Tag Archives: travel

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.

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…

 

Travel: Why it is essential to a writer

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So, with the release of A Taste To Die For complete, I have indulged myself with a little bit of a vacation. In return for the months of hard work on this (and numerous other projects), I am giving myself sand, sun, sea and wine. Maybe even a cocktail or two.

Santorini

Not only because I quite like the idea of a treat and a reward, but also because I believe that travel is essential to every writer.

It doesn’t have to be exotic, or extravagant like this. It just needs to be somewhere new. This goes for if you are an aspiring author, a traditionally published author or an indie author. New places are vital for creativity.

It’s just the same as books. You would never read the same five books over and over again in isolation and expect to grow. Overseas travel is great for seeing the world with new eyes. There are different cultures, languages, customs and, of course, food, which can all be incorporated into your writing in some way.

Yet it’s also possible to achieve the same result without going too far from home. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere, there is every chance that a local town or city is within a couple of hours drive away. I’ve come to look for the unfamiliar in things; each town will have something about it that makes it unique. Travel is essential to finding that little gem and unlocking the creativity.

On top of that, it is the perfect opportunity for me to lavish some time on my significantly better half, who has heard nothing but book release talk for the past year. Of course, I’ll still have a notebook to hand, ready to capture any interesting nugget that comes into view from the other side of the cocktail umbrella….

Another hotel room, another night of writing on the road

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You’d think I’d be used to writing in hotel rooms by now. Sadly, I’ve discovered that most hotel rooms are the exact opposite of conducive to decent writing time. It’s driving me nuts!

There are many advantages to writing in this golden age of the internet. It doesn’t matter that I’m sitting here at a strange desk, not when I can google any pieces of information I don’t have immediately to hand. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for those using a typewriter, reaching for a thesaurus and only finding a Gideons bible and some hotel headed notepaper.

Maybe a room service menu, if you were staying somewhere classy…

Several of the greatest authors of all time produced career-defining works whilst living in hotel rooms. But let’s face it, none of them were probably staying at a Holiday Inn…

If you want to get things done, you have to force yourself to do them. I’ve realised over the past year that I actually do my best work when surrounded by creature comforts: my inspirational artwork on the walls, the sofa in the office, the books lining the walls. A stack of pens and notepads within arm’s reach to jot ideas. This is the perfect place for me to write.

It’s also the place I’m not in nearly as much as I would like.

I’m now beginning a quest instead to beat this frustration. Instead of just getting annoyed by the reduced output, I’m going to find a way to make the most of the time on the road, no matter how luxurious or shoddy the hotel is. I’m going to become a writing road warrior.

For now my only piece of advice, to quote Ben Folds, is ‘do it anyway’. Which, although it is probably the singular most important thing, is trite and meaningless without working out how. I love a good mystery, so I’m going to get to the bottom of it. Tonight, I’m going to revise this terrible scene that is refusing to co-operate, regardless of where I am sitting when I look at it. Maybe fixing that will help me unlock the keys to making the whole thing work.

Wish me luck!

Do you plan your writing, or do you just wing it?

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One of my key strategies to write books whilst holding down a 40+ hour a week bill-paying job, travel, and juggling family commitments, is to make sure my writing is planned in advance to sitting down in front of the laptop first thing in the morning.

I know that I don’t come up with ideas at that time in the morning, especially when I’m on the road. Likewise, for a lot of people who are more creative in the evenings, much of the ability to focus on the detail has already been drained out of our brains by the time we get that alone time to begin our writing.

Yet the debate still rages about whether or not to plan your book in advance of writing it, or to allow it to be a truly creative endeavour, flowing from your brain as the muses come to you, without one iota of reference material to refer to.

I suspect, for those who are adamantly non-planners, there is still a degree of preparation that takes place. Even if it is the development of a character profile, or a key theme you want to put across. Perhaps you already know that one crucial plot point that you want to include that you know will provide a massive payoff in drama and tension. You may not have done a scene by scene account, but there is something you’ve already committed to making happen.

I’ve also heard it said that people gravitate more towards planning when they stop writing for fun, or as a hobby, and move to writing that has deadlines. I can believe that. Sitting around and waiting to be inspired just isn’t going to cut it when your publisher is demanding you return that advance. For self-publishing authors, once you’ve committed to doing it, the deadlines are self-imposed, but they are just as real.

I’m moving through this journey of being an Indie author, with side plans to take the novel part of my writing down the traditional publishing route also. When I find things I believe are useful and can help other people, I want to be able to share them here. But a lot of those things will involve planning and discovery. I’m intrigued to know if those are likely to be of interest to you, or if you’d be more interested in reading about more spontaneous approaches to creativity.

So are you a planner or a do you like to fly by the seat of your pants? Take my short survey (just 4 easy questions I promise) and let me know. Alternatively, feel free to drop me your thoughts in the comments!

RIP Biddy the travelling hedgehog

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It’s no secret on this site that there is a love of hedgehogs. In fact, I’d been planning to do a post on Biddy for a week or so, but found out today that he had passed away. So this is very different from the original post I’d drafted out, but one I want to do nonetheless.

Biddy the travelling hedgehog, one of the finest pieces of journalism ever produced by the huffington post, provided a little background! Who wouldn’t want to high five this little guy?

Image courtesy of Biddy's human

Image courtesy of Biddy’s human

 

But it wasn’t always the adventure lifestyle for Biddy. Even famous hedgehogs sometimes just hang out, doing everyday things…

Chillin with a pumpkin

Chillin with a pumpkin

Honestly, this is an entirely gratuitous hedgehog appreciation post. Checking out these pictures made me smile, and life is all about finding the little moments of happy. It’s a shame there won’t be many more pictures such as these, but a big thank you for the fact they were shared originally.

You can check out Biddy on Instagram and take a look back at his adventures.

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.