Edmund Lester

Today was a bit of a mixed bag. The novel didn;t seem to be working first thing today so I did a little bit of work to support the previous one. I wrote two synopses for it - one at 800 words or so and quite detailed; the other in under a page of A4 - agencies/publishers have different requirements. I also started in on correcting grammar etc on it as the test reader wants to a copy. No way I'm handing it on unchecked and risking an incorrect they're, their, there. I would be mortified. I even found another couple of agencies to send previous novels to - so there are two more submissions out there. Then onto writing - it kind of clicked this afternoon and the sf-noir, as I think I now must declare it, grew from 24,741 to 27,437 words. Not quite the 3K I had hoped for but when you add in the 1,300 words or so of the two synopses I did kind of get there. I did a bit more pre-planning on the YA SF that popped into my head the other day. The notebook will take a little bi...

The day before yesterday I ended the writing session on 22,507 words. I've mentioned before that yesterday was a washout writing wise. Today was better head wise but rather limited on time. not that I would trade the morning and lunch out with my wife for 100,000 words. The writing this afternoon went well. I ended the session on 24,741 - so 2.2K in about three hours. And I sent off another submission to a US publisher for the Political SF novel Against the Fall of Empire. This evening thought had been pre-booked for days. Although the exact content of it was up for discussion. It was a film/drama night with the family. And after much discussion we opted for the first two episodes of Swedish drama Beck. It's kind of strange watching them. We've recently watched the final four episodes (from season 5) made last year. The first episodes were made all the way back in 1997 and the characters that are in the whole run look so young. I guess it is 17 years but wow! The mos...

Yesterday was one of those days writing wise. I gave it a try a couple of times but deleted pretty much everything I tried to write. So I gave it up as a bad idea and moved onto other things. The other things being submissions. So as a result the weird novella was sent off to another three potential publishers; the science fiction novel to six US agents; and the horror novel to another agent and a potential publisher. I made another short story submissions too of a (hopefully) comedic story with demons, ghosts, zombies and Minnesota Twins baseball caps. The YA fantasy has been printed off ready to be edited. This last I know is probably a little too close to having written it but my test reader wants to read it and I want to at least fix up the grammar a bit and add in the two scenes I've sketched out to make the plot flow a little better. So that was that yesterday. I did get to watch a bit more TV than normal and actually spend some time with my wife which was ve...

I'm more than half way through my week off work now - darn. It's not that I don't like my job - I do. It's just been great being able to do some serious writing day after day. Well I worked on and off on the novel all day and it has progressed from 18,289 words to 22,507 words. Over 4K today. The story is coming along quite well and my cursing is growing more anatomical and more weird. When I revise I am definitely going to have to upscale the inventiveness on the earlier swearing. Aside from that I prepped another submission of the horror novel Mr. Stinky - this time to Ghostwoods Press. Fingers crossed as with all of them. I went through my spreadsheet containing all the other submissions. There are a couple due this week, so I will be firing off follow up emails to them tomorrow. Not expecting anything from them but it'll be better to know one way or the other. Well writing itself is pretty much done for the day. I am going to be watching another episode...

Today was not as productive writing wise as other days this week. Mainly due to the morning off I mentioned earlier. It was worth it though. I'm not going to allow myself to get so far behind with the Flash again. I will either keep up to date (-ish) or just stop watching it. So this evening I did a bit more writing and brought the final total for the novel today up to 18,289. Which means it's longer by some 3.2K words. Will make an effort to at least match Monday's 4K tomorrow. Be a tough ask as I have kind of confirmed I'll be watching some Scandinavian drama tomorrow evening. But I can try. Also have another potential brake on the progress of this SF Space Opera Murder Mystery Whodunnit. I had a phone call with my main test reader this evening. He'd been threatened with redundancy of late and it was looking a little dicey but fortunately he's had a couple of job offers from other companies so he's a little happier. So cue one meandering science fic...

Okay, it's the second day of my week off work. So far so good. not had to leave the house for four days. I'm not saying I'm turning into a hermit but it's been good to have no pressure on to do anything. Take this morning for instance. I came into my office; turned on the PC; opened al the apps I need to do this (Word, Outlook, IE) and then thought - nah. My wife thought the same about her music too so it was good timing. So instead of working we finished up season 1 of the Flash. Now this is a series that for some bizarre reason I still like after watching 23 episodes. It gets off to a good start - there's a superhero from heck's sake and most of the rest of the cast are scientists. What's not to like. Well there's the science for one thing. Now I know superhero stories play it a bit loose with real science stuff and we have to make some allowances. After all being bitten by a radioactive spider is a pretty dumbass origin story science wise. But ...

