My Unconventionally Conventional Publishing Experience Part 1

Back in September 2017, I won the Summer Writing Project. The prize was publication.

Granted, my experience is not typical of most. I didn’t write query letter after query letter, and I didn’t get a full manuscript request. But before you write this off as irrelevant and click away, my acceptance may be more relevant than it first seems, and I learned things that can benefit every writer regardless of whether they are taking the traditional route or the self-publishing/indie route.

For one, the criteria for winning was that I had to have the most readers who read my story from start to finish. A query letter would, in essence, be trying to convince a publisher or agent your story is marketable and viable, but in this contest, I had to prove it with results – I had to show I could gain readers and keep them interested. This meant being savvy in promotion, marketing, and social media.

What many don’t realise is that even if you get accepted by one of the Big Five, unless you are one of their top grossing, big name authors like JK Rowling, or Stephen King, you’re not going to get much help in the way of marketing and promotion. You’ll get the bare minimum and probably more connections than most (depending on the publisher), but most of the work will be up to you until you prove you’re worth investing more in.

So while my experience may initially seem unconventional, irrelevant, and perhaps backwards at times, it does have relevance whether you’re going to take a more traditional route of sending out manuscripts and query letters, or if you’re thinking of self publishing.

This is the first in a series of posts I will be making about my experience. Over the summer I will be covering:

• Working with the editor
• Negotiating the cover
• How to run a virtual launch party
• Facebook ads
• Marketing/publicity techniques I used

If there is another aspect anyone wants to know more about, or there is something specfic you want me to address in an upcoming post, leave me a comment.

All being well, I’ll be posting every other week. The first post will cover working with the publisher. Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

2018 Creative New Years Resolutions

Another year has been and gone. You know what that means. It’s time to review 2017’s resolutions and make new ones for 2018.

First, let’s begin by seeing how many resolutions I kept this year. Red are ones I didn’t keep, green are ones I did. Last year’s resolutions were:

Read 40 books

I read 35 books, so I was close. Even still, that is a phenomenal improvement on last year. I’ve been very busy with university work, so the time I usually take to read has been spent on essays or assigned reading. I haven’t counted academic texts for class unless I have read the whole thing, rather than a chapter or two. If I had, I would have read close to 50 books.

Enter at least 4 contests

I entered two this year. One being the Olga Sinclair (not even shortlisted :(). The second being the SWP (which I won). Still, I’ve been incredibly busy this year, so managing 2 contests is impressive.

Get the first draft of my latest WiP finished.

When I first pledged this, I hadn’t been able to talk about what it was as it was entered into a contest. But good news – it won. The project was ‘The Hex Files’ (a working title). I don’t even have a first draft, but I know where it’s going. One of the key reasons for this was the SWP. Once I won, I had to edit, then throw myself into marketing, plan the launch, and so on. I’m still marketing and will be for some time, but I have freed up the time to continue on with this project.

Keep working outside my writing comfort zone but work within it from time to time.

I did this, and it worked well. In fact, I sort of doubled up. I wrote a horror, which was out of my comfort zone as I had never written before, but I combined it with sci-fi, which I was fairly comfortable with following Lexus. The result was my novella Last One to the Bridge, which was published by 1888. I think this was one of the most important resolutions I made because it has helped me develop beyond where I thought possible.

Fix The Brotherhood

Sadly, I didn’t even look at this. One day I do intend to go back to this as I loved this project but I have so much more to learn before tackling it.

Set aside at least 1 day a week for solid writing.

This one I did. I now have what I call ‘Cafe Writing’. Every Sunday my husband watches our daughter, I take myself down to the city, go and sit in a Starbucks, take my laptop, and write. I’ve done it most Sundays and will continue to do so.

Be more consistent with the JPRP

This one started out well but ultimately didn’t happen. I was far too busy. I did start a Facebook group and opened it up to more than just Jukepop serials, but I don’t think this is going to be a reality it the moment.

Result: 2/7

While this is worse than last year, interestingly I have accomplished more than I did in said previous year. I’m published. I won two competitions. I had a fairly successful virtual book launch.

I’m getting closer to what resolutions are better for making genuine progress (which was the whole point of them). With this in mind, I have looked long and hard at what I achieved, what I didn’t, and why. I also considered which resolutions, whether failed or successful, I learned the most from as a writer.

2018 Creative Resolutions:

1. Write blog posts regularly.

Anyone following this blog knows I posts once in a blue moon, typically only when something big happens, which defeats the object of having one. I what little spare time I have focusing on my WiP. But blog writing is different to fiction writing, it requires a different skill set, one which I feel can only make me a better writer.

I also want to share my knowledge. I’m no expert, but what little I have discovered might be useful to somebody. I have plenty of topics I have been meaning to tackle, and I’d also like to try regular features such as story and game reviews. We’ll see.

2. Read 40 books.

Yup. This one again. I was so close this year. I’d like to gun for it again. I’ve read some engrossing stories and discovered new authors. Plus I have a ‘to-read’ list pushing 1000, my Kindle has 500+ e-books on it, most of which have not been read yet, and I have about 15 books sitting on my bookshelf that I haven’t read. I am not short of material. And reading makes me a better writer.

3. Get out of my comfort zone, but also work within it sometimes.

This one worked so well last year I’m going to try it again this year. Who knows, maybe I’ll have a second book published?

