Before I wrote Balor Reborn, I wrote up a list of options for myself, books I could see myself writing but hadn't yet planned. I emailed that list to three people and asked for feedback. Two out of three responded in favour of the Irish myth story that was Balor Reborn (the third didn't have a preference).
Out of that brief email exchange, I committed myself to the idea.
But why Irish mythology? Out of everything I could have written, Irish mythology is fairly unknown. Greek mythology is much more well known. So is Norse mythology, and Egyptian mythology.
And here I was, turning to the Irish. Yes, I'm a native and a resident, but that doesn't mean much these days. Rick Riordan is American and writes about Greek mythology. Alan Early is Irish but writes about Norse mythology.
The stories of Irish folklore and mythology just weren't touched upon that much, and I saw a sense of excitement in that. Here was Balor, a murderous, giant invader with a single eye and an army behind him. Or the literal black dog that, as in many stories, is a symbol of death. Here were fairies and gods that slipped away from general knowledge into ancient history, and heroes with magical powers and objects.
I could have written an urban fantasy series. I could have written about bullying and abuse of power. I could have written about alcoholism and the Irish way. I could have written about mutants or the powers of Heaven. Instead, I chose Balor. I chose to tell the story of an unlikely hero. I chose to give the world magic again. I chose the wonder of the old meeting the excitement of the new.
Showing posts with label balor reborn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label balor reborn. Show all posts
Friday, July 11, 2014
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Writing Achievements and All That Jazz
While looking up topics I could write about this month, one question that seemed to pop up in many interviews asked writers about their greatest writing achievements, as if there's a scalable way of determining what's good and what's better. I think it all comes down to how it makes the writer feel, which is why I don't have one - I have three.
The first should be obvious: the writing and publishing of Balor Reborn in a week. It was a tiring week of trying to keep everything on camera, writing and editing a book, creating a cover and a book trailer, setting up the sales page, and sending out a press release.
The main thing is, I managed it. I managed to write the book, and it was my first step into the land of independently published authorship. It's set a precedence on my writing, of what I can accomplish in a short period of time, and it's been the standard to which I try to work as a bare minimum since.
That week led to the second great writing achievement: having an article published in Writing Magazine, about the process of writing the book. While the actual article didn't take long to write, and while I was perfectly happy writing it, it was a professional stepping stone, and it showed me that I can write something that someone would actually want to publish.
The third achievement happened way before that, and rather than being a work-standard achievement, or a professional achievement, it changed the way I look at the word. It was the writing and performance of my first play, The Rest is Silence, a play that dealt with depression and suicide at a university level, performed by my friends in the Drama Soc, with two of my best friends taking on the lead role(s).
The actual writing of it meant a lot to me, to get to tell a story that highlighted what depression could feel like, but the consequences of the play were huge in a different way. From ticket sales - and some merchandising - we raised over €750 for a suicide charity in Ireland, Console. It was the first play I'd seen in my college to sell out, and it was the first original play to hit the stage for as long back as anyone could tell me. As far as I'm aware, it was the first time an original play had been performed by the Drama Soc, and not the last.
I can't pick any one of those three achievements as being greater than the other two. Each meant something different to me, and to different people, but each one shaped the way I write and work today. In the six months following the staging of The Rest is Silence, I became a published author, with a book and an article to add to my credits.
The first should be obvious: the writing and publishing of Balor Reborn in a week. It was a tiring week of trying to keep everything on camera, writing and editing a book, creating a cover and a book trailer, setting up the sales page, and sending out a press release.
The main thing is, I managed it. I managed to write the book, and it was my first step into the land of independently published authorship. It's set a precedence on my writing, of what I can accomplish in a short period of time, and it's been the standard to which I try to work as a bare minimum since.
That week led to the second great writing achievement: having an article published in Writing Magazine, about the process of writing the book. While the actual article didn't take long to write, and while I was perfectly happy writing it, it was a professional stepping stone, and it showed me that I can write something that someone would actually want to publish.
The third achievement happened way before that, and rather than being a work-standard achievement, or a professional achievement, it changed the way I look at the word. It was the writing and performance of my first play, The Rest is Silence, a play that dealt with depression and suicide at a university level, performed by my friends in the Drama Soc, with two of my best friends taking on the lead role(s).
The actual writing of it meant a lot to me, to get to tell a story that highlighted what depression could feel like, but the consequences of the play were huge in a different way. From ticket sales - and some merchandising - we raised over €750 for a suicide charity in Ireland, Console. It was the first play I'd seen in my college to sell out, and it was the first original play to hit the stage for as long back as anyone could tell me. As far as I'm aware, it was the first time an original play had been performed by the Drama Soc, and not the last.
I can't pick any one of those three achievements as being greater than the other two. Each meant something different to me, and to different people, but each one shaped the way I write and work today. In the six months following the staging of The Rest is Silence, I became a published author, with a book and an article to add to my credits.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
From November and Beyond!
Traditionally, I've attempted some form of writing challenge in November, ever since my first attempt at NaNoWriMo when I was in 6th Year in school. Since then, I think I've only really managed to complete it a couple of times, and I usually feel crap about not doing it. (Silly, I know, but that's how it is.)
This year, I'm not signing up. November, while having less working hours in story for me, is still going to be busy. I've been hired to direct a play at my old college, I may end up with random working hours in the middle of the week, and I have my graduation to attend. To keep myself from going entirely mad with deadlines and the likes, I'm setting myself other writing targets. Instead of word counts, I'm aiming to complete certain projects.
First up, I need to complete The Blood of Leap. Ideally I can work on it a lot over the coming days, to finish up early next week. When I have a cover designed for the book, I can then decide on a release date to finally release the third book in the Modern Irish Myth series.
When the book is written, I'll be moving on to another series entirely. I'm hoping - and this might be more difficult than I'm currently letting myself believe - to release twelve books next year. That's one a month in 2014, all in one series. I need to get the first book written in November, and have some work done on the second, so that I can make an announcement officially in late November/early December.
