An Ode To An English Teacher...

Well, I've just had an interesting few evenings. For a little while now, I've been thinking about some of my old pieces of writing... and when I say old, I mean my real early work.

For those who don't know, I started writing at around the age of 7 or 8. I started off with few short stories, my very first, I remember, being about how my dad gave me a time machine for my birthday and how I travelled back in time and rescued a baby triceratops from a hungry T-rex. I brought him back home and kept him as a pet. I wrote my first 'novel' when I was 10. A 76 page, hand-written, fully illustrated fantasy. And have been writing novels ever since.

However, the story I had an itching to revisit was the first story I wrote on my first computer. It was a Commadore 600 I think. Don't know if that means anything to anyone. So, with eager fingers and at the sweet age of 13/14, I sat down and wrote 'Love you to Death', a tale about a girl who moves to a newly built area, meets lots of new friends only to find them being picked off one-by-one by a serial killer. Did I say I was sweet at the age of 14??

So I dug out this story, printed on an old early 1990's (possibly even 80's) printer, kept in an a4 manila envelope. The paper is so thin and brittle I felt like I was reading off ancient scrolls.

Yeah...I'm not sure whether I'm proud or ashamed. I am proud, merely for the fact I managed to write what felt like, at the time, this grown up story. And it was fully typed and everything!! BUT... having read it for the first time in around 25 years, its awful! Cringe-worthy! Its full of teenage hormones looking for their first love among the shadow of a killer. "My best friend has just been murdered!!" "Oh well, let's go for a romantic walk. That'll cheer you up!"

And the worst part?? I proudly gave this to my English teacher to read. She corrected a few typos and errors in pencil for the first few chapters, then her notes dwindled and vanished completely. I remember her praising it when she handed it back, but now I can't help but think did she actually make it to the end? Did she really persevere or was it too painful and she never had the heart to tell me? Bless her. Looking back now, I don't know whether I was hardened enough to take the criticism it needed, and hearing it may have destroyed any love of writing I had back then, so I'm thankful for what she said, whether they were lies or whether she did read the entire thing. I can only apologise now for asking her to ever read it.

It really was awful!

Actually, who am I kidding! I was 13!! I friggin love it!!!

The secret envelope

The front cover

The prologue

 

IWSG - May 2020

This month's IWSG post. 

Created by the great Alex J. Cavanaugh 

and co-hosted by 

Feather Stone, Beverly Stowe McClure, Mary Aalgaard, Kim Lajevardi, and Chemist Ken!

This month's question:

Do you have any rituals that you use when you need help getting into the ZONE? Care to share?

Urgh! What is going on with the world at the moment? With everything going on, life has become pretty hectic, hence why I haven't posted for a while, but I do hope you are all doing okay.

For those who need reminding, I work two part time jobs, making up full time hours. Both are in online retail. I've been furloughed from one job at the moment, which, I thought, would suddenly give me a load more spare time to finish editing my WIP...but no. Work for job#2 has exploded, and even though it's not, it still feels like it's taking up all my time. But I'm not complaining. I'm counting my lucky stars I still have a job at all. My husband is still working. He's a lorry driver, bringing back NHS equipment from Europe so he's pretty flat out at the moment too.

Plus, my parents have just moved 200 miles from Devon to be closer to us. Their moving in day was literally the day the UK went into lockdown. The removals agreed to work one last day for them otherwise they'd have a new but empty house as all their belongings would have been held in storage until the lockdown lifts. As it was, we got them in, and then I disappeared to let them self-isolate and get settled in - which was easier said than done. I do all I can but I so wish I can do more to help get them settled.

Even though the lockdown is still in force, I do find myself finally getting into some kind of routine. Work is still hectic but I have managed to find some time recently to write, and I feel it's coming on really well. Of course, that nagging self doubt will rise its head at some point as it always does, but until then, my rituals to help get into the Zone:

Chores done
House empty (other half working)
Coffee by the side of me
Cats settled
Comfy position on the sofa
Laptop at the ready
Headphones untangled or Bluetooth speaker on
Music options selected (I use my phone)
Deep breath
Press play
Commence

That about does it for me. No burning incense or ritual incantations. I spend most of the day thinking about writing when I can't write so theoretically come writing time, I know what to write. I say theoretically...

What about you guys?

Anyway, keep safe everyone. Can't reiterate that enough.

IWSG - March 2020

This month's IWSG post. 

Created by the great Alex J. Cavanaugh 

and co-hosted by 

Jacqui Murray, Lisa Buie-Collard, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence!

This month's question:
Other than the obvious holiday traditions, have you ever included any personal or family traditions/customs in your stories?

Hmm...I did have to think about this one. Have I? Obvious answer would be no. We don't really have any family traditions. Sounds kinda sad, but it's true. The family did get together every New Year's Eve though and saw the year out with a bang when I was younger. That's about as far as family tradition went. Have I included that in my writing? No.

