Nov 24, 2023
Production
Untitled Cozy Catastrophe
I am currently at 44,000 words on the first draft of this, which I started at the beginning of November for Nanowrimo. That’s around about 70% on the first draft.
Hell Hole
This was about 95% written when I stopped work on it, due to things going on in my life. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to ever work on it again, but things change and it’s probably what I will be doing when I finish work on the Cozy Catastrophe.
The Ladies Adventure Society
This is about 50% done. Not sure when I will get back to work on it, but it’s still on my list.
Revolver
I am less sure that I will work on this, but I still really like the story. I am keeping it on the list for now.
Editing
Still working through the re-masters and making good progress. There are some new titles which have never been published before that I am going to start working on soon, and that’s more exciting and unexpected.
Publishing
I have published quite a lot of remasters now. I’m not sure which ones I have written about here before, so I will just give a list of all the ones that are available:
Novels
Short Stories
And I think that brings us about up to date. I’m trying to post more regularly to my blog now, so check back again on Monday.
Oct 13, 2023
This week has been a bit of a struggle with some changes to my routine. But these things are going to happen and the most important thing is that I am still here and work is still getting done. This blog is one of the things that has suffered a bit, but planning to get back on it next week. Anyway, on with the updates.
The Ladies Adventure Society: Book One
Progress is continuing. It currently stands at 54,055 words. That is 10,823 words written this week. At the moment, I am thinking this will be released in June 2024.
Horror Shorts Remastered
Two more short stories to go and the remastering edit will be finished. Not sure what I am going to do with these stories, other than update the files for download in the EBook stores. A horror short story collection seems like the logical thing to do.
Unhallowed Ground
The promotion for this remaster is winding down now, and I have been pleased with the response it has received. Hopefully it will continue to sell once the price goes back up and the reviews will start coming in.
Visible Monsters
This is the new title for the remaster of The Ghouls. I have the cover back now and am very pleased with that. It’s quite different to the Unhallowed Ground cover, but I think they will look good next to each other on the shelf. My current plan for this is to upload the new files next week, and start promoting it in November.
On Hold
- City in the Fire: Remastered
- The Vampire Next Door: Remastered
- The Shadow Walker
- Discordia
That’s all from me this week. I will check in on social media this evening, so if you’ve got anything you want me to know about send a message. Enjoy your weekend.
Oct 6, 2023
Making steady progress on everything. There are a ton of plates spinning at the moment, but I think it’s all under control. Time will tell, I guess.
The Ladies Adventure Society Book 1
Status: First Draft WIP
The first draft is going well. Current draft stands at 43,000 words and not quite half-way through.
Unhallowed Ground: Remastered
Status: On Sale
The remastered edition is now on sale. At the time of writing, it is on sale for $0.99
It’s available as an EBook, a paperback and as of yesterday, it’s a an audiobook on Apple Books.
Horror Shorts: Remastered
Status: Editing
This week I started work on the remastered editions. They were some of the first things I wrote for publication, so there is a lot of work to do on them.
On Hold
- The Ghouls: Remastered
- City in the Fire: Remastered
- The Vampire Next Door: Remastered
- The Shadow Walker
Oct 4, 2023
It seems like a long time ago now, and, in fact, it is twenty-years or so, but once upon a time, I wanted to be a filmmaker. Or, to be more precise, I wanted to be a screenwriter.
The ambition was a logical extension from my early years of writing stories in notebooks. Back then, there was no independent publishing the way we have it now. If you wanted to be a novelist, you either had to work with a traditional publisher, or vanity publishing. Neither of which were things that I particularly wanted to do.
My first alternative was writing plays. I was in year eleven of secondary school, when I wrote my first (and so far, only) play. It was called Walking in Shadows and maybe I will tell you about it some other time. Although my career as a playwright was short-lived, the script was enough to get me onto a new course called Moving Image at the local college.
I stayed at the college for four years, getting a National Diploma, followed by a Higher National Diploma. During that time, I wrote a lot of short screenplays, several of which were filmed, and there may have been one or two feature length scripts as well.