4. Write 3 more short stories.

I’m not going to focus on entering contests this year. I have a lot to do with Uni, and marketing LOttB, and my current WiP, so I don’t think setting a minimum number of contest entries is going to work. However, writing short stories has dramatically improved my writing, so I don’t want to give up on them completely. I figure if I have a large enough collection of them, if a contest crops up, I could always pop in something I’ve already written.

5. Complete a first draft of ‘Hex Files’.

This was a resolution last year, and I’m dissapointed that I didn’t make it. I really love this project. It ticks all the right boxes for me – it’s different (I’ve never written about a faerie PI before) yet it is grounded in one of my favourite subjects: myth and fable. I love every aspect of this story. I haven’t been this excited by a new project in a long while.

One of the big reasons I didn’t finish it was because the SWP ate up so much of my time. I don’t know if the SWP will run in 2017 given that Jukepop has shut down, but even if it is running elsewhere, I won’t be entering. Every year I have been up against some fantastic entries from some amazing authors who deserve their chance to win. So if the SWP is running, I’m going to be there to support them. That is the spirit of the SWP, after all.

6. Learn origami.

Every year I attempt to learn a new skill. The last few years it has been knitting and sewing. I learned a lot from it. Namely that I am really no good at either. This year I’m going to give origami a shot. It’s something I’ve always been fascinated with, but have never really attempted it aside from the paper fortune tellers that were all the rage when I was a kid. This year I’m finally going to give it a go.

I did have a longer list, including ideas like trying a new genre, but I’ve narrowed it because I feel any more would be too much. True, it would be good to get out of my comfort zone with a different genre but I want to sharpen my skills in the genres I already write in and apply all I learned from 2017.

Did anyone make any resolutions? If so what were they?

Creative Resolutions for 2017

Last year, I set myself some New Year resolutions that centered around my writing.

So how did I do?  I’ve colour coded the text – green text represents a resolution I kept, red represents one I didn’t.

1. Join a writing group.

Check.  I did this one.  I’m now vice-chair of the group as well.

2. Write at least one short story/flash fiction story a month.

I was off to a good start, but alas, I did not manage this one.  One short story a month seemed manageable when I put together my resolutions.  Unfortunately, having a toddler greatly limits your time – having a toddler with special needs limits it even more.  Don’t get me wrong – I tried.  I used fiction squares.  I pantsed.  I planned.  I just couldn’t get it together into a viable story. 

3.  Enter more contests. 

Linking in with the above resolution, it seemed that if I was writing more short stories I should do something with them, so I decided I would try and enter on average one contest a month – entering a total of 12 contests in the year.  This was a good idea at the time.  If you enter enough contests/magazines/journals, your chances of winning/getting published go up.  But because I was finding it hard to find the time to write the stories, I had nothing to submit to these contests and in the end, I only entered three: The SWP, The Olga Sinclair Open Short Story Competition and The Colin Sutton Cup for Humour.  I didn’t win the first two and I won’t find out if I won the third until February.

4. Publish Lexus

I barely looked at Lexus.  It requires a lot of work to get it to where I want it to be, especially now I’m free from the confines of the SWP.  Then it needs a professional copy edit and proofread, especially as it will be self-published.  So no, I didn’t even remotely get Lexus in a position to be published and it looks like it will be a back burner project once again.

5. Keep a writing journal.

This one I kept … sort of.  The original pledge was to write in a journal every day.  Once again, it just wasn’t practical.  Still, every time I did get a few minutes to write, particularly during my cafe Sundays, I wrote in the journal.  There were times I missed entire months – this was when I was working on a project and so was writing in the project notebooks, so I’m going to count this one as ‘passed’.

6. Read more.

Check.  In fact, super check.  I kept tabs on my reading by signing up to the Goodreads reading challenge.  I set myself a goal of 20 books for the year.  I decided on this number because I figured I could read at least one book a month and then rounded it up to 20 to make it challenging.  I read 30.  That’s ten more than I planned even after rounding it up.

7. Get out of my writing comfort zone.

Oh holy hell did I do this! Although I didn’t get round to writing the plethora of short stories/flash fiction I had hoped I would, I did work on a few new projects and boy did they get me out of my writing comfort zone!  First was ‘Karma’, my entry for the SWP 2016.  It was a contemporary supernatural ‘feel good’ story.  I’ve never written one of those.  Then came Finding Annabelle.  Not only was it first person (I haven’t written anything first-person in about 15 years) but it was also a genre I have never, ever written before – mystery.  It’s proving so hard that I am actually starting on a different project to get the hang of it (more on that at a later date).  I went from being drop-kicked out of my comfort zone to being jettisoned-out-of-the-atmosphere away from it.

The problem with resolutions of any kind is that it is all too easy to set goals that seem realistic but require more work than you realise.  You want to quit smoking?  Pick up a new skill?  Make more friends?  These goals and others like them are all common resolutions and are certainly all admirable, but let’s be honest – all the examples I gave are not something you can achieve in a year even if you pick just one of them.  It can take even the most determined person many years to kick an addiction.  Picking up a new skill can take an estimated 6-10 years to master.  New friendships (or certainly meaningful ones) take many years to cement.

Personal growth is usually gradual.  Those goals, both the examples and the ones I set myself at the beginning of 2016, are by no means unattainable but they need to be broken down into smaller steps.

I managed 4 out of my 7 resolutions.  Keeping just over 50% of my goals doesn’t seem good but I’m not worried.  Not by a longshot.  When I made those resolutions, I didn’t know what my limitations would be.  That’s not to say I don’t want to challenge myself, but it’s important to know your limits if you want to surpass them – more importantly, you need to know which limits you cannot do anything about.  In my case, there’s not much I can do to increase how much free time I have BUT I can make resolutions that help me use what time I have to the fullest.

