Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Bright and Prosperous New Year – Seems to me that 2017 is going to be EPIC.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
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Tag Archives: books
Update – All but Done.
Yes, I am still here – I owe you guys an update on my progress with The Bastard Line, book three in the Khekarian series – My humble apologies for having been away so long, many things have happened in my life, but for now I will report solely on the manuscript you have been waiting for.
The slash-and-burn process is over and out of the way (thank goodness). No more chopping and changing, no more starting over or chopping things in half or reshaping the book. All the major pieces are in place and so is the flow, the character development is great, the story holds together very well and – best of all – I LIKE IT.
Finishing touches are going in place and needed polishing is being done (albeit heavily in some places). Yet to come is the stand-back-and-see-what-it-looks-like-to-a-reader, the read-through. My Beta-reader has been standing by for ages and is eager to get into it. He won’t have to wait long… and neither will you.
Tippy-tap, tippy-tap.
Nose down, rear up, tippy-tap, tippy-tap – Yes I’m at the computer and typing like mad – Just letting you know I’m alive and well and still making progress although it must seem to some as though “nothing is happening”.
I’ve had to push through a few barriers and re-size The Bastard Line (Book Three of the Khekarian series) – twice! This is on top of the life-upheavals we’re still going through, although progress is happening there too (resettling into a new location interstate takes longer when doing it one partner at a time).
Once again my apologies to all for keeping you waiting, it was never my intention. While I would love to blog more regularly, my best bet at the moment is to remain locked into my work until the book is done. The best I can do is pop in occasionally to let everyone know I’m still here, still working and supply a publishing date when I know what it is!
The Love of Naked Paper. I’ve got it Bad.
Nothing excites me more than naked paper – I love paper, I have reams of office paper, stacks of notebooks – small, large, lined and unlined – I have tiny ones that fit in a pocket, larger ones by my bedside, even some that stay in the car and I always – always – keep a fresh supply stashed somewhere in my desk. I have lever arch files of loose-leaf foolscap that I take with me on long journeys and a small regularly assaulted stack of used envelopes out in the open on my desk.
What was that? Used envelopes??? Yes, that’s what I said. Even a used envelope is a source of naked paper, in fact the first thing I reach for in this orgy of paper is often a discarded envelope I have “rescued” and stashed for later use.
At least I remember to put them on!
In the past, I’ve gone out with my top on backwards and never noticed it until I got home, and I almost went out once wearing my slippers.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not addlepated – or maybe I am – I’m not sure. No, it’s just that I have my mind elsewhere, I live in other worlds, other dimensions. All illusionary, certainly, I admit it’s all made up. But that’s the lure.
I can pick and choose everything – any adventure, any background, any set of heroes and enjoy with them all their challenges and successes. I can ride the waves of excitement, travel the galaxy, explore the unknown, then come back and write about what I’ve discovered and the feelings I’ve experienced.
Getting back to normal… Whatever that is. And a Thank You also.
The last eighteen months or so have seen some huge upheavals in my life as my husband prepares for his retirement – an interstate move into a new location, forced separation so far lasting over a year, and all the uncertainty that comes with the whole shifting and changing of our financial concerns as we move from one way of life to another.
I guess that sums it up pretty well and it’s no wonder my writing has been greatly thrown out of whack.
So… What of the science fiction series I am writing?
2016 – Wow, already into a new year and off to a good start.
I meant to write a Merry Christmas to everyone – but things happened – mostly holidays when some very good health and energy arrived along with a brand new method of not being stupid at Christmas time (food-wise).
Things are looking great.
I’m sorry I missed the festive season in Blogsville and I hope you all had a wonderful time, keeping happy and safe. I also hope you all have a wonderful year and that 2016 will prove to be one of the best.
Unintended Delays.
I suddenly realized that I have been subconsciously delaying posting until I could deliver a publishing date for my third book in the Khekarian series, The Bastard Line, with the unfortunate result is that nothing is being posted at all, and that – once again – it looks as though I have fallen off the edge of the planet or given up or something.
Nothing could be further than the truth. It is true my world is currently still unsettled with an interstate move largely sorted but a house still to sell and an enforced separation to endure until the sale goes through. Added to the early delays that robbed me of six months of writing, the overall setback to this book is something I admit to being quite uncomfortable with. Nevertheless, work is progressing with most of the book finished, so really it shouldn’t be long now.
Yes, I’m creating where it counts.
Just letting you all know that I have NOT run out of steam, I have NOT run out of inspiration nor imagination nor creativity – the (albeit lengthy) delays in getting book 3 of the Khekarian series completed and published has nothing to do with lack of willpower or energy but everything to do with the circumstances that cropped up during this last year, including moving house interstate.
With the manuscript itself, there were some early issues, all successfully dealt with now. I am currently writing my fingers to the bone and I’m heading towards the final run.
So, please forgive me for not blogging and chatting which I said and believe I would do, but I really want to see this book completed and to be free to start on the next one.
Sometimes it’s good to know you aren’t alone.
If you’re a writer, you know it isn’t all play and sunshine, you know that following your dream is not always easy and that your efforts are rarely recognized for what they are.
Those nearest and dearest to you know that you are aiming high, but fail to grasp the sheer size of the journey. Sometimes it seems they are not with you at all.
A massive amount goes into writing a book. It’s not enough just to come up with a plot and characters enough to fill it. There’s an huge amount of understanding necessary for each character and research to do on every angle and profession. Your plot, your characters and their actions must be based in truth for them to come across as realistic and believable.
You have to understand the human animal too, and not just from your own perspective. You have to be in the heads of everybody you write about, villain and hero alike. You have to understand psychology and (depending on the nature of your villain) criminal psychology as well. You have to “be” the police officer, the psychopath, the thief and the victim. You have to understand immense fear or immense loss. Gain too – joy, excitement and love so grand your heart wants to burst. You have to understand adventure and the thrill of danger.
But that’s only part of it. You not only must put that all together and make a story out of it but put it together in such a way that it sings and shines and sweeps your readers up into a world that makes them forget all else, even if just for a time.
So, a very important part of being a writer is learning to be artistic with your words, with pacing and the weave of your story. You want to build pictures in the minds of your readers so that they easily and effortlessly fall under your spell and see what you see and live where you live in the finished result. You not only want to lure them into the world your have crafted, you want them to want to stay there. That’s important! Anyone can put a book down, you want them not to want to put your book down!
Understandably, that mastery over the translation of your mind’s landscape and adventures into words and images your readers can enjoy is the biggest and most important part of your craft.
Bloodstone Sci Fi 