Tag Archives: project manager

Where’s Wally? (Spoiler alert – somewhere warm and sunny!)

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It’s been a while since I did a blogpost, so apologies for the lack of updates. So why have I been missing in action? It’s been a bit of a whirlwind month and I’ve finally begun a nice long writing sabbatical.

Although I released Dirty Little War in 2016, most of last year was taken up with non-fiction work. Although 2017 started out the same way, I did manage to wrap up all those annoying projects in the first quarter so I could put the second quarter of the year to good use.

Specifically, to write the lesbian romances and urban fantasy stories that had to be put aside for far too long. To get myself back in the mood, the wife and I are in Europe, working on books and  taking time out from commuter hell. With the farce that it Brexit, it makes sense to enjoy this before the British politicians ruin this forever.

So, other than sampling lots of delicious wine and tapas, what does this mean…?

Research, right?

Creative – new ideas and first drafts

I’ve started researching a new urban fantasy idea that I suspect will have romantic undertones, but the characters haven’t quite fully formed yet. There is a definite connection between them, so if it turns into something interesting then it might be a 2018 release, which sounds far away right now, but these things roll around quickly!

I’ve also been putting the final touches (helped by all that food and drink ‘research’) to the first draft of my 2017 summer romance. The plan is currently to release before June, barring any last minute hiccups or the complete thumbs down from my editor.

Editing – the slow, tortuous road to publication

Another plan is to release the second book in The Lazarus Hunter series later this year. Full disclosure: I’m not happy with it in it’s current form, so I intend to do a serious edit before handing it over for someone else. It’s been a stumbling block for two years. Given that this is not a lesbian romance, or even with two specifically lesbian main characters, I’m also toying with branding options so people don’t leap from the romances to this expecting the same thing. It’s a tough one and I’ll probably end up reaching out to get opinions on it.

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

Nothing yet, other than putting marketing plans in place and thinking about book covers. I’ve got a working title for the summer romance but again, it could get canned when my first round of test readers get to it. Instead I intend to enjoy this quiet time to actually reappear online after simply having no time for such things for months.

Planning and dreaming – what’s coming up next week

It will be a ‘more of the same’ kind of week. So I probably won’t do another blogpost and instead focus on getting the first draft truly finished so I can get the edits started on that. It feels strange not to have client meetings taking up so much of my time, so I want to get a few more ideas in the bank. The third quarter of 2017 is still up for grabs, so if non-fiction takes over again for a few months, I’d like to have something to run with in the background.

But for now, more wine, more good company and more romance. Research is the best thing ever.

Writer Life: To begin 4 years of resistance

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I am trying to be upbeat as I write this, because as Maureen and Dan keep reminding us in the Says Who Podcast (you should go listen if you haven’t) Trump should never steal our joy. These are going to be rocky times ahead.

In response, it’s time to live my life out fully, use any platform I can to resist and get on with creating. Diverse voices are more important than ever, and as a lesbian fiction author, I need to not be scared of that. It would be easy to pretend this wasn’t really happening, but looking the other way isn’t a valid choice. That normalises the terrible and gives a free pass to those who perpetrate it, until they become emboldened to do worse things. Then before you know it, we’re living out Lord of the Flies and any one of us come end up like Piggy.

I even feel sorry for  those Trump supporters who are so angry and blinded by their decision that they refuse to see when he is doing the very things that will damage them most. You know, the ones who say ‘suck it snowflake’ when people try to point out that the Affordable Care Act covers them at the moment. And there is no credible replacement.

The people who would rather pay $1000 to be able to say ‘I shouldn’t have to pay for someone else’s healthcare’ than pay $500 and everyone, including themselves, be covered. Oddly, these people seem mostly Christians, so missing the point doesn’t even begin to cover it.