So, in light of this, I have set some goals that I hope will be challenging but realistically achievable if I set my mind to it:

Read 40 books

Last year I set it to 20 and made it to 30.  I think if I push a little more, I can make it to 40.

Enter at least 4 contests

I managed to enter 3 this year.  Adding one more will present a little challenge.  That’s an average of one contest every three months.  Hopefully, given the time I have available, I’ll be able to manage 4.

Get the first draft of my latest WiP finished.

I can’t talk much about my new project as part of it was used in one of the contests I entered this year, but after the results are announced in February, I plan on releasing some details.

Keep working outside my writing comfort zone but work within it from time to time.

It’s important to push my limits, but only when I allow myself to occasionally indulge in writing what I am comfortable with will I see how much I’ve improved.  I am hoping to do this by working on The Gatekeeper and The Brotherhood.  Which brings me to my next resolution …

Fix The Brotherhood

Ah yes, my old friend.  Although it’s not been my primary focus for a while, I think it’s finally time to give this series a huge overhaul.  I was never hugely happy with it but I couldn’t put my finger on what wasn’t working.  With what I’ve learned and the feedback I got from friends and the folks on Jukepop, I think I’m ready to finally resolve the issues.

Set aside at least 1 day a week for solid writing.

This one is going to be tricky.  It’s fine term time when I have childcare 3 days a week.  The holidays are going to be tricky, but it’s important to keep writing.  I have lots of other responsibilities as well, and I’m going to have to learn to balance them.

Be more consistent with the JPRP

The JPRP is currently undergoing some changes.  In order to do this, I am going to create a Facebook group where in the last 7-10 days every month, members agree to dedicate some time to reading each other’s work.  It will also not just be for JP stories.  Instead, it will include work on any other medium such as Inkitt, a few chapters of a WiP, or a few short stories ready for a contest.  I plan on creating the group early in the new year.

Have you made any resolutions?  If so leave a comment and let me know what and why.  Similarly, if you’re not, leave me a comment with why.

Happy New year!

Review of Lyncia by J.A Waters (Part 1)

My initial plan last month was to read Lyncia by J.A Waters.  When I didn’t get through all of it I decided I would read the rest over the Christmas period (which coincided nicely with the December Jukepop Reading Party).  Then Christmas rolled up.  Having a two two year old is exhausting enough as it is, but Christmas is a particularly difficult and overwhelming time for young children.  I got so rushed off my feet that I lost track of time and I didn’t get to read any serials.  I missed the reading party.

I am determined to finish Lyncia, but for now, allow me to review the first fourteen chapters that I got through.

Serial Status: Finished.

Spelling/Grammar Rating: 1

Jukepop Synopsis:

A story on gods, death, pain, and adventure. Completed on 18 November, 2015.

Lyncia Eyresin is about to play host to a strange array of visitors, and some of them have frightening powers beyond her comprehension. Life is full of choices and chances, and Lyncia’s will lead to maddening oddities and a spiraling descent.

But on the world of Nalan, the fall may never end.

So Lyncia begins a struggle to understand the world as it truly is. Buried stories tell of concealed gods and sunken relics. Cracks in the known history reveal a shattered past. Somewhere in the truth, Lyncia will find power.

Find out more about Nalan here:
http://nalanwiki.watersartistry.com/

WARNING!  THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

What was done well:

Although I only got through what was essentially the start of our heroines journey, I found so much I liked.  The characterisation was fantastic – particularly the sublime balance J.A strikes with Lyncia, the titular protagonist.  She’s wilful but not to the point where she is spoilt.  She is strong, both physically and mentally but this has come from years of hard training.  Lyncia is also keen to take over ruling from her father so she can keep the times peaceful and do what is best for her subjects.  That said, I get the impression that she isn’t quite ready to rule just yet (more on that later!).

This brings me to the thing I liked to most.  The first few chapters gave me the impression that this was going to be the story of a princess fighting against a patriarchy not just for herself but for the greater good of her people, all the while learning various hard truths that would eventually mould her into a wise and powerful ruler.  Then we witness her shocking murder and suddenly all those expectations go out the window.  Lyncia is reborn as an unwilling prophet with a whole new set of problems: a frightening voice in her head that is actually a god that is forcing her to be a prophet and can control her actions, a new body and to top it all off she has to come to terms with the fact that her own father had her killed.  This kind of sudden misdirection is a difficult one to pull off but J.A does this masterfully.

The beauty of it all is that the plot hasn’t changed all that much from where it started.  The focus has altered but at its core, the story hasn’t.  You see, even if we had stayed along the lines of a strong and formidable princess fighting back against a patriarchy, Lyncia would still have her work cut out for her.  It’s clear that while she has a greater understanding of politics and leadership than most, she is missing vital bits of wisdom.  Look at how she reacts to her fathers decision to go to war.  She flat out refuses this is a solution.  Unfortunately, issues like these don’t have a clear cut answer.  I’m certainly not advocating war.  It’s never a good thing.  But sometimes, particularly in a world such as Lyncia’s, it is a lesser evil that can cut short years of extended suffering.  As a potential ruler Lyncia needs to understand that and be ready to make difficult and sometimes harsh decisions.  When she becomes a prophet, this core issue is still there.  In fact one thing I noticed is just how grossly Lyncia underestimates the influence of religion in the machinations of power.  As a prophet (even a reluctant one) she’ll be treated to some invaluable lessons that will help her on her journey.  More importantly she’s starting from the bottom.  As a princess she was in a privileged position where it was unlikely she knew the full extent of her people’s suffering.  Lyncia has the chance to really get to know her people and in turn her kingdom and hopefully she might even pick up some street smarts on the way.  And that is what will help her win the day … assuming she is willing to learn.  I guess I will have to wait and see.

