Year in Review: 2018

This year hasn't been a particularly good year for me, for various reasons. At the beginning of February I had to have surgery for a vaginal prolapse, and although this is a fairly minor operation, the recovery time took far longer than I was anticipating. It was two months, really, before I felt fully recovered and I had underestimated how much the recovery process would take out of me.

Then, in June, I was hit by a bombshell when I found out I was to lose my job. Having been with the same organisation for nearly 13 years, the prospect of having to go back out into the job market was daunting, to say the least.

The worst part of it all is that since that day in June, when I was faced with this news I haven't written a single word. Not one.

Initially, all my energy was going into getting my CV up to date and applying for jobs, a process I hadn't had to do for so long I had forgotten how time consuming it can be. Fortunately I found another job fairly quickly, but after having been so long in one organisation, having to be the 'new girl' again and learn everything from the ground up was quite exhausting. And then by the time I'd settled into the new job and felt comfortable in it, I had just been too long away from the writing routine to get back into it.

Hence, my resolution from last year of completing another novel by the end of 2018 remains depressingly unfulfilled.

So all in all, I will be glad to see the back of 2018. 2019 is a New Year, and I am in a new job, but it's an uncertain time in British politics and I am also acutely aware of the fact that nobody's job is guaranteed in this day and age.

The wider picture is too overwhelming, so I am starting the new year with a few personal goals to focus on.

1. Get back into a healthy diet and exercise routine. I always say this every year, but I am currently facing the depressing fact that I can't fit into half my wardrobe these days. I have already made a start on the exercise routine, because I've just commenced sessions with a personal trainer. But I need to stick with it, and I need to be more disciplined with the eating regime. More fruit and veg, less chocolate. Realistically this is not going to start until all the Christmas chocolate is gone.
2. Make more time for friends. Social media makes it easier to stay in touch with people we don't see very often, but it doesn't match face to face contact with friends. There are people in my life I consider good friends, and I haven't seen nearly enough of them this year (in some cases, not at all). That has to change next year.
3. And finally, and most importantly, I need to get back into the writing routine. Back to the early-morning writing sessions in a coffee shop before work. Back to regularly scheduled writing time. I am not going to set a goal of finishing a particular manuscript this year, because at the moment that seems too overwhelming. I just need to get back to writing.

So these are the resolutions I am making as we head into 2019.

Happy New Year to all. What are your goals for the forthcoming year?

What I'm Doing At FantasyCon 2018

This year, FantasyCon is heading up North to Chester, a town I remember visiting as a child - mostly because there was a nice zoo there. That was over 40 years ago, and no doubt it's changed a lot since then.

However, this weekend I go back there again for my annual fix of all things horror, SF and fantasy. It seems I've got a rather busy programme this year, and all the cool kids are posting their FantasyCon activities, so here are mine.

Friday:

9:30pm - 'Occult and Supernatural Adventures' panel in the Edward Room. Pete Sutton moderating. My fellow panelists are Mike Chinn, Sue Tingey and Georgina Bruce.

Saturday:

2:00pm - I am doing a reading in the Disraeli room, with Ray Cluley and Rosanne Rabinowitz.

3:30pm - 'Writers and Roleplaying Games' panel in the Edward Room. Alasdair Stuart moderating. Fellow panellists are Danie Ware, Allen Stroud and Gavin Smith.

I will also have copies of both 'The Whispering Death' and 'Outpost H311' for sale on the BFS table in the dealer room, and will likely be hanging around in the bar for at least part of the time. And I might make an appearance at the karaoke on the Saturday night. I never could resist a good sing.

So, looking forwarding to catching up with friends old and new in Chester this weekend. Don't be afraid to come say hello if you see me. Don't listen to the gossip - I am quite harmless really , and I'll be wearing a prominently displayed name badge so you can identify me.

Now all I have to do is figure out what I'm going to be reading. And get past the customary dilemma of what to pack for a Con...

