It’s been a long time since I last posted anything here, and that is bad. I started out using “I don’t have a book so why should anyone listen to me” as an excuse, but then I realised that actually, I kind of prefer to just write books than have to do this whole marketing side of the “business”.

First order of business: I released Demi Heroes! That actually happened three months ago, but that’s how bad I’ve been at updating. I then also released it in paperback by using Createspace. I’m very happy with the end result!

Maybe buy it here for America?

Or here for the UK

The first draft of my second book is DONE and I’m trying to track down a suitable artist. I loved the artwork for Demi Heroes, but I just didn’t think it would be suitable for a YA Urban Fantasy. I’m hoping to do something a little bit… out of genre for my cover, but that depends on the artist I can find. I’ve got one in mind, but they seem to be rather busy. However I was just so enamoured with the artwork she did for me (below) when I met her at Comic Con that I felt inspired.

I’m hoping to get this second book released by the end of August at the latest, but that is still artist dependent.

And that’s it for this quick update! I’m going to try and be more active on here, but I assure you that my inactivity here, does not mean I am not writing!

Hey everyone! Very excited to have gotten my two novels sent off to the Gollancz open submission! Yes, I have a second novel! But as I haven’t even gotten the first one released I haven’t bothered to mention it yet.
Submitting to the Gollancz open period is kind of… well, I’m totally okay with not having a publisher and self publishing. That works for me. But I see no downside to releasing a few books through a publisher first, so if they happen to realise my novels for the amazing works of celestial glory that they are, then I won’t complain!

Either way, I’m still alive.

A lot of change since my last post!

Firstly I removed the older “bad” beginning because I came up with something infinitely better instead of just minute iterations. It’s a vast improvement, and although I’m not completely satisfied with it, I’m going to stick with it. For now at least!

Also, I mentioned that I wasn’t active on social media for a reason. Now I still don’t actually have a product, or proof that I can do what I’m talking about, so there’s no barrage of PR (me spamming bloggers and review sites), however I am slowly trying to make myself more known, and have started a Youtube channel that has nothing to do with my own books:

And the book? It’s very close to finished, I’m just waiting on a few final edits, and for the cover art to be finished! also, I’m 25k words into my second book!

The most consistent feedback I’ve had so far is, without fail, the first chapter doesn’t work.

I’m leaving it in place on my website for a while, so it’s not going anywhere. Drink your fill of poor writing!

What’s wrong with it? People just get a general feel of “Well, it’s not bad, but I preferred the second chapter”. I have chosen to interpret this, correctly, as “Your first chapter is bad”.  We all know that the first chapter, the first page, the first line, are crucial to catching a reader’s attention. My favourite opening line comes from John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War:

“I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife’s grave. Then I joined the army.”

Bloody poetry! Just reading it now makes me angry that I can’t write something so damn compelling!

Check out more of Scalzi here: whatever.scalzi.com

I’ve also been told that there’s a lack of imagery; people couldn’t picture the main character, or where they were. It’s confusing.

So, I’ve scrapped it! I’ve rewritten it completely. It was a really hard decision to make. I got attached to the way my story flowed – or in this case, didn’t – and I’m concerned about future chapters following Moxar. Will I have to cut them all? Scary stuff, but definitely stuff that I need other people’s opinions on. I’m simply not self aware enough to make such a decision.

I have decided that, basically, I just can’t write “serious” scenes. I don’t know how to do a straight scene and make it interesting. On the one hand, this does ruin some of my ideas for upcoming books (I have got LOADS of ideas bottled up. I refuse to let them out until this book is done!). I’ve definitely been toying around with really creating my own world. I’ve got some great ideas, and I had always viewed them as serious novels. As if this novel, because of it’s tone, wasn’t a real novel. It’s me testing the waters, seeing if I can actually write, and then when I know I can, do a “real” novel (I have more to say on this in a later post).

So now I’m having to imagine these same stories but with an amusing tone. I guess that’s okay. Certainly some dry wit makes things easier to read. But I had imagined them as serious stories, with a serious tone, and a serious message, and serious stuff.

If I was a true hack of a writer, I’d probably drop a line like “I guess I’ll just have to face my weaknesses and overcome them, just like Lucian in my book Demi-Heroes” but I’m not, so I won’t.

Hello and welcome to the dark and murky depths of my website, aka, a blog.

The plan is that over the next few months, as I’m battering away at finishing my first novel, I’ll be giving you weekly updates and insights into the writing process, marketing efforts, and various mistakes I make trying to break into the literary world.

If you just wanted to find one of my books, STEP AWAY FROM THE BLOG, the main site will suffice for you, friend.

Of course, my bibliography at the time of writing is  – nothing.