Tag Archives: prewriting

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.

Genre Switch

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So, I remember saying something last time about showing my softer side in my next novel. That’s almost true. The novel being released later this year is actually going to be… *drumroll* a romance novel.

Don’t worry, it will still be very much in the same vein as the other novels I have written. By that I mean there will be gritty plot lines, tough decisions and kickass heroines at the heart of the story, but with a considerable amount of additional smooching between the leads. And then some.

To break it down, Teddie McKay, my protagonist in The Crochet Killer and A Taste To Die For isn’t a sexless lesbian by any means, but as its a crime novel, the emphasis is on the mystery solving, not the rolling around in the sack.

Elizabeth and Monica, the two main characters of Blood Inheritance have, at this stage, the kind of subtextual connection that I remember so fondly from my Buffy and Xena days. Now, don’t get me wrong, it was as frustrating as hell in the long run. Especially because even though the subtext was fun, you knew nothing would happen. But I’m in control now, so I know the truth *evil laugh*.

In this new novel, it follows all the rules of the romance genre (almost all, it’s more fun when you break a few). Which means that the romance is up a notch, the sex is up a lot and the whole thing is more playful and fun.

I know there are supposed rules about branding and genre, but I don’t really care. I like the book and it is one I think my readers will enjoy, so I am bringing it into the world. If new readers then go back and buy my other books, then I hope that even if it isn’t what they expected, then they enjoy those too. It’s all on Kindle anyway, so sample chapter yourself away!

Structural edits and real life

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Once again I have been a very bad author when it comes to communicating with people. I’m not going to lie; one of my favourite things about writing is that it is a solitary pursuit. I still have to work with a lot of idiots in my day to day non-fiction life, so writing is a little bit of special me time.

Anyway, sharing is caring, so here we go. What have I been up to? I’ve sent the first draft of my next novel to my special bunch of alpha readers and have been patiently listening to their feedback. Luckily, it’s been consistent across the board, which is so much nicer than having to choose between conflicting opinions.

I’ve also begun the structural edits for it and so far it’s not looking too shabby. Of course, there is still always the chance that something will need to change and I’ll have to go back and reorder whole chunks of it (or worse, every writer’s nightmare, delete whole sections and rewrite), but at the moment it still looks promising. Line edits, I know already, will be a different matter. Autocorrect seems to have had a field day with this one.

It’s a bit of a departure from other things you may have read from me, but more about that next time. It’s not fantasy like Blood Inheritance, or crime like The Crochet Killer and A Taste To Die For. Let’s just say, I’ve tried to get in touch with my softer side…

Questions of certainty

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It’s strange how you can be doing something you love and, for that matter, for it to be going really well, but still experience moments of absolute terror and doubt.

This is completely what happened to me this week. I had a moment when I questioned, for the first time in probably nearly two decades, what I would do if I decided that writing wasn’t my dream job and I should just give it up.

Live some kind of normal life instead.

It was a strange, dark and yet, at the same time, completely illuminating moment. I have been writing for so long that I still do it for pleasure, even when I have no intention of sharing it with an audience. If I don’t write for a few days, I start to get twitchy. I have creative energy and I need to use it. God didn’t give me any other talents, so writing it is.

But that traitorous little voice was there, the one that reminded me how much easier it would be if I just gave it all up now. If I stopped and concentrated on another career instead. How I would get so much of my time back, time that I could then spend with family and friends or on other hobbies. How I wouldn’t have to deal with rejection and failure that is part of every writer life, even once you are published and successful.

It was Steven Pressfield’s Resistance in full force and it nearly took hold of me completely.

I’ve pushed that feeling down and have been coming back to myself and my dreams with a fresh pair of eyes. It is hard, this dream of mine, possibly it is yours too. It doesn’t end and it is always challenging. But despite the free time and the glittering grass on the other side, it really is what I was meant to do.

So, tonight, I’ll sit here and keep on doing it. But if you have those moments of doubt, about anything that part of you truly believes in, know that it is entirely normal. It’s better to work through it than live a life not trying.

 

Drafts, alpha readers and no chocolate

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It’s been a busy week here at the writing den, but mainly all positive.

I managed to iron out some tricky scenes in the book I’m publishing later this year and have been able to send it out to my alpha readers. This is the part that starts the journey of fear and self-doubt. Whilst it is still in my hands, then only I can have an opinion on it. As soon as it gets sent out to other people, I know the road to publication has begun.

That road can be fun and rewarding, but it’s guaranteed to be nerve-wracking along the way.

I’ve had my first review back already and the good news is that there is nothing structurally or fundamentally wrong. A little extra character development here and there, a bit of tweaking, but not a throw it in the bin and start again problem. Which means, if others come in saying similar, then I can set it aside for a few weeks before going back to look at it with a fresh pair of eyes. I already know I need a different title, so I’ll let that mull over for a little longer. I’d like a different cover art style for this one too as it’s a slightly steamier book and I’d quite like to reflect that.

On a non-writing note, I’ve given up chocolate for Lent. I’m not a religious person, but given that I have a wedding in three months time, it seems like as good a time as any when my Christian friends are also giving things up and are therefore less likely to lead me into temptation. So between now and Easter, all kinds of deprived madness is possible.

Getting the sex right

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Author confession: I am completely incapable of writing sex scenes during the day.

Sadly, during the day is when I usually write. Which means I’ve developed the terrible habit of just leaving the sex scenes for later and carrying on with the plot. As a result, I now have a completed manuscript; completed, that is, apart from huge chunks of missing sex scenes.

So I have an evening ahead when I have to write nothing but sex scenes. I know for many authors, this is very much not a problem. For me, I’m really not looking forward to it. Even writing this post is an avoidance tactic for getting on with it. Why? Because writing a sex scene badly can turn a good book into a laughing stock.

I know I have read countless books that have been excellent: good characterisation, an engaging plot, tension in all the right places. Then along comes a cringe-worthy sex scene, filled with all the wrong words and impossible positions and the urge to keep reading is over with faster than the improbably quick first roaring/raging/tumultuous orgasm of character A.

So I want to get the sex scenes right. I don’t want to win any bad sex awards. One of the biggest joys of being a writer is the privilege of bringing worlds alive for others. That includes all parts of the book, even the ones that are hardest to do. Getting a sex scene right means I can leave the reader wanting more.

Getting a sex scene wrong is more likely to put people off their dinner.

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!

Life Happens

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There has been a dearth of updates recently because, well, life happens.

I know life happens all the time and is generally a poor excuse for not doing any kind of updates or letting things slide. But I’ve had some big life happens moments, so I’m going to allow myself to use it as an excuse.

The biggest one of these is that I got engaged and set a date for the wedding that is significantly less than a year away. Trust me, that has led to lots of celebrations, alongside a healthy dose of mind-numbing fear (always good). It’s also led to a lot of reassessment of what matters, what doesn’t and what really needs to get done today.

I had already made a rough plan of my writing goals and deadlines for 2016. This little piece of good news has caused me to radically rethink that. I know that if I stuck to my original plans, nothing would be achieved to its best potential, and the night before my wedding I didn’t want to get stuck doing last minute edits or cover art reviews. It also means I have to put traditional publishing above indie, which is a bit of a shame. I’m determined to still publish the follow up to Blood Inheritance in 2016 though, as the bulk of the work has already been done.

So, be kind to yourself. Life is about many things and achievement is only one of them. Sometimes there are (good) bumps in the road and they’re just as important as meeting any deadlines.