I will have to admit I wasn't totally all out writing for the rest of Monday (after the first blog post of the day). I may have watched a bit of TV and spent some time with my wife - I still like her after 23 years together. But I did do some writing. The sf novel is up to 15,130. Which means that today it got tidied up, put into a novel like structure from my notes and 4,000+ words were added. That will do as a pretty decent kind of day. This novel is a bit different from the ones I've done previously - especially the YA fantasy that was its immediate predecessor. This is definitely an adult story; not in the way of extremely strong violence of sexual content though. I've created this wisecracking, foul mouthed smuggler character and he's narrating the whole thing. So it's a bit sweary in places - okay in all the places. I'm getting a little creative with it too - many of the combination swear words are amusing my wife when she gives the first draft a quic...

I titled that thinking it might be the first of who knows how many. Truth is it might be the only one of the day but I am hopeful I will return to this site later. I also noticed I didn't blog at all yesterday - very remiss of me so this will cover both days Sunday was a slow start day. Even given the clocks going back we'd had a late night. We were watching some Scandinavian dramas (mainly Beck) plus Doctor Who and some other stuff and as no one in the house had to go to work for another week we just carried on. I know rebels eh? So I started off the day writing a few more words on my watery fantasy novel The City - the one I started whilst holding back on the sf Space Station story I intend to be my NaNoWriMo project. I brought that up to 2,881 words and got it to the point where I've introduced the main characters and can start to set the scene fully. That done I headed off for the NaNoWriMo meeting in Leicester. I had no idea what to expect of the meeting so trie...

I woke up this morning (I mean totally woke up) at 7am. On a Saturday - and the first Saturday of my week off. My brain wouldn't let me sleep in. It does that a lot these days. It seems to go - you've had enough. There's a whole day waiting for you. One of the joys of getting older I guess. Today though it came with a bonus - or maybe curse. Today it had another story setting, characters and plot bouncing around. And the more my active mind saw of it the less the chance for sleep was going to get. So I got up and started writing. Well before my wife had joined in with the day I had more than a thousand words down on the page. This might sound good in many ways except for there is only a week to go until NaNoWriMo and I had intended to spend that week doing more planning so I could really go for it for November. Ah well. I guess I'll jut go with it and see how it looks. I can always sketch the plot down and come back to it later. It really is a good idea (ok, my opi...

I am still in my awkward position of waiting and planning for NaNoWriMo. It's getting really tough to not just jump in and write the darn thing. I've done a few background sketches - things that should expand into bigger and better things. All in all the ideas doc has 7K words in it. Would imagine when I expand the bits into the novel that should be double that - even if all I do is write it long hand rather than the shorthand of ideas. Also finding it tough to stay away from the Patternmaker's Daughter. I have this idea for an extra scene I think needs to be added about two thirds in so I may have to go back and add it. Then of course it will be tricky not to start revising it. What I should do it have a bit of a think about another story idea and get writing that. Say the Weird Novella, Ben Williamson's third outing. Maybe, maybe. I have some thoughts on it so why not? Anyway - it is the weekend. I have the whole of next week off work and nothing planned at all...

I haven't added an entry to this blog in days. Sorry about that. I just had to scale it back a little after the end of the Patternmaker's Daughter on Sunday. I felt drained totally after that was done. Well I am partly recharged. I have however not left off the writing - albeit in a prep kind of way. I will admit my first consideration was to print off the fantasy novel and go through it making corrections. But I had read in so many places that this is possibly/definitely not the best thing to do. So I resisted. Difficult as I know there is an extra scene I want to insert about two thirds through to add something to the ending. But I have held back. I had considered too writing another Ben Williamson weird novella - I have an idea that I really want to write too. But I decided to get sensible. Really sensible. I have kind of committed myself to NaNoWriMo (this National Novel Writing Month) thing thought November. With the goal being to write at least 50K in a month I t...

I have gone for it with the novel today. I forewent the pleasures of book hunting as I wanted to get stuck into the writing early. It worked. I started this morning on 81,100 words. Twelve hours later, about forty minutes or so ago I typed the final word of the epilogue. The first draft is done at 88,103 words long. I added three words over seven thousand today. Wow! No wonder I feel pretty much the same way as I did at the end of a rugby match all those years ago. I suppose the epilogue added a bit to it - it got a bit emotional there at the end. 88,103 words in one month and thirteen days; at the same time as working my day job too. That was intense. Now I just need to avoid revising it immediately. I have to take a step back - everyone tells me this. Fortunately I need to put some time into planning the backstory for the space station story I'm going to write for NaNoWriMo. That should occupy my mind for the next few days. Now I need to go rest. So glad I have the day o...

