Populating Fantasy Workshop

You know, I had all these visions of disaster about this coming workshop. It's my first workshop and while I have been to a few and so know the general structure of it, I was still a bit daunted. It all went really well, though. A great group of writers attended with a mix of skill levels from beginners to published authors. It was great to see the flow of ideas passing from person to person. People see writing as a solitary profession, but I think workshops and writing groups are the exception and while one author can create exceptional things, if you get a group of authors together the possibilities really are endless.

The workshop was a great success, but I don't think that was just down to me or my absolutely fantastic workshop planning. Don't tell anyone, but I actually bodged it together during my hour lunch break, two days before the workshop. Our little secret okay? I think, like most group activities, it succeeded because of the people who took part, so I really do thank those who attended for making it a great workshop.

I confess after I first offered to run a workshop, I did have thoughts of, 'am I really qualified to run a workshop?'  I mean I've had one novel published, yes, but I'm not Steven King or Terry Pratchett, who have bookshelves of novels to their name. What I took away from the workshop is that yes I am qualified to run a workshops. In fact, I think an author doesn't even need to be published to be qualified to run a workshop because all authors have different strengths and specialize in different areas. Even with a group of authors all on roughly the same level in their writing career, there is still a lot of variation; some may be great at editing, some at character development or world building. No two authors are the same and so there is always something to learn. If I took anything away from my first workshop it would be this.

New Completed Novels and Workshop Update

A brief update on all things literary going on in my life at the moment. It is now confirmed that I will be running a workshop as part of the Finchley Literary Festival in May which is both exciting and frightening in equal measures, but it's too late to back down now. It will be held at Church End Library on Saturday 23rd. The workshop will be about creating not just characters but also cultures for epic fantasy novels.

I have complete two new novels both of which I have sent off to publishers for consideration for publishing, a dark fantasy and a sci-fi novel. I've also completed cover art for both of those. I'm still working on the Atlantis and the Game of Time sequel, not actively at the moment but it is next on my completion list. I'm stuck on one scene that needs a particularly high amount of research the details of which are not forthcoming. I'm also working on a children's novel which I would also like to get completed this year. On top of that, like holding down a full time job and writing novels is not enough, I've also decided to try my hand at some twitch streaming. You'll find more details on that in a few days time on my Gamer Blog. I doubt it will go anywhere, but it sounds like fun.

So it's all go here for me at the moment. I apologise if my blog posts are less than weekly, but I will try to update when I can. To be fair, I don't lead the most exciting life in the world.

I did find a copy of "Atlantis and the Game of Time" for sale along with a number of other Kristell Ink titles in a shop in St Nicholas market, when I was back in Bristol over the weekend, which was really nice to see. I think I may have Joanne Hall to thank for that, a fellow Kristell Ink author, you can check out her blog here .

I'm always interested in hearing of the smaller independent stores stocking my books, so if you spot any then feel free to drop me a comment and let me know.

Anyway, I think that is all for now. Happy writing and reading all!

Finchley Literary Festival

It's official! The Finchley Literary Festival is confirmed to run this year from Wednesday 20th to Sunday 24th of May. Exciting. 2014's festival was fantastic, despite my early attempts at a reading which was less than stellar. Not a complete disaster, thankfully, but you certainly couldn't accuse me of time wasting.  

Anyway, it is more or less confirmed that I will be running a workshop this year, planned for the Saturday at Church End Library. Full details are yet to be ironed out, but it will called 'Populating Fantasy' and will look at the creation of races and cultures in fantasy worlds. As while character development is extremely important, in epic fantasy world building is equally important. Creating living, breathing cultures can be just a complex if not even more so than individual characters and can make the difference between a good read and a fantastic read. I'll give more details on this at a later date.

There is also a possibility in the works of a separate writing workshop in the Colindale area, but that is very much in the early planning stage. The topic for this one has not yet been decided. This will likely be a free event but will be ticketed and restricted to a certain number of people. Tickets will be given on a first come first served basis. I can't really reveal any more details on this just yet but watch this space.

There have now been quite a few reviews on my novel posted on the various sites where it is stocked, and I have enjoyed reading them all. So many thanks to all those who have read the novel and posted feedback. I really do appreciate it as, for me, writing is not simply about making money, it is about entertainment and enjoyment, and it is great to know that all my hard work and that of the publisher is being enjoyed. 

Apologies for anyone following me on Twitter at the moment. Twitter is a work in progress, for me, I'm trying to work out just what to tweet about. My official Facebook page is a little unloved, too again apologies. 

Anyway, I'll get back to you all with more updates. Happy reading/ writing all!

Long Time No Post!

Yep it's been a while. Apologies for that. Had some pretty bad internet issues that prevented me getting online long enough to post anything.

So what's happened since I last posted? Well there was NaNoWriMo. Despite the severe lack of internet which prevented me from researching in as much detail as I usually would, I made great progress with the Atlantis and the Game of Time sequel. There are massive chunks that need rewriting, and I will have to go back and check the historical details, now I have my internet back, but in consideration, I'm fairly pleased with what I accomplished during the month.

My dark fantasy novel 'The Hungering Shadows' is nearly complete. I'm just rewriting a few areas here and there. I've really enjoyed writing this one. I started it as a NaNoWrimo novel about three years back, I think. I hit 50,000 and then stalled as I usually do after NaNo is over and I rediscover my life... Well computer games rather than life. I went back to it over Christmas and finished it off. I've really had fun writing the main character of Twyfel as she is very changeable. She flips between almost human with feelings and emotions to nearly full demon and then back again, a lot. I find her quite an interesting character.

