me in terms of my writing, if nothing else. It was fun to remember these books again, and I firmly believe they still have the power to impact on people’s lives.

Dracula – Bram Stoker

I was in my teens when I read this for the first time and it was probably my introduction to gothic horror. It was also my introduction to vampires, which have always been my favourite fantasy creature – long before the sparkly kind came and took over the genre. It was a short jump then towards Interview with a vampire and increasingly dark fantasy. It was shortly after this that creatures that go bump in the night started to find their way into my writing. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Poet – Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly is, in my opinion, one of the consistently rewarding authors I know. This was a birthday present which I devoured in almost one sitting the day after. My intention had been to see just what this book was about, and I was instantly gripped. It is a masterpiece in plotting and pace, which is something that Connelly has really mastered right from the beginning. The technology was state of the art at the time, almost fantastical. Strange to think we’ve all got phones a thousand times more powerful now.

The Stand – Stephen King

I’d always assumed Stephen King was ‘horror’. Which is a mistake that most people make, given the fact that Carrie is always talked about in a terrifying way and even to this day you’ll still find all his books in the horror section. The Stand was breathtaking in its scope and I thank the person who forced me to read it on the insistence that it wasn’t ‘scary’. In many ways it was, but not in the ways I’d feared.

The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis

Technically more than one book, but I don’t think that I could narrow it down to a single one. I remember many nights under the sheets with a torch, unable to put them down, even though I was supposed to be asleep. Reading in the summer months was the best, when being packed off to bed before 8 meant another two hours of sufficient light to read by. I don’t think I stayed up as late as it felt most times, but every word was worth it regardless. These books first gave me the permission to imagine different worlds and beings, as well as an underlying sense of what was right and wrong.

The Eyre Affair – Jasper Fforde

This book is impossible to explain if you haven’t read it. If, for some reason, you haven’t but you love books, then you owe it to yourself to read this. I’d hit a wall with my reading when this was given to me, and I found myself drawn into the crazy world where books are more important than pretty much everything else. Check your reality at the door and embrace the suspension of disbelief.

So, that’s my top five. I would imagine most people will have read at least one of them, maybe them all (congratulations if you have – your mindset is the same as mine!), but if you haven’t then give them a go. Escape the world for a little while, reality is overrated anyway…

Why I’m planning to eat healthier this month

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January is always the month that gets the best of people’s good intentions. In reality, my health has been on the back burner in January, for many reasons. Instead, February is the month that is going to get the most of my intentions when it comes to health. Why? Because my writing has both benefited and suffered from the lack of good diet during January.

Not worrying about food has helped me get The Crochet Killer published and over the line. Getting all the input I needed, putting the last pieces together, that requires a lot of time and chasing. Time that can be made up from easy food choices of the kind that require zero thought.

Unfortunately, that is only a short term solution. I have had the time and the motivation for that quick burst, but now I enter the first Monday of February feeling sluggish and displaced. I can feel the weight of a thousand chips settling somewhere just below my belly button.

And above it, if we’re being entirely honest.

Food is important. Life is important. The only way to achieve as much as possible (I initially wrote ‘achieve it all’ but have come to realise that is a modern myth), is by being as holistic as the tools you have available allow you to be.

My writing and travel schedules in February are going to be punishing. Which is why I would encourage everyone who is out there in the same position – with a full life and plenty of challenges – to still dedicate time to getting their health and wellbeing in place.

Because writing is nothing if you’re either too tired or dead to do anything with it.

 

 

LGBT in Urban Fantasy Survey – The Results Are In

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A couple of months ago I posted a survey on here posing the question ‘LGBT Main Character In Urban Fantasy – Too Niche For You?’ I got a selection of results, both on the survey itself and a few comments on the post.

Essentially, the responses were ‘go for it’. The overall trend now seems to be – in self-publishing at least – to find something that is niche and make it work for you. In contrast to the original advice I’d received, which was to make it more appealing to a general audience, this approach sits more comfortably with me anyway. The direction was there from the first draft, even if it hadn’t been my original intention in pre-writing. Stripping it out had made the book lose some of the tension.

All of which means I have been working on the process of adding back in the attraction between the two main characters. In this first book of the series, there is a lot of tension between them, even if nothing explicitly sexual actually happens. It is a fantasy arc, not a romance, so the romantic relationship between the two is not the central plot driver. In fact, they won’t actually face up to their attraction until book four, by which time they will have had to endure many more trials.

The good news is that the response seemed the same, regardless of the gender or sexuality. The most variation came in the level of sexual description that was thought to be acceptable. This ranged from mild to explicit and will therefore be the more difficult line to walk at the later point. It’s good to know in advance though that despite the Fifty Shades phenomenon, hardcore isn’t necessarily always a bigger seller.

Thanks to everyone who participated. This series will be a long one, so if this is something you’d like to share an opinion about, then feel free to drop a line in the comments or complete the original survey for more in-depth responses.

NaNoWrimo – What to do next…?

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Winner-2014-Square-Button

So, I completed NaNoWriMo (congratulations to everyone else who did too), which always gives me a nice sense of accomplishment to round off the year. I’m now faced with the dilemma of what to do next.

Much of the information (and there are many useful articles) about the next steps after hitting 50,000 words are aimed at people who have only written this much for the first time. It’s all about how to finish the novel you’ve started or how editing works. For me – and perhaps for you – the dilemma is slightly different.

You see, 50,000 words is not a complete novel. My story got a little bit beyond that as part of the writing for the month, but it is still not complete. However, I still have two books I should be editing instead, both of which should ideally go back to my proof readers before the madness of Christmas starts to descend. But editing is, in comparison, boring to writing new stuff. Shiny! Squirrel! Chase it! That is the mentality of my brain unfortunately, and something I really need to kick in the butt in 2015.