Baby Steps

Film Festival Laurels

Once again, I'm excited to announce "Metronome" is a finalist at another film festival. Imaginarium is a multi-genre writers' convention and film festival that will celebrate its fifth anniversary this year. I'm scheduled to be on four panels: Screenwriting 101, Felines in Fiction, Paranormal Literature, and Self Publishing Overview. I'm also hoping to preview my latest paranormal suspense novel, although that depends on my publisher and editor. (Cover reveal will be coming soon.)

Other than that, I hadn't been doing any writing lately, aside from revising the novel. I suspect depression, a condition that I deal with occasionally. Anyway, to get back to writing, I decided to take small steps. I started with 10 minutes, then a few hours later, wrote another 10 minutes. I'm currently working on a short story, although it may be a novella. Also need to do more research for a couple more novel ideas. I'm also taking drawing lessons as another way of expressing myself. I actually wanted to be an artist before I wanted to be a writer. Maybe at some point, I'll be brave enough to post my drawings online. Maybe. :-)

Monthly Round-up: August 2018

The last round-up was three months ago, and quite a lot has been going on in my life since then. I got made redundant from the day job in July, but fortunately managed to find a new job after just a few weeks of intense job-hunting. But now I am in the position of being the new girl, which feels strange after nearly 13 years in the same organisation, and it is quite intensive.

Hence, with all this real-life stuff to deal with, not a lot of writing has been happening.

OUT NOW:

I may as well take the opportunity to promote OUTPOST H311, which is doing reasonably well sales-wise at the moment. If you like Nazi zombies, this is a book for you. Tell your friends. There aren't enough Nazi zombie books in the world, and this one attempts to address that.

PUBLICITY

Three online interviews with me have gone up since last time, and links are included below:

21 June - Cedar Hollow
20 August - Ginger Nuts of HorrorGinger Nuts of Horror
23 August - Kendall Reviews

WORK IN PROGRESS

As already mentioned, not much writing going on. There will be a sequel to OUTPOST H311. That's all I can really say at this stage.

And that's about it for news this time. I hope to see you again next month.

Fragments of a Writer's Life

So these past few months I haven't gotten much writing done. Mainly because I have novels finished that need revision, and I have a novel to revise and resubmit. One of my novels is supposed to have a September release date, but nothing's finalized.

That said, I also have a cozy mystery, a thriller, and a screenplay to plot. I've got notes on plots and characters; it's just a matter of piecing them together into a cohesive narrative. I'd taken a mini course on writing the cozy mystery and another on writing thrillers recently, which led to some plot ideas.

I've been focusing on marketing, too, more than I had in the past. I took courses on Facebook Ads and Amazon ads, plus a webinar on marketing. Hope to put what I've learned into action in the next couple of months. Then there's getting ready for the upcoming Indie Gathering International Film Festival and Imaginarium. Hoping to add more cons in 2019 or 2020.

Speaking of IG, I'm excited to announce two of my screenplays won third place in their respective categories: horror short script and crime drama feature length script. The short horror script also made it to the first round at the Action on Film Festival. Next year, I'm hoping to submit a short documentary. That said, awards aren't won without continually striving to improve one's writing skills and knowledge. But that's another post.

Action on Film Screenplay Laurel

Indie Gathering Screenplay Laurel

Requiem for the "Plain Brown Rapper" (Cross-posted)

The Law and Martial Arts by Carl Brown

This past month, friend and fellow author Carl Brown passed away. Although we’d lost touch over the years, he’s someone I’ll always remember, and I wanted to share these memories.

I first met Carl shortly after moving to Louisville, Kentucky from Wisconsin. A then-mutual friend asked if I wanted to go to a party Carl was hosting. I said why not, and we went to a house in the Highlands I would later learn Carl called Sanctuary. I don’t remember if I was nervous about attending a party where I didn’t know anyone, but Carl made me feel welcome.