However, one thing I could add is that I write under my maiden name - Cartwright. Why have I done this? To honour my father's family name, I guess. I'm the youngest of three daughters, and all of us are married. I just felt sad that my family name ended with me so decided a long while ago that if I published, it would be under Cartwright, not my married name. 

I treated my dad to a DNA kit for Christmas a year ago, and have since connected with family across the country as well as in Australia. I've discovered that my grandad didn't just have the two siblings I originally thought, but SEVEN. My family has grown extensively and it's been an interesting journey this past year.

So the decision to write under Cartwright is something I'm happy and proud to continue with...

Plans for NANO . . .

Firstly, what do you think of the blog's new look? I was a little bored of the old look so decided to freshen it up.

This year, I've decided to take part in Nanowrimo. Normally during the month of November, I've used the hype to push the word count of a current project along as opposed to writing 50k words on something new. This year, however, I've decided to put effort into pastures new.

I've blogged about my supernatural horror, Rose Black, before when I had visions of writing it then, but it never took off. It's a perfect project for Nano though. So here's tiny a recap.

She's a victim of a serial killer but doesn't realise this until years later when a group of paranormal investigators release her from the spectral hold on her. Alone and confused, she attaches herself to this group, but when one of their investigations inadvertently opens a portal to something dark, Rose realises she is the only one who can fight this. She has to confront her biggest fear or watch as her new friends succumb one by one to this consuming darkness.

50k words in 30 days? Challenge accepted.

I've tried Nano before. Tunnel was originally a Nano story but I had a car accident half way through which left all my plans high and dry. I still finished it though - and published it on Amazon - but the 50k/30day thing didn't happen. This year all my efforts will be put towards writing, so I'm not leaving the house - ever - so I certainly won't be driving.

Also, watch this space come Halloween. In celebration of this spooky season, I'll be running a promotion on all my ebooks. Keep an eye on here and be sure to catch a spooktacular bargain... (see what I did there...??)

'Till next time, have fun :)

Writing Update . . .

It's been a wee while since I last gave an update on my creative endeavours, so I thought today is as good as any to bore you all.

I won't lie. Writing my current piece, Blood for Blood, has been hard, much harder than any of the other books in the series (none of which are published). This dark fantasy follows Reagan, a female assassin, who discovers that her current target has a connection to the murder of her father when she was a child, and seizes the opportunity to investigate rather than kill him, regardless of the wrath that falls upon her from her employees.

Whilst devising this story many many moons ago, it was going to be just as above, a bog standard story about a girl hunting her father's murderers, but it's evolved sooo much since those days. Yes, this is the basic premise for the story, but there is a reason this is 'DARK fantasy', and as horror writing scarily comes naturally to me, the dark element soon found its way in. I didn't have a problem with this at all. I really liked the twist it gave the story. It also gave the back story depth and fit in well with the rest of the series.

But suddenly I felt like I had bitten off more than I could chew. I felt out of my depth and a simple story suddenly turned complicated. I think that's when I started to struggle with it. It wasn't my enthusiasm for the story. That was still there, thick and fast. I think more than anything it was my confidence, and I began to question whether I was good enough to carry something this complicated off.

When that wall hits your confidence, it hits hard.

I even got to the stage where I felt I needed a break from it, and started planning my next WIP. But I inevitably went back, persevered, and finished it about two months ago with a word count of 120k. Not bad, all things considered.

I've now started editing it. It needs a lot of work and you can tell the areas I struggled with, and even though I've convinced myself that yes, I am good enough to pull this off, I can't help but sit back, look at the entire thing and think "ugh...can I really do this?"

The answer is yes. I know I can. There's also a sequal that's banking on this story to be completed. So deep breath and here we go...

Does Writing Have To Be A Solitary Business? . . .

My friend and I decided to try something new the other evening - a group writing session. I say 'group' but there were only two of us. We were each armed with our laptops and each prepared for an evening of tapping away. She trundled over to mine where we had tea and munch, played with the cats for a bit and then settled down. We've both written flash fiction in writers' groups but never done serious work on our own WIPs.

I had this idea a while back. I was watching the first episode of Castle (back when it was semi new. I refused to watch it when it first aired in protest for the way they killed Firefly. I couldn't see Nathan Fillion as anyone else and the loss was still too painful then). Anyway, there he was, Rick Castle, a writer battling writer's block. Oh I was right there with him. The frustrations of the block. Anyway, I watched as he stalked the NYPD, chose a target, and wormed his way into a relationship that would forever be known as Caskett. Then came a scene where he sat down at his laptop and wrote.