More importantly, there is a worry that if I lose momentum on the writing, then it will become harder to come back at some point, maybe a few months down the line, and just pick up again where I left off. I don’t want to have to battle with inertia in order to rediscover my characters and the tone for this particular book.

Normally, I might have a bit more time on my hands in order to accomplish both, but December is so far shaping up to be another travel-intensive month. I have spent more of the last 30 days in hotel rooms than I have my own bed. Which is fun, sometimes exciting, but it puts the kibosh on having some kind of routine and structure to just write. Sitting down with my bullet journal and looking at all the outstanding and new writing tasks I have listed there just made me realise what a juggling act this is all becoming. And I really don’t want to have to cancel Christmas…

So, do I do what I should do (edit) or what feels more natural to do (finish of the book)? Sadly, I suspect this is a dilemma for which there is no correct answer!

Apologies for the whining in this post. Here, have a complimentary hedgehog to make up for it:

baby-hedgehog-cup-mug-pics

NanoWrimo – Is The End In Sight?

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One week left of November, which means a week left of NanoWrimo. Some people will be sitting back now, either finished or safe in the knowledge they’ll be able to make it. But what about those people who aren’t so sure?

If you’re reading this post I’m assuming you’re interested enough in NanoWrimo to still be doing it. If you decided early on that it wasn’t for you, then that’s fine too. It doesn’t mean you can’t write every day, just because you know you can’t hit 50k right now. See these next few days as practice and then think about signing up again next year. Write again anyway.

So, for those of you with bleeding fingers, new found coffee addictions and a fledgling daily writing habit, this is the hard part. If you are behind in your word count it can seem as though there is little point in going on. The moments of self-doubt are almost part of the writer’s code, so know that you are not alone. Now is the time to keep tapping away, not give up. Remember, NanoWrimo is as much about giving yourself permission to write every day as it is to hit the 50k bang on the stroke of midnight as we roll into December. It may not have started out that way, but I firmly believe it is now.

Of course, for a lot of people, 50k will be in sight but the words will start to dry up. This is more likely to happen if you were a free writer than a pre writer, but all is not lost. Look around you. Take an object, a scene, a phrase you overhear and give it to your character. Go with it. You might be surprised where it takes you….

Good luck everyone, keep going and remember – have fun!

Understanding Your Inner Writer

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This is a sabbatical post while I am away on my mini writing retreat

As I am currently focussing inward, I thought I would draw your attention to this post on how we can get closer to our true selves. I know that I usually stick to the topic of writing rather than over-arching personal development stuff, but given that I feel this is part of informing who we are, and therefore what and how we write, I thought it was appropriate.

I travel a lot. There is something unsettling, on some level, about so much time on the road. It stops you from getting comfortable and complacent. It is hard to be motivated and inspired to write every day when your life is routine and comfortable. Perhaps that is why so many great books come from people who were going through a bad spell? As much as the experience itself informs what they write, that sense of urgency which comes from not knowing what life will be one day to the next is a powerful tool. It is there to all of us, to some degree, if we choose to use it. Travel doesn’t automatically have to be to some far flung part of the globe (although that is always nice). It can be a bus ticket to somewhere, anywhere, that you haven’t been before and looking at this new place with new eyes.

The easiest one, I suppose, is embracing time alone. Most writers work in a solitary fashion, but more often than not, we do so whilst surfing the net claiming to be writing. Yes, you know what I’m talking about. I’m not talking about that time alone. I’m talking about the truly quiet time, when we think about not only writing itself, but where it fits in our lives. Is it a hobby, something secret that you want to keep just for yourself? Or do you have dreams of being published some day? Would you like to be traditionally published, or self-published? Take the time to truly visualise your dream.

I suspect that although I have scheduled this post, that is what I will be doing right now. I don’t feel guilty or selfish about it. I do it because it needs to be done, because it will not only make me a better writer, but also a better person.

And who doesn’t want that for themselves, really?

Writing Goals 2014

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I realise now we are one full week into November. That means, unfortunately, that before we know it, December will be upon us. Then we will positively hurtle towards the New Year, that time of resolutions.

Which also means I have that sneaking sense of 2014 coming to a close, along with my opportunities to make good on those writing resolutions I made back in January. Whilst it is easy to fall back on the excuse that this year threw me a lot of curveballs in the amount of time I spent either on the road or in strange locations, I know that if I use that as a reason then I will always have something to justify those areas where I didn’t achieve my goals.

That doesn’t mean it was a year of failure. I self-published a short story, largely to see if I could, and that will set me up for when I am ready to publish my urban fantasy series. I have started my own company and I have made some amazing new writer friends who really get me. I have completed novels, I have been forced to abandon a few.

But overall, I have made progress. Even if I haven’t hit every marker I set, I have certainly made more progress on my writing than I would have done if I had left everything to chance.

So I would urge you not to wait until the hangover is clearing on New Year’s day. Start thinking about what you want to achieve with your writing – or any other key areas of your life – for 2015. Goals that you think of in two seconds because you feel like you should do something – anything – are the ones most likely to fail anyway. Start thinking now and work out what really matters. Once you’ve worked that out, then write it down. Go into 2015 with a sense of direction that you’ve got the heart to truly believe is the right one, not the first one that came to mind.

2014 may nearly be over, but it is never too late to start living your dreams.

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‘Four lives. Three lifetimes. A Venn diagram of possibilities.’ 

Samantha has been through so much already. Not in this life, but in the one before. Worse was the one before that. Now, faced with history quite literally repeating itself, she is determined to do what needs to be done before he kills her again.

Before they kill each other.

Amazon.com (US)

Amazon.co.uk

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