I had a few spare moments to idle through before grabbing a bite to eat and then off to work. I was sent a recomendation to submit to a magazine that was looking for under 1,000 word flash fiction in the genres of sci-fi, fantasy and horror. Now, flash fiction is something that I have usually considered a little too short for my liking, but I've given it a go and submitted a short 640 word sci-fi piece. I'll wait and see if they like it or not, so fingers crossed.
Flash fiction is an interesting length to write. You don't have much room for development, so the story has to be particularly tight and to the point. I think I've managed to achieve that nicely. We'll see what happens.
All in all, quite a productive day I feel. Now for the mundane day (or should that be night?) job that helps pay the bills three nights a week. Well, it gets me away from the keyboard for a bit and out of the house.
Monday, 9 June 2008
Pictures and postcards from the desk of an Authoress
Today has been spent back working on the new book. I like to keep regular progress up. It is one big thing that I have often noticed that if I do not make myself stick to my daily schedule, it quickly becomes easy to slip far, far behind. I don't want to take a day or two off and suddenly find that several months have disappeared without trace without doing much. It does happen, I assure you!
I've done the writing quota, and I am getting quite pleased even if I admit myself. I've tied off a couple of loose plot ends, and really have only the end of one chapter and a tiny linking chapter to do. I've also spent a little time reading back through and doing a spot of editing. This has led me to believe that actually there isn't really as much editing as I was fearing to do.
I took a break and started picking out pictures for the cover artwork. Zoë Robinson is going to be the cover artist for this book, as the previous cover artist who did a wonderful job on the cover of 'Syndicate Dawn' is unable to do this one due to work commitments. I will be using a couple of spare pictures from one of Sarah's photoshoots though. All the other pictures come from the Westwood picture library, which is a photo library that I put together whilst briefly working at an ad agency in Manchester in the late 1990s. You would not believe what Hulton and Getty picture libraries were charging for random pictures of stuff™ so I took the decision to go out with a camera at the time over several weeks and make my own. Pictures from this library can be seen forming the basis of my first four books, as well as in the photographs section of my website.
I've begun development of a new book idea. Yes, I know I said I was going to stick to short stories for a while rather than books, but this one is screaming out to me. I may start it as a short story that I can develop later and try and get the short version into something like Interzone or Asimovs. Watch this space, though no promises on timescales.
I've done the writing quota, and I am getting quite pleased even if I admit myself. I've tied off a couple of loose plot ends, and really have only the end of one chapter and a tiny linking chapter to do. I've also spent a little time reading back through and doing a spot of editing. This has led me to believe that actually there isn't really as much editing as I was fearing to do.
I took a break and started picking out pictures for the cover artwork. Zoë Robinson is going to be the cover artist for this book, as the previous cover artist who did a wonderful job on the cover of 'Syndicate Dawn' is unable to do this one due to work commitments. I will be using a couple of spare pictures from one of Sarah's photoshoots though. All the other pictures come from the Westwood picture library, which is a photo library that I put together whilst briefly working at an ad agency in Manchester in the late 1990s. You would not believe what Hulton and Getty picture libraries were charging for random pictures of stuff™ so I took the decision to go out with a camera at the time over several weeks and make my own. Pictures from this library can be seen forming the basis of my first four books, as well as in the photographs section of my website.
I've begun development of a new book idea. Yes, I know I said I was going to stick to short stories for a while rather than books, but this one is screaming out to me. I may start it as a short story that I can develop later and try and get the short version into something like Interzone or Asimovs. Watch this space, though no promises on timescales.
Sunday, 8 June 2008
Writing output and targets
Today the weather is wonderful. In an unusual move for Britain in the Summertime, the sun is shining. Trust it, however, to pick a day where I am due to rig jockey my way up to Carlisle and back. Nevermind. At least I can top up the tan on my right arm.
I've been developing the new idea that I spoke briefly about yesterday on the blog. Namely, the sci-fi horror. Developing stuff, for me at least, means thinking about it a lot and sleeping on it. If it is the last thing I'm churning over before I fall asleep, then I'm one of those people who can influence to some extent what they dream about.
