Someone Up There Doesn’t…Or, Perhaps…?

Do you ever have the feeling that someone up there isn’t on your side? I say ‘up there’ but I really mean ‘out there’, since the idea of heaven as an actual destination, let alone a geographical location, is something I find impossible to accept. However, the point is that sometimes things seem to be against you, as an individual. There are theories about this sort of thing. That book of promises, The Secret, is full of the sort of pseudo-philosophy that preaches a belief in some power that will take your side for good. Though why such a power should be interested in any one individual above another is less certain.

What’s my point? Well, I’ve been having one of those periods when things have appeared to gang up against me for no apparent reason. It’s very easy to ascribe such misfortune to some power outside of oneself, to place the blame on fate or your own particular brand of god, or bad luck. In practice, of course, it’s generally just the way life is. Coincidence is far more common than most people realise.

So, coincidences have been lining up to form a peculiar set of circumstances that I could, quite frankly, do without. On the other hand, if I actually examine my life, I realise I’m far more fortunate than many of my fellowmen. I have food in my belly, a roof over my head, a loving wife and daughter, an income, albeit not a large one. There are folk out there living on a handful of rice each day, folk with no visible means of support, folk living in ditches and sewage pipes, folk dying from the combined efforts of extremists who all believe their point of view is not only the right one but a philosophy worth killing and dying for. So, all in all, I feel I have little to complain about, if I face the facts squarely and without self-pity.

What motivated this piece?

Small misfortunes. Small inconveniences. Small disappointments. That’s all.

For the past few years I’ve been struggling to write and get published an adult epic fantasy trilogy. It’s important to me. The story deals with themes that matter to me, themes that I can become quite passionate about. But, in the end, it’s just a series of books. Whether, in published from, the story will cause readers to think, will enhance lives, will, as all writers hope, change some minds, is a matter for speculation.

The coincidence part comes in the way that the first 2 books are written and edited and the first is now with a publisher, whom I’m hoping will publish it, and the series. Whilst I wait, I’m writing book 3. Or, at least, trying to write it. For reasons I won’t bore you with, I would prefer to have that first draft complete before a specific date in September, which means I need to write around 3,500 words a day. For some, such a target is impossible. For others, it represents nothing out of the ordinary. I took part in the annual NaNoWriMo project the year before last and, over the 30 days of November, I turned out over 100,000 words of a new novel. (In the end I decided against publication because it was fatally flawed). But the point is that I wrote the words. I can produce the necessary number of words to hit my target.

So, what’s the problem?

Well, since the publisher asked for the full MS of book 1, which he now holds, I’ve been beset by a number of unrelated domestic accidents. The net effect of these has been to reduce the amount of time I have available for writing.  I sent the MS in full on 19 July. Today is 31 July. That’s 11 days ago.11 x 3,500 is 38,500 words. But, to date, I’ve managed only 24,000 words, or about two thirds of the target. If this rate continues, I’ll miss my self-imposed target by a long way.

But, that’s the point. The target is self-imposed. No one else has set me a goal. No one is asking me to complete book 3 in any given time. It’s entirely my own decision. So, you see, whilst I could wallow in inefficient self-pity, decrying the vagaries of fate for placing barriers in my path, I’ve decided such a response is idiotic. Instead, I’ll continue to write as much as I’m able on every day and be content with my progress, knowing I’m doing all I can to achieve my target. If I fail to hit it, so be it. I’ll have to adjust my expectations and take appropriate action.

And my point here?

Well, most of us have a tendency to set ourselves unrealistic targets and then blame anything but ourselves when we fail to achieve them. Not healthy. Not productive. Perhaps better to set a realistic target in the first place and be prepared to modify our expectations when unexpected barriers fall in our way? So, don’t do yourself down when you fail, or rail against some unseen entity. Accept that sometimes life is like that and learn from it.

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Charley, by Shelby C. Jacobs, Reviewed.

Novels are works of fiction, by and large. But we can often learn from them, especially if some of the

subject matter is unfamiliar to us as readers. In this romance, I learned about aspects of American Basketball, the position and influence of the church on certain moral issues and the ways in which business might be conducted in the USA.

This is essentially a love story, employing an important theme with which I have sympathy: it discusses, through the interactions of its protagonists, the difference between lust and love. The eponymous Charley is a very strong female character and, in PJ, she is thrust, literally in certain passages, into the arms of a very strong male character. Their introduction, mutual exploration of sex and love, and their attempts to resolve the problems they face in getting together form the plot of the story.

I have to confess that much of the Basketball description went over my head. As a Brit, I have little knowledge of the sport and, with its own jargon, which is clearly understood by aficionados, I was often in the dark. But it wasn’t important, as the sports sequences are few and their content is more emblematic and symbolic than essential. I was able to grasp enough to understand the significance.

Similarly, although I’ve been involved in the business world, both as practitioner and in the role of tax collector, many of the practices exposed in the book were new to me. Of course, this is set in the southern states of the USA, so a degree of fraud and double-dealing was not unexpected. The author makes no moral judgement on the issues raised, but allows readers to come to their own conclusions, which is a stance I heartily applaud.

Also, as an agnostic, albeit raised on the rather loose moral standards of the Church of England, I’m not particularly sympathetic to the church movement as a whole. I felt the author managed very well to convey the inherent hypocrisy and self-imposed blindness of the protagonists as they allowed their actions to declare their true feelings whilst their words frequently hinted at more scriptural concerns. Again, it was left to readers to make their own judgements. In spite of the inclusion of scriptural references, I never felt I was being preached at.