What Could Have Been Better:

I’d like to place a mini disclaimer here and state that the following ‘criticism’ is the result of hours and hours of re-reading in order to find some kind of general weakness (well done J.A!).  After all, I believe that even the best piece of work has room to improve.  Similarly I believe that even a story I don’t get along with has something good in it.  This is why I always try to find at least one good thing and one bad thing.

So … what is this one thing?

Well, I noticed that it takes eight chapters to reach the event that kicks Lyncia into her ‘Heroes Journey’.  The story itself is only fifty chapters long, which means it takes almost a fifth of the book to get to where the plot begins rolling.  The eight chapters aren’t short either.

I’m not saying this is ‘wrong’.  After all, there are no set rules on the ratio of beginnings, middles and ends (that I’m aware of anyway).  It’s not even like what happens is irrelevant filler either.  There is no rambling on.  We need to see Lyncia in her lessons, we need to see her go to the temple and witness the miracle and we need to see her cause havoc at the meeting.  I just think that J.A might want to examine the story more closely to see if there is a way to bring the reader closer to this pivotal event.  My personal suggestion is using a small prologue where we begin with Lyncia dying.  We don’t necessarily have to know it’s her; there can be brief details that hint at who the dying character is that the reader can slowly put together as they read through the events that led to this calamity in the next eight chapters.

That’s it.

Overview:

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Lyncia and wish I’d had time to read more.  The characters are well thought out, the setting, plot and drama play out really nicely and there is a real balance of fantasy here.  It’s not overplayed but we can see we are in a fantasy realm.  Lyncia is certainly shaping up to have some interesting concepts and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys well crafted fantasy fiction.

Incidentally if anyone is interested, J.A Waters has a wiki where he provides some stunning illustrations and information about the world of Nalan.

He also has other serials on Jukepop that you should check out:

• Sync Point
• Oceans of Shelter
• Nod Off

Learning to Breathe Again

November’s Jukepop Reading Party is over.

As usual I prepared this month’s reading list with gusto.  My plan was to start on J.A Waters Lyncia.  Unfortunately, this month has been a little tumultuous so I only managed the first fifteen chapters.  I say ‘only’, the JRP isn’t about quantity – it’s about Jukepop authors coming together and reading what they can together in order to support other Jukepop authors in time for the JP30.  It doesn’t matter if you read one chapter or a hundred.  That said, there was a reason I read so little over the weekend.

Some of you may be aware that I have been wrestling with a difficult decision these past few months about whether to defer my home study course for a year to focus on my writing.  What prompted this …?

Well … let me start by saying that I have been a writer since before I can remember.  I’m sure it’s the same for most writers.  More often than not, it feels less like I’m an architect of imaginary worlds and characters and more like I’m the conduit for a thousand different voices, each with a tale to tell.

At the risk of sounding arrogant, I will admit that I have never considered my ability to write as something ‘special’.  It was just something I did and always had.  Do you consider breathing ‘special’ …?  True, at its most fundamental level, breathing is important; without it you would die, but it is in no way special.  I have also never experienced writers block.  I’d heard authors and friends talk about the dreaded writers block and had always been somewhat confused.  How could one just not write?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not gloating nor am I saying I’m an unparalleled prodigy or anything.  There is no doubt in my mind that I have much to learn.  Quite simply, what I am saying is that for me, writing might as well be part of my DNA – like my eye colour.  It’s just one more building block that makes me ‘me’ and I have never given it a second thought.

Fast forward a little to the summer just gone.  I made the decision to give my writing an overhaul.  I dubbed it my ‘Creative Summer’.  I dedicated every spare moment I had to it.  I entered into three competitions – The SWP2015 being one of them.  I didn’t win but I learned so much and that, to me, was the best prize.  Ideas buzzed around my head and I had plans to write more – to self publish, to start a new serial on Jukepop and to continue writing at least one short story a month.  As the month of September rolled by though, there came a distant knell: my home study degree started early October.

Once I started the course, I began to push my writing away.  I had essays to write, chapters to read, tutorials to attend.  After completing the first essay, I sat down to give myself time to write and  … nothing.  I figured I was just tired and would try again the next day.  My husband took our daughter out for a few hours to give me some time and space to harness my craft.  Again nothing.  All of a sudden I was, figuratively speaking, suffocating.  There was no creative air in my lungs.

For the first time in my life I was suffering writers block.  There is no simile or adjective that could possibly begin to describe how unpleasant it felt.

Throughout my life I had always balanced my need to write with work and other responsibilities.  Even during the years when I earned minimum wage and had to work 70 hours a week to pay the bills or after my daughter was born and I was sleep deprived, hormonal and exhausted.  What went wrong …?

I realised then that perhaps I had prematurely pulled the plug on my creative development and I was paying the price.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m learning a lot on my course but it pales in comparison to the personal growth I had made during my Creative Summer.

This left me standing at a crossroad:

The left turn will keep me on my home study degree.  The course will take six years to complete part time.  Putting it off by a year will obviously add another year.  There is the possibility that once my daughter starts school in a few years I will be free to shift to full time and complete it quicker.  There is also the possibility that I can apply to the local university to undertake the course full time and complete it in three to four years but there is no guarantee I will be accepted.