I have been writing on and off for most of the day. And with the exception of the first 600 words it has all been on the YA Fantasy the Patternmaker's Daughter. I am now into chapter 23. The main part of the action for the book is now done. 81,100 words have been committed to paper. All I have to do now is tie off a couple of loose ends and set things in motion for book two. Of course book 2 will never get written if book 1 doesn't sell. I will be moving on to the space station story come November 1st; if the weird novella I mentioned earlier lets me. So if all goes well the book should be finished by early this coming week. Then I'll have a few days to get some serious editing done before NaNoWriMo Oh, and I'd better skim down the rough plot of books 2, 3, 4 in the PMD notebook so I don't forget it. Tonight though will not see any more writing. It's family film night - even though tonight there will be no film. We'll be watching the latest episode of...

I started good and early this morning. I've been having a few ideas about another Ben Williamson weird novella and when I awoke this morning at about 6:30 I had pretty much the entire plot swimming around in my head. Great you might think; except for the fact that I am 75K+ words into writing a YA fantasy and have kind of committed myself to writing a science fiction novel through November as part of MaNoWriMo. The problem was the novella was forcing its way into my brain and trying to oust the other two. Well I've let it have it course somewhat. I grabbed by Ben Williamson notebook and scrawled down a few pages of notes, key scenes, basic plot and the like. Then once showered and ready to go I even wrote the first section of it - some 606 words. Thankfully once I had done that it seemed content to calm down and let me get on with finishing the YA fantasy. Not sure it will be so obliging when I've finished that and want to get on with the space station story. Anywa...

I did a quick bit of writing earlier in the evening. It added 1,008 words to the novel bringing it up to 75,838 in total. It's getting quite close to the end of this opening book. Once it's done (in the next few days) I will revise it, submit it to the few agencies that will look at YA fantasy and maybe a publisher or two and then sketch down the plot for the rest of the story and put it aside in favour of something else. I need to keep trying to get these darn things published and as you can't sell a book two if book one is not sold I will move on to fresh pastures. Fortunately as I've typed before, I have something in mind. Going back to the Patternmaker's Daughter I have a confession. I had been thinking of this story as the inevitable trilogy - it is fantasy after all. The problem is the more I shape the story in my head and brief notes the less I can see it fitting into just three books, even if I make them longer than this one. It's looking like it co...

There was a book launch in Derby Waterstone's  this evening. The book being launched was Andrew David Barker's Dead Leaves. Andrew is a guy from Derby writing a book set in Derby in 1983 about a video nasty and some teenagers' hunt to find a copy of the banned film - the Evil Dead in this case. It appeals to me as a story. I lived through those crazy days with the furore of the 80s and enjoyed many of the films they were banning so it brought back a ton of memories. So I bought the book. What can I say? I'm a sucker for books. Met up with a friend for the signing so got to say hi to him as well as attend the book launch. Got home to the usual pile of emails and one from an agency. Did the usual job, deleted all the junk and spam, bringing it down to the four or five emails I care about. Then opened the others first, saving the one from the agency until last. Well, there's no use getting the disappointment in early. Then what do you have to look forward to. ...

The evening start with the book at 72,128 words and chapter 20 a section away from done. That section is written, as well as the first two sections of chapter 21. By some fluke I have added exactly 2,000 words tonight so I am finishing with it on 74,128. I am probably not going to be able to write tomorrow night. I am going straight from work to a book reading/signing in Derby. I will admit there is a bit of a motive on here as well as the interest in this book - which does sound really good BTW. I will be buying it. The publisher is a new one and based in the area. I am hoping to get a chance to talk to him a little and you never know. Yes I am that transparent. Or rather I am that semi-transparent. I do want the book. Right now to go finish John Oliver's Last Week Tonight then sleep time.

I received another response from an agency today. The Blair Partnership sent me a very polite email saying they would not be looking to represent my novel. This brings the total number of rejections for it to ten. Yep, I'm in double figures. Ah well. Got to keep trying I guess. Twitter simultaneously told me I have two new followers today while reporting the fact I have one less follower than when I started the day. So it looks like a couple more of the bots that pick it up from time to time dropped off. I had a look through the list and couldn't see as many of the users offering me so many followers (10K, 20K, whatever) for a very reasonable fee as I used to have. No great loss. Now it looks like pretty much every twitter follower I have is a real person. So that's a plus. Well tonight will not be as much of a writing night as yesterday (or indeed as tomorrow will be). My wife is home tonight and I intend to spend some time with her. I might just tap out the final p...

I've managed to spend enough time away from twitter to pen a couple of sections of the YA fantasy. Tonight has seen 1,452 words added bringing the book up to 72,128. Chapter 20 is not far off finished. Probably just another couple of sections and I'll wrap it up. Chapter 21 is the next bit that will move the story along. Sought my usual support from music. Had a bit of a Marillion fest tonight. Listened to  - Misplaced Childhood  - Anoraknophobia  - Holidays in Eden. I probably would have picked another one of their albums were it not for a tweet I saw from @TomWaitsPodcast about one of Waits' less liked albums Foreign Affairs. Now I like several of the tracks on that album so it had to be played. It's just finishing as I type this. Anyway - last thing done for the night. The novel is backed up. I back up all my writing. Every time it changes it gets backed up. Better safe than sorry.

