September 12, 2023

Update on my current writing projects

I’m chipping away, bit by bit, at the 3 writing projects that I’ve currently got on the go. Novel WIP#7 is a supernatural horror set in London. I’m up to 14.1k words on this. Novel WIP#8 is the sequel to The Buddha’s Bone, which I’m drafting because I’ve had enough reader requests to justify writing a follow up, and like the first, it’s psychological literary fiction. Fiction WIP#9 is a short story collection that will also be psychological literary fiction and is a mix of previously published and new stories. That’s enough to keep me busy for pretty much all of 2024, I think!

Do my current WIPs have titles?

Yes, they all have working titles. But for now, like all my other WIPs, I’ll stick to numbers just to keep my projects straight when I’m referring to them in writing updates.

What did all my other numbered WIPs become?

Novel WIP#1 is my still unpublished, experimental literary novel. I’ll publish it at some point. More on why I haven’t already in another post.

Novel WIP#2 became Gods of Avalon Road

Novel WIP#3 became The Buddha’s Bone

Novel WIP#4 became The Blue Man

Novel WIP#5 became The Fairy Lights

Novel WIP#6 became Matthew’s Twin

Why did my poetry collections and short story collection not start as WIPs?

Because they were all previously published individually in literary magazines and anthologies, so I didn’t actually draft anything new.

Is it hard to work on 3 WIPs at the same time?

Not as hard as I thought it might be. The three projects are all distinct enough that I don’t get confused switching between them, especially because they’re all different genres. Also, because #7 is in third person and #8 is in first person, I find this helps me change gears easily.

Where do I get the time to write my current WIPs?

Hmm. Not sure (scratches head). Copious amounts of caffeine sure does help!

Posted by on September 12, 2023 in Writing and tagged , , , , .

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September 9, 2023

How to manage writing time with a busy day job

Term time has started, so that means as of last week, I’ve been back into the full swing of work in secondary education. When I was catching up with a teaching colleague who I hadn’t talked to for a while, she asked me how I manage to get any writing time alongside full-time work and family life. My honest answer to this was, I don’t know.

I suppose, now that I’ve had time to think about it, fitting in writing time (along with time reading submissions for Bindweed Anthologies) is a juggling act. It’s important to me, however, so I make time for it. Even if I only write a few sentences a day, I consider that time well spent. The longer I’m away from writing anything new in a work-in-progress, the harder I find it to get back into the swing of things. Often, I’ll end up spending more time reading back through what I had already written than drafting anything new, if I leave it too long, so it’s easier to keep chipping away, little and often.

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September 5, 2023

Legal responsibilities as your own self-publisher

If you are an Indie author, and therefore your own publisher, there are a number of things that you are legally responsible for. I thought I’d write a post about this as a checklist for reference, and to help anyone who may need the information. Bear in mind that the information in this post applies to UK citizens who are self-publishing their own work.

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Posted by on September 5, 2023 in Publishing and tagged , , , , .

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September 2, 2023

Cover reveal! My fifth novel is coming soon

I have great news today. My author proof copy of my forthcoming fifth novel, Matthew’s Twin, came in the post this week. This is Book 3 of my Belfast Ghosts series, and marks the final instalment of the trilogy of standalone novels. Like Book 1: The Blue Man and Book 2: The Fairy Lights, this is also an occult, supernatural story. Want to know more? Here’s the back cover blurb:

Matthew’s Twin: The spirit of medieval vengeance made flesh

Belfast Ghosts series: Standalone book 3 of 3

A medieval Scottish soldier.
An Anglo-Irish witch.
A seven hundred year plot for revenge.

Around the time Customs Inspector Matthew began having crippling stomach pains, he began witnessing visions of a past-life involving a Scottish soldier during Edward Bruce’s conquest of Ireland, an Anglo-Irish defender of Carrickfergus Castle and a local witch with a bloodthirsty agenda. When medieval mercenary and vengeful witch performed a necromantic ritual to help the Scottish conquest succeed, Matthew began to learn more about his connection with 14th century Northern Ireland.

After an operation to remove what he thought to be a tumour from his stomach, a mysterious man arrived to cause chaos in Matthew’s life. What did the strange – yet familiar – man have to do with him? Why did malign forces from a dark, medieval past want to cause harm? Was there any way for Matthew to learn about a seven hundred year injustice before the ghosts came to wreak vengeance on him in the present?

Matthew’s Twin will be published on 24 October, just in time for Halloween. In the meantime, I’m celebrating with some bubbly. Cheers!

Posted by on September 2, 2023 in Novels and tagged , , , , , , .

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August 29, 2023

Wrapping up the holiday and getting back to writing

What an epic eight week summer break it has been! These last two months have been day trips with my little adventurer and a much needed family holiday to Ibiza. I’m back to work soon, and with only a couple of days left of leisure time, I’m starting a transition back to writing and publishing pursuits. Here’s what I’ve been up to:

Running Bindweed Anthologies.

My hubby and I have been inundated with a record number of submissions from writers and poets all over the world to our biannual anthologies: Midsummer Madness and Winter Wonderland. We’ve been trying to get through the slushpile within our 4 week response time, which has been a challenge in between full time childcare and being away on holiday. Nevertheless, we’ve managed to stay on top of our Bindweed deadlines this summer, although we’ve had to turn away lots of quality writing simply because of the volume of submissions. On the other hand, we’re thankful that our publication is so popular!

Writing novel WIPS#7 and #8

Producing new writing has sadly fallen by the wayside this summer as other projects have taken over my limited free time. Hopefully I’ll get back into the swing of novel drafting once the little literary one is back to school/childcare and I can structure my before and after work time a bit better.