The right turn will take me down a path where I defer my course for a year so I can go back to dedicating all my free time to writing.

Some of you may have seen me reach out on twitter for some advice (special thanks to M. Howalt and Allison Spector by the way!).

After weeks of wrestling and fretting and running countless plans and scenarios through my mind, I have decided that I will take the right turn and defer my course.

There are several reasons for this.  First, it will make me happy.  Second, if I want to be accepted into the Literature and Creative Writing course at the local university, I will stand a better chance if I actually have some work published and the best way to do that is to keep writing and submitting stories be they serials or short stories.  Finally, I feel that neglecting my craft would squander all the hard work I did over the summer.

It’s fair to say that I didn’t appreciate the gift of writing as much as I should have until now.  I suppose people don’t appreciate the air in their lungs until they find themselves unable to breathe.  That changes now.

Writing has opened so many doors in my life.  For example, my love of writing drives me to read which has in turn lead me to some fantastic adventures.  Most recently it has led me to Jukepop where I have read some amazing stories and met some wonderfully supportive authors (who have in turn given me fantastic advice!).  True, education is invaluable, but not all education takes place in the classroom.  After all, the few months I dedicated to writing saw me place in the top ten of the SWP2015 which in turn led to a podcast interview.  Imagine what might happen after a year?

I will, of course, still be taking part in the JRP every month.  J.A Water’s Lyncia will still get a review which I will post in time for Christmas.

I’d like to thank those who helped me overcome this personal hurdle – not only my fellow authors but my husband too (I don’t know how he put up with my mopiness!).

As always, stay tuned for further updates and of course the review of the fantastic Lyncia.

Critique of Neither Legal Nor Tender by T.P Keating

Neither Legal Nor Tender by T.P Keating is one of those stories that I kept meaning to get round to and never did.  I’m very glad I finally dived in!

Serial Status: Ongoing.  Have read up to Chapter 15.

Spelling/Grammar Rating: 2

Jukepop Synopsis:

That weekend, all Beth Hargreaves wanted was to paint her kitchen, but all she got was nearly killed, thanks to a home-made good luck charm with built-in bad juju to spare. It didn’t get much better the next weekend either…

WARNING!!! This critique may contain spoilers!!!

 

 

What Was Done Well:

I loved how easily the situation snow balls out of control.  The synopsis sums it up – all Beth wanted to do was paint her kitchen but instead she finds herself in a whole heap of trouble that only gets worse and worse.  It’s strangely hilarious, especially as Beth keeps coming back to wanting to paint her kitchen.  At one point she is captured by a peculiar cult who want to make her their leader and her first thought is ‘Well I could make them do my kitchen for me’.  It had me in stitches!

Another thing I want to touch on is the narrative.  Neither Legal Nor Tender is written in the first person, which has always been a hit or miss for me.  So often I read stories where the character’s narration takes over everything until it starts to feel very much like telling and not showing.  T.P achieves a very balanced result where Beth’s voice does not over power the scene.

Overall, Neither Legal Nor Tender has a Da Vinci Code vibe yet it is entirely different.  There’s an element of adventure; New and unusual revelations come to light and each one plummets Beth deeper and deeper down the proverbial rabbit hole.  What makes this story different is its quirky sense of humour.  It has its own voice and tone – where one paragraph will leave your heart pounding, wondering what will happen next and in the next it releases the tension with a well placed joke or hilarious insight.

What Could Have Been Better:

The first chapter was very much an information dump with details that could have been spread across the next few chapters.  I realise some of it is relevant – the parts where Beth used to be a cab driver and how she got Orlan’s Token in the first place is integral.  All the stuff about the sports Beth enjoyed in school and how she wanted to be a ballerina could be placed elsewhere.  Maybe as she is running in later chapters she could be glad she is quite athletic.  After all, we get the information about her taking up kick boxing in this way which works well.

Another thing I wanted to touch on was the scene in Chapter nine where Beth steps out of the shed and then in the next sentence she wakes up to find she has been captured.  There was no line that led me to believe she had been knocked out.  I think the effect is meant to be sudden – Beth wouldn’t necessarily know she’d been clonked on the head or drugged, but she would certainly be aware that she was lapsing into unconsciousness – especially if it was so sudden and unexpected.

Overview:

Neither Legal Nor Tender was a terrific read with some fantastic one liners. ‘Curiosity. It hadn’t killed me yet, but it sure knew where I lived.’ is my favourite one so far.  Beth has a quirky sense of humour that fits in well with the mood of the story.  This is definitely something I would recommend.  It’s a non stop roller coaster with a motivated and sassy protagonist we can all get on board with.

Critique of Underground by Ada Redmond

Underground by Ada Redmond has been on my Jukepop bookshelf for a long time.  Having read it, I don’t know why I waited so long.  It is EXACTLY my thing.

Serial Status: Ongoing.  I have read up to chapter 20.

Spelling/Grammar rating: 2

Jukepop Synopsis:

As any well weathered traveller will tell you, it’s usually best to abide by the rules of the places you find yourself in. But when the first rule is that no one still alive should be there, abandoning all hope may be the least of your concerns.

When eleven year old Millie finds herself stepping through the dark and onto a strange looking train, there’s not an awful lot she can do. Without her parents and the comfort of familiar surroundings, Millie is left to ask strangers for help. But the other passengers are silent and sorrowful, looking anywhere but at her – and they won’t tell her the name of the next stop…

WARNING!!! This critique may contain spoilers!!!