In the case of this idea, it's coming together and I've got the 'alien' or 'monster (whichever you like to call it) worked out. The trick with good horror of any kind is to hide the monster as much as possible and leave a person's imagination to fill in the gaps. It's more efective that way. Take, for instance, Jaws. Quite scary until you see the shark then it just sucked. Well, in my opinion. I've come up with the perfect monster that you never quite see, only see the effect of. It's a simple idea, but until I've started writing it down I'm going to keep it to myself. Ain't I a stinker?!
A few people have asked me about my writing output; what it is and do I have targets. Today being a work day today, I only aim for 1,000 words instead of the usual 2,000 to 3,000 that I would like to get done on a day that is entirely devoted to writing. I find that these targets are actually pretty easy for me to acheive. I have been known to get up to 8,000 words written in a day, but usually I only exceed my target by a couple of thousand if I exceed it at all. I find having this daily goal does help motivate me to write. Howevert, I never force myself to write just to reach a target if there is simply no motivation. Rubbish written material isd no use at all, so I might as well just take a break instead and go and read a book or chill for a bit.
Whilst my writing output per day may sound pretty good, I do discard or rewrite a lot of stuff. Some days may also be spent, in between books, developing ideas and plots in my head rather than sitting typing. I also tend to take a month off the targets in between projects - whilst I will write in this time, I don't aim to complete anything.
After the current book is done, I'm going to look at doing a few more short stories. I think I already mentioned this in a previous post. A short 1,500-2,000 word story I can get done each day, and the longer 10,000 word ones can be easily done inside of a week. I must admit that I quite like this idea as a change, as it will let me try out different styles and genres that otherwise would be difficult to do if just writing books.
I've been developing the new idea that I spoke briefly about yesterday on the blog. Namely, the sci-fi horror. Developing stuff, for me at least, means thinking about it a lot and sleeping on it. If it is the last thing I'm churning over before I fall asleep, then I'm one of those people who can influence to some extent what they dream about.
In the case of this idea, it's coming together and I've got the 'alien' or 'monster (whichever you like to call it) worked out. The trick with good horror of any kind is to hide the monster as much as possible and leave a person's imagination to fill in the gaps. It's more efective that way. Take, for instance, Jaws. Quite scary until you see the shark then it just sucked. Well, in my opinion. I've come up with the perfect monster that you never quite see, only see the effect of. It's a simple idea, but until I've started writing it down I'm going to keep it to myself. Ain't I a stinker?!
A few people have asked me about my writing output; what it is and do I have targets. Today being a work day today, I only aim for 1,000 words instead of the usual 2,000 to 3,000 that I would like to get done on a day that is entirely devoted to writing. I find that these targets are actually pretty easy for me to acheive. I have been known to get up to 8,000 words written in a day, but usually I only exceed my target by a couple of thousand if I exceed it at all. I find having this daily goal does help motivate me to write. Howevert, I never force myself to write just to reach a target if there is simply no motivation. Rubbish written material isd no use at all, so I might as well just take a break instead and go and read a book or chill for a bit.
Whilst my writing output per day may sound pretty good, I do discard or rewrite a lot of stuff. Some days may also be spent, in between books, developing ideas and plots in my head rather than sitting typing. I also tend to take a month off the targets in between projects - whilst I will write in this time, I don't aim to complete anything.
After the current book is done, I'm going to look at doing a few more short stories. I think I already mentioned this in a previous post. A short 1,500-2,000 word story I can get done each day, and the longer 10,000 word ones can be easily done inside of a week. I must admit that I quite like this idea as a change, as it will let me try out different styles and genres that otherwise would be difficult to do if just writing books.
Saturday, 7 June 2008
Loneliness of the long distance trucker
There's a new short story gone up on the Portfolio section of the website. The link to go direct and read this is given at the bottom of this post.
Inspired in part by the rather unusual part time job that pays the bills, and is a bit of a change of tack from my usual sci-fi and fantasy fayre. I must admit that short stories are an ideal format for experimenting with new styles. Hopefully when I eventually finish writing the new book I'll have a little more time to try out a few other short story ideas I've got. One in particular promises to be fun if I piece it together: it's a sci-fi horror thing, set in space.