Belfast Ghosts Book 3 proof copy printed

I snatched as much time as I could this summer working on the story edits for the final installment of my Belfast Ghosts series. Last week I ordered a paperback proof copy, which is coming later this week for my proofreader. She’s excellent, and will no doubt catch things that will embarrass me – but are necessary since there’s only so much my tired, overworked brain can catch when I’ve been stuck on any one book for a long time. Hopefully only minor typos, but I’m prepared to give it another once over if it still needs work.

Legal deposit copies to be posted

I had a request from Edinburgh for 5 x hardcover copies of Diabolical Dreamscapes for legal deposit at the National Library of Scotland, The Bodleian Library Oxford University, the National Library of Wales, Cambridge University Library and The Library of Trinity College Dublin. These are in addition to the copy I sent to the British Library when it was published back in April. Since I was away on holiday, I had to wait until I got home to order these, and as they only just arrived at the weekend, I’ll be posting them today.

And that’s that! I’ll be trying to get myself in gear for scheduling my various projects as we move into autumn so that (hopefully) literary life will flow into a smooth stream. One can hope…

Posted by on August 29, 2023 in Writing.

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August 26, 2023

Is writing a luxury that few can afford the time to do?

I was inspired to write today’s post after reading this article in The Guardian about writers who are struggling with rent during the cost of living crisis. It got me thinking about a related issue: is writing a luxury that few can afford the time to do?

I admit I hadn’t given this topic a lot of thought before reading the article; maybe ignorance on my part or maybe privilege. Or both. Before I continue, let me clarify that I don’t come from a background of family wealth. I have a steady job, which pays the bills, as does my writer hubby. There is no money tree in our garden. Nope, none. Writing, for both of us, is a supplementary income; a luxury, if you like. I am thankful to be in a position to be able to write regularly and I don’t take this for granted. The reason I am able to write regularly comes down to one word: stability.

In my personal life, unlike the authors in The Guardian article, I haven’t had to move addresses on a yearly basis since my hubby and I were renting in London nearly a decade ago. My current stability allows me to make the time to write. Some other writers, or aspiring authors, may not be so lucky. At a time of soaring food and energy costs, where many people have to work more than one job to make ends meet, exhaustion and other priorities may get in the way of the desire to write. I personally know many writers who have given up on a work-in-progress simply because they can’t juggle everything. Non-essential things fall by the wayside, and for many writers, that means their writing.

Cuts to public funding don’t help matters. On the Arts Council NI website, there have been no grants available for individuals since lockdown in 2020. Believe me, I’ve looked, because like any author I’m always thinking of ways to try and support my writing career. On top of this, bookstore closures cut people off from reading materials from which they may otherwise draw writing inspiration. Money for writing is another luxury that few can afford in precarious economic times; putting books out in the world costs money. Even if an author is traditionally published, where the publisher incurs all costs, they will still have to pay for marketing expenses. Books don’t sell if nobody knows about them.

Economic instability is not conducive to creativity. If creativity is stifled, and original art declines, then what is left?

Posted by on August 26, 2023 in Writing and tagged , , , .

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August 21, 2023

I’m on holiday, see you soon!

This week I’m in Ibiza on a much needed holiday.

With my book samples and a gorgeous Balearic sunset

I’ll be in and out of social media. No writing or editing, minimal reading on the beach. Be back soon…with a tan.

Posted by on August 21, 2023 in Biography and tagged , , , .

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August 16, 2023

One year bookiversary for A Model Archaeologist

So many books, so many milestones! My second full poetry collection, A Model Archaeologist, celebrates its one year publishing anniversary today. Here’s a photo of one of our cabbage white butterflies on my author hardcover copy, before the little critter took flight in our garden. Aww!

You can celebrate with me by grabbing a copy for free if you subscribe to KU, or as a hardcover for your bookshelf:

Kindle UK
Kindle US
Amazon UK
Amazon US

Posted by on August 16, 2023 in Books, Poetry and tagged , , , .

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August 11, 2023

What royalties and expenses will I have as a self-published author?

A few months back, I wrote an article looking at what percentage of authors make a full-time living from it. This post is to elaborate on the expenses I paid out versus royalties received in 2022, to give a balanced view of what the reality is like being an Indie author. I don’t have much basis for comparison as my fellow Indie authors have not disclosed their own data to me, but I assume I’m fairly typical for a one-woman promotional machine. So here goes:

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Posted by on August 11, 2023 in Marketing, Publishing and tagged , , , , .

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August 6, 2023

Book shopping spree for writing research

I’m making good use of my 8 week summer holiday to do some writing research. As you might know from my other blog posts, I work in a grammar school in Northern Ireland and while school is out for summer, I have been a busy bee working on two novels simultaneously. Novel WIP#7 is a supernatural horror set in London. It was originally an unpublished short story that I wrote back in 2009, and now I have an idea to expand it onto a novel. Novel WIP#8 is the sequel to The Buddha’s Bone, which I am writing at reader request; basically enough readers contacted me to say that they wanted to know what happens next in Kimberly’s story, since things end on a positive note with her and Naoki. The sequel will pick up directly where the story left them in Japan.

The photo is me at Keats & Chapman bookstore in Belfast doing research for novel WIP#7. Can you believe I didn’t know that such a gem of a bookstore existed? I tend to shop in Waterstones, No Alibis and Books, Paper, Scissors in my hometown, so happening upon this fantastic store while on a shopping day out with my family was a treat. I’m doing research on witchcraft (spoiler alert!), a topic I know next to nothing about. But as a reader, I love learning new things. I found these two fabulous non-fiction books on the history of witchcraft, so I’ll be brushing up my historical knowledge on the topic soon.

Posted by on August 6, 2023 in Writing and tagged , , , , , , , , .

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