What was done well:

When I started reading, I was concerned that the main protagonist (whom the story centres on) was an eleven year old girl.  This is a prickly thing to do for a piece of work that isn’t aimed at children.  A young character must still behave like a child and not a miniature adult and yet you must somehow get your reader to feel a connection to them.  Do this wrong and the whole story falls flat.  Ada, however, subverted my concerns with ease.  Millie’s behaviour drifts between petulance and overwhelmed docility, and she often asks question after question as children her age are want to do.  I can’t help but feel a connection to the lost little girl just trying to make it home.  It affects me on two levels; first it makes me a remember a time when I got lost in a supermarket as a young child and how desolate and panicked I felt – how the few minutes felt like forever; It also strikes a chord with me as a mother and how I would feel if my little girl were lost.  Through believable behaviour and gentle character development, Ada gets the balance just right.

This isn’t the only balancing act Ada does well.  Let’s look at the descriptions.  These can be a nightmare for even the most skilled author.  You need to give enough information so the reader knows what characters and settings look like, but you don’t want pages and pages of information that dictate to the reader what they should imagine – there should always be room for them to envision it with their own personal flair.  Ada strikes the perfect balance, comparing things to something Millie has seen before or by using carefully constructed similes.

The other thing that is done quite well is the mystery.  Ada uses vague terms like ‘the ninth’ and what is going on is never fully explained.  Sure, we get hints here and there.  From what I gather, Millie has woken up and her parents have been murdered.  Somehow she has found herself in limbo/the afterlife/the underworld.  I’m not sure why, particularly since Aidan and Nathaniel make it very clear she is still alive.  It gives a sense of intrigue, pulling you further into the story to find out.

What Could’ve Been Better:

The only thing that could’ve been better is going to sound strange since it was listed above in what was done well.  However, it is featured here because towards the end it began to feel over done.  What I am referring to is the mystery and vagueness.  Initially the balance of this was perfect.  Once we meet Ava … things begin to go downhill.  It isn’t long before we are buried in countless shreds of information about a big war that happened, Aidan’s dark past, and it is hinted that Aidan, Nathaniel and Ava are angels (or some embodiment of this).  Before long, I became more confused than intrigued.  Don’t get me wrong – the mystery is still a great aspect of this story but there comes a time when you need to resolve some of the questions you raised earlier before you introduce more.

Overview:

Given that I only found one thing that could be better versus all the things that sparkled, you can see what an incredible story Underground is.  Overall it feels like a combination of The Divine Comedy and Spirited Away (my favourite book and movie respectively).  It puts an extraordinarily imaginative twist on the journey though the great beyond that I literally could not stop reading.  There were many parts that flowed like poetry, painting such monstrously fantastical settings by fusing archaic interpretations of the circles of hell with more creative, contemporary counterparts.

I highly recommend it!  If you haven’t managed to check out Underground by Ada Redmond yet – what are you waiting for?

Summer Writing Project 2015 Results!

Alas I did not win the SWP2015.  However, I do not look upon it as a failure.  No, I choose to see it as an opportunity.

I am going to self publish Lexus on Amazon.  I had already decided that if I didn’t win the competition I was going to do this for two reasons.

First, in the contest I was limited to a 40k word count.  The limitations on length meant that there were certain aspects of Lexus that could have been better.  For example, there is a big rivalry between the titular character Lexus and another pirate called Vendetta but this doesn’t come across in the story.  Instead, she acts as a minor hindrance where before she had been a major obstacle.  Also, J.S.T (the protagonist’s sister) wasn’t as much use as she had been in the original text.  She’s just there, like a cardboard cut out, going through the motions. ‘Yeah I’m the protagonist’s sister, don’t mind me.’  The reason?  A 40k word count limit.  There were so many amazing scenes that got pushed aside for that very reason, leaving some characters severely under developed.  Having said that, I would still like to keep the story quite focused.  I will not be adding any additional characters.  Instead I will extend, add or lightly amend scenes.

The second reason is that I enjoyed writing it, and many people enjoyed reading it.  I really think I’ve found something with Lexus and with the right amount of work, who knows.  It could even become a best seller one day.  I even have some ideas for spin-offs, sequels and prequels.

So a little disappointed but not deflated!

Lexus will be on Jukepop until the end of October.  I know I have a couple of people still reading it, so I will let them finish.

Until then, stay tuned for further updates!

Lexus

When I started my ‘Creative Summer’ back in the middle of May, one of the tasks I set myself was to enter a novella onto Jukepop as part of the Summer Writing Project 2015.  I knew I wanted to do something different, so I looked through some old projects for inspiration.

That’s when I rediscovered Lexus.  I wrote it when I was 16, but it stayed unfinished because I didn’t know where it was going and I wasn’t really sure how to approach the titular character.  When I picked it back up, it was mostly incomplete with only a brief opening sequence, a few crucial and fragmented middle scenes and the finale written.  So, I thought, what a better way to challenge myself than by getting it together in a few months?

So, what is Lexus about?  Well the official blurb on Jukepop is:

‘Evrin is no stranger to perilous situations. Yet all his experience counts for nothing when he crosses paths with the notorious and deadly pirate Lexus. After a series of unfortunate events, he becomes her prisoner and is forced to fight alongside her just to stay alive. If he doesn’t find a way to escape soon, the only way he’ll make it home is in a body bag.’

Essentially it follows the protagonist Evrin, a retired intergalactic special forces operative, as he becomes tangled in the criminal world through the titular character Lexus – a dangerous, ruthless space pirate.  The central and most prominent themes of the story are corruption, law and order.