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Trucker
Inspired in part by the rather unusual part time job that pays the bills, and is a bit of a change of tack from my usual sci-fi and fantasy fayre. I must admit that short stories are an ideal format for experimenting with new styles. Hopefully when I eventually finish writing the new book I'll have a little more time to try out a few other short story ideas I've got. One in particular promises to be fun if I piece it together: it's a sci-fi horror thing, set in space.
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Trucker
Friday, 6 June 2008
Music and aesthetics as inspiration
There's a fair bit I've been thinking about talking about here, but the one that immediately springs to mind is the mechanics of writing. To those who don't write, writing may appear like a bit of a black art. In fact, I can only assume that it is viewed in much the same way that I might view the process of writing music. That is, easy if you know how to and mystical if you don't.
I have several techniques that work for me in aiding writing. The first is the layout of my office. I like neat, tidy and efficient. I cannot work in a place that is dirty, a tip or is obviously a temporary location for the computer. Get these factor's sorted, and we're a long way on the road to effective writing territory. Remember: it's not about magic inspiration from the surroundings, but more making sure that nothing extraneous bothers you and causes a distraction whilst you are trying to write.
The second is music to suggest a mood. I know that other writers vary on this one. There are some who cannot write with music on and others who prefer it. I'm one of those who definately prefers it. I suppose writing fiction is more tolerant of having music playing around me. I use it for two purposes: to set the mood of the piece I am writing, and to screen out annoying background noises like other people moving around in the house, or playing GTA or Guitar Hero downstairs.
Some music just suggests a basic mood and acts as a screen to these background noises and does very little more than this. Most music would fall into this catagory. However there are certain albums that I play a lot and will actively put on when the topic I am writing suggests a need to be influenced whilst I write. There's a track by The Flaming Lips called (from memory) "Ascending Pavonis Mons by balloon" which is perfect for a scene I wrote involving a speedboat cruising around a coastline. If you don't believe me, find this music, listen to it and see what I mean. There are also a couple of Jean Michel-Jarre tracks that are good for writing scenes in a setting of industrial decay - "Ethnicolor", which is from the LP Zoolook is one I use a lot. Another LP I never grow tired of is "Shine" by the Space Brothers. I received two promo copies of this album in 1999 on double CD and triple LP and I have never grown tired of listening to them. There are also other groups such as Rammstein, Cranes and Delerium that work well to set a mood. Much of "Orb of Arawaan" was written to the sound of MCMXCAD and Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi! by Enigma a lot of the time.
The final thing that aids my writing is my keyboard. Call me weird (and many probably do) but I cannot write without having a keyboard that feels just right. In practical terms this means the cheap-ass Mitsumi keyboard that was new back in 1998. The whole point of this keyboard is that I can ignore it and just concentrate on my writing. Any other keyboard leaves me aware of the keyboard's feel and unable to concentrate fully as a result. It requires an adapter these days to plug into modern computers, as the AT port is no longer used. I even bought a spare identical make and model one off Ebay a couple of years ago just in case I ever have this one break. Luckily my sweat is not very acidic, so the keys are not too worn and I can still roughly see where the letters are.
I've finished editting another short story called "Loneliness of the long distance Trucker" and hopefully that will be being uploaded to the Portfolio page later today, so look out for it. The current book is going quite well, and the first draft is almost complete; I hope to get it done by the end of next weekend. After that I will just put it to one side and get on with editing the second edition of "Daytrippers" before returning to it after the break. I find this time away from a book can help in the subsequent editing process for the second draft.
I have several techniques that work for me in aiding writing. The first is the layout of my office. I like neat, tidy and efficient. I cannot work in a place that is dirty, a tip or is obviously a temporary location for the computer. Get these factor's sorted, and we're a long way on the road to effective writing territory. Remember: it's not about magic inspiration from the surroundings, but more making sure that nothing extraneous bothers you and causes a distraction whilst you are trying to write.
The second is music to suggest a mood. I know that other writers vary on this one. There are some who cannot write with music on and others who prefer it. I'm one of those who definately prefers it. I suppose writing fiction is more tolerant of having music playing around me. I use it for two purposes: to set the mood of the piece I am writing, and to screen out annoying background noises like other people moving around in the house, or playing GTA or Guitar Hero downstairs.