The intention is to fill the year with writing in a way I haven't done before. Part of me wants to attempt a year-long blog tour, but that's just insanity with everything else I'll have to do. However, I will be putting it out there to write guest posts on blogs (and take part in interviews), as well as interviewing other writers about what they're up to. I think it'll be fun, and it'll help keep me busy.
If things go to plan, 2014 will be a big year for me. Getting settled after finishing my exams took a lot of time. It might sound silly, but it's not easy replacing a schedule when it's all you've had for your life. While things were certainly more hectic of late with a few extra hours per week in shop, November is seeing a significant dip in the amount of time I'll be working. I'm looking forward to filling up the "days off" with writing. The value of that time is becoming more and more evident, and it's something I didn't get an opportunity to figure out during the summer months, when I wasn't receiving many more hours at all.
Things are changing in my life, and I'd like to think it's for the better. I'd like to say that I'm getting a grip on the vacuum of days without timetables.
Tomorrow morning is the first morning I'll have a chance to do something in November that might actually go somewhere. I'll be tackling the last chapter I was working on in The Blood of Leap. Saturday will then see me going for the next chapter, with a morning and an evening to myself. Sunday's the same, though with an hour less in the morning to do something. Monday is almost a write-off, unless I can squeeze an hour in before bed. Tuesday sees me with potential plans in the afternoon, but the entire day to myself otherwise. That'll be fun.
That's the gist of how my days will be playing out. I have two days in the bookshop most weeks, a couple of days babysitting (that's a thing I've been doing for a while), a couple of evenings directing, and a cinema visit every week. Otherwise, days off and time to myself, and I intend on making the most out of it all. With little control on when I have days off, they're becoming a valuable commodity. This morning, for instance, has been spent (a) catching up on sleep and (b) reading, because I don't get much time for either a lot of the time.
I'm guilty of announcing great intentions for change in my life and then not following through, but this time, I don't think I could be more enthusiastic about what I have in store for 2014. I'm reading books on marketing and PR, I'm planning a whole-website re-jigger, all with one series in mind.
It begins with November, and it continues until there's nothing left to write. That could take a while. While I plan on publishing 12 books next year in this series (as well as more books in the Modern Irish Myth series), the series won't necessarily be finished with by December next year. At the very least, the characters won't be finished with by then. One of them actually has a whole other series of books to his name in my head (books that need planning properly before I announce anything about them to anyone in any real detail), while the initial 12 have stories to follow them that I haven't fully planning, but haven't entirely abandoned. There's so much to happen in the coming months, and I want it all to start properly tomorrow morning.
The last time something felt as right as this series was when I was writing the press release for the week of writing and publishing that would lead to Balor Reborn. It felt real, and it felt like it was supposed to happen. This new series isn't like Balor Reborn, though. It's not fantasy based. The books are grounded in reality, the ups and downs, falling in love and falling out of it, and the painful experiences of life that people sometimes refuse to talk about. The books are about life, set in Ireland, with all the comedy and tragedy that life entails.
So, while I'm not doing NaNoWriMo this year, November is still going to be significant. November is going to be the big month for me, the one that tells me whether or not I'll be able to follow through on my mad ambitions to publish these books. November is the month that needs to matter enough to dedicate time to writing, because it's the first month since days off became valuable, and the last month this year I'll have enough of them to make a difference.
What about you? Are you taking part in NaNoWriMo?
This year, I'm not signing up. November, while having less working hours in story for me, is still going to be busy. I've been hired to direct a play at my old college, I may end up with random working hours in the middle of the week, and I have my graduation to attend. To keep myself from going entirely mad with deadlines and the likes, I'm setting myself other writing targets. Instead of word counts, I'm aiming to complete certain projects.
First up, I need to complete The Blood of Leap. Ideally I can work on it a lot over the coming days, to finish up early next week. When I have a cover designed for the book, I can then decide on a release date to finally release the third book in the Modern Irish Myth series.
When the book is written, I'll be moving on to another series entirely. I'm hoping - and this might be more difficult than I'm currently letting myself believe - to release twelve books next year. That's one a month in 2014, all in one series. I need to get the first book written in November, and have some work done on the second, so that I can make an announcement officially in late November/early December.
The intention is to fill the year with writing in a way I haven't done before. Part of me wants to attempt a year-long blog tour, but that's just insanity with everything else I'll have to do. However, I will be putting it out there to write guest posts on blogs (and take part in interviews), as well as interviewing other writers about what they're up to. I think it'll be fun, and it'll help keep me busy.
If things go to plan, 2014 will be a big year for me. Getting settled after finishing my exams took a lot of time. It might sound silly, but it's not easy replacing a schedule when it's all you've had for your life. While things were certainly more hectic of late with a few extra hours per week in shop, November is seeing a significant dip in the amount of time I'll be working. I'm looking forward to filling up the "days off" with writing. The value of that time is becoming more and more evident, and it's something I didn't get an opportunity to figure out during the summer months, when I wasn't receiving many more hours at all.
Things are changing in my life, and I'd like to think it's for the better. I'd like to say that I'm getting a grip on the vacuum of days without timetables.
Tomorrow morning is the first morning I'll have a chance to do something in November that might actually go somewhere. I'll be tackling the last chapter I was working on in The Blood of Leap. Saturday will then see me going for the next chapter, with a morning and an evening to myself. Sunday's the same, though with an hour less in the morning to do something. Monday is almost a write-off, unless I can squeeze an hour in before bed. Tuesday sees me with potential plans in the afternoon, but the entire day to myself otherwise. That'll be fun.
That's the gist of how my days will be playing out. I have two days in the bookshop most weeks, a couple of days babysitting (that's a thing I've been doing for a while), a couple of evenings directing, and a cinema visit every week. Otherwise, days off and time to myself, and I intend on making the most out of it all. With little control on when I have days off, they're becoming a valuable commodity. This morning, for instance, has been spent (a) catching up on sleep and (b) reading, because I don't get much time for either a lot of the time.
