Month: October 2015

I’m slowly going crazy …

If I get a headache I can take paracetemol

If I have a sore back I can take ipBrufen.

If I can’t put words on paper … what is there I can take?

Therein lies the writer’s dilemma.

I have been staring at the blank sheet on the computer screen for about an hour now.  I am in the middle of a re-write.  I know what direction I want the story to go.  Yet, for the life of me, I cannot find the words.

Is it writer’s block?

Here’s the thing.

Not four hours ago I had all the words in the world.  The new scene was all but writing itself, the words flowing, the characters were alive and almost bubbling over with enthusiasm.  I could almost feel the mental sparring.

That scene is done.

Now I have to move on from there to the next.

I guess I’m going on a long walk around the neighbourhood, looking but not seeing, thinking but trying not to think, stopping at the café and have a long hot coffee and a cake, perhaps this time a custard tart with whipped cream (OK, I know that can’t be good for me, but it is delicious) and by the time I get back …

Hopefully the words will return.

Episodes

This is going to be an ad-hoc story written on the fly, page by page, and I have no real idea where it will go beyond each page.  Installments will appear several times a week, basically when I get the time, or a crazy new idea.

Of course, you, the readers can make suggestions and I will if possible incorporate them.

At the end, everyone who has contributed, subscribed, or left a constructive comment on my website will get a free copy of the published eBook.

Look for the first episode in the next few days.  I will post the URL as it is being published with my blog.

By the way, the URL for the blog is: https://aloysius5.wordpress.com/

The URL for Episodes is: https://piwalthenson.wordpress.com/

The URL for the Website is: http://charles-heath.com/

It’s a long hard road …

Self published authors are fully aware that perhaps the easiest part of the writing journey is the actual writing.  Well, compared to the marketing aspect I believe it is.

I have read a lot of articles, suggestions and tips and tricks to market the book to the reading public.  It is, to say the least, a lot harder to market eBooks than perhaps their hard or paper covered relatives.  This is despite the millions of eReaders out there.

Then there is that other fickle part of the publishing cycle, the need for reviews.  Good reviews of course.  As we are learning, reviews can be bought.  Currently Amazon is out there seeking out these reviews and reviewers and it will be interesting to see the result of their actions.

All the advice I have seen and read tells me that reviews should not be paid for, that reviews will come with sales.  It might be a difficult cycle, more reviews means more sales, etc.  And getting those first sales …

Therein lies the conundrum.  It is a question of paying for advertising, or working it out for ourselves.  I guess if I were to get more sales, I could afford the advertising … yes, back on the merry-go-round!

And yet, the harder the road, the more I enjoy what I do.  It is exhilarating while writing, it is a joy to finish the first draft, it is accomplishment when it is published, but when you sell that first book, well, there is no other feeling like it.

I am inspired.

Now, where are those notes for the next story …

My Next Book

I have just finished the final draft of ‘One Last Look’ a new thriller.  It is always hard to know when it is time to stop tinkering, and in this final draft, I made a number of changes.

I now have to accept that it is done, subject to the editor’s comments.

Time now to go back to working on the first of my Russian Trilogy books, What Sets Us Apart.  It is now at the final draft stage too.

I think I am getting better at learning where to draw the line in the sand.  My desire to keep tinkering, rewriting, and not being satisfied, is over.  There is only so much that can be done.

Hopefully One Last Look will be published in the next week or so.

Published Book – Echoes From The Past

What happens when your past finally catches up with you?

Christmas is just around the corner, a time for reflection and to be with family.  For Will Mason, it brings back both good and bad memories, and a chance encounter, one that finally brings twenty years of self-imposed exile from life to the brink.

Will knows instinctively it is time to move on, signs that a man who has been running for so long recognises.

This time, however, there is more at stake.  Will has broken his number one rule, don’t get involved.  With his nemesis, Eddie Jamieson, suddenly within reach, and a blossoming relationship with an office colleague, Maria, about to change everything, Will has to make a choice.  Quietly leave, or finally make a stand.

But as Will soon discovers, with other people are involved, this time there is going to be terrible consequences no matter what choice he makes.

Echoes-1

Published on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, etc.

Published Book – Sunday In New York

Sunday In New York

It was the opportunity every junior executive would sacrifice anything for. The offer made, Harry had only to accept. Why, then, did he hesitate …

It was the opportunity of a lifetime, the one every junior executive would sacrifice anything for. With the offer on the table, Harry had only to accept. Why, then, did he hesitate …

Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, etc.

Not Another Voice In The Wilderness

After years of toiling by pencil and pen on paper, by manual typewriter, by electric typewriter (yes, I loved my IBM Selectrix), and more recently using a word processor on the computer, the book is written and published.

I’m beginning to believe that was the easy part.

I’m now on that bumpy, twisting, undulating road to eventual success.

So, while I travel this new and exciting highway, I intend to share a few insights of the trials and tribulations I come up against, tell you about the new stories that are being developed and/or written, and the never ending search for new locations, plot twists, and unforgettable characters.

But first off, just a few favourites:

Favourite Character – Zoe the assassin.  Everyone should have a friend like her.

Favourite City:  New York.  Who doesn’t love walking in Central Park in the spring?

Favourite Author:  A dead heat between James Patterson and Clive Cussler

Favourite Country: Italy.  I could happily live the rest of my life in Tuscany.

Until next time …