It was fun to write but it presented many challenges.  For starters, the original text would easily have been 90k-100k words when completed.  I had to condense the story, concepts and characters into a much more focused story.  This meant singling out the essential parts and stripping away everything else.  I had to dissect the story to understand what made Lexus, well … ‘Lexus’.  The end result was an intense narrative which I think does the story better justice than its initial format which was at best a tangle of characters and sub plots that really didn’t add much.

So … what did I get out of it?  Would I call it a success?

Well, for starters, after the first month of the competition, Lexus was in the top 10, so I was obviously doing something right.  Because of this, I was invited by 1888’s The How The Why to do a podcast along with my fellow authors who were in the top 10 with me.  I’ve never been interviewed before for anything – let alone my own work.  It was nerve-wracking but it boosted my morale.  You can listen to it here.

In the final leg of the ‘race’, I finished in third place in terms of raw votes with just over 900.  I lost out to second place by about 9 votes.  Of course the criteria to win this competition is not just raw votes – after all the serial I came second to has more than twice the number of chapters as I do.  The same goes for many other entries.  What they are looking for is the highest number of unique readers and how many of them followed the story from beginning to end.  Unfortunately I can only determine how many unique readers and views I had – I don’t have access to the stats of other stories.

Winning the competition would be an obvious way to determine the success but the results will not be announced until the 1st of October (and even then they are about 8 hours behind me, so it is likely I will not find out until the morning of 2nd October).

So while raw, objective data would be preferable, I just don’t have it.  Instead, let’s look at the more subjective data of the  feedback for now.

Overall, it seems fairly positive.  Though there were some ‘negative’ ones, they were mostly on the sci-fi elements – such as one hilarious oversight on my part involving a ‘hovering wheelchair’ – the ‘wheel’ in wheelchair being superfluous if it was hovering.  Not bad considering this was my first sci-fi.  So I amended that.  Most readers expressed a connection to the characters, they enjoyed the content and the twists at the end, which I count as a major win.

Here are some examples of feedback towards the end (WARNING SOME OF THESE CONTAIN SPOILERS!):

From Ryan Watt

‘As I sat on the beach, finishing this story today I thought: This is such a wonderful summer beach read story, for the sci fi fan at least. You do amazing action sequences, you use female characters in great roles, you connect people in your world in ways I didn’t expect, and it is just a fun read! Thanks for putting it up here. I am really glad I finally had the chance to read it.’

From Cameron Floyd

‘This was a satisfying end it ties everything up but hints that things might not be over although this might just be my desire for a sequel talking! I have to say as the first thing I have read on this site, this is an excellent example of scifi done differently and well. I enjoyed every minute of it. My only disappointment was in how short this was and how some characters didn’t get as much development as I would have liked but this is still really good. You had some amazing characters, who were fun and interesting and I liked the subterfuge of expectation. I agree with other comments this would make an awesome summer read and that you do have fantastic, fully rounded and powerful female characters! I would be interested in any other projects you have in the works. I can see you have another story on here so I might even read that!’

From M. Howalt

‘This has been a fast-paced space adventure with lots of fun along the way. We’ve seen amazing technology, not-so-lost artifacts and cool weapons, but at the heart of the story are characters motivated by friendship, love, duty, loss, and personal gain, and they all have backstories and plotlines that converge in an organic, believable way. An enjoyable ride! Thank you for sharing it! :)’

From Andre Clemmons

’22 chapters of pure sci-fi awesomness!! It’s like a summer blockbuster of a serial you’ve created here, and it was an amazing experience to read!! Can’t wait to see what else you create here on Jukepop!! :)’

From Cherry Algrave:

‘Wow just wow I have no words for what just happened. I promised no spoilers though so I’ll try to review as best I can. not the way I though it would go but SERIOUSLY Lexus was right Syrus is an [*****]. A huge, gigantic [*****]!!!!! I know this probable makes me less of a person to say so but good on Lexus a little sad Evrin of Tokaiba didn’t really get to take him in. Hope this isn’t the last we see of Lexus! AWESOME FINALE I LOVE IT SO MUCH PLEASE WRITE MORE!!!!!!!!’

From Ellie Barstow:

‘When I heard you were adding the remaining chapters, I waited until they were up and waited to comment until the end. I must say this is not what I expected but this is a compliment! I went back and read this from beginning to end and the clues left are superb and subtle. The tension and action build chapter by chapter until before we realize it we are caught in this hurricane of happenings! I must also say that although not what I expected the ending was fantastic. I could see some comments pressuring a romantic relationship between Evrin and Lexus, but that to me did not seem viable. The thing that worked best was that abrupt killing of Syrus almost out of nowhere. It just worked it tied in with her personality, and everything had been working up to it. Their fight scene was short but strong. I had wondered what two powerhouses like that would do when near each other and it was handled phenomenally. I think you made excellent use of setting and the technology of the world. I also liked how nearer the end all the storylines converged and we saw how connected everyone was. Every character becomes useful – Tokaiba really comes into her own towards the end when her motivations are laid bare. You realize at the end that every flashback and bit of exposition served the end which is how a good story should be. I had been concerned about your use of flashbacks in the grand scheme of things but now I see I needn’t have been! What is most impressive is your integrity. I think Lexus behave consistently and remained an enigmatic, chaotic character up to the end, even when we found out her back story, she still stands as this not quite good but not wholly bad element which binds your whole story together. To say sci-fi is not usually my thing is an understatement but you may well have converted me. I am actually sad to see this story end, but I feel content, the ending tied enough up but left me wondering what would happen to these characters? My only criticism is that some characters were not as developed as other such as JST and Vendetta but given the length of this story that it not surprising. Thank you for a glorious journey! I hope you will submit something else on Jukepop soon!’

