Saturday 28 March 2015

In 'short', I wrote four short stories in five (and a bit) days

So far, I've had a rather productive writing week and not only that, I'm very happy with the words I've actually written.

In a nutshell, ever since I finished working on WEIGHTING TO LIVE (a subtle hint that you can get it HERE), I had a strong desire to write a few short stories from the perspective of certain characters from said book. Well, the thoughts banging about my mind became a reality and this week I wrote four of them in just over five days.

Here are the details:


Monday 23rd March:

Short story 1 - finished at 3,484 words
Short story 2 - started but incomplete at 1,415 words

TOTAL words written for the day - 4,899


Tuesday 24th March:

Short story 2 (continued from yesterday) - finished. Wrote 3,626 words (full story 5,041 words)

TOTAL words written for the day - 3,626


Wednesday 25th March:

Short story 3 - started but incomplete at 1,272 words

TOTAL words written for the day - 1,272
*Not the best of writing days but I had the mother of all sugar crashes and was really distracted PLUS I had an epic 2 hour phone call with a friend.


Thursday 26th March:

Short story 3 (continued from yesterday) - finished. Wrote 1,308 words (full story 2,580 words)
Short story 4 - started but incomplete at 974 words

TOTAL words written for the day - 2,282
*I know 2,282 is an ok number of words in a day but I could have done SO MUCH BETTER and was distracted by absolutely everything and procrastinated in as many ways as it is humanly possible to procrastinate.


Friday 27th March:

Short story 4 (continued from yesterday) - (pretty much) finished. Wrote 2,828 words (full story 3,802 words)

TOTAL words written for the day - 2,828
*Literally until the evening, I had written only about 1,000 words but suddenly, I had inspiration and started writing like a maniac. Within the space of about an hour and a half I had another 1,800. There is nothing like the joy of a sudden idea. Hallelujah!


Saturday 28th March:

I went over short story 4 to tweak it as it was getting too late to do it the night before. I didn't really write anything else but the finished word count for short story 4 is 3,837.

***

For all the short stories, even as I was writing them, I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next but I wrote them anyway and words somehow appeared on the page. All I knew in advance was who I wanted the story to be about plus a few potential ideas for the plot (bar nothing but the character for short story 4).

I am still undecided what to do with these four short stories. I think once I edit them, more than likely I will sell them singly and pop them on up on Amazon because I am rather proud of them.

Also, on Monday I will be working on something new - I won't say what yet but I do hope it works out as I think it might ... I am going to be aiming for at least 5,000 words a day so hopefully I'll have a first draft by early-mid April.

So writing plan for the foreseeable future looks like this:

  1. Write draft of new book starting from Monday
  2. Edit the 4 short stories written this week
  3. Edit draft of new book
  4. Have a cry because I've broken my hands

Until next time (when I shall probably be a wreck).

Sunday 22 March 2015

Something new, something borrowed, something blue

It's been well over two weeks since my last post so I will try my best to sum them up for you in as few words as possible...

On Friday 6th March, I embarked on a brand new 'chapter' and turned my attentions to writing a short story. Something completely new. A quick read. The first day's word count was 3,003 and all was going well then BAM, the following day I felt so ill that I didn't write. Illness continued and after a few attempts at writing again, I couldn't get my mind to concentrate on the blank page so instead I turned my attention to reading ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING!

I read seven books - all of which I enjoyed. I started off with a (VERY) racy romance novel that had two main characters with fabulous chemistry and after that I had such an almighty book hangover that it could only be rectified with a reread of Judith McNaught's Perfect.  Because I did not already own that particular book of hers, I had to order it online and while I waited the agonizing amount of time for it to arrive, I went to my local library and got some more books. They were a fun mix - nothing life changing but light and happy enough to keep me entertained.

When THE book finally arrived >>>>>>>> I was both excited and curious how it would be this time around. I was not disappointed - I loved it even more. I already mentioned in a previous post that I would do a full blog post on her books and that is still going to happen so BRACE YOURSELF. Even if you think you are not a romance novel person, give her books a try as she is brilliant and an absolutely wonderful storyteller. I also need to quickly talk about the cover - seriously how pretty is it?

Tomorrow I am getting back to writing and I'm unsure what to do for the best. My heart is telling me to do one thing and my head is saying stick with what I started before I got ill ... You know what? Like a romance novel heroine, I think I shall follow my heart and do exactly what I want!