I'm guilty of announcing great intentions for change in my life and then not following through, but this time, I don't think I could be more enthusiastic about what I have in store for 2014. I'm reading books on marketing and PR, I'm planning a whole-website re-jigger, all with one series in mind.
It begins with November, and it continues until there's nothing left to write. That could take a while. While I plan on publishing 12 books next year in this series (as well as more books in the Modern Irish Myth series), the series won't necessarily be finished with by December next year. At the very least, the characters won't be finished with by then. One of them actually has a whole other series of books to his name in my head (books that need planning properly before I announce anything about them to anyone in any real detail), while the initial 12 have stories to follow them that I haven't fully planning, but haven't entirely abandoned. There's so much to happen in the coming months, and I want it all to start properly tomorrow morning.
The last time something felt as right as this series was when I was writing the press release for the week of writing and publishing that would lead to Balor Reborn. It felt real, and it felt like it was supposed to happen. This new series isn't like Balor Reborn, though. It's not fantasy based. The books are grounded in reality, the ups and downs, falling in love and falling out of it, and the painful experiences of life that people sometimes refuse to talk about. The books are about life, set in Ireland, with all the comedy and tragedy that life entails.
So, while I'm not doing NaNoWriMo this year, November is still going to be significant. November is going to be the big month for me, the one that tells me whether or not I'll be able to follow through on my mad ambitions to publish these books. November is the month that needs to matter enough to dedicate time to writing, because it's the first month since days off became valuable, and the last month this year I'll have enough of them to make a difference.
What about you? Are you taking part in NaNoWriMo?
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Day 18: How Could I Forget?
Would you believe I was forgetting to blog today?
Well, it's true. I've spent the past few hours doing some planning work - not on books, but on my life - and I paid my grandad a visit. I was getting ready to go to bed, and well, this happened.
I'm going to be brief: the only writing I did today was the flash fiction story, Love Talker. It was fun. It has sex mentioned in it. It's in the aftermath of Balor Reborn, like the others stories have thus-far been. And did I mention the sex?
It's also a fun way of looking at another Irish fairy. Irish fairies were interesting.
You know what else was interesting? Coppers Uncovered. I went to see it last night, because I'd heard good things and I knew 1/8th of the cast. I brought a friend, we laughed, we had a beer - turns out I don't dislike beer - and we laughed some more. In a shockingly accurate portrayal of Irish courting habits, the play was a delight and a wonder, and I recommend everyone go see it before the current run ends this Saturday.
You can get tickets here: http://www.eventbrite.ie/directory?q=coppers+uncovered&loc=Dublin,+Ireland
I really recommend that you do.
Anyway, last night also gave me a chance to talk to the aforementioned friend that I brought, and I forced him to have a home-made cookie. The usual look of shocked approval appeared on his face. Job done.
One of those same cookies was my breakfast this morning, with a cuppa. Sure it would be rude not to.
But I can't just leave it there, can I? I can't just tease you with a cookie and a cup of tea. So, I'll leave you with some advice that had been written onto a folder I was using in first year, and that somehow managed to fit into whatever bag I was using at the time:
Good night, ladies and gentlemen!
P.S. Here's the obligatory reminder of the free books that I have to keep pointing out to people - rude not to, etc. etc.
Balor Reborn (US/IRL):https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008S1FGFW
Balor Reborn (UK):https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008S1FGFW
Old Gods Returned (US/IRL):https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00963VXXA
Old Gods Returned (UK): https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00963VXXA
You can also buy The Hounds of Hell at either of the links below:
US/IRL: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DYQNTZA
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DYQNTZA
Well, it's true. I've spent the past few hours doing some planning work - not on books, but on my life - and I paid my grandad a visit. I was getting ready to go to bed, and well, this happened.
I'm going to be brief: the only writing I did today was the flash fiction story, Love Talker. It was fun. It has sex mentioned in it. It's in the aftermath of Balor Reborn, like the others stories have thus-far been. And did I mention the sex?
It's also a fun way of looking at another Irish fairy. Irish fairies were interesting.
You know what else was interesting? Coppers Uncovered. I went to see it last night, because I'd heard good things and I knew 1/8th of the cast. I brought a friend, we laughed, we had a beer - turns out I don't dislike beer - and we laughed some more. In a shockingly accurate portrayal of Irish courting habits, the play was a delight and a wonder, and I recommend everyone go see it before the current run ends this Saturday.
You can get tickets here: http://www.eventbrite.ie/directory?q=coppers+uncovered&loc=Dublin,+Ireland
I really recommend that you do.
Anyway, last night also gave me a chance to talk to the aforementioned friend that I brought, and I forced him to have a home-made cookie. The usual look of shocked approval appeared on his face. Job done.
One of those same cookies was my breakfast this morning, with a cuppa. Sure it would be rude not to.
But I can't just leave it there, can I? I can't just tease you with a cookie and a cup of tea. So, I'll leave you with some advice that had been written onto a folder I was using in first year, and that somehow managed to fit into whatever bag I was using at the time:
Good night, ladies and gentlemen!
P.S. Here's the obligatory reminder of the free books that I have to keep pointing out to people - rude not to, etc. etc.
Balor Reborn (US/IRL):https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008S1FGFW
Balor Reborn (UK):https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008S1FGFW
Old Gods Returned (US/IRL):https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00963VXXA
Old Gods Returned (UK): https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00963VXXA
You can also buy The Hounds of Hell at either of the links below:
US/IRL: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DYQNTZA
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DYQNTZA
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Day 17: Free Books?
For a while now, I've been contemplating doing something. Today, it finally happened: I made Balor Reborn and Old Gods Returned free for a short period of time. And that is the little extra surprise I had in mind to begin yesterday, but that didn't work out because The Hounds of Hell wasn't available.