If you’re reading this and feeling suicidal or helpless, support numbers will be running with extra staff this weekend around the world. Around the world – not just America. Call them if you need to. You are not alone. If you’re just feeling regular kinds of helpless, then find a cause that could use your help and go be with people like yourself. Do something.

So, onto the roundup of the week…

Creative – new ideas and first drafts

This has been an ideas and notebooks kind of week. I admit to indecision. There are two main ideas vying for my attention right now. Both are shiny and exciting. I need to make a decision on which is the strongest and most enjoyable to write.

 

Editing – the slow, tortuous road to publication

Final edits were completed on my non-lesbian fiction novella, which was a relief. The final book cover got signed off with relative ease too, which was my biggest concern. For an independent author, these things can be surprisingly difficult. However, the best thing of all is that you get creative control – a lot of my traditionally published friends are lamenting the loss of that a lot these days.

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

Another book published. Whoo hoo! Sadly, it’s not for this particular version of me. The good news if you’re reading this though is that it means I’m free to begin the next lesbian romance novel(la). I’m going to give myself the weekend off and then it’ll be into the first draft on Monday (assuming I make aforementioned decision).

Planning and dreaming – what’s coming up next week

As well as writing, I’ve got to sort out some travel bits and pieces ready for my extended research trip. Things like visas are particularly difficult. Most countries haven’t really got to grips with the fact you can be a freelancer and independent author. Given the Brexit uncertainty, I need to make sure I do things right.

 

Writing Best Bits

Sending something new out into the world is always a good thing. There are plenty of reasons to celebrate if you know where to look for them. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

Weekly success score: 8/10 – A less manic right-to-the-wire publication schedule next time would be nice. Also, I’ve been enjoying the last week of the Obamas before we lose our role models of public decency.

New Year, New Goals

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Happy New Year Everyone!

So, the first week of 2017 is done and dusted (I’m not including the weekend – that’s fun time). Unsurprisingly, it has been back to the grindstone and the shock has been made worse by two weeks of just hanging out with family and friends.

In amongst that downtime, I was able to take a day or two to really think about what I want to get out of 2017. For anyone who has been following this blog, or any of my social media accounts for that matter, it is probably obvious that I’ve wanted to move away from technical/non-fiction projects and more towards fiction. I also want to have more autonomy over those non-fiction projects.

The first quarter of the year will therefore be all about tying up loose ends. I don’t want to abandon any existing commitments because I am not that kind of person, but I’ll start to wrap things up soon. I want to have the time to focus on my creativity and my health. Both are hugely important to me and both have slipped down the list in 2016 when more urgent things came along. I want to enter the second quarter of the year working on things that matter to me, so I’ve made that my goal.

2016 was also a terrible year when it came to the sudden and rapid rise of right wing thinking. Another thing I want to do is take some free time I gain from certain projects ending and plough it into social causes. Because we all know where this leads when we all sit back and hope someone else will stop Hitler Trump/Farage type people.

Oh, and more travel. The good kind.

So those are my overarching plans for 2017. Breaking them down, I’m planning to get back to doing a weekly recap. Hopefully this will be interesting for anyone following a writing process in general but will also keep me accountable on some level.

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Creative – new ideas and first drafts

I’ve been working on a new short story, which I’ll probably publish under a pseudonym as it doesn’t fit with my other C K Martin work (which some would argue is unfocused enough already). However, I’m challenging myself and trying to improve my writing on a technical level, which is a great way to start the year. I’m also throwing an idea around for a lesbian romance novella, so if anyone has any opinions on whether or not they like to reader shorter length fiction, then please drop a note in the comments.

Editing – the slow, tortuous road to publication

I’ve been editing a synopsis and sample chapters for a writer friend, ready for competition submission. To be fair, I much prefer doing edits for other people than I do for myself. It’s been a struggle to do it properly through the post Christmas wine and mince pie withdrawal though.

