Writing – where I’m at!

It is about half way through the year so I thought I would do an update on where I am with writing, not that it is really interesting. It may seem like I am not releasing much other than the odd poem or piece of flash fiction, probably because that is true. However, despite my apparent lack of writing I am actually working harder than ever to get things ready. Yes work is hectic and yes I do have two small children but I have my phone at my side and a lot of the time it is in my hand so I can edit. This is really starting to annoy my wife who just wants to have a conversation with me! That and the fact I have recently got a Nintendo Switch and Call of the Wild means I am no more than an enigma at the moment!

Right, on to specifics. Firstly, if you did not know already, I have finished editing ‘A Close Shave with Destiny.’ It is now with my beta readers, I have three but they are not professional editors or beta readers for a living so are doing me a favour. They also have busy lives so feedback is coming in slowly. When they have read it and final changes made it will be published through CreateSpace and on Kindle.

The novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo, ‘The Fifth Coin,’ is at the editing stage. I am about two-thirds through my first pass and am pretty happy at the moment. My new plan is to finish the editing then send it to a few publishers. When I get the obligatory rejection letters I will go ahead and publish it myself.

I have an idea for a children’s novel too but at the moment I am using all my willpower not to start it. Too many of my projects are half done before I flit onto the next thing. I am determined to get some writing finished so am focusing on editing before moving on. That said I do have ideas for more flash fiction to be included in ‘The First Flash of Hope.’ I am holding off on those as well until my first pass of ‘The Fifth Coin’ is complete then I can do a flash fiction or two before going on to stage 2 of editing my novel.

So there you go, I am still writing and I am being productive. With summer holidays coming soon I may even become more productive (although I will be spending most of it with the kids!). Just hang in there, I will be releasing stuff soon enough, I promise.

I ignored a book signing, is that right?

I have often seen local authors sitting in shops, particularly WH Smith, with a pile of books to sign and no-one buying them. I feel for them but move on pretty quickly. However, today I said no to a book signing and now I feel bad. The book is one I have heard of from a local author and fits into the Young Adult genre. Maybe the reason I feel bad is because this is a genre I write. Anyway, he told me he was signing books as I walked past but I just said, “no thanks.” After walking on a few paces I thought, ‘I am an aspiring author, I should be supporting this person.’ I did have my one year old daughter in my arms and was walking to calm her down, I am a little low on cash and I have too many books to read so did not want to buy it, but are these all poor excuses? Should I be buying signed books by local authors to support the cause even if I have no interest in the book itself? I then started to think about how I would feel if this was me. I think I would be indifferent, I mean he did go out his way to tell me he was signing books. I would not want to bug people who walked past if I had a book signing. However, I struggle to get people to review my books online and know how down it can make your feel. Really, the question I am asking is should we support other authors just because we are authors too or should we be truthful and only promote or help authors in those areas/genres we enjoy? I feel I am a hypocrite in some ways as I would always promote my friends no matter what they are doing. And the book that was being signed was, itself, a book I would not have minded reading. Oh well, none of us are perfect, he is probably over it now so I really should be.