So, yes, two free books. I'm actually kind of a delighted to have done it. It adds to the number of stories I'm making available to read for free this week, with seven flash stories in Old Gods Returned, four released through the Modern Irish Myth website, and the whole novella that is Balor Reborn. I've terribly excited.
Today's flash story was a fun one to write, because it focuses on a character who's first introduced in The Hounds of Hell, right after the events of Balor Reborn. There's about a week between the two books, so I thought it would be fun to play around with things a bit. I'm wondering who the first person will be to notice it who isn't my beta reader.
Anyway, you can find the story here: http://modernirishmyth.com/the-dancing-flames/
I also did some baking this afternoon. I've been wanting to bake for a while, and now that I have plans to see someone who hasn't tasted by cookies yet, I had the perfect excuse. I had one already, and it made me happy to have made it. Batch success!
(On a side note...I like oven gloves. Not because you can protect your hands while taking trays of cookies out of the oven, but because you can give yourself a high-five wearing them if they're the kind that are stuck together. That was fun way to pass a few seconds while I waited for the timer to go off for the cookies!)
I have to do a fair bit of writing tonight, but I'll deal with that later. I have to have dinner first, before going out, and food kind of takes priority when I'm not going to be home for a few hours. I don't want my stomach complaining later. Kind of going to a play, and that would be awkward.
Anyway, you want the links to the books, right? I'll just throw them down below for you. Peace out!
Balor Reborn (US/IRL):https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008S1FGFW
Balor Reborn (UK):https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008S1FGFW
Old Gods Returned (US/IRL):https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00963VXXA
Old Gods Returned (UK): https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00963VXXA
You can also buy The Hounds of Hell at either of the links below:
US/IRL: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DYQNTZA
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DYQNTZA
So, yes, two free books. I'm actually kind of a delighted to have done it. It adds to the number of stories I'm making available to read for free this week, with seven flash stories in Old Gods Returned, four released through the Modern Irish Myth website, and the whole novella that is Balor Reborn. I've terribly excited.
Today's flash story was a fun one to write, because it focuses on a character who's first introduced in The Hounds of Hell, right after the events of Balor Reborn. There's about a week between the two books, so I thought it would be fun to play around with things a bit. I'm wondering who the first person will be to notice it who isn't my beta reader.
Anyway, you can find the story here: http://modernirishmyth.com/the-dancing-flames/
I also did some baking this afternoon. I've been wanting to bake for a while, and now that I have plans to see someone who hasn't tasted by cookies yet, I had the perfect excuse. I had one already, and it made me happy to have made it. Batch success!
(On a side note...I like oven gloves. Not because you can protect your hands while taking trays of cookies out of the oven, but because you can give yourself a high-five wearing them if they're the kind that are stuck together. That was fun way to pass a few seconds while I waited for the timer to go off for the cookies!)
I have to do a fair bit of writing tonight, but I'll deal with that later. I have to have dinner first, before going out, and food kind of takes priority when I'm not going to be home for a few hours. I don't want my stomach complaining later. Kind of going to a play, and that would be awkward.
Anyway, you want the links to the books, right? I'll just throw them down below for you. Peace out!
Balor Reborn (US/IRL):https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008S1FGFW
Balor Reborn (UK):https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008S1FGFW
Old Gods Returned (US/IRL):https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00963VXXA
Old Gods Returned (UK): https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00963VXXA
You can also buy The Hounds of Hell at either of the links below:
US/IRL: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DYQNTZA
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DYQNTZA
Sunday, June 30, 2013
A Busy Month Ahead
As I'm sure you know, if you actually follow my posts, I'm taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo this year, with a word-count aim of 60,000. I'm actually hoping to do more than that, but I was aiming to just do one thing: complete three novellas. In reality, if I could write an average of 3,000 words per day, and keep it up after July, I'd be at the point of writing as much as I'd want to.
However, for now we're just going to focus on the 60,000 words.
This works out at just under 2,000 words per day. That's doable. Extremely doable. Today I wrote a short story longer than that, and I was in work. Writing that every day for the first eight or nine days should bring The Hounds of Hell to completion. In theory. That leaves roughly 11 days for each of the next two books, The Blood of Leap and The Fires of Tara.
Now, I'm not just doing Camp NaNoWriMo next month. No, that would be too easy.
I'll still be writing on my blog every day. I'll still be writing poetry every day. I think I'm even going to force myself to start pitching articles to magazines, soon. That could mean having articles to write in the middle of all the other work I'm doing. What that means is that I could actually start earning money from writing while I work on the longer-term projects. You know, like other writers do it.
To top it all off, I'll be undertaking a large project with some friends, too. We have to set a start date and work out some finer details (and if they're reading this, and they're remembering what I'm talking about, they really ought to contact me to find out what's happening) but once it gets going, it'll take a fair bit of work to keep to going.
That's vague, but I'm trying not to spoil what I think is an awesome idea. For once, I'm not keeping it a secret from everybody before I write about it here, though.
I've also got to launch The Hounds of Hell during the month. In order to actually release more than one book in the space of a year in the series, it's necessary to actually publish it in July, while I'm writing the other books. I'm hoping that if I can work consistently from July 1st onwards, I'll be able to finish writing the series before the end of September.
That seems so far away right now, but I know that when I finish writing the final book, it'll seem like no time at all has passed since I started writing the series. It feels weird now to think that Balor Reborn was written last summer. A year ago, only three other people knew about it. Now I don't shut up about it.
Speaking of things I'm not going to shut up about for the next month, don't forget to enter my competition if you're taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo this year. Details can be found here: http://paulcarrollwriter.blogspot.com/2013/06/camp-is-back-on.html
Happy writing. Tomorrow, I'll give you the first update on my progress during Camp.
However, for now we're just going to focus on the 60,000 words.