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

I’ve started to throw together some book cover ideas for the short story mentioned above. Given the length and the fact it is a little bit experimental, the goal is to move from draft to publication very quickly. I’m also trying to work out the pros and cons of Amazon’s new paperback option vs CreateSpace, so that’s a nice new challenge too.

Planning and dreaming – what’s coming up next week

I’m planning to get into heavy editing and pre-publication work next week so that I can then move onto the next project. I have a few days currently unscheduled to other projects, so I am fully intending to take advantage of them.

Writing Best Bits

Getting back into the swing of things has actual felt amazing. Although a heavy cold (presumably like the one the Queen had?) dragged me down in November and then it was non-stop social events in December so I was a bit rusty, I still managed to get in 1500 words each morning before 7:15. It feels good to come back to something you love and not get the fear of the blank page when you arrive.

Weekly success score: 7/10 – The writing was good, but I still keep remembering that people voted Trump for president. It’s like a daily slap in the face with a wet fish.

Writer Life: New Beginnings

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Another week rolls by and my friends are all beginning the Christmas countdown. This seems absurdly early to me, but if it means mulled wine happens in October, then who am I to argue?

So, after locking myself away in a hotel last weekend, I re-entered the real world to discover it was even madder than when I left. My writing goals for next year have now been upgraded to ‘earn enough to live on a small island away from those determined to incite chaos amongst the cesspit of humanity’. It’s good to have ambition…

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Creative – new ideas and first drafts

The hotel retreat did what it was intended to do. Without the everyday distractions, I was able to knuckle down and get some creative thinking done. I came away with a full plot for a new romance novel. The only thing missing is the title. It felt exceptionally satisfying and it is always nice to have a few ideas (that are slightly more than half-baked, even if they are not fully written) in the back pocket.

I did start on a new first draft. It’s been going slowly, but that is the product of these unnecessarily cold, dark mornings. I feel the lure of hibernation and it will take me a little while to get back up to full speed.

Oh, and I signed up for NaNoWriMo. Officially my favourite writing event of the year, when I get to hone my competitive skills.

Editing – the slow, tortuous road to publication

This week I have been helping to edit something for someone else. Strange how much easier it is when you’re tearing down someone else’s baby, rather than your own…

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

Things have been quiet this week. I have stepped back a little from social media because I was getting caught up in the horror of politics. Not just with the US election. Brexit is still this huge uncertainty and although I don’t like Marmite, I respect other people’s right to abuse their tastebuds in the privacy of their own home. Who knows, over the weekend I might allow myself back out into the world. It is terribly easy to justify that you’re actually working when you’re not doing anything of the sort though.

In actual book related things, I am beginning to think about cover designs for my next release. I’m trying to get better at running a tight ship when it comes to these things. I don’t want to put pressure on myself, but nor do I want to make things harder for anyone I’m working with. Baby steps.

Planning and dreaming – what’s coming up next week

I have a huge planning and strategy session in the calendar that will map out the first half of next year. This won’t be just writing projects, but they have to fit in somewhere and at the moment, they are my priority. The one thing I’ve learned is that if you don’t actually prioritise your priority, then someone else will give you theirs instead. So next week will be planning and dreaming and then boiling it down into the nitty gritty of action. There will be calendars and spreadsheets. I might have to put the brakes on before someone pulls out a Gantt chart.

Writing Best Bits

Coming up with brand new characters and discovering their story is always an amazing thing. If I had to pick one thing, I would say that it is my favourite part of the writing process. There is none of the pressure that comes with actually having to write the damn thing, but you still get to be creative. It is like the first part of a relationship, when you’re getting to know all the things about each other, but haven’t yet had your first argument about who has to do the dishes.

Weekly success score: 6/10 (It’s been good, but the actual word count could have been higher). NOW:

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Writer Life: ‘The End’ (of my first draft)

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I can’t believe this marks a month of consistent posts. That has to be a record. This week I’ve been largely getting disheartened by politics, but that doesn’t make me any different from anyone with a brain right now. 2016 will not be a glorious year to study for the history students of the future, that’s for sure.

