My short story 'Another day in Paradise' will soon be available free on my website for all to read.
The story is set in the near future following the end of the world as we know it. It follows a character trapped in an underground bunker fighting with his own sanity after his only companion takes his own life.
Sunday, 23 August 2015
Saturday, 27 September 2014
Old man's Glass first draft available for FREE
Hi all. As the title suggests, I have decided to make the complete first draft of Old man's glass available for free as a PDF for anyone to read online or download to read whenever you like.
I'm busy working on the planning for part two of the story as well as editing the first one, so I thought it might be good to get something out there for you to read while I'm busy.
Simply follow this link to get to the Old man's glass page where you can find the download. Alternatively, you can head to ' My stories' where there is a little more info in the story, then follow the links from there.
Until next time...
I'm busy working on the planning for part two of the story as well as editing the first one, so I thought it might be good to get something out there for you to read while I'm busy.
Simply follow this link to get to the Old man's glass page where you can find the download. Alternatively, you can head to ' My stories' where there is a little more info in the story, then follow the links from there.
Until next time...
Tuesday, 15 July 2014
New chapters available
The stories section has been updated with new chapters from the first book, 'Old man's Glass'. The first and second draft of chapter 2 is now available!
Completion of first draft and announcing title change!
As the progress counter on the left hand side states, the first draft of my first real work in progress is complete. I have big plans for the world and the story in which the book takes place so hopefully with a little refinement and plenty of rewrites and editing, it wont be half bad. The second and third part of this story is already floating around in my head and some early plans have been laid out in paper so I plan to get working on the second part a soon as I can.
In the meantime, I will be focussing on rewrites and edits for the first book and will be updating the stories section of the website with sample chapters and segments for everyone to read.
On that note, if anyone would fancy reading a copy out of the goodness of their heart and offering a little feedback, please feel free to contact me and your help would be greatly appreciated. Should anyone indeed offer, I will give you a personal mention in the acknowledgments!
So now its done, I finally realised how big it is. I planned for three novellas as practise before starting the main story line. now that its all together and merged into one, it come out at just under 44000 words, which according to some guideline I found on the web means its technically a novel. It has long been a life goal of mine to write a novel, and no matter how rough it is or how much work it needs, i can finally say I wrote a novel. That makes me a little proud, and I'm sure al of you writers out there have felt the same thing.
One i feel it is done and ready to be let loose (god help me) it will hopefully be made available on kindle and other major Ebook formats free of charge! I'm not bothered about money at this stage, I'm doing it for the love of doing it. and if i brings a few people to the table when I do set a price somewhere down the line, then God bless you!
Finally, I want to announce that the book has a new title. From this point, it is officially named 'Old Mans Glass'. A name which sounds odd, but I like odd, and if you read the book, you will hopefully understand.
Thanks for reading. I will be bringing more news on the progress of the rewrites and the second book as soon as I can, plus another special announcement!
Peace, and keep on rolling!
In the meantime, I will be focussing on rewrites and edits for the first book and will be updating the stories section of the website with sample chapters and segments for everyone to read.
On that note, if anyone would fancy reading a copy out of the goodness of their heart and offering a little feedback, please feel free to contact me and your help would be greatly appreciated. Should anyone indeed offer, I will give you a personal mention in the acknowledgments!
So now its done, I finally realised how big it is. I planned for three novellas as practise before starting the main story line. now that its all together and merged into one, it come out at just under 44000 words, which according to some guideline I found on the web means its technically a novel. It has long been a life goal of mine to write a novel, and no matter how rough it is or how much work it needs, i can finally say I wrote a novel. That makes me a little proud, and I'm sure al of you writers out there have felt the same thing.
One i feel it is done and ready to be let loose (god help me) it will hopefully be made available on kindle and other major Ebook formats free of charge! I'm not bothered about money at this stage, I'm doing it for the love of doing it. and if i brings a few people to the table when I do set a price somewhere down the line, then God bless you!
Finally, I want to announce that the book has a new title. From this point, it is officially named 'Old Mans Glass'. A name which sounds odd, but I like odd, and if you read the book, you will hopefully understand.
Thanks for reading. I will be bringing more news on the progress of the rewrites and the second book as soon as I can, plus another special announcement!
Peace, and keep on rolling!
Monday, 28 April 2014
New book review
My review of the first instalment in Robert Jordan's epic 'Wheel of time' series is now online. 'The Eye of the World' is a huge chunk of fiction that will swallow hours of your life, but is it worth the time? Follow the 'Book Reviews' link at the top of the page to find out!
Sunday, 19 January 2014
So, your a part time writer?
What does it mean to be a part time writer? and why do I call myself as such?
I am unpublished thus far, yet I call myself a writer. How can I do this? Well, that's kind of an easy question to answer and its not as big headed as it sounds. You see, its not being published that makes you a writer--its writing that makes you a writer, whether you get paid to do it or not. Calling yourself a part time writer as I do just means that you have decided you want to take it seriously.
A piece of advice I heard is that making the switch from writing as a hobby to writing seriously just requires a change in mind set. If you want to write something to get published, you can just write as a hobby writer and eventually you will finish and be proud of it. In fact hobby writing is a good thing, it means you actually want to write and enjoy the process of recording your imagination on the screen (or on paper, if you still like the old fashioned way).
The advice I was given however, is that, if you want to write something that you want to have published and you want people to pay you for, you must be prepared to put in the effort, as if it where a job.