Some music just suggests a basic mood and acts as a screen to these background noises and does very little more than this. Most music would fall into this catagory. However there are certain albums that I play a lot and will actively put on when the topic I am writing suggests a need to be influenced whilst I write. There's a track by The Flaming Lips called (from memory) "Ascending Pavonis Mons by balloon" which is perfect for a scene I wrote involving a speedboat cruising around a coastline. If you don't believe me, find this music, listen to it and see what I mean. There are also a couple of Jean Michel-Jarre tracks that are good for writing scenes in a setting of industrial decay - "Ethnicolor", which is from the LP Zoolook is one I use a lot. Another LP I never grow tired of is "Shine" by the Space Brothers. I received two promo copies of this album in 1999 on double CD and triple LP and I have never grown tired of listening to them. There are also other groups such as Rammstein, Cranes and Delerium that work well to set a mood. Much of "Orb of Arawaan" was written to the sound of MCMXCAD and Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi! by Enigma a lot of the time.
The final thing that aids my writing is my keyboard. Call me weird (and many probably do) but I cannot write without having a keyboard that feels just right. In practical terms this means the cheap-ass Mitsumi keyboard that was new back in 1998. The whole point of this keyboard is that I can ignore it and just concentrate on my writing. Any other keyboard leaves me aware of the keyboard's feel and unable to concentrate fully as a result. It requires an adapter these days to plug into modern computers, as the AT port is no longer used. I even bought a spare identical make and model one off Ebay a couple of years ago just in case I ever have this one break. Luckily my sweat is not very acidic, so the keys are not too worn and I can still roughly see where the letters are.
I've finished editting another short story called "Loneliness of the long distance Trucker" and hopefully that will be being uploaded to the Portfolio page later today, so look out for it. The current book is going quite well, and the first draft is almost complete; I hope to get it done by the end of next weekend. After that I will just put it to one side and get on with editing the second edition of "Daytrippers" before returning to it after the break. I find this time away from a book can help in the subsequent editing process for the second draft.
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Rap and takin' a hood, homie
I've been spending a lot of time playing Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. Actually, we've had this game on our PS2 for some three or more years. It's the game that keeps on giving, and we're still playing it. I think we're near the end. At any rate, we're taking the hoods for the second time, and popping a few bullets in rival gangs' asses.
As much as a part of me abhors this kind of violence were it to happen in real life, I find playing this game perfectly acceptable. I can safely draw the distinction between fact and fiction. There's something about doing fictional drivebys on fictional computer sprites that is good to destress. I can do this safe in the knowledge that this is a game and nothing more. It annoys me when people who cannot get the distinction between fact and fiction try and ban such things for 'glamourising violence'. I seriously don't think GTA San Andreas does. True, there may be other games that cross the unwritten line and take things too far, but this isn't one of them.
Anyone who has played this game will know that there are quite extensive radio stations that play whilst in vehilcles. I started out listening to Radio-X and the DUST, because of my preference for rock tunes and classic dad metal. However, after three or so years I've started to listen to some of the others during the game just for a change. One of these is full of gangsta rap tracks, and I must admit I don't find some of them too bad. It made me think about all the hoo-ha about Jay-Z being booked to headline at Glastonbury.
Many years ago whilst working on the radio I used to get sent records on the promo list. I'd get tons of stuff several months before they were commercially available. The promo companies knew what shows I did, yet I'd still get the odd way-out thing that there was no chance of me ever playing. I mean, since when would gangsta rap appear on a rock show or a classical music hour? Well, most of these I just gave away. Some few I saved and shoved away in my spare bedroom record collection.
After all this fuss over Jay-Z, coupled with a faint memory of a white label double LP that I remember filing away when it arrived on the promo list in 1998/9 sent me searching. It appears that I hadn't filed it under 'J' so I ended up looking in amongst the 12" singles. Result! There it was after all these years. I've been listening to it for the first time whilst writing this, and I have to say it's not too bad. It's called "Vol 2 - Hard knock Life" according to the reaction sheet tucked into the sleeve (it is in a blank sleeve with blank record centres because it was pressed long before they finalised the album artwork it seems).
So what do I think about Jay-Z? Well, not exactly my favourite genre, but it's growing on me. I would have prefered Dave Gilmour performing 'Dark side of the moon' at Glastonbury, but then again, I never go. I think he'll do alright in the end. If it's got a good beat then the hippies will sway to it no matter what by day three.