This works out at just under 2,000 words per day. That's doable. Extremely doable. Today I wrote a short story longer than that, and I was in work. Writing that every day for the first eight or nine days should bring The Hounds of Hell to completion. In theory. That leaves roughly 11 days for each of the next two books, The Blood of Leap and The Fires of Tara.
Now, I'm not just doing Camp NaNoWriMo next month. No, that would be too easy.
I'll still be writing on my blog every day. I'll still be writing poetry every day. I think I'm even going to force myself to start pitching articles to magazines, soon. That could mean having articles to write in the middle of all the other work I'm doing. What that means is that I could actually start earning money from writing while I work on the longer-term projects. You know, like other writers do it.
To top it all off, I'll be undertaking a large project with some friends, too. We have to set a start date and work out some finer details (and if they're reading this, and they're remembering what I'm talking about, they really ought to contact me to find out what's happening) but once it gets going, it'll take a fair bit of work to keep to going.
That's vague, but I'm trying not to spoil what I think is an awesome idea. For once, I'm not keeping it a secret from everybody before I write about it here, though.
I've also got to launch The Hounds of Hell during the month. In order to actually release more than one book in the space of a year in the series, it's necessary to actually publish it in July, while I'm writing the other books. I'm hoping that if I can work consistently from July 1st onwards, I'll be able to finish writing the series before the end of September.
That seems so far away right now, but I know that when I finish writing the final book, it'll seem like no time at all has passed since I started writing the series. It feels weird now to think that Balor Reborn was written last summer. A year ago, only three other people knew about it. Now I don't shut up about it.
Speaking of things I'm not going to shut up about for the next month, don't forget to enter my competition if you're taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo this year. Details can be found here: http://paulcarrollwriter.blogspot.com/2013/06/camp-is-back-on.html
Happy writing. Tomorrow, I'll give you the first update on my progress during Camp.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Camp is Back On!
A couple of years ago, I took part in Camp NaNoWriMo. I was writing a Science Fiction novel, Bliss. I wrote sporadically and infrequently, and only had 24.5 thousand words written with five days to go. In the next four days, I wrote the remaining 25.5 thousand words that would bring me to victory. I later finished the book in the next NaNoWriMo, when I finally mustered the motivation.
This year, I'm doing it again.
As a result of my troubles with motivation and getting myself to write a lot and regularly, I've fallen behind on my writing schedule so far since college ended. So, I've set myself a Camp NaNoWriMo target (yep, we get to set our own targets in Camp, now!) of 60,000.
In reality, my target is to write:
- The Hounds of Hell,
- The Blood of Leap, and
- The Fires of Tara.
Yes, you read those correctly: those are the titles for the next three Modern Irish Myth books. And I want to have them completely written by July 31st.
More than that, I want to have The Hounds of Hell published by the end of that month, too. And I'd like to offer you a chance to win all five books in the series, including Balor Reborn and Old Gods Returned. One winner will be chosen from all those who:
1. Comment below with their Camp NaNoWriMo username and target word count.
2. Complete Camp NaNoWriMo 2013.
The books will be sent upon their release dates (so make sure you give me a means to contact you!), with any released books sent in early August.
Why?
I want to encourage more people to write, especially if you've never managed to finish writing a novel(la), and I want to offer a prize that has some monetary value.
Camp starts on Monday. Will you be joining me?
This year, I'm doing it again.
As a result of my troubles with motivation and getting myself to write a lot and regularly, I've fallen behind on my writing schedule so far since college ended. So, I've set myself a Camp NaNoWriMo target (yep, we get to set our own targets in Camp, now!) of 60,000.
In reality, my target is to write:
- The Hounds of Hell,
- The Blood of Leap, and
- The Fires of Tara.
Yes, you read those correctly: those are the titles for the next three Modern Irish Myth books. And I want to have them completely written by July 31st.
More than that, I want to have The Hounds of Hell published by the end of that month, too. And I'd like to offer you a chance to win all five books in the series, including Balor Reborn and Old Gods Returned. One winner will be chosen from all those who:
1. Comment below with their Camp NaNoWriMo username and target word count.
2. Complete Camp NaNoWriMo 2013.
The books will be sent upon their release dates (so make sure you give me a means to contact you!), with any released books sent in early August.
Why?
I want to encourage more people to write, especially if you've never managed to finish writing a novel(la), and I want to offer a prize that has some monetary value.
Camp starts on Monday. Will you be joining me?
Monday, June 17, 2013
How Many Ebooks Does It Take?
Every day, I do two things: I check my ebook sales through Amazon, and I update a file that keeps track of my monthly earnings, and my earnings per book. But how many ebooks does it take to match my monthly earnings in work?
Let's break this down a bit:
- A $0.99 ebook earns me, approximately, €0.30.
- A $2.99 ebook earns me, approximately, €1.70.
- I earn, on weeks in which I don't have extra hours, roughly €90 from work. We'll call it €360 for the month.
With those figures in mind, I would need to see 1200 ebooks at $0.99 per month to be matching my earnings from the bookshop. You read that correctly.
I currently have three books with that price tag stuck on them: Planning Before Writing, Old Gods Returned, and Writing Gifts, on a Shoestring.
Similarly, I need to sell 212 ebooks at $2.99 to make the same €360 per month. It's considerably less, as you can see. Right now, I only have one book published at that price: Balor Reborn.
I'm under no illusion that this is an easy task. Selling even a tenth as many books as I'd need to just to match my bookshop earnings is difficult. If a writer planned on making a living from writing, they'd need to: (a) have a massive readership and/or (b) earn money from different sources.
I would recommend the latter. Ebooks, as I think I've said here before, are not the goldmine people seem to think they are. Unless you become a bestseller, you're probably not going to put food on the table three times a day every day of the month from ebooks. (Unless you can feed your whole family on €1.70 per meal and sell only 90 ebooks at $2.99... and even then, that's a challenge.)