I have wanted to write a book for years, but never actually finished one or even wrote more than a few chapters because I didn't have the right mind set. I would come home from school or college or whatever and think, nah I will do a bit tomorrow. This cycle continues until you stop thinking about going back to write it all together. Now though, I have changed my view point so to speak, and I tackle writing from a totally different angle.
If you want people to pay for something you have written, you have to put the effort in. Keep telling yourself that, and eventually it will sink in. Effort however, means sacrifices, and by sacrifices I don't mean sacrificing your grandma at a demonic shrine--I mean, sacrificing some of your free time to sit down and write, whether you want to or not. And if business studies taught me anything, it is that entrepreneurs have to be willing to make sacrifices and take risks if they want a new idea to become successful, just like you now.
For me, I look at it as being self employed. You are the boss, but to get anything done and to get any reward out of it, you must make yourself work, by whatever means necessary. I like to set myself strict goals that I must keep to each day, and that is to write 500-800 words per day when I get home from work. And this might not sound a lot, but after a month or so of doing this each day, you will technically have the first draft of a novella. Keep going for a couple more months, and you have got yourself a good sized novel.
If there is going to be a day where I know I am not going to be able to write, I make sure I have written at least 1000 words the day before so that I don't get behind. At weekends, the goals are the same, but its less of a problem because I normally will sit down for several hours and get through a few thousand words. When the week starts over though, I cannot lean back on the work I got done over the weekend as they are free days. The working week is the time for sacrificing that special free time after work, to put some effort into your story. Thus, I must always write at least 500 words per week night, only missing a day if I know I am not going to be able to write, requiring extra effort the day before as explained above.
This method for me has proven quite successful so far. I have kept to my goals and I am on track with my writing. It also helps that I don't like to stop when I am in the middle of something. for example, if I get to five or six hundred words and happen to be in the middle of a scene, I will always end up finishing that scene, and that usually means I get an extra few hundred out of each day.
This then, is how I call myself a part time writer. I have made sacrifices to make myself write, because one day I want people to want to pay for my books, and to me, that means you have to work for it. And it is this mentality, to me, that allows me to call myself a part time writer.
I hope this post has somehow helped someone in some way, after all, it was this piece of advice alone that flicked a switch in my head and made me look at writing seriously.
I know it seems like a very serious thing to post as a first blog, but I just wanted to clear it up and get it out of the way. I will get to the more pleasant things, like introducing myself properly, in the next blog.
Until next time. keep tapping.
I am unpublished thus far, yet I call myself a writer. How can I do this? Well, that's kind of an easy question to answer and its not as big headed as it sounds. You see, its not being published that makes you a writer--its writing that makes you a writer, whether you get paid to do it or not. Calling yourself a part time writer as I do just means that you have decided you want to take it seriously.
A piece of advice I heard is that making the switch from writing as a hobby to writing seriously just requires a change in mind set. If you want to write something to get published, you can just write as a hobby writer and eventually you will finish and be proud of it. In fact hobby writing is a good thing, it means you actually want to write and enjoy the process of recording your imagination on the screen (or on paper, if you still like the old fashioned way).
The advice I was given however, is that, if you want to write something that you want to have published and you want people to pay you for, you must be prepared to put in the effort, as if it where a job.
I have wanted to write a book for years, but never actually finished one or even wrote more than a few chapters because I didn't have the right mind set. I would come home from school or college or whatever and think, nah I will do a bit tomorrow. This cycle continues until you stop thinking about going back to write it all together. Now though, I have changed my view point so to speak, and I tackle writing from a totally different angle.
If you want people to pay for something you have written, you have to put the effort in. Keep telling yourself that, and eventually it will sink in. Effort however, means sacrifices, and by sacrifices I don't mean sacrificing your grandma at a demonic shrine--I mean, sacrificing some of your free time to sit down and write, whether you want to or not. And if business studies taught me anything, it is that entrepreneurs have to be willing to make sacrifices and take risks if they want a new idea to become successful, just like you now.
For me, I look at it as being self employed. You are the boss, but to get anything done and to get any reward out of it, you must make yourself work, by whatever means necessary. I like to set myself strict goals that I must keep to each day, and that is to write 500-800 words per day when I get home from work. And this might not sound a lot, but after a month or so of doing this each day, you will technically have the first draft of a novella. Keep going for a couple more months, and you have got yourself a good sized novel.
If there is going to be a day where I know I am not going to be able to write, I make sure I have written at least 1000 words the day before so that I don't get behind. At weekends, the goals are the same, but its less of a problem because I normally will sit down for several hours and get through a few thousand words. When the week starts over though, I cannot lean back on the work I got done over the weekend as they are free days. The working week is the time for sacrificing that special free time after work, to put some effort into your story. Thus, I must always write at least 500 words per week night, only missing a day if I know I am not going to be able to write, requiring extra effort the day before as explained above.
This method for me has proven quite successful so far. I have kept to my goals and I am on track with my writing. It also helps that I don't like to stop when I am in the middle of something. for example, if I get to five or six hundred words and happen to be in the middle of a scene, I will always end up finishing that scene, and that usually means I get an extra few hundred out of each day.
This then, is how I call myself a part time writer. I have made sacrifices to make myself write, because one day I want people to want to pay for my books, and to me, that means you have to work for it. And it is this mentality, to me, that allows me to call myself a part time writer.
I hope this post has somehow helped someone in some way, after all, it was this piece of advice alone that flicked a switch in my head and made me look at writing seriously.
I know it seems like a very serious thing to post as a first blog, but I just wanted to clear it up and get it out of the way. I will get to the more pleasant things, like introducing myself properly, in the next blog.
Until next time. keep tapping.
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