With this novel, I wanted to try my hand at writing a vampire type novel, just with a slightly different twist on the usual, I think overused, theme of bloodsucking teenage vampire falling in love with a human etc. My version has the more old fashioned form of a vampire which sucks souls/ life energy rather than blood, which is where the vampire myth originated. The setting is not in a modern real world setting with high schools etc but in a full epic fantasy setting.

Other than that, I've been playing a lot of computer games. Dragon Age Inquisition, Assassin's Creed Unity, World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor and the Dark Souls 2 DLC. You will be able to find out more about that on my gaming blog in a few days, once I've caught up with that.

Anyway, I think that's everyone caught up. My next post will be about my plans for the year, including the workshop I will be running, as part of the Finchley Literary Festival in May, so feel free to check back in a few days for that.

Happy writing or reading all!

Writer's Block

Been a while since I last posted and I apologise for that. In truth there haven't been a major number of advances. I am still writing the sequel to Atlantis and the Game of Time, now on chapter eight. Although, I have encountered a few weeks of writers block which has slowed me down.

There has long been a debate as to whether writer's block exists or not. I, personally, think it depends on your perspective. Writers block, for me, is what I use to describe a period in which the writing doesn't flow or the periods in which I'm too distracted to immerse my self fully in the world I'm creating. Some people say that if you get writers block the it means the characters may not be right or there is some error in the general structure/ plot of the novel. For me that's not the case. I always have more than one project on the go and when I have writer's block, I can't work on any of them. So, for me, at least, it is a state of mind issue.

I usually attribute my writer's block to one of two things: having too much going on in my life, to many stresses and worries which prevent me from detaching from the real world, or my creative batteries have just run out.

I gain my inspiration through watching films, reading books and playing computer games. If I do nothing but write for a few months straight (outside of my day job), which is not uncommon then eventually my inspiration will just dry up, at which point, I just need to take a few weeks out from writing and recharge by doing other things.

For me, writer's block exists, but I can see why some writers don't agree, as writer's block has no real definition other than something that prevents a writer from writing effectively. I could call mine instead symptoms of mild stress or being overworked, but I like the term writer's block because at the end of the day, the results are the same whatever causes it, the person can't write. For me, that means that a more general term is useful.

Let's face it, if someone online messaged me and said 'you know, I haven't seen you post any new stories for a while. How come?' I would much rather say writer's block than go into a full explanation of my personal life and why I just can't seem to focus at present.

Anyway, that's my personal opinion on writer's block and why I haven't posted for a fair while.

A Versatile Blogger

Many thanks to Rosie Canning for nominating me as a versatile blogger. She blogs on a wide range of topics and highlights some worthy subjects as well as blogging on writing events.

I have only just started my blogging journey back in May this year. At this time I attended a very good blogging workshop by Emily Benet. It was a very interesting and informative workshop where she explained the main rules of effective blogging, such as update often, preferably every week. Try to stick to one topic and never run two blogs at the same time as blogging takes up a lot of time.

I apologise Emily, I straight away broke that rule by setting up two blogs. The reason I did it was that I my original intention was to create a creative writing blog about my writing and the process of publication of my novel, but there is also another part of my life which important to me which is my gamer life (computer gaming). The two topics do not go together and yet I gain a lot of inspiration from my gaming and so I still felt it relevant.

The result is the setup you can see here, with my writing blog on the left and my gamer blog link on the right, so readers can switch from one to the other. This gives consistency on each blog and retains the ability for people to know what to expect from both blogs as set out in the title. This has come at a price as neither blog gets updated once a week but I still believe I made the right call.

On my author blog I restrict my blogging to the following topics - Writing, publishing news, book reviews, my digital art projects.

On my gamer blog I restrict to the following topics - Game reviews, online gaming experiences, movie reviews and anything else geeky- anime, comics etc

It is my next task to give seven random things about myself:

1 -I love chocolate, a lot.

2- I still sleep with my teddy bear that I've had since I was born. Sad, I know.

3- My flat is nearly always a mess, as I spend more time on writing and art than cleaning.

4- I have a drawer at work that is kept almost exclusively for chocolate bars and has a selection of about twenty different types.    

5- I never manage to eat my five a day and when that was raised to seven I gave up all hope.

6 - I once laughed in my dentist's face when he suggested I should give up sweets and chocolate. He wasn't impressed.

7 - I resent when asking for a glass of coke being asked if I want the diet version. Seriously, do I look fat and like I need to be on a diet? Don't answer that.

Here is a list of my fellow bloggers whom I nominate:

Sammy H K Smith
Zoe Harris
Emma Latham
Joanne Hall
C N Lesley
Sophie E Talis
Deb E Howell
Kate Coe

Launch Day!

Yes, I'm all excited. I feel like I've been on a sugar rush all morning. *Looks at pile of cakes* Okay, maybe I have been. Brought cakes into work and as it was to celebrate three events, book launch, birthday and final day at work before I start my new job on Monday, I had to bring in a lot.

Anyway, the copies of my novel arrived on Wednesday. I took one box home and locked the other up at work ready for launch day. I was included on the last staff newsletter so there has been quite the buzz at work about it. I've already sold a fair few copies this morning, at knife point. I've been getting photos of people with the book to make into a collage when I get home. I'll add it here when it's ready.

Here is the book trailer, although I have already linked it here before, it's good to have everything in one place.

And, for people wanting to buy a copy it is available from the following links:


Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Smashwords

Foyles


Or you can order it from your friendly local high street bookshop using the paperback ISBN : 978-1-909845-59-6

Anyway, I'm very excited. This really is an amazing moment. I've been writing novels since I was 16 and finally here is one in print. Although, I will admit that I never sent the first two novels I wrote for publication owing to getting stuck in the continuous rewrite loop.