Considering the fact that rent for most people is at least as much as I earn per month, most likely more, there are obvious obstacles to overcome financially. Believe me when I say this, I would much rather be able to earn from ebooks than mop up a shop floor on a Sunday afternoon. But that's just not possible at the moment.
Why the honesty about the figures? I guess because I want to make it clear to myself why I'm not just packing in the job every time I feel like I don't want to be there (mopping up floors with people walking on them at the same time, or carrying out rubbish bags that are torn in several places...) The reality is, I don't currently have another way of making money than working in a shop that isn't getting enough business to keep me constantly busy. I wouldn't mind if there was something to do throughout the entire day. I would prefer be nearly run off my feet in the shop keeping the till going or replacing stock on the shelves. I wouldn't feel like I was just waiting for the next person to show up with a book to buy or a complaint to make about how we don't, as a small bookshop, have the out of print book they're looking for.
Part of me had these high hopes that when college finished up, I'd be in a position to change my life drastically. That just isn't so. Sure, life is different. But I didn't make that change. Maybe I'm afraid to do something about it. That seems very likely. I'm going to try challenge that fear this week (Thursday's going to be my Face Up To Fear Day) by doing something different, by breaking out of the mould I'm in. While I'm still going to keep publishing ebooks (and I'm working on getting Planning Before Writing available through Smashwords, but the site is giving me some trouble), I'm not going to pretend that it'll be easy to even match my income from the bookshop any time soon.
It take a lot of ebooks to make a difference in a life. The best way you can help an author is to buy their books and recommend those books to friends. It can help pay food bills, or make life more meaningful, or help save for education, either their own or their children's or their partner's. How many people does it take to change an author's life?
Let's break this down a bit:
- A $0.99 ebook earns me, approximately, €0.30.
- A $2.99 ebook earns me, approximately, €1.70.
- I earn, on weeks in which I don't have extra hours, roughly €90 from work. We'll call it €360 for the month.
With those figures in mind, I would need to see 1200 ebooks at $0.99 per month to be matching my earnings from the bookshop. You read that correctly.
I currently have three books with that price tag stuck on them: Planning Before Writing, Old Gods Returned, and Writing Gifts, on a Shoestring.
Similarly, I need to sell 212 ebooks at $2.99 to make the same €360 per month. It's considerably less, as you can see. Right now, I only have one book published at that price: Balor Reborn.
I'm under no illusion that this is an easy task. Selling even a tenth as many books as I'd need to just to match my bookshop earnings is difficult. If a writer planned on making a living from writing, they'd need to: (a) have a massive readership and/or (b) earn money from different sources.
I would recommend the latter. Ebooks, as I think I've said here before, are not the goldmine people seem to think they are. Unless you become a bestseller, you're probably not going to put food on the table three times a day every day of the month from ebooks. (Unless you can feed your whole family on €1.70 per meal and sell only 90 ebooks at $2.99... and even then, that's a challenge.)
Considering the fact that rent for most people is at least as much as I earn per month, most likely more, there are obvious obstacles to overcome financially. Believe me when I say this, I would much rather be able to earn from ebooks than mop up a shop floor on a Sunday afternoon. But that's just not possible at the moment.
Why the honesty about the figures? I guess because I want to make it clear to myself why I'm not just packing in the job every time I feel like I don't want to be there (mopping up floors with people walking on them at the same time, or carrying out rubbish bags that are torn in several places...) The reality is, I don't currently have another way of making money than working in a shop that isn't getting enough business to keep me constantly busy. I wouldn't mind if there was something to do throughout the entire day. I would prefer be nearly run off my feet in the shop keeping the till going or replacing stock on the shelves. I wouldn't feel like I was just waiting for the next person to show up with a book to buy or a complaint to make about how we don't, as a small bookshop, have the out of print book they're looking for.
Part of me had these high hopes that when college finished up, I'd be in a position to change my life drastically. That just isn't so. Sure, life is different. But I didn't make that change. Maybe I'm afraid to do something about it. That seems very likely. I'm going to try challenge that fear this week (Thursday's going to be my Face Up To Fear Day) by doing something different, by breaking out of the mould I'm in. While I'm still going to keep publishing ebooks (and I'm working on getting Planning Before Writing available through Smashwords, but the site is giving me some trouble), I'm not going to pretend that it'll be easy to even match my income from the bookshop any time soon.
It take a lot of ebooks to make a difference in a life. The best way you can help an author is to buy their books and recommend those books to friends. It can help pay food bills, or make life more meaningful, or help save for education, either their own or their children's or their partner's. How many people does it take to change an author's life?
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Gripped by Exhaustion
It took me some time to actually get up this morning, by which time all hopes of waking up early to write were dashed. With a number of other factors then contributing to the time-suck of the day, including eating, chores, laziness, Skyrim and The Walking Dead (dammit, why did we start watching that...and then keep watching until season 1 reached a finale?), I quickly ran out of time in the day.
I managed to write a sizeable chunk today, despite these various distractions, but about half as much as I would have liked to. It means I still have a lot of work to do, and only a couple more days to actually get it all done.
This might mean not doing very much in terms of television or PS3 for the next while. That's a sacrifice I'm willing to make, if it means getting this book written.
The thing is, today's work was the most fiction I'd written in a very long time. It took a while to get back into the rhythm of things, to find the words more easily. I didn't just slip back into writing fiction like it was riding a bike. I wasn't just shaky at first; I was incapable.
With the chapter I'm currently working on coming to an end, I hope to beat these mental blocks. That's all they are. I'm out of practice with fiction. The ideas are there. The words, not so much. It's a different type of language to writing a blog post every day, or writing a poem, or writing non-fiction.