For Carl, Sanctuary was more than a name. He was bipolar and open about his diagnosis. His living room/office walls were covered with charts depicting his mood swings. Depression seemed the most prevalent, and he would take to bed, spending the time sleeping and reading.

He didn’t let that stop him from seeing I suffered from depression and urging me to get help. I’m much better, and while I probably resented him initially, I see where he was coming from and am grateful he cared.

Carl had two loves: judo and chess. A judo instructor, he achieved the title Shihan (Master Instructor). He was also a master at chess. I think we came to a draw one time in the few times I played the game with him.

He obtained a law degree from Vanderbilt University and was a Jefferson County Commissioner.  Carl used his experience as a lawyer and martial artist to pen articles in Black Belt Magazine and write The Law and Martial Arts. His fiction included Bethlehem Baby and Blackstone: The Antichrist (which included Bethlehem Baby), both religious fantasies. While not a church-going Christian when I first met him, Carl would eventually find his way to Highland Baptist Church in the Highlands. Before then, his Sundays were filled listening to the soundtrack for Jesus Christ, Superstar. I wonder if he saw the John Legend version this past Easter Sunday.

He also wrote a column as “The Plain Brown Rapper” for LEO Weekly, Louisville’s alternative newspaper, and hosted The Plain Brown Rapper interview show on then-cable station TKR’s public access channel. About ten years later, Carl was back on local TV, this time with Carl Brown’s Reality, a show we worked on together.  It aired on then TV station WYCS. He interviewed local politicians, artists, advocates, among other members of the Louisville community, and I videotaped and edited each episode. We even worked on a short film, “The Art Thief,” that would later be compiled on a DVD of short films included in the book $30.00 Film School (2nd edition) by independent filmmaker Michael Dean.

Carl Brown in "The Art Thief"

Carl’s friendship has meant a lot to me over the years. He was even instrumental in my meeting my husband, James. Carl was a witness, along with James’s son, at our wedding at the Hall of Justice. (We were married in a judge’s chambers.)

I can’t speak for other people’s experiences, but for me, Carl Brown was one of the nicest, most helpful people I’ve ever met. His loss is a tragic one. Requiescat in Pace.

https://www.leoweekly.com/2018/04/carl-brown-written-longtime-column-plain-brown-rapper-leo-died/

8th Annual Kentuckiana Authors Fair

This past Saturday I attended the 8th Annual Kentucky Authors Fair in LaGrange. The Authors Fair originated in Madison, Indiana, and was an outdoor festival before the change of venue. Approximately 80 authors sold books ranging from YA to mystery to romance. It was good to see old friends and meet new ones. I'm looking forward to next year, and will hopefully have one or two new books to sell.

The Judas Dilemma Receives a Contract!

Excited to announce my paranormal suspense novel, The Judas Dilemma, will be published by MuseItUp Publishing. No release date yet. This will be my second publication with Muse, the other being a short dark fiction story, "Family Tradition," that was a finalist in the EPIC EBook Awards 2014.

Judas Dilemma is one of my angel paranormal suspense (not romance) novels that also includes Cathedral Girl (currently a revise/resubmit with another publisher), the Raguel series, and the Malake Habbalah (the angels of punishment) series, along with a couple of others in the works. While Judas Dilemma is currently the only contracted book, my hope is to release the aforementioned in the next few years.

Writing a New Genre

Photo by TrisMarie at MorgueFile.com

For the past few months, I'd been trying to come up with a plot. I had two homicide detective characters, but no crime. A scroll down my Facebook page advertised a mini video course in writing a cozy mysteries. Why not? I'd been wanting to write a cozy for a while, having written a police procedural crime drama screenplay. I enjoyed reading cozies, as well as other subgenres of the mystery/thriller/suspense genres. Only problem? While I had a title in mind, I still had no plot. But I downloaded the three short videos and gave them a view.