So, other than finally getting Hillary’s shimmy song out of my head and (thankfully) not allowing Trump to get in there at all, what have I been up to?

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Creative – new ideas and first drafts

I finished the first draft of Things That Die In The Light this morning. It felt fantastic to write ‘The End’. Even though no one finishes published books with ‘The End’ these days, it still feels so damn satisfying to write. It’s taken a little over two months (I think!) to get this done, which I’m very proud of. I’ve been doing a lot of other projects over the summer, so carving the time out to get this done has turned it into something of a labour of love.

Luckily, I have another idea that I’m itching to start. I’m going to give myself a few days off from writing to work out the last final plot twists and turns, but I hope to be able to get going by the middle of next week. Starting a new novel is always part scary and part exciting, but at the moment it is more of the latter.

Editing – the slow, tortuous road to publication

This week I have been editing a competition entry. I am not a huge fan of the traditional submission process, but I do occasionally see competitions and publications that interest me. Condensing down to 1000 words is always fun, but the ruthlessness will come in handy for larger projects too. I prefer to be brutal with my editing on paper, so it is unsurprising that my printer ran out of ink. Some days, it seems like the universe just wants to jerk you around to see what you’re made of.

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

Dirty Little War has been out there for nearly a month and has done great. I’m very grateful for everyone who has bought it and given it a positive review. I’m already looking at the publication deadline for the next full length romantic novel I’ll be sending out into the world and let me tell you, it is going to be tight. But I love a challenge, so I’m determined to stick to the plan, drink copious amounts of coffee and just get sh!t done.

Oh and I also submitted my tax return. That’s four hours of my life I’ll never get back, but I’m glad it’s done for another year.

Planning and dreaming – what’s coming up next week

So, the first week of the final quarter of 2016 is already over. This year is slipping away so quickly. Next week I have set myself the arbitrary yet ambitious goal of getting 5000 words of the next ‘first draft’ done. Ambitious because that’s essentially 2500 words a day by the time I actually start it. I’m also planning to get a head start on some work I need to do for December. Yes, December. I’m planning to take a break over the Christmas holidays, so I don’t want Christmas Eve to roll around and I find I still have a mountain of things left to do.

Writing Best Bits

Definitely getting to the end of a first draft. I’ve got to that stage in my life where I don’t even feel bad any more if in the future I decide that it’s rubbish and I need to start again. I know that a lot of people never make it to the end of their first draft. It’s not easy to keep going when the doubts creep in. But in the end, it’s worth it.

Weekly success score: 8/10 

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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.)

Kindle Royalties (Part Two) – still the enemy?

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A while ago, when Amazon announced a new way of paying royalties based on read page counts, authors and publishers threw their arms up in despair. The reality was, it was most likely to affect self-published authors and only with the books ‘borrowed’ rather than purchased, which I discussed in my first blog post on the subject.

It’s been happening now for several months and we finally have some data on the subject. For those of you sensible enough to just enjoy reading rather than killing yourself writing, monthly royalties are broken down by territory and then again by purchased and the amount you’ve earned by total pages read.

The other me works with data to fund the writer me, so this little method, no matter how crude, fascinates me. I’m all about data driven decisions and it would be foolish for someone not to analyse the data they have available and use it to inform their strategies. At this time of year, when I’m planning for 2016, it will certainly influence things.

So, what do I know?

  • The United States is my highest paying market
  • The UK is my second highest paying market
  • In the US, I don’t sell many more books, but my ‘borrowed, total read pages’ payments are three times that of sales, bumping it into the lead
  • In the UK, this is just above total sales by little more than a couple of quid each month
  • My other markets are Canada and New Zealand and I’m happy to just have people buying books from there given how damn expensive it was when I’ve lived/travelled there

Borrowing with Kindle Prime has clearly taken off more in the States than the UK and other countries, that’s for sure. The good news for me is that when people borrow my first book The Crochet Killer (shameless plug) they read more than just the first few pages and give up. They tend to read the whole book, which is fantastic news for me. And I completely understand not shelling out the cold hard cash for an author you don’t know if you have an alternative, it’s essentially the same as using a library.