My head is really not in it tonight. I've had a headache most of the day and am seriously tired. A big part of me was tempted to not even try writing today. But I remember reading somewhere about writers that they write through such times; just like I do for the day job. I don't stop my day job for a headache. I just take some pills and keep going. I don't stop when I'm not really in the mood. I don't have the option. I guess the lesson is you have to treat writing exactly as you do working. It is work after all. So it's suck up and do it time. Right onto another part of this blog's title - twitter. I have a twitter account and I'm trying to increase my followers count. So if you want to hear any brief as they happen updates on my writing, or odd titbits and random weirdness - basically whatever comes out of my head - please go follow me. Just search for @ielester Just noticed looking up the first part of this pretty much covered the tiredness a...

Added another section. Book now up to 70,756 words. Now I really do have to go spend time with my wife before she  - kills me  - forget who I am  - starts selling my stuff  - begins composing haiku

I found another possible place to submit the weird novella The Intersection. The only thing that has held me back is that they require a 500 word synopsis. I didn't have one of those so I started to write it and oddly found it a lot harder to do that write the novella itself. I put it down a second and came up with a plot for another weird little novella. That's gone down in the notebook for another day. Once that was done I headed off to spend a little family time - I am quite keen on making sure my marriage lasts (forever). So we watched another episode of the Flash. With it returning we thought we really should finish season 1. Watching it now we remembered why we didn't keep up with it when it was being aired and why we never deleted it from the Sky Box. It's so almost. I really want to like it. I do. But I have one problem. I'm 47. All the characters are so young. I fear it's not going to be too long before I have gone past watching stuff like this. ...

This blog is being read by more people than ever. Thank you all by the way. It does make me a little curious about what you all prefer to read about on here. Mostly I have been posting updates on how the writing has been going and any news from the submissions I have made to agencies and publishers - which at the moment are all a bit quiet. But I am wondering what else I could post. I've added details from time to time about my book collecting which I haven't done after today's hunt. I did buy six books today, most of which I already had. The car boot just wasn't all that good today for books; well not if you weren't looking out for celebrity biographies, true crime books or Catherine Cookson novels, none of which feature on my wants list. The last one was odd though. Back when I first got serious about book collecting I would see Cooksons everywhere. They've been rather scarce for a while up to today. Today there were about half a dozen people with a box...

I did a fair bit of writing this weekend. I just checked back to the last blog entry on Friday. I ended that evening on  62,120 words. Having spent a good amount of time at the keyboard over the past two day this has increased to 69,374 words. So that's a little over 7K in two days. I am relatively happy with that. I'm going to have to build one thing into my writing planning if I write any more fantasy. I don't find it as natural to write as either science fiction or horror. Those two just seem to flow naturally from brain to keyboard. Fantasy has a problem translating its way down my nervous system. I think the book is likely to be a little longer than I had originally planned. I'd thought it would run to about 80K - which I thought okay for YA. It's likely to be up to another 10K on top of that. Some of the bits just took longer to write than I thought. I'm not going to try to rush it. It comes out as it comes out. Today's writing saw a pretty pivo...

Well I started the day with a car boot. It was looking a little light on the ground but I guess it is nearing mid October. Most people with any sense will be staying in their warm beds and not heading out to sell. I thin I am likely to call it quits now until it starts again in 2016. So that should mena I concentrate a little more on writing (yay!) So far today I have done a little. I added a final 647 words to chapter eighteen and called it done. The book is now at 64,910 words. So getting along. Chapter nineteen should see the action ramp up a little. Hopefully it will seem as good on the page as it does in my head. Have listened to a bit of obscure music so far.  - Grey Lady Down - The Crime  - Opus Atlantica Having listened to the second I think I know why I don't pick it out all that often. Symphonic metal isn't really my thing. Anyway a short break (okay longer than that really). I went off to watch the start of the Russian Grand Prix. The problem with doing ...

I'm running out of time for writing today. In about 20 minutes I'll be popping out to buy the last things for tonight's meal - you always forget something don't you? Then after eating it will be Saturday film night. Or maybe it will be Doctor Who and Midwinter of the Spirit. We'll see. Can't be both as I need sleep - out for another book hunt tomorrow morning as we have the weather. So I started this morning on 62,120 words. It has grown a little since then. The book now stands at 64,247 words. So about 2.1K for the day. Not bad when you think we went out for a good portion of the day. And with most of tomorrow available for writing it should grow even more. And it's just as well. I have this idea I've mentioned before for a science fiction story set on a space station that I want to get on with. And after talking to a friend last night I have a witch story that we discussed some years back trying to force its way into my conscious mind. I just ho...