Now, I'm not sure how scenes like this affect other writers, but I can only liken it to someone watching porn. Oh, just watching Castle tapping those words on the screen got creative things flowing in ways only other writers can know and understand. This got me thinking. What if I was in a room with other people all tapping away on works of fiction? Would this have the same affect as watching someone on the screen? Would it induce inspiration? If we're still talking porn, I imagine most people would say yes, this theory would work, but writing??

Turns out, it's also a yes. It worked just as good as porn, in fact even more productively so. Within a space of an hour both of us had cleared well over 1500 words. I understand many writers out there may clear that easily in that time, but for those who sometimes struggle, just listening to someone else tapping away, seeing the creative cogs turning in their eyes, is enough to get their own creative cogs shifting into motion.

So there you go. I was being both social and productive at the same time. How about that? Turns out writing doesn't always have to be a solitary business. Now, I wonder how Nathan Fillion would feel knowing his writing scene in the first episode has just been compared to pornography. Hmm...

Oh, For The Love Of Horror . . .

Guess what? I've been writing again. I told myself, this slump has to come to an end, and low and behold, words were written on page. But these words didn't contribute to my current WIP. Nope, I had to start another.

This idea - and namely this character, Rose Black - has been haunting me for a while now. And haunting is such an appropriate word seeing as Rose is actually a ghost.  During the Great Depression of the Slump, many hours of TV watching have been racked up, and one show in particular that caught my attention was Ghost Adventures. Cheesy, fake, overacting, it may possibly be, but for someone obsessed with all things paranormal, it makes for great entertainment. It also spurred the initial spark for Rose Black. Since then, and while I've been trying to continue with my other work, she has been sitting on my shoulder, growing, evolving, and now she's eager to be fleshed out. She's not letting me continue on my path, so I've given in and am now letting her lead the way.


So, is this going to be a cheesy, sterotypcal story about a poor ghost whose life was stolen before her time, and who misses her connections with the living, finding it hard to let go? Nope. Rose was a tragic victim of a serial killer, and who's life was brutally taken from her (brutal as in not all body parts were recovered) but this story is going to be dark, twisted, macarbe and all of the above. I'm going to have such fun writing this.

My current WIP was coming along beautifully, with over 80k words, but I just need something different to get me back in the flow. Don't get me wrong, this fantasy piece has a real dark element to it which I love, but remembering how much fun I had working on Tunnel brought back the nostalgia for a good old fashion horror. So I'm breaking my rule and taking a wee break from fantasy, opting for something set in the real word...kind of.

You win, Rose. Your story is being written, so you can stop hounding me and haunting my nightmares...wait...forget I said that. I might need those nightmares.

In other news, Tunnel seems to be doing really well and the few reviews left have been really good. I'm can safely say that's a piece I'm proud off.

Till next time...be safe and don't have nightmares :)

Getting Back In The Swing . . .

I faded.

I disappeared from the whole blogger community. I used to post twice a week, every week, religiously. I loved it. And not only did I fade from you wonderful people, I faded from my own creative self, too. I've been clinging on to that creativity for a good few years now, struggling and desperate not to let go - but then not doing much to help myself rescue it either.

I've suffered a whole identity crisis in the meantime, too. I've always been writing, as a little kid, all through my teen years and up into my adult life. It's the one thing I've always wanted to do, and the one thing that has always been a constant for me, and after publishing a few works online as well and my inclusions in anthologies, as well as personal projects that I've been working on, I was proud to call myself an actual writer. But then I wasn't writing. And if I wasn't writing, who was I? This left me confused and added to the struggles. In the end, I've just been meandering through life, not doing much at all to be honest.

I'm not sure why my creativity dried up. I could put it down to changes in work which have left me unsettled and therefore unable to get into it; a break which got me out of the habit of writing regularly, and a habit that I haven't been able to get back into...who knows. But one thing still remained, and that was the passion for my ideas. Even though I wasn't actually writing, the ideas still kept flowing, ideas that I love and would one day want to put down on paper - or a word document.

So, a little while back I decided to get my posterior back in gear and get back in the flow, and I've finally finished my novella, Tunnel. Can't actually remember if I mentioned it all those years ago in one of my last posts, but I originally started Tunnel (a zombie flick) for Nano way back when and then had a car accident which ruined that November flow. I still worked on it though at my own snail pace and eventually finished it. And now it's edited and polished and soon ready to go up on Amazon. I'm actually proud of myself and I will keep you all posted with that one.

Then also, out of the blue a few days back, I received a friend request on facebook from the wonderful Nick Wilford who inadvertently reminded me of the whole writer community sitting here that I had once been a part of and who offered support and inspiration (thank you), and so decided that I needed to get back here too. If you believe in fate, I think the signs are all there, finally aligning and telling me it's time to rekindle that creative spark. It may be hard and a struggle but I'm ready to give it a go...

So, deep breath and fingers crossed. Let's get this show back on the road...