First, although the videos were an introduction to a more detailed course, they were informative and well-done. And, not only that, they inspired a story idea. Soon after finishing the third video, I was jotting down my plot, the main characters, and notes I needed for research. The story is inspired by silent films and by an actress who grew up in the same area as my mother. (They didn't know each other, this actress being eighteen years older and already having moved to Hollywood.)

Of course, I won't be using the actress's name or description, as the story is not about her, but only inspired. Most of this month will be spent doing research. Hoping to write it in April during the bi-annual writing challenge I participate in, the other being in October.

Monthly Review: February 2018

On 1 February, I went in for surgery.

Since then I've been at home recovering, so February is pretty much a write-off. However, it's been very cold while I've been off, so it's not been a bad time to be stuck indoors. And by the time I go back to work, which I hope will be next week (pending doctor approval) it will be daylight when I leave the house.

That said, there are a few things to report this month.

OUT NOW/COMING SOON

I'm pleased to announce that my story 'Morgan's Father' is included in the Women in Horror edition of the SIREN'S CALL e-zine. This issue is completely free to download as a PDF and is chock full of horror stories by women, so download your copy now.

In other news, we don't yet have a release date for OUTPOST H311, but the onus is on me at the moment since I've had the edits back and I'm working through them. And it's taking rather longer than I was expecting. Partly that's due to being on sick leave. For the first two weeks following surgery I couldn't really do much except lie about reading or watching TV. No concentration for anything else. However, this week I've been making progress with the edits, so hopefully there'll be more news on this next month.

PUBLICITY

I contributed to Mark West's Stephen King mixtape, which appeared on his blog on 26 February. This was a post including a long list of writers talking briefly about their favourite King story. I chose 'The Breathing Method'.

WORK IN PROGRESS

I haven't worked on any WIPs for a while, what with surgery getting in the way and all. So the current status is unchanged. There are two current works in progress:

A WHITER SHADE OF PAIN: a crime thriller set in 1967 which is a collaboration with my husband. We plotted the book together, then I wrote Draft 1 and he started on Draft 2. The latter isn't finished yet, but I've taken it back to make further changes to the amended chapters. So I suppose it's currently on Draft 2.5.

DEADLY SUMMER is the fourth Shara Summers novel, which takes my intrepid sleuth to New York City when she gets a job in a US soap opera. I am about a third of the way through the first draft. I halted work on this when I started writing OUTPOST H311, and I haven't got back to it yet.

That's all to report this month. I anticipate that by the end of next month, spring will have sprung. But you can never tell, with British weather.

Best Books of 2017

This post is a bit late coming, given that we're already halfway through February.

Every year I set up a 'Goodreads' challenge to read so many books in a year. On average it takes me about a week to read one average-length novel. Most of this is down to my long commute - I spend the best part of 3 hours a day every working day on public transport, travelling to and from work, and I use most of that time to read. I am also quite a fast reader, especially if the book is exciting, and I find myself turning pages faster to find out what happens next.

In 2017 I set myself a goal of reading 68. Happily I exceeded that goal and a read a total of 70 books last year. Six of those books I gave a five-star rating to, and this my criteria for the 'best books of the year' list.

In no particular order, they are:

Pet Sematary: Stephen King
Heart-Shaped Box: Joe Hill
Behind Her Eyes: Sarah Pinborough
X: Sue Grafton
Bones Never Lie: Kathy Reichs
Soul Music: Terry Pratchett

No real surprises here - these are all authors whose books I enjoy, and three of my four all-time favourite authors - Stephen King, Sue Grafton and Kathy Reichs - are in this list. The only one who isn't is Sara Paretsky, and that was only because I did not read her 2017 release (though I bought it, at Bouchercon in Toronto) last year.

More details about these books and why I enjoyed them can be found below.