I had to pop out - Saturday's being the only day we can get to places as we work in the week. Whilst there I found a little time and did a book hunt run. I didn't find all that much book wise but I did find some talking books. My wife listens to them when driving here, there and everywhere for work or for the various concerts and shows she plays. A few CDs were added too - mainly dupes of stuff I have to join the CDs I keep in the car to play when I'm driving. Book wise I found four The Illustrated Brothers Grimm Orson Scott Card - Shadow Puppets Philip K. Dick - Ubik - a really great 1970s cover Philip K. Dick - Our Friends from Frolix 8 - same as above. I already had the two PKD books but not in these covers. I am trying to find every single Panther/Granada/Grafton edition published. I love the covers. The two PKD books also raised an odd thought. I found them in a charity book shop in the young adult section. Most of the science fiction they had was in this se...

I had an opportunity to get an hour's writing in this morning before I had to go out. So I took advantage of it. End result was Chapter 18 now has a second section done. Another 933 words have been added to the novel. The Patternmaker's Daughter now stands at 63,053 words. And I've done the second most important part of writing (in my opinion). I have backed up all my files. I do this pretty regularly - at the end of each writing session. I've known too many other people lose work (admittedly in other fields) that I am paranoid about it. One friend recently had her hard drive crash so spectacularly that virtually nothing could be retrieved from it. She'd used this as a storage drive for all the photographs she had taken over the past few years. And the vast majority were lost. And this is someone who works in IT and admitted she knew better. So my advice to anyone who might read this. If you have files you want to keep - BACK THEM UP. Anyway techy stuff over....

I have to go play taxi man again soon - the perils of being a teetotaller. So I am stopping writing now for the night. It wasn't a bad night. I moved the story on a pace or two and added 1,763 words. Currently running total is 62,120. Looking through my notes for what's left to cover before I call it done I think I am going to have to extend it beyond the 22 chapters I expected. The perils of cutting a couple short because they had reached good end points. you just have to make it up later. Still it seemed to work better that way. I can see it getting another 23K or so, maybe a little more. Hoping I can do that in 2 weeks. Should be able to make a good dent in it over the weekend as my wife will be musicing. (I do like making a noun work like a verb and vice versa. It feels so dirty.) Have had my usual musical accompaniment, albeit via the CD player and not playing it myself. I don't share my wife's talent. Since last posting it's been  - The Who Sell Out ...

Tonight writing is going well. I've added two chaplets totalling 1,200 words and chapter 17 is on the page. I'm celebrating with a Pepsi Max. I must totally go against the typical idea of an author. I'm teetotal (completely, not even in food). I don't smoke. And I'm a vegetarian. I only allow myself caffeine when I'm writing, sticking with just water otherwise. Talk about dull and uninteresting. Hopefully that won't feature as a comment in any review my writing might get in future (assuming of course I am ever published). The book now has 61,556 words and I think there are about five chapters to go. Although I will admit I may have to add one or two - I did expect 17 to finish a little later than it did but what I've just written felt so much like a stopping point I curtailed it. Music is doing its usual helping job. So far this evening I have had the Rolling Stones (a compilation) and Rush's Permanent Waves. It's maybe two thirds over so it...

I'm going to be writing later but as I had a few minutes I thought I would just type in some random meandering. Or to put it another way I have a few minutes before I turn into a taxi for the night. I have been playing around with the idea for the science fiction novel that I am going to try writing as part of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month - http://nanowrimo.org/ ). I think I might have a shot at finishing a draft I a month - even if I think that might approach 90,000 words. Of course I might need to take a day or two off work to do it - I have the holiday/vacation remaining so it's a possible. Anyway the challenge is 50K, so I will try for that before I get too ambitious. Life has a habit of throwing things in m way if I aim too high. The week hasn't gone too badly writing wise. 53K at the end of last Sunday.60.360 now. A little over 7K despite being at work. Hope to improve on that tonight. Will blog more later

I have completed two chaplets of chapter 17. We are the midst of both magic and the crux of book one. Tonight I have added 1,836 words bringing the novel up to 60,360. Yes it's through 60K. Getting on for 3/4 done now. Should get a chance this weekend to get a bit more done so I am on course to have this completed (draft one at least) by the end of the month so I can get ready for NaNoWriMo. I am going to go for it - draft one of minimum 50K in a calendar month from scatch. I really must be mad. Fantasy novel is going well. It's not been as easy as the sf was. I am much more of a science fiction fan over fantasy so I have had to have periods of big thinkings and have on more than one occasion stalled a little; fortunately never for long. Anyway as it is quarter to eleven and a school night I am not going to do anymore tonight. Going to chill for a few minutes then try to find sleep. One last thanks to Big Big Train. Their English Electric album has kept me going throug...