NanoFAILmo...

*lol...nanoFailmo??? See what I did there???

Aaaand back to reality:

A few weeks ago, what with everything suddenly Zombie in my life, I come up with a fun little idea for a horror story that I just couldn't stop thinking about.  So I decided I was going to write it but I didn't want to spend that much time and effort on it, time and effort that should be dedicated to my main project, so when I was reminded of Nano I thought it the perfect opportunity.

I've never signed up for Nano.  I've always put the effort into my own work, but a month off to work on said new project?  Perfect.  It would be just the push I need to write the new piece yet not spend too long on it.  I took the plunge and signed up about 2 days before it started.  So there I was, with the briefest of outlines, no research, and a looming start date - a start date I couldn't actually start on because of a planned day out in London.  Off to a good start.  I eventually started on the 3rd November, and even though I started in high spirits, I have to report that I'm actually failing in keeping up.  Life just keeps getting in the way, especially weekends.

At an average of 1.7k words a day, today I should be hitting the 16k mark.  Yep.  I'm at 5k.  Still, with quiet evenings ahead, it's still do-able.  I could still catch up.  All is not yet lost.

I'll keep you informed...  

Back In The Game...

I’m back on the band wagon.  My muse has returned after a year and half hiatus – and trying to work without a muse just ain’t easy.

He returned a couple of weeks ago – although he’s very shy to give away where he’s been (probably cavorting with all the other AWOL muses out there.  Just where do they go??  It's probably him in the picture, enjoying the attention of all the other female muses, the flirt!)  Still, I hope he had a good time.  I hope it was worth it after the amount of SUFFERING he’s caused.  No thought!  No consideration!  And now he’s back, by golly, I’m gonna make him pay!  I’m making him work overtime, and with 15k words into my new piece – as well as editing my previous piece – he’s definitely starting to pull his weight.  I’m not letting him get off lightly for going AWOL.

So what’s the new piece?  Well, it involves, assassins, romance, danger, everything a good read should have – oh, and a touch of necromancy to darken things a tad.  Just the way I like it J Still working on a title though, but I’m sure that’ll come within time.

So, now I’m back on the band wagon, let’s just hope my muse lets me stay on long enough to enjoy the ride.  

The Other Thing...

So, what was the other thing I needed to announce?  Oh yeah!

I finished my latest manuscript.

This piece has been somewhat interesting to write.  It wasn't that I had to do a lot of research in order to pull it off, it was the fact that it took me so long to finish - as opposed to the usual length of time it takes me.  This is through no fault of its own.  The poor thing wanted to be written, screamed at me and haunted my dreams, but I let it down.  I made it wait, and I think by the time the end come round, it had just run out of steam.

It took me just over two years.  That's outrageous for me!  Never mind the fact I wrote another novel and a collection of short stories in between times - that my life felt like it crumbled and was teetering on edges before slowly being patched together.  Taking over two years to write one novel is something I haven't done since my 'writerly pottering' back in the days of yore.

Since finding my comfort niche with my fantasy series, I've churned one novel a year, which I think is average when balancing work and social lives too, and it was something I thought to be good if I were to look at my writing seriously - producing a steady stream of work.  This one didn't turn out quite on time.

Then there's the fact that I broke my rule:  One novel at a time.  You need to focus, to get to know your characters and allow yourself deep into the story in order to get to know it well enough to do a good job.  For me, having a second project on the side - or even projects - broke the flow of things and had an effect on the overall outcome.

Anyway, my piece, Lady of the Seas, is finished - that is, the first draft.  Editing stages are well under way.  I feel a mile stone has been reached with this one, and there's been a weight lifted from my shoulders.  My characters are no longer screaming at me to finished their tale.  It's done.

And what does a writer do when it's done?  They start another one :)    

Going 'OVER BOARD' With Research . . .

Research.

It’s something us writer’s must do.  In order to get our facts right in the story we’re telling, we need to look them up.  Do cows really have four stomach compartments?  I don’t know.  Let’s look it up.  Can fire still burn in the rain?  I don’t know.  Let’s look it up.

We need to research, and it’s so easy to get lost in it and forget the reason why we ventured there in the first place.  But there’s a reason why we get lost.  We find interest in what we’re looking up, and you find yourself learning and discovering new things (albeit things you may never need again after you've finished your WIP).

I definitely discovered something new researching for my current piece.  As many of you know, old galleon ships play a huge role in my story, and so a lot of research has had to be put in to get things right.  I'm fairly lucky in that I have a small amount of navy knowledge from my teens when I was contemplating joining the Merchant Navy as a communicator, and it's made my life a little easier despite the fact that modern ships and galleon ships are somewhat different (in case you couldn't tell).

