A return to posting
I have been terrible at maintain this blog. For that I can only say sorry to anyone who has enjoyed reading my rambling entries. I am going to try to improve the frequency especially as I have things to promote these days. You see it's only a little over a month until my first novel, the Stairs Lead Down, is published.
Yeah, I really should have got back to posting here sooner. I could have posted the cover months ago but just haven't. To make up for lost time (something I'm positive you can't do) here it is.
It's a young adult supernatural tale set in my hometown, Ashby de la Zouch. Here's the blurb from the publisher's website.
You can find the page for the book here (the Stairs Lead Down).
It's not the only writing news I have. I have an offer of publication for one of my Ben Williamson weird novellas, the Intersection. I don't have any details I can share as yet other than it will be coming out in the first half of next year. I'll post more as soon as I have it.
Regarding other stories, a London based publisher expressed an interest in my ya fantasy novel, the Patternmaker's Daughter. Only they wanted a rewrite to change a few of the elements to make it a little more appealing to young adult readers. Their comments were obvious when I re-read the story and I spent most of the summer trying to make it more suitable for them. I finished it and sent it off last week in August.
Since then I've found writing difficult. In truth I've found writing difficult all year; I just forced myself to do the rewrite. It's the reason why blogging hasn't really happened. I tried once or twice but it just wasn't happening.
The reason for this posting is an interview. with the book coming out in a little over a month. In that interview, conducted via email, I found it easy to type word after word; easier than I had in weeks. So I thought I would give blogging a try. And here we are. It seems to be working.
Away from the revisions I've been doing I have written the first 3 chapters of the sequel to the Stairs Lead Down. The publisher wants to include them with the release of book 1. I just have to get them revised by the end of the month so they can be prepped in time for the Hallowe'en release.
I've submitted some short stories to a couple of markets I'd tried before. They were not accepted. I've made a few more novel submissions but I really need to get one of the unfixed draft ones sorted so I can have another go at finding an agent. Maybe the autumn will see me a little more productive in this way.
Away from writing entirely I've been back in Belgium. Still my favourite country other than Italy. We went back to a lot of the old fave places but did try one or two towns we'd never visited before. We finally got to Leuven this trip and I hope this is not the last time we visit. It's a wonderful city.
I've read a number of great books over the last few months. The Magnus Mills and Zoran Živković books were obvious picks. They are two of my favourite authors as I've mentioned many times before. But the revelation of the summer for me was Emily St. John Mandell. I read Station Eleven and it is wonderful; simply wonderful. It's exactly my kind of story. It doesn't have a traditional plot; set up, rambling middle bit, conclusion. It just tells of the lives of a number of connected people in a future dystopia world laid mostly waste by a plague. I need to read this woman's other 3 books.
I've watched some good TV and virtually no movies. I've not even kept up with the Marvel films; not seen one since X-Men: Apocalypse. Need to fix this obviously as I want to see Doctor Strange and Guardians 2 but I've been put off my normal course by getting Netflix, Amazon Prime and All 4. There are just so many good TV shows there that this is all I've been watching.
I've seen some of the Marvel TV shows like Daredevil, both series, and Jessica Jones but I've also watched a few of the Walter Presents shows on All 4. I love Scandi dramas and there's been plenty to chose from. We've also indulged a little a rewatched the first 9 series of the Big Bang Theory.
Enjoyed a few of the odder shows too - like Lilyhammer, Santa Clarita Diet and Norsemen (a wonderful surreal comedy about Vikings featuring a lot of the people from Lilyhammer and Dag, two other Norwegian shows I loved.
I'm sure it'll settle down soon when we get over the novelty. Anyway - that's about it for now. I'll try to post more often. Let's see how that goes.
Yeah, I really should have got back to posting here sooner. I could have posted the cover months ago but just haven't. To make up for lost time (something I'm positive you can't do) here it is.
It's a young adult supernatural tale set in my hometown, Ashby de la Zouch. Here's the blurb from the publisher's website.
What could be worse than moving from London to the middle of no where, at the age of 13? New school, new place, new people and a ghost in the kitchen!
Lizzie and Noah discover a portal to the ghost realm and take the Stairs Down to end up in an andventure of a lifetime.
Will the help of two mysterious women - Elizabeth and Magda be enough for them to face the Evil which wouldn’t hesitate to kill? What if this Evil wears the face of someone they have trusted their entire lives?
You can find the page for the book here (the Stairs Lead Down).
It's not the only writing news I have. I have an offer of publication for one of my Ben Williamson weird novellas, the Intersection. I don't have any details I can share as yet other than it will be coming out in the first half of next year. I'll post more as soon as I have it.
Regarding other stories, a London based publisher expressed an interest in my ya fantasy novel, the Patternmaker's Daughter. Only they wanted a rewrite to change a few of the elements to make it a little more appealing to young adult readers. Their comments were obvious when I re-read the story and I spent most of the summer trying to make it more suitable for them. I finished it and sent it off last week in August.
Since then I've found writing difficult. In truth I've found writing difficult all year; I just forced myself to do the rewrite. It's the reason why blogging hasn't really happened. I tried once or twice but it just wasn't happening.
The reason for this posting is an interview. with the book coming out in a little over a month. In that interview, conducted via email, I found it easy to type word after word; easier than I had in weeks. So I thought I would give blogging a try. And here we are. It seems to be working.
Away from the revisions I've been doing I have written the first 3 chapters of the sequel to the Stairs Lead Down. The publisher wants to include them with the release of book 1. I just have to get them revised by the end of the month so they can be prepped in time for the Hallowe'en release.
I've submitted some short stories to a couple of markets I'd tried before. They were not accepted. I've made a few more novel submissions but I really need to get one of the unfixed draft ones sorted so I can have another go at finding an agent. Maybe the autumn will see me a little more productive in this way.
Away from writing entirely I've been back in Belgium. Still my favourite country other than Italy. We went back to a lot of the old fave places but did try one or two towns we'd never visited before. We finally got to Leuven this trip and I hope this is not the last time we visit. It's a wonderful city.
I've read a number of great books over the last few months. The Magnus Mills and Zoran Živković books were obvious picks. They are two of my favourite authors as I've mentioned many times before. But the revelation of the summer for me was Emily St. John Mandell. I read Station Eleven and it is wonderful; simply wonderful. It's exactly my kind of story. It doesn't have a traditional plot; set up, rambling middle bit, conclusion. It just tells of the lives of a number of connected people in a future dystopia world laid mostly waste by a plague. I need to read this woman's other 3 books.
I've watched some good TV and virtually no movies. I've not even kept up with the Marvel films; not seen one since X-Men: Apocalypse. Need to fix this obviously as I want to see Doctor Strange and Guardians 2 but I've been put off my normal course by getting Netflix, Amazon Prime and All 4. There are just so many good TV shows there that this is all I've been watching.
I've seen some of the Marvel TV shows like Daredevil, both series, and Jessica Jones but I've also watched a few of the Walter Presents shows on All 4. I love Scandi dramas and there's been plenty to chose from. We've also indulged a little a rewatched the first 9 series of the Big Bang Theory.
Enjoyed a few of the odder shows too - like Lilyhammer, Santa Clarita Diet and Norsemen (a wonderful surreal comedy about Vikings featuring a lot of the people from Lilyhammer and Dag, two other Norwegian shows I loved.
I'm sure it'll settle down soon when we get over the novelty. Anyway - that's about it for now. I'll try to post more often. Let's see how that goes.
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