Before I go, I must also mention something else exciting that happened. Yesterday (Saturday) I started a promotion on WEIGHTING TO LIVE so it is free until tomorrow (GET IT HERE!) and again after asking the fabulous Marian Keyes to retweet a link, which she did (and was BEYOND sweet of her), I got quite a few downloads ... with one from a lovely woman who tweeted me to say she was reading my book and enjoying it. I got extremely excited as the only person who has ever told me what they think of the book is my mother so to get positive feedback from someone I have never met is a truly lovely feeling.

I have done what I didn't want to do and have gone on too much. Forgive me? Want a free book to make up for it (HERE)?  

Until next time.

Wednesday 4 March 2015

The what now? period

It's been an eventful week.

When I launched my book last Sunday, on a whim, I asked the (FABULOUS) author Marian Keyes to retweet my book ... AND SHE DID!  Consequently, six people bought my book on Amazon - SIX! I know if there are any successful authors randomly reading this, they are probably laughing into their port and saying to themselves 'Six? I blink and have six THOUSAND sales'... well to me they mean a lot. The following day I got another sale which means seven people around the world have bought my book.

I have thought quite a bit about those seven sales and wonder who they are and what made them decide to support a first time self-published author and spend their hard-earned money on me. Well whoever they are, they made Sunday morning and the following day very exciting and I wish I could tell them thanks. It's quite funny really because my mum wanted to be the first one to buy my book and she missed out - I really thought I would have ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD before I even got a sniff of a sale (she was the 8th person to buy it).

Anyway, I am in an strange place now because I know I should promote my book and be a downright nuisance on twitter and social media but I find it all a bit .... dirty. Even asking a couple of people to RT my book made me feel a little iffy. I suppose it is just a personal thing as I have never liked the whole 'networking' thing. My gut is telling me leave the publicizing to fate and just do what I really want; write.

*Does some deep thinking*

Well for now I am off to pull my socks up and write. I will keep what I am writing to myself for now but I cannot wait to get stuck in.

Until next time.

Monday 2 March 2015

And yet another book review (but it’s a good ’un)

Just as I have uploaded my first book to Kindle Direct Publishing I decided, instead of publicising my own work, to sing the praises of another book instead - but I really couldn't keep this one to myself!

On Friday, just after self-publishing my book with KDP and waiting for it to go live on the site ... then waiting some more for changes to be made - which have now been sorted (*coughs* buy it here), I started reading Me Before You by Jojo Moyes which has instantly become one of my all-time favourite books.

The story is just so beautiful. I don’t want to say much about the plot and spoil anything for you but one thing I must mention is that it makes you think about disability and what a hard time people in wheelchairs have getting from A to B. I also wasn't aware of all the medical issues connected with paralysis.

I loved Lou & Will’s relationship and oddly, I found similarities between Lou and the main character from my book Weighting To Live - two women dealing with challenging situations but somehow finding themselves in the process.

So apart from MANGLING MY HEART, this book was funny and compelling and I WANT TO READ IT AGAIN NOW!

*And breathe*

– WAIT –

Literally as I am writing this post, I checked Jojo Moyes' blog and it says there is A SEQUEL TO ME BEFORE YOU COMING OUT THIS SEPTEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can buy Me Before You (here).

Until next time.

Sunday 1 March 2015

The Day Has Come!

Yes, after a few delays with formatting etc, I am now a self-published author with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing!

It's been crazy trying to navigate my way around the world of formatting/editing/self-publishing to-do's but I think I have everything sorted (I hope).

So without further ado, here is the cover of my book:
Ooo ah!!
To find out what Elizabeth the First has to do with a coconut, you will have to buy the book I'm afraid. It's called Weighting To Live and here is the brief (and pretty vague) blurb for it:

If you like cats, hot men, food, family drama, ridiculous people, humour and romance, you might just enjoy this small tale at a little under 52,000 words about one girl’s battle to change her life in the midst of the illness of her beloved grandmother, a miserable boss, a crazy family, weight battles, inner demons, a lack of self-belief and a bit of trichotillomania (hair pulling) thrown in. She really is weighting to live. 

I am really proud of how it turned out and hope you all like it.

You can buy it *here* (UK Amazon link) and *here* (US Amazon link) plus at all the other Amazons around this beautiful world!

Until next time.