However, some of the phrases used back in the day are still being used today, and did you know that a lot of our common phrases originate from old navy terms?  Yeah!  I was stunned to learn this and thought it interesting enough to share.  Here's a few examples:

• Above board – "Everything seems above board; kosha; ok; legit"

Original meaning: On or above the deck, in plain view, not hiding anything.

• Chock-a-block - "The shop is chock-a-block; rammed; tight"

Original meaning: The rigging blocks on a ship are so tight against one another that they cannot be further tightened.

• Clean bill of health - "The person has been given a clean bill of health"

Original meaning: A certificate issued by a port indicating that the ship carries no infectious diseases.

• Fly by night - "A term given to someone who is seldom seen " 

Original meaning: A large sail used only for sailing downwind, requiring little attention.

• Flotsam and Jetsam - "random belongings; clutter; junk"

Original meaning: Debris ejected from a ship that sinks or washes ashore.

• Know the ropes -  "A new person is learning the ropes; to know the ropes; knows what they are doing"

Original meaning: A sailor who 'knows the ropes' is familiar with the miles of cordage and ropes involved in running a ship.

• Loose cannon - " A wild, outgoing person; someone hard to control"

Original meaning: An irresponsible and reckless individual whose behavior (either intended or unintended) endangers the group he or she belongs to. A loose cannon, weighing thousands of pounds, would crush anything and anyone in its path, and possibly even break a hole in the hull, thus endangering the seaworthiness of the whole ship.

• Nipper - "A nickname given to a child with fondness"

Original meaning: A short rope used to bind a cable to the "messenger" (a moving line propelled by the capstan) so that the cable is dragged along too (used where the cable is too large to be wrapped round the capstan itself). During the raising of an anchor the nippers were attached and detached from the (endless) messenger by the ship's boys. Hence the term for small boys: 'nippers'.

• No room to swing a cat – "A room that is too small"

Original meaning: The entire ship's company was expected to witness floggings and assemble on deck. If it was very crowded, the bosun might not have room to swing the 'cat o' nine tails' (the whip).

• Son of a gun – "A slang term used to describe someone" 

Original meaning: The space between the guns was used as a semi-private place for trysts with prostitutes and wives, which sometimes led to birth of children with disputed parentage. Another claim is that the origin the term resulted from firing a ship's guns to hasten a difficult birth.

• Taken aback - "Shocked, stunned"

Original meaning: An inattentive helmsmen might allow the dangerous situation to arise where the wind is blowing into the sails 'backwards', causing a sudden (and possibly dangerous) shift in the position of the sails.

• Under the weather – "To feel a little under the weather; not well"

Original meaning: Serving a watch on the weather side of the ship, the side exposed to wind and spray.



There are so many more that I could list, and it's stunning how sea-fairing ways from centuries ago have influenced our ways, terms and sayings today.

Love a bit of research, I do.  Who knows what you might discover :)

Exercise Your Imagination . . .

I bit the bullet the other week and joined a gym.  One of my friends had a free pass at her gym and she invited me to join her for the day, so I went and I was taken by it.  But the price was a little off-putting for me.  After having struggled financially through the past few months and having to deal with unemployment and accidents and the likes, I couldn't justify forking out £50 a month for a gym membership.  And what was worse, you had to sign a yearly contract, so I would have to pay that for twelve months.

I didn't join.

Instead I shopped around and found another in my area for just £13 a month.  That's a huge difference.  It may not be as plush but it has all the amenities needed.  And with a rolling month contract, I joined.  As sods law would have it, I hurt my leg just after joining (and not a gym injury) and so couldn't go for the first week.  I was p***ed off with that.  I was all syked up.  So last night was my first gym night.

Exercise plays a huge factor in most people's creativity.  It breaths life into the imagination.  And us writers need regular exercise.  As you can imagine, a full time writer theoretically spends all day sitting at the computer typing.  Whereas their fingers get a huge workout as they constantly navigate the keyboard, the rest of the body doesn't.  And for me, working in an office has had the same effect.  The pounds soon pile on and an unhealthy routine is soon adopted, not including the laziness in imagination.

Writers need exercise, even if it's just a 20 minute walk a day.  It's a must and an important part in anyone's life.  Stephen King is a classic example of this.  He used to go out walking everyday for about an hour - until he got knocked over and nearly killed.  But he understood this importance.  And when I used to walk everywhere before I got my driving licence, my imagination was fit and healthy.  I was writing at full steam ahead, then when that changed it sloooowed.

I'm hoping now that I've joined a gym things will pick up again to the pace they used to be - not to mention ridding myself of those extra few pounds...

So if your creativity is struggling to thrive at the moment, why don't you consider turning your attention to a little exercise?  It really does work wonders :)        

We All Need Confidence When It Comes To Writing...

Confidence.

What is it?