So there you have it. Borrowing a book and reading it can still make an author happy. None of the figures I’ve talked about above have been massive, certainly not enough to be a full time writer and that whole private island thing is still a million miles away. But enough to let me know that people are reading and enjoying my writing, which is what we all do it for in the first place.

 

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?

Do LGBT readers expect explicit content?

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It is clear to see when you do a simple search of any LGBT eBook category that the first few pages of book titles include a generous serving of the steamier side of life. Seriously, you only need to look at those covers to know what’s going on between them.

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Which then led to an interesting conversation with friends: do LGBT readers expect explicit content? Is that what they’re there for, or is it just a given within the genre and no one is at all surprised when it happens?

I have a few thoughts about this, given that my own books don’t contain explicit content (yet it has been requested, so there is obviously a market). I wonder, sometimes, if  actually the assumption is somewhat based on that old stereotyping – that the gay is all about the sex. Gay men certainly suffer from this perception more than lesbians, hence the oft-held belief that they can’t be in a long term relationship and will hump anything that also has a penis.

Are we still in the stages of infancy with the genre so books with gay characters are all about the gayness rather than plot? If so, this automatically leads into somewhat dodgy ground. It is difficult to demand greater visibility but without giving characters same depth and multi-facetedness. Romance is one thing, but other genres?

Let’s face it, sex sells. It doesn’t matter what kind of sex you’re into, it’s still enough of a taboo to  generate intrigue, and the anonymity of eBooks makes for fertile ground. After a perceived drought for LGBT readers it’s no great surprise that explicit content is in high demand.

So, is the LGBT eBook market just moving with the dynamics of supply and demand? Do the readers merely accept the content or are they actively seeking it out? If anyone has the answers then I would genuinely love to know. I’ve tried to make diverse characters who are more than just their sexuality, or their race, or their social background. But I suspect that I’d probably shift more sales if there was a bit more laborious breathing and references to bodily fluids in that first 10% taste you get for free.

Bonus points and apologies if you’ve spotted all the sex puns scattered throughout.

Learning to juggle

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I’m not talking literal juggling, obviously. My hand / eye coordination isn’t good enough for that any more. Fun fact: I actually used to juggle for stress relief at university. I was way ahead of all the personal development gurus on that one.balls

So, there are a couple of exciting things going on at the moment and like many things in life, it is the ones you are not expecting that have the biggest impact. It’s like when you’ve learned to juggle three balls and then someone throws in a fourth just before you feel fully comfortable with what you’re doing. You either have to up your game really quickly or you end up dropping them all.

Writing is like that most of the time for me. I have multiple projects going on in multiple fields. Jumping from one to the other is a brain challenge, as well as being physically exhausting. I know I’m lucky – I’m still in the fledgling stages where I can still make mistakes because I refuse to give up the financial security of a full time paid position. But that does mean when I did some basic calculations earlier in the week, when you include all the time spent on writing (both actual creative stuff and then all the less exciting stuff that goes with it) I average a 70 hour week.

I’m nothing special. It’s not even something just authors go through – all entrepreneurs do at some stage, no matter how much the follow your dream message gets glamorised. Learning to juggle your life is one skill you need to master along the way.

As a result, my planned time for structural edits of the next book following Blood Inheritance have had to go on the back burner. Luckily for me, I’d built in some extra fallback time, so it doesn’t impact yet on my planned 2016 release schedule. Luckily, of all the indie publishing hats I wear, project management comes to me the easiest. After the actual damn writing, of course, but the more you want to write, the less writing you actually do. Oh universe, you’re so funny like that, aren’t you?