My wife is doing more music stuff tonight - rehearsing for the Ashbeian Musical Theatre Group concert tomorrow night. She does a fair bit with them and enjoys herself doing it. I'm told they are doing a version of the song Black Coffee that has the cast applauding madly whenever it's played in rehearsal so must be good. They have a website if anyone cares. It's a bit out of date and doesn't actually mention the concert but give you an idea about them http://ashbeianmtg.org/ Anyway this means I am all alone again and writing. I have written the first section of Chapter 17 - including a little bit of magic. It added 949 words to the book taking the total to 59,473. I am going to get going on the next now. Probably have the best part of an hour until my wife is back Tonight's writing has so far been set to music (without their even knowing) by  - Led Zeppelin  - Edison's Children  - Transatlantic

That blog heading pretty much sums up what I was going to type in the post itself. I have finished chapter 16. Should I leave it at that? Anything further beyond that point is just filler; fluff. Well of course I'm not going to. One thing I've noticed from authors is they like writing and I at least share that with them. Hopefully if all goes to plan I will share the published part (with regards novels) with them at some point in the future. Chapter 16 clocked in at 3,367 words. It got me to the point where the crux of the book is due to start which is a good thing. And I'm reliably informed (it's by my wife so there might be an element of bias I'll admit) that it built some nice tension. The book itself is at 58,529 words. Tomorrow my wife is at a rehearsal for the concert this Friday. So I will have two more nights in alone to work on it. And then at the weekend she is starting to prepare the next concert. Cue me staying out of the way a bit more and writin...

Well I didn't manage to get any more writing done before going out. Boo. but at least I was right about the afternoon. I had a great chat covering all manners of Horror Films, science fiction, the recent lunar eclipse and all the usual kinds of things you get when two geeks chat for an afternoon. Leave there get home  a little while before my wife is due from work so head straight for the cooker (yes I am domesticated) and one meal, plus a little TV watching together and all of a sudden it's quarter past eight. These days go by so quickly. Well my wife us heading off to watch the Great British Bake Off Final so I am going to do a little writing. Just time before I start to mention a trip to Tesco. Not something I would normally blog about but I saw a couple of books there I felt like buying. So as I log all the new book purchases here they are Neil Spring - The Watchers Catherine Chanter - The Well

I have the day off work and nothing to do; well, nothing active. I just have to wait in for someone this morning. So I thought, rather than just book a half day and head in this afternoon I'll take the whole day and try to get lots of writing done. And yes I realise the pressure that might put me under. Too much time and you start to think I NEED to do "this" much. Of course you always aim high then allow anxiety to creep in and you end up falling far short. Well not today. Today I woke up feeling good. Sat down at the keyboard and wrote a quick chaplet. All good. That was by 9am too so lots of day left. And then...yes it happened. I had tweeted about not being at work today and someone I've known for a while but not seen in... Well to cut a long story short I am going out at 12 and probably for the whole afternoon. It will be good in many ways but end result is limited time to write. And I have a couple of chores to do before I go, so even less time. And yes...

9:20 - I've been writing for a little over an hour and a half. In that time I have started chapter 16 and completed the first two chaplets. 1,418 words committing to file (it sounded much better in the days when you said to paper). The book is now standing at 56,578 words. I think this is going to be the last chapter before something more serious happens. Magic will happen in chapter 17. I just like pacing it a bit - having the action, then a bit of a come down before the build up starts and then more action. It works in my head. I am just hopeful it will work in the head of a literary agent at some point. One good thing about last night's rejection. The tone of the email was so friendly I decided to email him back and ask whether he would be okay with me sending another submission his way soon. I told him I was writing a YA fantasy and he replied that he will be happy to receive it. Cool. I didn't want to overload the agents. I might not be getting any success at ...

My wife is off doing her music tonight so I have nothing to stop me from writing - yeehay. Except for the jinx factor. Something is bound to happen now. Something is going to jump up and get in the way. I know it. And I have a fear its going to be of my own making. I'm betting I am putting so much pressure on myself that I will never be able to get it going. Take a deep breath. Hold it. Now let it out slowly... Is that better? Yes? Good... Now start to panic again. Then accidentally open MySQL Workbench. I really should uninstall that. Anyway - status report. The novel last night was at 55,162 words. Chapter 16 is next. All I have to do is figure out what should start it and get typing. I have some writing music on - Spock's Beard - The Oblivion Particle. I am really trying to like this album. I like Bennett Build a Time Machine. That's a good track. Hopefully I will like the rest of the CD.  