When it comes to writing, confidence (amongst numerous other things) is feeling happy with what you're producing.  It's the knowing that your story works, that it flows, that your characters are real.  Yeah, you still may need to edit a few things, but you're confident you can do this, you're confident where these changes need to be, and that your changes will work.

You know what you're doing and you're happy.

But take a wee hiatus from writing and things can change.

I read a blog post a little while back and they mentioned that the longer you leave writing the more you lose your confidence.  I've never considered this before, but having just taken a good few months off writing my WIP, I've found this to be true.  I've gone back to it with mixed feelings.  My characters are seeming 2 dimensional.  The story isn't as fantastic as it used to be.  Where's my enthusiasm?  Where's my love for these people?

My confidence in this piece has fallen dramatically.  Maybe it's to do with looking at it all through fresh eyes - minus the rose tinted glasses.  I'm seeing faults.  I'm seeing flaws.  I know it's a good story - one that I'm happy with, and despite losing my enthusiasm, I know I could make it work.

The trick is finding that enthusiasm again.  Which I'm working on.  I can't and refuse adamantly to a abandon it.  I'm so close to the end I can smell it, but can I bring myself to finish it?

That's the hard part.

But I will.  I will force myself on.  I will sit in front of that blank screen and write the last few chapters.  And then I will edit it and I will correct the flaws that I see.  I will make it work.  I will love it again!  It's all about having confidence in what you can do.  Every writer needs this confidence.  And it all starts by blogging about it.

First step to rebuilding that lost confidence:  Check!

This Hiatus Must Surely Be Over...

It's been a rough few months over here in windy, rainy, snowy England (with a few sunny spells in between) but things are looking on the up now.

It's been...how long since I last posted?  But it hasn't been uneventful, I can tell you that.  Lets see...

1: I lost my job.
2: My husband had an accident at work which resulted in a shattered wrist, 2 operations, endless physio (for which he's still undertaking) and over two months off work, causing him to climb the walls and rip his hair out. 
3: Both of the above resulted in huge financial worries and the pressure to find another job alongside nursing a very sorry-for-himself other half. 

All of these has resulted in a decline in creativity.  Whereas my hubby has been climbing walls in frustration at being at home and unable to do much for himself, I've been going through the same process because my creativity has had no chance to flourish.  I NEED to create.  I NEED to write.  Even though I've done little bits here and there in between times, nothing has been what I call, progressive.

On the other hand, Starfish Publishing held a second book launch on November 24th (25th??). There were numerous books being launched into the big wide world of Amazon, and many took advantage of the new CreateSpace option, which allows authors to publish hardcopies on a print-on-demand service.  For those who have dreamt of seeing their work in actual book format, this service is amazing.  However, it also has its drawbacks which I will go into at a later date (ensuring I come back to post again).

The launch went really well and we raised £230 with 15% going to charity.  Well done everyone! 

I included a book in the launch too.  I'm sure I've blogged about it in the past, but I'll plug it again.  It's a collection of short horror stories and is titled 'A Bribe For The Ferryman'.  So far I've have a few good reviews from readers (not from Amazon though) and managed to prove to people just how sick my mind can be...mwah-ha-ha-ha.

So, now things are beginning to look up.  I have myself another job (a good job), my husband is on the mend and has gone back to work on light-duties.  My financial worries are smoothing over and slowly but surely I'm feeling that creative spark re-ignite.  Thank god for that!!!!

All I need to do now is get myself back into a blogging routine.  I'm working on it, people.  Honest I am :)

Till next time

Ta ta   

Region's Most Wanted . . .

The aim of this 10 minute exercise was to imagine what we would do if we were walking through a park and we saw someone sitting on a bench, someone we recognise, and someone, we suddenly realise, is wanted for murder.  We know the face from TV, from news broadcasts across the region. 

So once we realise, what do we do?  How do we proceed with the knowledge that the county's most wanted man is sitting on a bench not two yards away as we pass by?

This piece was inspired by how I felt in a similar kind of moment a few years ago.  I'll blog about that one day too...

Region's Most Wanted 

His gaze bore through me as I walked passed.  At first he was just a normal man sitting on the park bench, but as I drew closer I knew it was no ordinary man.

I had seen him before.  I even had a name for him, a name I had heard on TV, a name belonging to a killer.

Was it him?  My eyes wanted to study him as I approached but I was too afraid to look.  What if he saw me?  Would he guess that I knew who he was?  If he did, would he come after me to silence me?

Keeping my gaze low, I walked on passed, my legs quickening their pace without any command given.  They wanted to take me away from that bench as soon as possible.

He remained seated as I went by, but the fact didn't stop my heart from pounding in my chest.

What should I do?

If it was him, the police needed to be told.  If it wasn't then the man on the bench had nothing to worry about if visited by the police.  Surely, if it wasn't him, he must be aware of his striking resemblance to the killer?  He must be expectant of some contact with the police?