The actual story is going well, though. While it's more of a struggle to write it than I'd like it to be, I'm having fun with it, and getting the basis for the book in place. I've even introduced a new character to the series. She can drive. She knows my protagonist Fionn. She's going to be more and more kick-ass as the story goes on. I can't wait. Strong female characters are always interesting to create. While her role in the story will be understated by certain characters, she's integral to the development of events in the book.
Just so you know.
Anyway, in other news:
- My desire to write a zombie apocalypse novel has only increased since watching The Walking Dead season 1.
- I'm scheming something, as I have a tendency to do.
- New Comic Book Day...just, that. Tomorrow. As always. Yay!
I managed to write a sizeable chunk today, despite these various distractions, but about half as much as I would have liked to. It means I still have a lot of work to do, and only a couple more days to actually get it all done.
This might mean not doing very much in terms of television or PS3 for the next while. That's a sacrifice I'm willing to make, if it means getting this book written.
The thing is, today's work was the most fiction I'd written in a very long time. It took a while to get back into the rhythm of things, to find the words more easily. I didn't just slip back into writing fiction like it was riding a bike. I wasn't just shaky at first; I was incapable.
With the chapter I'm currently working on coming to an end, I hope to beat these mental blocks. That's all they are. I'm out of practice with fiction. The ideas are there. The words, not so much. It's a different type of language to writing a blog post every day, or writing a poem, or writing non-fiction.
The actual story is going well, though. While it's more of a struggle to write it than I'd like it to be, I'm having fun with it, and getting the basis for the book in place. I've even introduced a new character to the series. She can drive. She knows my protagonist Fionn. She's going to be more and more kick-ass as the story goes on. I can't wait. Strong female characters are always interesting to create. While her role in the story will be understated by certain characters, she's integral to the development of events in the book.
Just so you know.
Anyway, in other news:
- My desire to write a zombie apocalypse novel has only increased since watching The Walking Dead season 1.
- I'm scheming something, as I have a tendency to do.
- New Comic Book Day...just, that. Tomorrow. As always. Yay!
Monday, March 18, 2013
Stepping Forward into Hell
This weekend, possibly because it was a long one and I wasn't getting drunk in commemoration of St Patrick, I put together a few different things for the coming months of my writing life. It was a fun weekend for me because of that. (Hey, look at that - I enjoy productivity!)
Aside from writing a ton from my topic cards, I put together a cover for a book and planned another, Stepping Forward and the sequel to Balor Reborn respectively.
You might have noticed that Stepping Forward stopped being available for free last year. This was in preparation for the more serious aspect of my writing career; I didn't want to just share my writing for fun, as I had done when I initially made Stepping Forward available. I'm making publishing my books a business, as it should be.
However, I loved Stepping Forward too much to just let it disappear forever. It will be coming back, edited and revised and with a new cover. I had plans for this cover late last year, but I didn't follow through with them until this weekend past. I'm not a graphic designer, but I enjoy putting together covers. Thankfully I receive some feedback from people, so I don't end up with the first thing that comes to mind. As a result, I've ended up with the cover below for Stepping Forward. I'll have to have a look at the manuscript again to determine how much I need to rewrite to improve the book. After that, I'll have a (re)release date for Stepping Forward.
As for the sequel to Balor Reborn, it's finally planned! Entitled The Hounds of Hell, it takes us out to the West of Ireland to the Murray household, where the neighbourhood dogs are running wild and a strange sickness has fallen over the locals. I'll be planning the sequel before I start writing it, but with my track record in mind it shouldn't take long to actually write the book.
That sounds like bragging. It's not. (Okay, it's not just bragging.)
But with that in mind, it should be made clear that once I'm free of college and seminars and exams, I'll be able to crank out the rest of this series within the space of a few months. If I plan the remaining books before the end of my exams, I'll probably be able to write the rest of them by September.
And by saying that, I've probably jinxed it.
I suppose I should make it clear that I am not just working on the Modern Irish Myth books. I've got a couple of big projects for the summer, which you'll hear more about soon. I can confirm that they are not novels, though that doesn't mean I don't have novels to work on (the sequels to my two favourite NaNoWriMo books - Meet Sam and Bliss, for a start!). Again, both of these need to be planned completely before I start writing them.
But yes... I'm planning my future writing in a major way, with publication in mind. This is a business, after all, and I'd be made to ignore that fact.
Aside from writing a ton from my topic cards, I put together a cover for a book and planned another, Stepping Forward and the sequel to Balor Reborn respectively.
You might have noticed that Stepping Forward stopped being available for free last year. This was in preparation for the more serious aspect of my writing career; I didn't want to just share my writing for fun, as I had done when I initially made Stepping Forward available. I'm making publishing my books a business, as it should be.
However, I loved Stepping Forward too much to just let it disappear forever. It will be coming back, edited and revised and with a new cover. I had plans for this cover late last year, but I didn't follow through with them until this weekend past. I'm not a graphic designer, but I enjoy putting together covers. Thankfully I receive some feedback from people, so I don't end up with the first thing that comes to mind. As a result, I've ended up with the cover below for Stepping Forward. I'll have to have a look at the manuscript again to determine how much I need to rewrite to improve the book. After that, I'll have a (re)release date for Stepping Forward.
As for the sequel to Balor Reborn, it's finally planned! Entitled The Hounds of Hell, it takes us out to the West of Ireland to the Murray household, where the neighbourhood dogs are running wild and a strange sickness has fallen over the locals. I'll be planning the sequel before I start writing it, but with my track record in mind it shouldn't take long to actually write the book.
That sounds like bragging. It's not. (Okay, it's not just bragging.)
But with that in mind, it should be made clear that once I'm free of college and seminars and exams, I'll be able to crank out the rest of this series within the space of a few months. If I plan the remaining books before the end of my exams, I'll probably be able to write the rest of them by September.
And by saying that, I've probably jinxed it.