Just as I was about to power down my PC I noticed an email had popped into my inbox regarding a submission I made for my alternate Earth sf novel. Well, I opened it and read the text and it was, as expected really, a rejection. It had lots of kind words and good wishes in my search for an agent but no good news. I will keep trying. I want to do this old school. I don't want to self publish. Not saying it will never happen but I would prefer it to be the traditional way. Fingers crossed the YA fantasy might have a chance, And I'm still waiting to hear from the one agent who requested the entire manuscript

Put my head down and wrote tonight. 1,935 words added. Chapter 15 done and it included more dragons - or at least a report on dragons The book is now at 55,160 words. Slowly moving towards the big scene. More will follow tomorrow. And a few more Wednesday. I am off work for the day - got to wait in for someone. It should give me some time to do a little more. But I do have things I need to do that day too - real life getting in the way of writing. It's terrible. Tonight I would like to thank the following Dream Theater Queen John Entwistle Fish Their music has kept my foot tapping and my fingers tapping quicker still

As suspected earlier I didn't get back to writing. My brain was just a little too friend and I had to get stuff ready for work tomorrow. Weekends have this nasty habit of ending far too soon. I'm not quite on schedule with the novel. I had hoped to be nearing 60K by the end of this weekend and I'm on 53,285. It's not terrible and it's certainly not the end of the world. I can't push myself too hard - especially when my body is trying to fight off a cold. I will just keep plugging away. I will have a little bit of extra time this week in any case. My wife is playing another concert on Friday evening as well as being at rehearsal Tuesday and Thursday. That should hopefully give me time to tap out another few thousand words. I'm hoping too it will get easier now we are in action phase rather than the build up phase. Although I may have to take a little bit of time out as I've come across another couple of places to submit the novels/novellas I have a...

I'm not doing too bad writing wise today. I know one thing; I have to revise my expectations when writing fantasy. I don't find it as easy as horror or science fiction. I don't look as much stuff up on the way with those other two. Anyway I am now done with chapter 14. Another section of the book is over - we are moving into the final part. This is where book one comes to a head. Hopefully it should resolve a few issues whilst nicely setting up what is going to follow when I eventually get to Book 2 - if I ever do. Beyond honest I am inly likely to write the second, third, and maybe fourth, if I manage to sell book 1. I will have the plots all detailed in the Patternmaker notebook - just as I have the plots for books two and three in the Against the Fall of Empire SF series. But I am in this writing lark to see a book published. If I spent the time writing a book 2 of a book 1 that was unsold I am hardly achieving my objective. My logic (annoyingly) tells me that the...

I went out this morning on a book hunt. October and car boot sales is always going to be less than brilliant but it had been okay weather for a few days and you never know if you'll get another chance before autumn kicks in fully. Books this morning were fairly scarce and for the most part celebrity biographies or copies of Fifty Shades... I did find three books though James Herbert - Moon Rober Asprin - Another Fine Myth L. Elizabeth Storm - Quantum Leap: Pulitzer The last was a whim purchase. I used to like the Quantum Leap series and have in the long distant past read one of the novels they brought out. I may never read this one - in truth I almost certainly won't but for 50p how could I not buy it? Away from books there were a couple of CDs/DVDs I couldn't resist. Every house should have a copy of Kentucky Fried Zombies after all.

Quarter to midnight and I'm done. I've been up since 6am so a little surprised I got this far. And I might well be up early tomorrow. The day wasn't as good writing wise as I had hoped; despite the nice early state and success first thing. I just couldn't get my head into it for the rest of the day - not fully. I did see of that pesky chapter 13 though so that's good. And I'm well underway with chapter 14. Word count at about 51K so not too shabby. It's only been a month since I started this thing so I've not done too bad. hoping to have it finished at least a week before the end of October to leave myself a week to re-read and revise before NaNoWriMo starts. To do that I need a good Sunday. So I am going to go sleep to try to give myself the best possible chance

Thanks to the efforts of Helloween with their Keeper of the Seven Keys part 2 album I got my head back into it and put my head down. Result was two final chaplets, another 1,398 words and chapter 13 was done and dusted. I'm getting closer playing with dragons again. A little way into chapter 14 now and the book now has passed the 50K - but 17 whole words. I just wanted to wait until it had done so until I blogged about it. Yay! Go me! Anyway I have changed my music for the next writing session. Earlier this evening Alistair Reynolds tweeted how he had answered a number of the questions on a Mastermind round on Hawkwind. Well it put me in the mood for a little of the band. And so as I go for it with chapter 14 I am listening to Masters of the Universe. Good headf**k stuff. Apart from that I have mostly avoided the rugby. England lost as I knew they would. In truth I wasn't totally avoiding it. I'm not a fickle supporter to that degree. It's just the sky box was r...

Had to pop into Ashby this afternoon so had a chance for a quick book trawl. And yes I found one or two. Laurell K. Hamilton - Bloody Bones Colin Harvey - Damage Time Philip K. Dick - Solar Lottery and a research book for when it might be needed Ann Baer - Medieval Woman There were a bunch of CDs and a DVD of Prophect 3 as well but only the three books. Maybe better luck next time.

