I need to get a wiggle on, 1st November is coming around quickly!
Snoozing-heck, it's tiring to get back in to the routine after a holiday! I haven't gotten any further on editing Pieces of Me just yet because I keep thinking up new scenes to 'flesh' the story out; now I have to figure out where to place them and get them typed up and get back to editing.
I need to get a wiggle on, 1st November is coming around quickly!
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Today is potentially my last blog until 7th September because in 'two sleeps' I am going on a two week holiday! I will be updating my Facebook fan page from time to time so click here to go to my page and click 'Like' to follow me.
My clothes are washed and ironed, just need to put them in my suitcase tomorrow! I will miss the kittens and big cats while we're away but I know that they'll be well looked after. I will be busy revising, editing and writing while I'm away ready to release my next two stories for you all to see. Be good! I just wanted to share this with you; below is 13 months of my hard work and commitment to becoming a fully fledged writer.
It is, of course, just the face of the work I have put it. It doesn't show the hours of writing, editing, planning, dreaming, worrying, self-doubting, designing and promoting. But, it looks pretty cool... I love to read - always have, always will. A person who doesn't find enjoyment in reading is alien to me - it opens up your mind to different worlds! A writer who doesn't read? What the heck is that all about?! How can you proclaim to be a writer and ask people to read your work when you yourself "don't" (won't?) read?
I was a reader first and foremost; it was reading which encouraged me creatively to make little picture books as a child. I started my writing 'career' as (I think) a seven year old; I was already hooked on taking photographs (still a huge passion of mine) and drawing and so when my parents used to develop the rolls of film (remember those!) I would paste a series of photographs on pieces of A4 paper and draw around them before creating a little story above and below the pictures. Sadly these picture books are long gone; with so many moves in my adult life they went astray or got thrown out, along with any teen/young adult stuff I wrote. I know that there is a floppy disc out there somewhere with a joint story I was writing with an American girl who I used to email (back when there was only one provider). I'm sad that this history of my writing is lost; no doubt it would be cringingly embarrassing to read today but I would still like to see that connection with the younger version of myself. Luckily I still have a few of my childhood reads (Little Women and The Secret Garden have pages cellotaped in, so well were they read!) although even lots of those found there way to car boots; many were also handed down to my niece who shares my love of reading. I read, I think, all of Ann M Martin's 'Babysitter's Club' series - they taught me quite a lot actually as a young reader. It was my treat as a child to go to the book shop in nearby Solihull and buy two or three new books in the series - it's still a treat for me to go and buy new books! My Kindle is fully loaded with published and indie books ready for my holiday next week and I will very much enjoy devouring the worlds which their writers have created for me. Of course, any which I really, really love will have to be purchased in paperback so they can sit prettily on my bookshelf. I'll admit I was a little anti-ebook when they first came out - one of the best smells in the world (to me anyway) is that of an old book shop or library, and the best sound is the cracking of a new book's spine. However, I came round and I am now gleeful in the knowledge that I can take dozens of books in my hand luggage on holiday without being told that it is overweight and I have to leave some behind. I can also read late in to the light without keeping my partner up because of needing to have a light on. Still, I need 'real' books in my life and so my favourite Kindle books inevitably end up on my bookshelf even if only for aesthetic purposes. I'll go back to my original point... People who don't/won't read are definitely aliens. Today Amazon Kindle offered a HUGE step forward for indie authors by offering a pre order service for Kindle books! This means that readers can choose the pre order option and on the release date the ebook will automatically be delivered to their Kindle apps!
This is amazing, since we have not had the opportunity before now to offer this on other independent publishing platforms. So, of course, I squealed excitedly and did a dance around my living room when I saw the news. This image is the best thing I have seen in my writing career since my first book release and 5* review! Pieces of Me will be available for pre order soon! After some basic planning I have now begun writing my next novel, C is for Cancer. Initially I had intended to write it in third person perspective since it is loosely based on my Mum's story; however after beginning I found that the story wasn't flowing quite as I'd hoped. After 1,200 words I decided to rewrite it in first person perspective and now it is going much better!
You see I realised that this is as much my own story as my mum's and so it is okay to write it in first person perspective. I can put more emotion in to it this way, since I can draw on my own thoughts and feelings during this time in our lives in a way that I could never explain Mum's. I'm aiming to write 500-1,000 words on it per day and if I succeed then the first draft will be finished in October. Then I can take November off to write The Memory Box for NaNoWriMo and come back to it in December. Later this month and in September I will also be busy editing and fleshing out Pieces of Me. With any luck I will have three novels written by Christmas time, although not all complete except for perhaps Pieces of Me. I'm looking forward to have a selection of paperbacks out for you all to read! If November's challenge goes well I will also sign up to the camp in July and again next November so next year will bring two more novels! Back in May I read and reviewed a book called The Descendant by indie author Kelley Grealis. I loved it so much I immediately bought the second book so I could find out what 'happened next' and I wasn't disappointed... This also reminds me that I need to post my review for book two!
In the meantime, check out my review for book one (if you click on the book cover in the review it will take you to Amazon to get your copy!). Becoming has been released! Thanks to everyone who has gotten involved and bought a copy today! It's just 77p / $0.99 on Amazon's Kindle store from now.
To celebrate I'm having a few cheeky vodkas and watching films with my beau and our furbabies. Have a wonderful weekend all! Since embarking on my journey as a writer I've learned quite a few lessons. The first was to be careful who I shared my stories with; I started out on a well known publisher's 'indie author' webpage and forums and the members there were less than friendly. They started out by giving me very thoughtful, constructive feedback from my submissions - great, right? Well, yes and no. You see I followed all of the 'official' rules outlined by the website itself but then I found myself in a public forum discussion with an 'outcast' and was then sent several 'tut tut, naughty naughty' messages from supposedly 'well meaning' members of the page.
I found their advice to distance myself from this friendly, helpful person to be quite rude and so I ignored it. Lo and behold I became an outcast myself; I got 'ignored' in group chats, talked about as though I couldn't see and then all reviews and comments on my work completely dried up, even though I actively reviewed and commented on other people's work in a constructive, polite way. Lesson two was that I rush in. I write a piece and say 'ta daaa', read it through right away to check for mistakes, correct what I find and submit it. No stepping back, breathing, letting my mind clear before checking and finding ALL of the mistakes - oh no, not me! And then I don't even have a build up to my releases! I have been as patient as I can with Becoming - I finished it just over a week ago, and although I relented a little, it is still not being released until this Friday... it's killing me to wait of course. But this time there has been some build up; I even have a little 'Release Day' event on my Facebook page... It isn't well attended so far but I won't let that get me down, it is early days for me after all. Lesson three has been to at least try to plot out my stories! Pieces of Me has been a joy to write. Most of the time. Sometimes Celeste dances in to my head telling me her story without a single prompt; other times I have dragged her kicking and screaming by her red curly hair and still not gotten a peep out of her. It's taken just over five months to write a 32,000 word story and if I had planned a little more earlier on it would have been written sooner (five months, by the way, is still good going for that word count). Certainly once I go back to edit and correct it I expect it to reach 35-40,000 words. But draft one is done and I'm very happy with that; draft two will come during the editing stage where I'm sure some parts will be rewritten and new parts will be added. Lesson four I am still working on... self promotion, publishing, marketing and 'selling' my work when people ask me "so what's it about then?" I dread that question! I need to get better at answering it. Apparently there is such a thing as an 'elevator pitch' and that's still beyond me! As they say, you learn something new every day! |