Pet Sematary:
 The first time I read this book was over 25 years ago. I had to re-read it last year for my horror book club, and I had forgotten just how good it is. This is an almost-perfect horror story that contains all of the characteristics of King that made him my inspiration.
Louis Creed, doctor and Ordinary Guy moves his family to rural Maine when he takes up a job as resident physician on a university campus. The road outside the house claims the lives of many pets, so many that a pet cemetery has been set up by local children. But there's something much darker lying beyond the cemetery, and Louis' descent into madness is creepy and downright disturbing.

Heart-Shaped Box:
I got to meet Joe Hill at Fantasycon in Scarborough a couple of years ago, and end up buying a few books of his which he signed. This was one of them. It involves a fading, self-absorbed rock star with a fascination for collecting macabre items who ends up buying from the internet a suit that allegedly has a ghost attached to it. The suit turns up in a heart-shaped box and the promised ghost does indeed come with the suit, but as always the story is far more complex and it soon takes a sinister turn.
Though not in the same league as his famous father, Stephen King, Joe Hill is still an accomplished horror writer in his own right, and this is a creepy and rather disturbing tale.

Behind Her Eyes:
 I know Sarah Pinborough personally through both the crime and horror convention circuits, and I am always impressed with both her versatility and her writing style. The author of 20-plus published novels, this is the one that seems to have moved her up into the big leagues, and well deserved that move is to.

'Behind Her Eyes' starts out as effectively a love triange between David, Adele and Louise. David is a doctor, Adele his apparently fragile wife, and single mother Louise his secretary. But she meets him in a bar and shares a kiss with him before she starts her new job and realise that he's her boss. Meanwhile Adele offers a hand of friendship to Louise and she finds herself getting closer to Adele, whilst feeling guilty about carrying on a relationship with David. Alternating between Adele and Louise's point of view, it soon becomes apparent that this is not a typical psychological thriller, and it has an ending that will blow you away.

X:
I was not to know, at the time I read this book, that it would be Sue Grafton's penultimate novel and she would tragically leave us before getting to the end of her 'alphabet' books. I have been with Grafton's couragious female PI since 'A is for Alibi'. Kinsey Millhone isn't married and doesn't seem to be able to commit to relationships, has no kids and no desire to have any, doesn't cook and doesn't play particularly well with others. I think she's wonderful. In 'X' Kinsey ends up crossing paths with a particularly vicious villain, and the encounter will have long-term repercussions for her.

I am aware that Grafton's writing style, and her character, has influenced my own crime series. Sue Grafton is the only one of my favourite crime writers I never got to meet, and I wish I could have
.
Bones Never Lie:
Kathy Reichs is another one of my favourite crime writer, and one I've had the privilege to meet. Forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan shuttles between Montreal and North Caroline, uncovering murders in her examination of bones, and with a long-standing on-again off-again relationship with Montreal cop Andrew Ryan. She also has a daughter, Katy, whose chronological age marks the passage of time in the series, though by now Katy is grown up and off doing her own thing.

This one was very typical of Kathy Reichs' style. But I freely admit I love the formula, and I found this one a proper page-turner.

Soul Music:
 I've been re-reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld series for a while, and I expect it to take me quite some time yet, since there are over 40 books in the series and this is #16. And eventually I will get to books I haven't read before, since I didn't get through them all the first time around.

My favourite books are the ones about the witches, but Death comes a close second and this one features the latter. In this chronicle of the fantasy world, the inhabitants discover Rock Music, and the spirit of teenage rebellion it inspires. Pratchett's books are always entertaining, and are always a good thing to read when I need my spirits lifting.

So there we have it for the best books of 2017. For 2018 I've decided to play it safe and set a goal to read 70 books. Nearly 7 weeks in I have read 7, which puts me a bit behind schedule. But I am sure I shall catch up!

And if anyone is on Goodreads and wants to link up there, this is my profile page.Best

Monthly Review: January 2018

I really hate January. It has no redeeming features. It's dark, cold and wet, everyone is broke after Christmas, there is nothing to look forward to and as I never see daylight during the working week it's the month my SAD seems to hit the hardest so I spend most of it feeling depressed.

