Biding time

When a book is being reviewed or beta read its a nervous time. Do they like it, whats wrong, whats not appropriate, are there inconsistencies?

Its wise to have as broad a band of people reviewing as possible to get a good feel how its received across men and women, but this is the first time I've had reviews done by beta readers (non writers) and also reviewers who are also writers.

The feedback is quite different but equally as excellent as the other. The job is to go through each and see what similarities there are and therefore what bits to change but remembering that they are suggestions and advice.

But no point starting now ... gotta wait till they are all in and then compile them all. Fingers crossed we are on course for a march release

Till then its onwards to the next idea

And so it ends

2013 was a funny year, full of challenges, change and a year when nothing really went right for very long. I entered the year as one person and I will exit as someone completely different, a complicated journey.

It was a year that saw me publish 3 very different e books, followed by paperback versions, that in itself such a huge achievement but 2014 will mark the end of one story and the beginning of so many more.

It was a year when I learned a few things, even at my tender age of 45. See you are never too old to learn a life lesson. I learned the true physical meaning of the word isolation. It’s a good state of affairs for a writer, because if you don’t isolate yourself you get bugger all done!! But, I learnt the meaning of the word in so many ways.

People walked into my life last year, and people walked out. It became a year of change caused by many things but those changes isolated me. For a while I was angry, didn’t understand, now I do and it remains to be seen in 2014 if the isolation is complete. I came to realise at times I am my own worst enemy and I push too hard, so for once, I stepped back, now I will let things come to me. If nothing happens, nothing happens.

Isolation forced me to learn to put myself first and that skill alienates others that are used to being first. I reach out and the hand is slapped away, another lesson learned

So what do I want from 2014...fame, riches etc

Nope, all I want is a decent cup of coffee, a smile from my granddaughter, a bowl of tiramisu, to love my family, to continue conversations through whatever resource with my great friend in the coldness that is Canada, to laugh and for the ideas to keep popping into my head.

Life is a series of small happiness’s and these are all I need.

So 2014 do your worst !! Bring it on !!!

Happy new year whenever it comes to your piece of this world. xx

Trying Something Different

Been a while since I posted but with issues with my shoulders time to write or edit has been at a premium anyway...

Im trying something different yesterday and today to get my work out there. I have 4, yes 4 self published works and since xmas is just by us I thought I'd try something dofferent and catch all the folks who just got kindles for xmas.

I stuck all four of my novels on either free promotions, made them half price or used kindles new coutdown price feature for a few days. Four promotions are running simultaniously in the UK, three in the USA, with one to kick off the next day.

So far the coutdown deals and half price dont work, folks just want free which I find puzzling when Amazon themselves are offering half price reads in the 12 days of kindle. V strange but hey ho, we'll see what happens at the end of the three days.

I was never convinced of the strategy to run a coutdown deal unless it was for a longer term . I may run one agan when the next book is published as an introduction to the world we'll see

Fingers crossed for now xx

Finished

Well there's a certificate I didnt think I was going to get this year. Having been ill for a fair amount of November and unable to sit to write, so reallly it was 19 days of work rather than 30, not that i'm making excuses...

So it was ment to be a funny book and I'm not sure what happened but it turned into someone finding themselves ...so the idea now is to take a few days to rest, then finish it, put it aside and edit the last one and repeat the process.

A lot people I know seem to think this is easy, after all you can type a single word 50,000 times, and its true you can but then thats cheating and the idea here is to have the start of a whole book to then edit to perfection

We all spend weeks, months, sometimes years trying to perfect a story that we believe in, to give it over to the public to read and hopefully love as much as I do....maybe this is the next story ...time will tell but at least its been a successful month and a good achievement

This time last year I was writing about Blackpool and thats gone on to be published !!

OH YA KNOW!

Seems Scotland and Canada have both been having issues.  Whilst my lil friend across the pond is trying to rid herself of a cold.....I'm trying to rid myself of the tiredness.  Yep been over a month when I feel like I could sleep at any time of the day.  I picture my head hitting the keyboard at work and what would happen if someone walked in to see me drooling on the keys....LOL

Okay, so taking vitamins now....went to the naturopath store and picked up special lady vitamins for women hitting the meno time.  Between the hot flashes and the snappy comments...I guess I'm trying to overcome the issues. 

Menopause...who the heck came up with that name.  It's a pause in the monthly cycle that makes you an absolute weirdo.  Standing in the grocery store at the cashier and you feel like stripping naked since your body just soared three hundred degrees.

Or at night when you're just about asleep, exhausted after your 12 hour day and you feel the heat start from within.  You lie there thinking....just sleep it'll go away, but it doesn't.  Sometimes I swear I'm about to spontaneously combust.  (do I buy an extinguisher, I wonder?)  Then the times when you finally drift off and in the middle of the night it comes again....(screw the extinguisher....I need me a fireman I think)

So life has been a little odd this past month....on top of that I came home to deal with many problems after my trip.  Out with the old roomie...clean and organize....and look for new one.  It'll be interesting to get to know Ashley...yep, she moves in Sunday.  Friendly, kinda funny and light hearted...oh to be 25 again with the energy they have.  Luckily she's agreed to help with snow removal....so very grateful for her youth.

It's late in Canada and time for sleep.....I'm off to set every fan I have on the full setting and crawl into bed to try to sleep.  It's -20 here....sheesh ya wouldn't know it.

If you've smiled or smirked (because you're one of the meno women) leave a comment!  Wish me luck in getting sleep....LOL

Plans they are a changing...

The last two weeks have pretty much been a write off and I think I've lost about seven writing days. Ieve made up a couple but boy theres plenty more to make up

The challange us usually to write 50,000 words in a month but the challange at the minute is to write as much as possible to catch up whilst managing my health at the same time. The sommon cold has re infected me twice in quick succession and we are on something like day 18 of feeling unwell. Hopefully whats left is the residual couch, leading to a slightly adjitated asthma condition, which I thought I had a handle on but apparently not....

Unusually this bout was bad, very bad and ment many days in bed, many early nights  and just too much time lost

Now I hope even though we are heading fast and headlong into winter that its the last of the cold bug for a while fingers crossed and it will help me get back into the swing of writing because I'd just got to a major plot twist and I am desperate to put it down on paper.... dont expect me to surface for a few days LOL  

Nano Challange - Week one and a bit

Well after a week and a wee bit - 9 days I should be around the 15,00 mark and Im a few thousand shy due to a bad cold that basically rendered me completely useless for a few days. For me not to write a thing is pretty bad but thats what went on. Why is it I catch a cold just after things are getting a bit better LOL Always the same !!

Now im in catch up mode. I have just under 1500 words to catch up to be running equal to where I should be so here goes, because I am enjoying this story even though its taken a few twists that I didnt envision and its not going along the same lines as I first expected ... but then thats the art of fiction it can go anywhere !!