The characters are drawn so well that it’s easy to get to know them and to feel with them. Since such empathy is an essential component of fiction for me, I was able to enjoy the read so much more. Written in the first person, and with occasional ‘mental asides’ that hint at the true state of mind of Charley, this complex and multi-layered piece of fiction reads easily, whilst challenging the reader to make certain judgements, sometimes only to discover that new facts must overturn those conclusions.

A really good read, this. The romance and erotic element will undoubtedly appeal more to women readers, whilst the other components will probably have a stronger appeal for those men who don’t generally read this genre. That sounds sexist, but I’m trying to point out that there’s something here for both genders. I have no qualms in recommending this novel.

En Route to Publication

Fantastic Books Publishing, having viewed my first 3000 words of the adult epic fantasy trilogy, have 

asked to see the whole MS. Fantastic! I know this relatively new publishing venture through a previous association, when I was asked to provide a story for a contest winner’s anthology of speculative fiction. Fusion ran with my story, Rebirth, as a sample of professional sci-fi writing alongside those contest winners.

Now, this publisher is considering my fantasy. A Seared Sky runs to 3 volumes, of course. I’ve already written books 1 and 2 and I long ago drew the map to accompany the story that takes place in my imagined world. Book 3 is well under way, with 8,500 words written so far. Book 1, Joinings, is now under consideration. As you can imagine, I’m delighted, excited, and looking forward to a long and fruitful association with Fantastic Books Publishing.

Many of you will know that I’ve self-published a number of books and may wonder why I’d want to become involved with a publisher for this project. I am a writer. I prefer to use my time to write. Whilst I’m perfectly capable of preparing a book for publication in either eBook format or for POD printing, and even design my own covers, I’d prefer to spend that time in actually writing. All the onerous, for a writer, tasks involved in preparation of a MS for conversion to the formats required for publication will be taken care of by the publisher. Cover design will be devolved to a professional designer, with input from me as author. As for marketing; well, we all know that writers are deeply involved in promoting their own work, however it reaches the readers. The difference will be that I won’t have to design and run the publicity events. I’ll merely have to be involved in promotion. I think that’s a worthwhile sacrifice of the small reduction in royalty this publisher takes for their professional involvement and expertise.

I trust this publisher. They already have a good track record. And I’ve met Daniel Grubb, CEO, through other published writers. Such recommendation is always valuable, I think. So, I look forward to the adoption of the book by Fantastic Books Publishing; by no means a done deal at this stage, but one I hope will come to fruition. I’ll keep you informed of the progress as I take this route to further publication and I’ll let you all know as soon as we have a launch date.

If you have something ready for publication, why not consider this publisher? Have a look at their website and see what they have already produced, see their terms and conditions and maybe try your work with them.  Here’s a link to their website: http://www.fantasticbookspublishing.com/about/

A Hiatus, a Break, and a Continuation, At Last.

A Screen capture of part of the timeline.

Regular readers will know that I've been talking about my adult epic fantasy trilogy for some time now. I've written books 1 and 2 and both are now fully edited. I'm currently seeking a publisher for the series.

Meanwhile, I started to write book 3. I got as far as the end of chapter 2, around 7,000 words, before I realised I hadn't prepared the absolutely essential tool to aid in keeping track of my many named characters. I devised a timeline so that I'd know exactly where every named character was at any time and what they were doing. This is a necessary tool, as the story takes the form of three interwoven threads, combining to form the plot. Of course, both the time period and the selection of characters change with each book. Some of the players die, some merely fall off the edge of the stage, perhaps to be allowed back up to perform some other part before the end. The timescale is over three years and a great deal happens.

I could not continue without creating the necessary timeline for book 3. So, that is what I have been doing. It's a lengthy task; complicated though not difficult. Each player has a hyperlink to the character sketch I've produced, so I can easily check that I haven't unwittingly changed hair colour or gender!

As I have changed over from a PC to the iMac during the process of writing, most of my links no longer worked, as the files were in different places.  So I had to reform those links as well. It's all been rather time-consuming, but it's worth the effort. And I'm now back on track. So I can continue with the really great part of the process; the actual writing.

I don't know how other writers keep track of their characters when writing long works, but I'd be interested to learn. So, by all means, give us some insight.

I will keep you informed of progress on the trilogy. Watch this space, as they say.

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The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club, by Duncan Whitehead, Reviewed.

An unusual title for an unusual book. I was unsure what to expect from this book, which as I write this, has been listed as a finalist in the 2013 Readers’ Favourite annual International Award Contest in the humour category. There’s certainly an element of humour in the story and its presentation, and I did laugh out loud quite a lot whilst reading. So, I wish it well in that contest. Comedy isn’t noted for its ability to travel, so my enjoyment of the humour, as a Brit, suggests this one has managed that trick rather well.

If I say that the book is a ‘light’ crime novel, you might get the idea that it is a different type of book than the one I actually read. There is a deal of the minutiae involved in the lives of the many characters, all of whom are well drawn. Lots of detail and some repetition that describes the people and their lives; many of which are about to be changed. Superficial appearances are shown to be misleading. Love and lust are interchangeable for some of the protagonists here and the element of cheating is not uncommon, giving the whole community a slightly seedy feel.

I found myself rooting for some characters, only to discover in later pages that they weren’t the innocents I had first taken them for. The pettiness, selfishness, ambition and deceit of the characters come across well, so that their ultimate fates, initially apparently unjust, become almost desirable.

There are several surprises along the way in this well-plotted novel. I found myself quite convinced I had the identities of villains and victims sorted early on, only to discover that clever wording had fooled me. I enjoyed the read, even if it was a little longer than might have been absolutely essential. I suspect that the inclusion of so much detail was a way of conveying the very ordinariness of the lives that were introduced, only to then prove that these lives were, in fact, not at all ordinary. A good read that I recommend.