The course was not specifically in screenwriting, however. As well as writing scripts, I had to film things, both fiction and non-fiction, and edit them. Editing was my least favorite part of the course. Perhaps it was because the computers were slow and it took ages to do everything, but I think it is something more fundamental than that. Even today, editing is my least favorite part of making books. I much prefer having the ideas in the first place.
Fast forward to today, and I am an independent author trying to get the word out about my books and I thought one way I could do that was by making a short video trailer. Imagine my surprise when I discover how much I enjoy cutting images together with music.
It was not what I’d expected at all. I’d expected the work to be dull but worthwhile. Now here I am thinking of all the cool things I could do with a thirty-second teaser trailer for a book.
The trailer is basic. I am cutting it together using iMovie (at college we used Final Cut) but this might just be the start. The hours spent huddled with friends in the editing suites are coming back to me and I’m enjoying it immensely.
I should finish the trailer this week, and I should have it on YouTube next week. Who knows what I am going to make next?
Oct 3, 2023
Last night, while I was cooking dinner, Tamzin and Oscar put up our Halloween decorations. I know it’s only the start of the month, but we do this most years. Usually while listening to the soundtrack from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
It seems that every year Christmas decorations go up sooner, and stay up longer, and as much as I enjoy Christmas, I find this annoying. Not so much with Halloween. I think, if I had it my way, we would leave the Halloween decorations up all year around.
I have always enjoyed Halloween, and am looking forward to a season of watching seasonal specials and films. One that has quickly become a family tradition is Muppets Haunted Mansion. Obviously we will also watch The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Corpse Bride. Then on Halloween itself, after Oscar is in bed, Tamzin and I will watch a proper scary movie.
Eventually, of course, the decorations will have to come down to make way for Christmas things.
If you are looking for a scary read this Halloween season, why not check out Unhallowed Ground, the newly remastered edition is currently on sale for $0.99 for a limited time only:
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | Apple | B&N | Scribd | Elsewhere
Sep 29, 2023
There are a lot of moving parts at the moment and it’s feeling hectic, but there has been a lot of progress on things as well. If you’ve been following my social media, then you might have seen the book cover for the remastered edition of Unhallowed Ground (formerly Abomination) and the pile of pages which represent about a quarter of the first draft of The Ladies Adventure Society.
The Ladies Adventure Society Book 1
Status: First Draft WIP
As of this morning, the first draft is now 30,000 words. It’s picking up steam (pardon the steampunk pun) and is a fun project to work on. It’s still on track (there’s another one) for release early next year.
Unhallowed Ground: Remastered
Status: Uploading
Most of the publishing work on this is done now, and the updated edition is being loaded into all the bookstores. If you go on Amazon, or wherever, now, you could buy a copy and read it immediately, but if you wait a couple of days, I am planning to do a sale for the first week of October. I’m very pleased with how it has come out, and I think the new title and cover are great.
The Vampire Next Door: Remastered
Status: Editing WIP
After finishing the remaster of City in the Fire this morning, I moved straight onto this one. So far, only the first chapter is finished.
Social Media
Status: New Accounts everywhere
This week, in addition to the Instagram account that I already had, I have created and started using a Twitter account and a Facebook account. So far, I am still enjoying Instagram most, but you can reach out and talk to me on Twitter or Facebook as well now.
On Hold
The Ghouls: Remastered
The remaster is complete from my side of things. Once I have finished all the publishing work related to Unhallowed Ground, I will pick this back up and get the new cover done.
City in the Fire: Remastered
I finished the remastered edit on Friday morning. It is now in the queue to be published after The Ghouls.
The Shadow Walker
No updates on this one. The first draft is complete. I am not sure that I will publish it because the way I originally planned it to interact with The Ladies Adventure Society is no longer possible. I likely won’t look at it again until there is some breathing room next year.
And that’s a wrap. A few more bits of work to do here, then I am off to the theater to watch Miriam Margolyes’ new show Oh Miriam!
