I'm treating anyone who drops by my webpage to a bonus short story. Its called 'A Light Touch On The Neck" and was published about a year ago on Abandoned Towers. It was one of the first YA shorts I wrote. Click on the 'Bonus' tab and have a read. Comments welcome.
Enjoy
30/07/2012
20/07/2012
Random act of kindness
I'd like to nominate S. Spencer Baker for a 'Random Act of Kindness' award.
Cant go into details about what, but he recently showed a generosity of spirit to a total stranger (me) that left me slightly at a loss for words, and wondering how I could repay his kindness.
Guess the best thing I can do it this. Go buy his books. I have read the first of the 'Slabscape' series already. It is good, and it made me chuckle at several inappropriate and inconvenient times. You can find his book on Facebook here
Cant go into details about what, but he recently showed a generosity of spirit to a total stranger (me) that left me slightly at a loss for words, and wondering how I could repay his kindness.
Guess the best thing I can do it this. Go buy his books. I have read the first of the 'Slabscape' series already. It is good, and it made me chuckle at several inappropriate and inconvenient times. You can find his book on Facebook here
16/07/2012
Editing Special Treat
I've recently had a chance to work with a new editor. Don't know if it will come to anything, and for that reason not going to say who, or what the work related to.
What I will say is there will be a raft of writers out there who'll scream 'you must be mad' when I dare whisper that I like editors. You can learn so much from a good editor (if you can be bothered). I admit, as in everything to do with this business, there are good ones and bad ones, but I've yet to meet an editor who wasn't able to add something to what we were working on.
I see editors as being a vital part of what we do as writers. Its part of the process: another pair of eyes to look over the story, the lack of the emotional connection, the market/business awareness, getting the 'house style' into place. I suppose there are writers out there who don't need an editor, but there are many more who don't think they do.
For me, I know the value of a good editor. I'm just starting out and I'll take any help I can get. My first editor, Steve Haynes, made a huge difference to my first novel, Aphrodite's Dawn, and a chap by the name of AJ French who edited/published two of my short stories (under my alter ego) was great too.
Hope I get to work some more with this 'new' person.
What I will say is there will be a raft of writers out there who'll scream 'you must be mad' when I dare whisper that I like editors. You can learn so much from a good editor (if you can be bothered). I admit, as in everything to do with this business, there are good ones and bad ones, but I've yet to meet an editor who wasn't able to add something to what we were working on.
I see editors as being a vital part of what we do as writers. Its part of the process: another pair of eyes to look over the story, the lack of the emotional connection, the market/business awareness, getting the 'house style' into place. I suppose there are writers out there who don't need an editor, but there are many more who don't think they do.
For me, I know the value of a good editor. I'm just starting out and I'll take any help I can get. My first editor, Steve Haynes, made a huge difference to my first novel, Aphrodite's Dawn, and a chap by the name of AJ French who edited/published two of my short stories (under my alter ego) was great too.
Hope I get to work some more with this 'new' person.
12/07/2012
Too much information?
Social media is a wonderful thing, but I've recently discovered something I never thought about. I follow several publishers/editors, both on Facebook and Twitter. Its good to keep an eye on what the market is doing and what is being released.
The down side is that I have submissions into at least two of these publishers, so when they happily post 'acceptances today' in a message, who can blame me for catching my breath and clutching my hands to my beating heart in hope, watching the inbox for hours, only to slink away, depressed and disheartened, at the end of the day.
Add to this the 'reading a great manuscript' message. Same hopes, longer fade.
OK, so its nice to know that the people you've entrusted your metaphorical children to are actually working hard, but in the back of your mind there is always that little niggle of hope or doubt. Guess that's why they say one of the first attributes a writer needs to develop is a thick skin :)
The down side is that I have submissions into at least two of these publishers, so when they happily post 'acceptances today' in a message, who can blame me for catching my breath and clutching my hands to my beating heart in hope, watching the inbox for hours, only to slink away, depressed and disheartened, at the end of the day.
Add to this the 'reading a great manuscript' message. Same hopes, longer fade.
OK, so its nice to know that the people you've entrusted your metaphorical children to are actually working hard, but in the back of your mind there is always that little niggle of hope or doubt. Guess that's why they say one of the first attributes a writer needs to develop is a thick skin :)
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