I needed to call them regardless.  I needed to get a safe distance away, take my phone from my bag and make the call, but my legs kept going and my arms remained stubborn in their swing.  They weren't going for my phone.

I'll make the call at work, I thought.  Safety in numbers.  I needed to talk to someone about it before I took that step.  Yes, that's what I needed to do.  Maybe then my mind's panic would settle and I'd see sense.  Maybe then I would realise that it wasn't him sitting on that bench at all, that my confused mind had only connected the two.  Yes, that made sense.  I didn't really have to make that phone call.  I didn't really have to get involved, did I?

Getting A Life . . .

A writer's life is often quite dull and recluse.  I say dull in the context that they often shut themselves away rather than going out and being social.  They'd rather have an evening with words than a night on the town.  Or they prefer the company of their characters more than their friends (for the moment anyway).

I'm in a rut.  I work from home therefore see nobody during the day unless my colleague or boss skypes me.  My husband is a long distance lorry driver which means he's away most of the week, and all my friends are too busy with their work life during the week to even contemplate being social (weekends are saved for hubby time).

This means from Tuesday (I make a point of going out on Monday to my Writers' Circle just to get out the house) to Friday, it's just me and the cat.  I don't actually mind this.  I like my cat's company, and it does give me lots of free time to write, draw, watch what I want to watch on TV, but there's a down side.

Without going and being sociable, with nothing interesting or exciting going on in your life, you can lose that creative spark.  It becomes dull.  When I worked in our old office and before I started driving, it used to take me 40 minutes to walk to the bus stop, 20 minutes on the bus to the office, and then repeat the whole process coming home.  And when I did get home, my evenings were spent writing, writing, writing.  I got loads done.  Now I find myself with all this spare time and words fail me.

I'm not a full time writer, but I understand that to be so takes a huge amount of discipline.  If you were home all day with all that spare time to write, would you be as creative as the person who has to squeeze an hour or so in everyday during their busy schedule?  It's tough.  And proves that writers still need a life to be able to work to their full potential.

Wanted: Dead or Alive . . .

I've been duped! Duped big time stylie!!!

After finishing Son of Jack I wrote a series of short ghost stories and then decided that I could happily have a little break from writing - only for a week or so. I figured that now I didn't have any deadlines to contend with I could put my feet up for a bit. I started to draw, then that idea got a bit old; read some and then became a member of LoveFilm. I could stream and watch films instantly.

After watching god-knows how many films, I got back into the ye old faithful series of True Blood. Seeing as I'm not one to sit down religiously at a set time every week to watch a series on TV, I got the DVD, but I'm a skin-flint. I only had season one on DVD and thought I'd wait until the price dropped before buying the rest. So, after watching season one I had to get the second season. Now I've watched every episode I find myself in a rut. What am I to do now? I'm at a loss. I've ordered season three but it won't be here for at least a week. What am I going to do in between times???

Then I remembered that I'm actually a writer!!! How could I have forgotten? And then it dawned on me.

Yep, I've been duped. My muse enjoyed his little break and obviously doesn't want to come back without a fight. He's been quite happy sitting down, watching TV and becoming the stereotypical couch potato. Now I want to put him back to work, he's up'ed and made a run for it. I've tried, I've fought, and I managed to write the opening chapter of the vampire story that I had in mind, but then he got the upper hand of the fight. I'm not quite sure where he is now. He's hiding and could be anywhere. But I know he's still in the house. I hear him creeping around the shadows at night; I know he's playing games with me; I feel him peaking over my shoulder when I'm reading through previous work, and as soon as I put finger to keyboard he sniggers at me and runs off.

By allowing him this little break, I've been too soft on him and now he's running riot and doing as he pleases. I need to gain control of him! I need to put him back to work and that means discipline! He's not going to like it, but once he's under control again, everything should be fine and he'll see it's for his own good. You have to be cruel to be kind.

So, if anyone sees an unaccompanied muse wandering around, no doubt he's mine. He's Wanted: Dead or Alive. You know how to contact me if he's sighted and your cooperation is very much appreciated.

Thank you.

An Idea If You're Struggling To Name Your Characters . . .

Peggy Eddleman over at Will Write For Cookies (love that title) wrote an interesting post the other day about names and choosing the right name for your character. There were some good comments too.

The mind works differently for everyone. For some, names come easily, names that fit their character perfectly, but for others it isn't as easy. Characters may start off with a name but by the end may have gone through several different ones because the last just didn't fit.

So how do you find the perfect name for your character?

I fit in the catagory where names come easily to me. I've never changed half way through a WIP. Once I've created a character and given them a name, it's like I've created a living, breathing person. I can't change their name half way through. For me, that's like changing a kid's name when they reach six years old because you feel you prefer another. Once I've named a character, it sticks.