All in all, I’d call this a success.  I’ve learnt so much from the experience – the most useful being how to untangle ideas and be harsh about which ones are good for the story and which, though perhaps good, are unnecessary filler.  It was also a great exercise in telling a story in less words than I am used to.  Every scene, bit of dialogue and character had to work over time.  This is something I have always struggled with since I am a stickler for detail.  That being said, there is always room for improvement.

Going forward I plan to submit another project but that’s another subject for another blog post.  What is important now is that lots of people seemed to enjoy Lexus and I’ve improved vital aspects of my writing such as pace, world and character building and relevant exposition.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who read Lexus.  Your comments were really helpful and it meant so much that so many of your were willing to give the story a shot and read it to the end.  If you haven’t read it but are interested, you can check Lexus out here.  Additionally I have a facebook page dedicated to Lexus and any other work that takes place in that universe.

Write of Passage

Earlier this year I found myself in a writing rut.  I was writing, of course and I had a project on the go, but somehow I couldn’t get it right and I didn’t know why.  I had been working on it for a few years and had 3 books already written, the first being close to a final draft, but something wasn’t right.  I had to do something and quick.

So, I submitted it to Jukepop, a website specialising in serialised stories.  The idea is to add a story a chapter at a time.  Authors and readers often offer feedback through the comments function.  There is also a tool called ‘analytics’ where you can see how many people have read your story, if they drop off after a certain chapter, what the average chapter reading time is and what gender and age they are and even where they’re from to give you an idea of the demographic your story is appealing to.  I had been hesitant to do this.  After all, The Brotherhood (my ongoing project) has taken years to develop.  I didn’t want to give it away for free or worse, risk it getting stolen.  However, this has turned out to be one of the single best decisions I have made in a while.  I received valuable feedback that offered a window into what wasn’t quite working.

This inspired me to try something to jump start my creativity.  I called it my ‘Creative Summer’.  From May to the end of September, I assigned myself certain tasks:

• Write at least one short story a month and enter it into a competition.
• Submit a new project to Jukepop to apply all I’d learned from The Brotherhood feedback.

Now while these seem like very simple, easily achievable targets, I would like to point out that I do not do short stories.  I have always worked on much larger pieces, usually a minimum of 90k words.  The Brotherhood project as a whole is likely to span 5 books, with between 100k – 150k words per book.  I do not read short stories either.  I tend to read work that is serialised – such as trilogies or book series (such as Harry Potter, Percy Jackson or Lord of the Rings for example).  Getting a congruent story together complete with characters worth caring about and a cogent plot in no more than 2000-3000 words was a nightmare for me.

As for the Jukepop project, I challenged myself to start a new story that was a different genre to The Brotherhood, which is a YA urban fantasy featuring demons and a demon hunting organisation.  There are sci-fi elements as the setting is an alternate reality not all too dissimilar to ours BUT it takes place in the year 2150, so technology has come along a little bit.  My final decision was to go full sci-fi – enough to make it very different from The Brotherhood without being too jarring.

This also happened to coincide with Jukepop/1888/Black Hill Press’ Summer Writing Project 2015, which was perfect.  Essentially, the competition gave you between 1 June 2015 – 30th August 2015 to submit a novella (max 50k words) a chapter at a time.  Readers could vote per chapter, but essentially the 3 winners would be the ones with the most unique readers who followed the story from beginning to end.  So I entered my sci-fi project Lexus.  Not only was I creating something shorter than I was used to but I was also using a genre I have little experience writing in order to push me out of my comfort zone.

This blog will look at how much success I had with this venture as well as my plans for the future.

As a closing statement I would say that if anyone is looking for a writing community, Jukepop is the one for you.  Fellow authors are amazingly supportive, they offer invaluable feedback and there are some fantastic stories posted on there by some incredible authors.  Best of all, its free!

Although you have to sign up for an account, you don’t get spammed and you don’t have to give a million and one personal details.  The minimum you need to give is your email address.  That’s right, you can leave all other fields blank – you don’t even need to give your name.  Of course, the more information you give the better, because this helps other authors with the analytics I mentioned earlier.  For example, if you fill in your DOB, gender and what country you are from, an author gets an idea of who their story appeals to.  They won’t see these details of course; only that a certain number of people of a certain age bracket from a certain country voted and read their story.  Names will be left out of it.

Your profile will only show your name and where you are from (if you provided these details).  You have the option to give as much or as little of your address as you are comfortable with.  Most people merely put which country they are from while a few also put down what county/state.

The only emails you receive from Jukepop are notifications when serials on your bookshelf have a new chapter uploaded (think of the bookshelf like your list on Netflix – you can queue as many stories as you are interested in to read at your leisure) and when somebody has replied to a comment you have left or written on your wall.  Even then you can set these to daily, weekly or off altogether.  So no emails from third parties.  No Nigerian Princes.  No viagra or penis enlargements.  Just useful, relevant stuff which, as mentioned, you can turn off anyway.  Great, right?

So a free to join community that does not spam and is chock full of supportive members – what more could you ask for …?  A mobile/tablet app you say?  They have that too!

Honestly, I don’t think I would’ve come half as far as I have this past summer without Jukepop and its wonderful authors and readers!  So what are you waiting for?