Okay I had to delete all of last night's writing. It was awful. I knew my mind hadn't been in it. But I have made some amends this morning. I started the chaplet again and this time I think I got it right. I'll see for sure when I reread after the whole thing is done. Anyway 799 words added this morning (which includes some of the chaplet after that) and am now up to 48,668. Going well. Will be doing much more today I hope. Now all I have to do is keep away from my new distraction. I am a total geek - out and proud. I've been reading sffh for 40 years, watching it too. I listen to prog rock and I'm a science nerd.. I'm beyond hope. And I'm easily distracted. That's why finding sites like Flickering Myth ( http://www.flickeringmyth.com/ ) is a problem. Full of information about geekdom. And I can't easily escape now as I've followed their twitter feed so these little tempting messages keep popping up. Ah well - at least I get the teasers ...

I have a challenge for anyone reading this. Name ten French pop or rock stars. It's difficult. For me the name Johnny Hallyday came to mind instantly, followed not long after by Vanessa Paradis and Jean-Jacques Burnel (who might have been born in London and raised in England but he has French parents so he counts). Then, because of my love of prog rock Jean-Luc Ponty and Patrick Moraz popped into my head. And yes, then I remembered Moraz is Swiss. I also thought of Gong. I've heard them claimed as a Frnech band but they aren't really. I looked a bit further on my CD shelves and found Magma. Magma are definitely French but you are unlikely to know them unless you collect obscure prog. Then Plastic Bertrand occurred to me - oh, hang on. He's Belgian. So I started to think a little further back and I added Serge Gainsbourg, Sacha Distel, Charles Aznavour and Edith Piaf. I'm sure if I put some time in to research there would be more but that shouldn't be ne...

In some ways this week has not been a good one. Not in any major way so this isn't going to be a complaint. I have too much in my favour in life compared with many people to moan about small stuff. It's basically that I am tired. I've not slept all that well and as a result didn't really have it in me tonight to do much writing. I added about 300 words before I gave it up and watched some TV. So I am caught up with Midwinter of the Soul. Fantastic show. Feels a little like the Scandinavian dramas I love - nice and gritty with flawed characters. Pity there is only one more episode to go. Also watched last night's Mock the Week and Have I Got News for You. Bit of a wind down Friday. Hopefully tomorrow I will be reinvigorated and make up for everything not done this evening...

I was decrying the lack of responses from agents and publishers about my submissions. It seems at least two of them heard me (or read me). I received two rejections today - for my horror novel from UK agency Annette Green, and for my science fiction from the Zeno Agency. That started the weekend off well. It was more fun not hearing in truth. And a publisher I contacted out of the blue isn't open for submissions - maybe next year though. I'm not sure my head is up for writing tonight. Not because of the rejections. I've steeled myself for them. They're part of the inevitable writing life. But it's been a bit of a long week and I'm not fully with it. I might be in a little while but for now I might search for more agencies or publishers I can send stuff in to. So I have chosen so uplifting music. This will be a little bit of a challenge for even hardened prog fans to follow. Erik Norlander's Music Machine. Not for it being extreme. It isn't. It...

I had a tricky conversation between two of my characters to write so the only music choice I could make was Tom Waits. I picked the album Alice. Normally I like to have music on that makes my foot tap when I'm writing (and Tangerine Dream when I'm revising) but there's just something about Tom Waits. My wife often remarks that a lot of my musical taste is rather difficult. It's usually when I'm playing King Crimson (especially some of the ProjeKCt stuff) or Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart or...Tom Waits. There are others that would probably also fit in this but these are probably the worst offenders. Oh, some of the German bands like Neu and Can might. Anyway the point is I am a massive Tom Waits fan. I've loved his music since I first heard it. The first track BTW was Whistlin' Past the Graveyard. And there are times when only Tom's stuff will do it - and that was just what happened earlier. Played Alice - finished the chaplet, the second of chapt...

I thought I'd come to some kind of impasse with the novel. The initial idea I had for the next chapter just didn't seem to be right. The more I thought about it the more it seemed wrong. I know where I want chapter 14 to be but getting there. This chapter 13 is going to be tricky. I need it to continue the calm a little that chapter 12 brought. After all the one it followed was a big action scene. I need it to have a decent pace else it will be a gallop straight towards the big bad. But how to do it. That was the issue. Well on the drive into work this morning I think I came up with the way to do it. It will mean a bit of a decision for one of the characters that she will regret whichever way she makes it but... Any road up - have written the first chaplet, 667 words. Now to get on with it. Writing music for the night so far  - The Beatles' Revolver  - Rush's Moving Pictures Foot is tapping well