Hence, I am always glad to see the back of it. Happily, we are now out of January and there are a few things to look forward to in the coming months as there is news to report.

COMING SOON:

I am pleased to announce that my previously-published story "Morgan's Father" (most recently available in the collection SOUL SCREAMS) is to be published in the forthcoming 'Women in Horror' edition of the ezine SIREN'S CALL.

My new horror novel OUTPOST H311 is currently with the editor, and will be released later this year from KGHH publishing. I will let you know when I have more news regarding release date.

PUBLICITY:

I've been a bit quiet on this front of late, and there's nothing to report at the moment, but there are a couple of things I've been working on and I hope to have something to report soon.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

With the horror novel finished I've been trying to figure out what to work on next. I'm back at work on the collaboration with Hubby, which has been a somewhat long-running project. It's a crime thriller set in 1967, about a young woman with a dream to play bass in a band, who gets caught up in the heady world of London gangs and the rising music scene when she searches for a friend who's disappeared.

The fourth Shara Summers novel is about a third of the way through draft 1, but I have not done any work on it for 12 months. I am still in two minds as to whether to carry on with this series. I enjoy writing it, but it's not selling, and is there any point in carrying on with a series people don't want to read?

As we move into February and the days start to get lighter, things start to look brighter. Join me again at the end of this month to see what it had in store!

Living Through My Characters

Crime Scene Tape

So the question was asked by someone, via Facebook, if you could go back and pursue a career you wanted, what would it be? I mentioned two: NTSB investigator or United States Postal inspector. I could've added crime scene investigator, homicide detective, but you get the idea. Personally, if I could, the NTSB investigator would be my first choice, given my love of aviation.

That's one of the perks of being a writer. I can create an NTSB investigator or a postal inspector. I can put them in whatever world I want. I'm playing "God(dess)" and living vicariously through them. Of course, as many authors know, characters can also be notorious for going off and doing their own thing, but sometimes this works to the author's advantage. While I plot my novels, I also leave room for any deviations from the story, although I'll make sure the characters don't wander too far off the proverbial beaten path.

This year, I have at least three new protagonists I want to write, one being a private investigator, another a homicide detective, and the third that USPS inspector. As for the NTSB investigator, that will require far more research, so perhaps in the future...  This year, I'd like to write crime stories in various genres/subgenres, including cozy, police procedural, and noir, among others. I've enjoyed reading crime fiction since elementary school, when I read Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. I grew up watching shows like Columbo, and have continued to pursue my passion by taking classes in crime scene investigation for writers, forensic science, and cyber crimes, among others. I read thrillers, mysteries, suspense, and books on crime writing.

Yes, I suspect if I had my life to live over, I would probably still be a writer, but I would also probably have a career in some area of law enforcement.

Year in Review: 2017

Well here we are at the start of 2018. This is a time to make resolutions to change things in the forthcoming year, and review how things went in the last one.


This time last year, I resolved to have two finished WIPs by the end of 2017. Well, I got halfway there. I finished the latest horror novel in mid-December. The novel is called OUTPOST H311 and it will be published by KGHH Publishing some time this year. Stay tuned for more info on this.


The other WIP - the fourth Shara Summers novel - remains unfinished. I am at present trying to make up my mind whether to continue with this series. The third novel is still without a publication date. Although it was accepted by MuseItUp Publishing some 18 months ago, health and personal issues affecting both my editor and my publisher there have delayed publishing schedules.


I enjoy writing the Shara series, and the few reviews that I've received for the first two books in the series have been positive, but they really aren't selling, and I'm finding this very discouraging. What's the point of writing books that no one seems interested in reading?


Since I finished OUTPOST H311 I've taken a bit of break from writing while I think about what to work on next. I have got a couple of vague ideas, but nothing concrete yet.


This year, I resolve to have at least one WIP finished by the end of the year. I just haven't made up my mind which one yet.


Happy New Year one and all, and hope 2018 brings success and happiness.