But I don't give my characters any old name. Just like the plot, it takes planning and tweaking. As many of you know, I'm always plotting and planning, and as I write my current WIP, I'm working out and tweaking the next. Along with this comes characterisation. Within this time I explore my character's personality and learn who they are. They grow and evolve, and more often than not they do this before your very eyes without you realising. All of a sudden your characters are real, and when they get to that stage they tell you their name.

But if it doesn't work like that for you, then it's down to you to play parent and choose.

One idea on how to choose is to look at your character's background. Who were the parents? We're they busy business people? Family orientated people? Or maybe even go-with-the-flow-laid-back people? Having a rough idea of the environment where your character grew up can help a huge amount. Someone who is brought up in an environment where society plays a big part, where trends are there to be followed, or someone surrounded by traditionalists will more than likely have been given a popular name.

If there is someone famous who influenced the family household, could they have been named after them? For example, years ago in the British soap, Eastenders, Alfie Moon played by Shane Ritchie, graced our screens. He was a huge hit and after that little Alfies started springing up left, right and centre.

Did your character grow up in an environment like that? Were they named after their mother's dream date?

Or were the parents gypsy travellers or people who refused to follow the paths that society expected? The names they choose would be unusual and uncommon; something that matches their surroundings.


However, if you like the uncommon name, it would be wise not to choose something too long or awkward to read. Remember, you have to type this name for an entire novel, and if a reader is faced with a name that can't be pronounced, it can be off-putting.

You don't need to go overboard when working out your character's history. You only need to touch the surface. And by doing this, you also get to learn a lot more about the person you intend to write about; you get to see what drives them, where their passions came from, their fears and their hatred. It gives them reason and this gives them depth and makes them feel more real to the reader.

Opening Sentences . . .

A friend of mine brought up a subject last night regarding opening sentences. He wanted, in our opinion, an example of a bad opening sentence. Of course, off the top of our heads we couldn't think of one - but a few good ones did come to mind.

The opening sentence is usually the hardest part to write for a writer, especially a noob who is sitting at their desk with a blank page, wanting to start something that'll make them their fortune (they'll find out the hard truth in their own time). They can envisage a whole story before their very eyes; they know their characters, know their setting, know their predicaments - but what words do they use to introduce them all? How do you write that all important first sentence?

There are many ways you can start a book off. This all depends on your story and how you want to tell it. For me, I like sentences that drop you in it. As soon as you open the first page, you're chin deep in action. With many action scenes, one of the best ways to keep the tension is by using short sentences, so my opening sentences are pretty short.

“Get those god-damn sails in!”

These are the very firsts words to my current WIP. It's an order so instantly you know you're smack bang in the middle of something. The use of the words 'god-damn' kind of indicate the speakers frustration, and the exclamation mark tells of the order's importance (at least that's what I hope it portrays).

For me, I like the shorter opening sentence, but lets look a random few from some randomly selected and successful authors:

1: A whispered name.

A ghostly whisper fit for James Herbert's novel 'Haunted'.

2: The trawler plunged into the angry swells of the dark, furious sea like an awkward animal trying desperately to break out of an impenetrable swamp.

Okay, it puts you in the middle of something ferocious, but the opening sentence to Robert Ludlow's 'The Bourne Identity' is a tad long for my preference. Fantastic read though.

3: The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

A fantastic opening to one of my all-time favourite reads, 'The Dark Tower' by Stephen King.

4: I am the vampire Lestat.

Anne Rice's character introduces himself immediately in her novel 'The Vampire Lestat' - another good read.

5: Norma ran.

Instantly you're thrown into the action in Rod Rees's first novel 'The Demi-Monde: Winter (yet another good read. Go check his blog out).

6: There was a smattering of applause as Malcolm Fox entered the room.

Hmmm...what has Malcolm done to warrant this applaud. Ian Rankin's 'The Complaints'.

7: A killer stalked the shadows.

Is he? Who is he and will he succeed? Jon Sprunk's 'Shadow's Son'. Can't wait to finally read the sequel, 'Shadow's Lure'.

8: Once...Upon...A...death, when life for Thom Kindred was fading fast and his inner eyes, the eyes that focused from his soul, were already dazzled by the shining way ahead (was the brilliance approaching him, or was he approaching it? he wondered in a curiously detached way), when his twenty-seven years apparently were drawing to a close, something occurred that halted the untimely rush.

Hmm hmmm...never noticed this when I read James Herbert's 'Once'. Despite thoroughly enjoying the read way back when I read it, I never realised how long this opening sentence was.

James Herbert is a successful author of horror and well established in his field. The fact that opening sentences like these get published every day proves that I'm speaking of personal preference here. If you've started your novel with a gripping sentence that is as long as your arm, great - if it works. But I still prefer the shorter stuff...