As much as a part of me abhors this kind of violence were it to happen in real life, I find playing this game perfectly acceptable. I can safely draw the distinction between fact and fiction. There's something about doing fictional drivebys on fictional computer sprites that is good to destress. I can do this safe in the knowledge that this is a game and nothing more. It annoys me when people who cannot get the distinction between fact and fiction try and ban such things for 'glamourising violence'. I seriously don't think GTA San Andreas does. True, there may be other games that cross the unwritten line and take things too far, but this isn't one of them.
Anyone who has played this game will know that there are quite extensive radio stations that play whilst in vehilcles. I started out listening to Radio-X and the DUST, because of my preference for rock tunes and classic dad metal. However, after three or so years I've started to listen to some of the others during the game just for a change. One of these is full of gangsta rap tracks, and I must admit I don't find some of them too bad. It made me think about all the hoo-ha about Jay-Z being booked to headline at Glastonbury.
Many years ago whilst working on the radio I used to get sent records on the promo list. I'd get tons of stuff several months before they were commercially available. The promo companies knew what shows I did, yet I'd still get the odd way-out thing that there was no chance of me ever playing. I mean, since when would gangsta rap appear on a rock show or a classical music hour? Well, most of these I just gave away. Some few I saved and shoved away in my spare bedroom record collection.
After all this fuss over Jay-Z, coupled with a faint memory of a white label double LP that I remember filing away when it arrived on the promo list in 1998/9 sent me searching. It appears that I hadn't filed it under 'J' so I ended up looking in amongst the 12" singles. Result! There it was after all these years. I've been listening to it for the first time whilst writing this, and I have to say it's not too bad. It's called "Vol 2 - Hard knock Life" according to the reaction sheet tucked into the sleeve (it is in a blank sleeve with blank record centres because it was pressed long before they finalised the album artwork it seems).
So what do I think about Jay-Z? Well, not exactly my favourite genre, but it's growing on me. I would have prefered Dave Gilmour performing 'Dark side of the moon' at Glastonbury, but then again, I never go. I think he'll do alright in the end. If it's got a good beat then the hippies will sway to it no matter what by day three.
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Bah Humbug!
With both the first half and the last quarter of the book finished and the third quarter largely mapped out, some might say that I'm well on my way to getting this book finished.
Unfortunately, I seem to have hit a wall of apathy towards ideas. I just can't seem to get the inspiration to write much. Every idea I try falls deadborn from the keyboard after a few hundred words, and I'm left deleting stuff and going back to where I started.
A part of me just wants this book finished. I have other things to move on to, and I want this out of the way so I can give 'Daytrippers' a spruce for a second edition (which should take no more than a couple of days' work) and a few short story ideas. Unfortunately, I find it very hard to move on until I've finished what I'm working on. Having 'Syndicate Dawn', for example, in a state of unfinishedness for nearly nine years niggled a lot. I don't want to get within dashing distance of the finishing line for 'The Atlantic Connection' and have the damn thing languish for nearly a decade. I need to get it sorted and published.
Last week and the week before I was going so well, then the inspiration ran out on Friday and I'm left just milling on the page. I hope it's only temporary and the inspiration will pick up again soon. I can but hope.
Unfortunately, I seem to have hit a wall of apathy towards ideas. I just can't seem to get the inspiration to write much. Every idea I try falls deadborn from the keyboard after a few hundred words, and I'm left deleting stuff and going back to where I started.
A part of me just wants this book finished. I have other things to move on to, and I want this out of the way so I can give 'Daytrippers' a spruce for a second edition (which should take no more than a couple of days' work) and a few short story ideas. Unfortunately, I find it very hard to move on until I've finished what I'm working on. Having 'Syndicate Dawn', for example, in a state of unfinishedness for nearly nine years niggled a lot. I don't want to get within dashing distance of the finishing line for 'The Atlantic Connection' and have the damn thing languish for nearly a decade. I need to get it sorted and published.
Last week and the week before I was going so well, then the inspiration ran out on Friday and I'm left just milling on the page. I hope it's only temporary and the inspiration will pick up again soon. I can but hope.
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