Tag: Creative Writing

“Sunday in New York”, it’s a bumpy road to love

“Sunday in New York” is ultimately a story about trust, and what happens when a marriage is stretched to its limits.

When Harry Steele attends a lunch with his manager, Barclay, to discuss a promotion that any junior executive would accept in a heartbeat, it is the fact his wife, Alison, who previously professed her reservations about Barclay, also agreed to attend, that casts a small element of doubt in his mind.

From that moment, his life, in the company, in deciding what to do, his marriage, his very life, spirals out of control.

There is no one big factor that can prove Harry’s worst fears, that his marriage is over, just a number of small, interconnecting events, when piled on top of each other, points to a cataclysmic end to everything he had believed in.

Trust is lost firstly in his best friend and mentor, Andy, who only hints of impending disaster, Sasha, a woman whom he saved, and who appears to have motives of her own, and then in his wife, Alison, as he discovered piece by piece damning evidence she is about to leave him for another man.

Can we trust what we see with our eyes or trust what we hear?

Haven’t we all jumped to conclusions at least once in our lives?

Can Alison, a woman whose self-belief and confidence is about to be put to the ultimate test, find a way of proving their relationship is as strong as it has ever been?

As they say in the classics, read on!

Purchase:

http://tinyurl.com/Amazon-SundayInNewYork

Sunday In New York

NaNoWriMo – Day 7 – A week is a long time in…

As the title, it is usually said that a week is a long time in politics.

And has it what.  I think a lot of people have discovered the power of their one vote!

But we’re not here to discuss politics, that’s boring stuff, we’re here to revel in the fact seven days have passed, and I’m still on track.

I know, I know, don’t start blowing your trumpet too soon, a lot can still go to hell in a handbasket from here, but at the moment I’m being optimistic.

I’ve written the chapter that was missing, and this, of course, had opened up another hole where I’ll need to add another chapter, but that’s under control.

For now.

But, the big news…

I’ve decided to break the book into three parts,

The reluctant friend

A friend in need

A friend avenged

These might change, but so far, so good.

NaNoWriMo – Day 6 – A new twist, when not distracted

You see, this commitment to writing so many words a day becomes a little like a pressure cooker.

Having a plan is one thing, writing to it is another, but to keep going, now, there’s the thing.

Like this morning, sitting in front of the computer, knowing only five minutes before sitting down what I wanted to write about.  A new twist in the tale.

Then the phone rings.

Up from the table, over to the phone, answer it.

A nuisance call, someone saying I had an accident when I didn’t, a new group of scammers trying to leverage money out of you.  On top of the telecommunication scammers, and the endless charities looking for donations.

Distractions.

I sit down again, but my mind has switched off.

The words are gone.

Breakfast is looking good.

NaNoWriMo – Day 5 – Adding to the word count

Which by the way, is the most important thing to be doing.

Today, day 5, the count is 1,862 words, making a total of 8,943 words so far.

What I have to be careful about is not to let the pressure get to me, I mean, I have to write about 1,700 words a day to maintain target.

If I miss a day, or the creative juices stop flowing…

OK, not something we need to think about.

Just a minor issue, though, I left a section out, to be written, because I was not sure what I wanted to write.  Perhaps what is coming may give some insight.

In the meantime, yet another yellow post-it note.

I’m thinking of getting a new color, perhaps a more soothing color like pale green.

NaNoWriMo – Day 4 – People day

Those pesky characters seem to be always getting in the way.

And no matter how much you think you have that character down, they always find a new way to surprise you.

Of course, these people are mostly an amalgam of characteristics that you’ve observed over a long period of time.

I used to sit at the railway station at busy times to observe people and filled a dozen notebooks with both characteristics and eccentricities.

A little backpedaling is required.  I know there isn’t time for revisions, but there are ‘glaring’ mistakes, even for a first draft which is not meant to be perfect.

As they say, moving on…

NaNoWriMo – Day 3 – Finally…

So, finally, the plan is working.

The story is progressing and I can see, for the moment, that the story is heading in the right direction.

Of course, in saying that, it might just jinx the project.

There was a small moment of hesitation though, one of those, perhaps this might be a better way moment that caused a brief stoppage while I considered the consequences.

Then I just added another sticky note to the four hundred others lining the monitor and nearby shelves and went back to work.

Got to get those 1,667 words written.

 

“What Sets Us Apart”, a mystery with a twist

David is a man troubled by a past he is trying to forget.
Susan is rebelling against a life of privilege and an exasperated mother who holds a secret that will determine her daughter’s destiny.
They are two people brought together by chance. Or was it?
When Susan discovers her mother’s secret, she goes in search of the truth that has been hidden from her since the day she was born.
When David realizes her absence is more than the usual cooling off after another heated argument, he finds himself being slowly drawn back into his former world of deceit and lies.
Then, back with his former employers, David quickly discovers nothing is what it seems as he embarks on a dangerous mission to find Susan before he loses her forever.

http://amzn.to/2Eryfth

whatsetscover

NaNoWriMo – A good start?

I thought I had this under control.

After all, for the first time, I had a title, a plan, a synopsis, and was ready to go.  I’ve never tried to write a novel this way before.

Of course, it NANOWRIMO 2019. and yo write 50,000 words in a month you need a plan.  Ad-hoc writing just doesn’t get it done.

Even though for the previous two years, it has.

So, I start writing.

Then, damn it, I get another idea, and off I go on that tangent.

The plan’s now looking like it needs an update.

Didn’t plan for that, did I?

Oh, well, day 1 down, 29 more to go, perhaps tomorrow will be better.

Conversations with my cat – 6

20160907_135509

This is Chester.  He is giving me the ‘Come back when you’ve rewritten the start’ look.

Yet another ‘disagreement’ over such a small matter!

Here’s the thing.

Like many authors with cats, I like to use Chester as my audience of one, my sounding board.  It is better to be reading to him, rather than reading out loud by yourself.

Reading what you have written often points out tongue tangling or ‘drippy’ dialog, and  unfortunate mix ups in words.  Proof reading sometimes misses these.

Hitherto, Chester has been patient, lying on the floor, or sitting on the couch.

I guess a few pats doesn’t go astray in the process.

But, this morning, reading him the new start to ‘First Dig Two Graves’ the sequel to ‘The Devil You Don’t’, he just gave me one of his angry ‘meow’s’ and left.

Obviously he didn’t like it.

Of course, after I re-read it again, I could see the problem, so the days writing is not over yet.

It’s all about the Cover

And, of course, the description.

Probably one of the hardest things for a first-time author is not so much the writing but what is needed after the book is written.

You need a good description.  Short, sharp, incisive!

There’s a ream of advice out there, and I have read it all.

And, still, I got it wrong.

Then there is the cover.

I wanted simplistic, a short description to give the reader a taste of what’s in store, and let the story speak for itself.

No.

Apparently, a good cover will attract the reader to the book.

When I tendered my books on various sites to advertise them, sites such as Goodreads, and ThirdScribe, all was well with what I had done.

Then I submitted my books to a third site and they rejected the covers as too simplistic and the descriptions mundane, and wouldn’t post them.

Wow.

There’s a huge blow to the ego.  And just the sort of advice that would make a writer think twice about even bothering to continue.

But…

Perhaps the person who wrote that critique was being cruel to be kind.

At any rate, I am changing the covers, and rewording the descriptions.

Will it be a case of ‘what a difference a cover makes’?