I suppose I should make it clear that I am not just working on the Modern Irish Myth books. I've got a couple of big projects for the summer, which you'll hear more about soon. I can confirm that they are not novels, though that doesn't mean I don't have novels to work on (the sequels to my two favourite NaNoWriMo books - Meet Sam and Bliss, for a start!). Again, both of these need to be planned completely before I start writing them.
But yes... I'm planning my future writing in a major way, with publication in mind. This is a business, after all, and I'd be made to ignore that fact.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Technical Error
Since publishing Balor Reborn in August (through my website, Smashwords, and Amazon), I haven't had any problems with its availability. Until now. Amazon let me down.
Now, I will add: this wasn't a case of Amazon sweeping in with a mighty iron fist and stamping out my rights to publish my own books. This was something much less interesting: an unexplained technical error that cleared my books from the search function of Amazon, and made them unavailable to purchase even through a direct link.
You can see my predicament.
Amazon is the site through which I sell most of my books. At the start of the month, I noticed that neither Balor Reborn nor Writing Gifts, on a Shoestring were visible. Both were still visible through Kindle Direct Publishing, and set to Live, but that meant nothing in the real world. I was down two books, one of which was fairly new, the other of which has sold more copies than any of my other books.
Not good. And worse still: I was due to publish Planning Before Writing at the end of the week.
I decided not to get disheartened or bloodthirsty. I contacted Amazon, explained the problem, and they got back to me fairly swiftly. I confirmed that though they had managed to turn the books up in searches of their own (as my friend Ian managed, too), they were not showing up for me, and when I went through KDP to access them, they weren't available.
Planning Before Writing was still published, as planned, last Sunday. It listed live and was available, though my two vanishing acts failed to showed up.
Today, things picked up. I checked KDP to see if there were any updates on sales figures. This is something I do regularly, sometimes to feel like I'm doing work, mostly out of curiosity. That was when I found out that Amazon had solved the technical error that they had gotten some people working on. I knew, because Balor Reborn had sold a copy. It's been a long time since I was so happy to sell a copy of that book!
Why am I telling you this story? To put it simply, I think Amazon did something right, and to point out that these things can happen easily. It wasn't a malicious assault by Amazon, though they sometimes pick up bad press with Indie authors, and they fixed it. It took a while, but I imagine their servers are fairly busy.
Plus, I mentioned this on a couple of social networking sites, and I think it's only fair to make it official: everything's sorted now. I'm back in action, and my author page on Amazon has never been more pleased. Four books with my name on them are now floating around the wonderful land of online publishing. Setbacks like this aside, I think things are going quite well.
Now, I will add: this wasn't a case of Amazon sweeping in with a mighty iron fist and stamping out my rights to publish my own books. This was something much less interesting: an unexplained technical error that cleared my books from the search function of Amazon, and made them unavailable to purchase even through a direct link.
You can see my predicament.
Amazon is the site through which I sell most of my books. At the start of the month, I noticed that neither Balor Reborn nor Writing Gifts, on a Shoestring were visible. Both were still visible through Kindle Direct Publishing, and set to Live, but that meant nothing in the real world. I was down two books, one of which was fairly new, the other of which has sold more copies than any of my other books.
Not good. And worse still: I was due to publish Planning Before Writing at the end of the week.
I decided not to get disheartened or bloodthirsty. I contacted Amazon, explained the problem, and they got back to me fairly swiftly. I confirmed that though they had managed to turn the books up in searches of their own (as my friend Ian managed, too), they were not showing up for me, and when I went through KDP to access them, they weren't available.
Planning Before Writing was still published, as planned, last Sunday. It listed live and was available, though my two vanishing acts failed to showed up.
Today, things picked up. I checked KDP to see if there were any updates on sales figures. This is something I do regularly, sometimes to feel like I'm doing work, mostly out of curiosity. That was when I found out that Amazon had solved the technical error that they had gotten some people working on. I knew, because Balor Reborn had sold a copy. It's been a long time since I was so happy to sell a copy of that book!
Why am I telling you this story? To put it simply, I think Amazon did something right, and to point out that these things can happen easily. It wasn't a malicious assault by Amazon, though they sometimes pick up bad press with Indie authors, and they fixed it. It took a while, but I imagine their servers are fairly busy.
Plus, I mentioned this on a couple of social networking sites, and I think it's only fair to make it official: everything's sorted now. I'm back in action, and my author page on Amazon has never been more pleased. Four books with my name on them are now floating around the wonderful land of online publishing. Setbacks like this aside, I think things are going quite well.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
The Adventure Begins Tomorrow
By my laptop's clock, it's 21:28. I'm tired, it's not even late... though I haven't had tea in hours. That might explain it.
Tomorrow, the adventure that is Balor Reborn begins. I'm nervous. I'm excited. But I'm ready. I have a kettle in my room, a supply of biscuits and water, and the plan of the book. My room is clean, my chair is comfortable, and I have warm-up techniques in place.
I still get to be scared, though. I'm reserving that one.
Today, I wrote a lot of Haiku. You can find them on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook. I won't bother you with them here. However, they proved to me what I needed to know:
1) I can use them to get words going through my head and,
2) I can write on command when I need to.
Obviously there's a very specific requirement for Haiku, but that doesn't mean they didn't help. They helped to entertain, too. People found some enjoyment in them, and it meant that I felt like I was actually doing something today. See, I was concerned about that. I didn't want to do something that would so obviously exhaust me the day before I set out to write. While I may be tired right now, that's from everything today building up.
I'm hoping I'll be fine. I'll be reading over my plan tonight, and getting the webcam all set up for tomorrow. Then it's simply a matter of trying to sleep. My friends have been incredibly supportive, so that has helped.
Okay, I need to get away from the laptop. Long day ahead of me tomorrow.
Tomorrow, the adventure that is Balor Reborn begins. I'm nervous. I'm excited. But I'm ready. I have a kettle in my room, a supply of biscuits and water, and the plan of the book. My room is clean, my chair is comfortable, and I have warm-up techniques in place.
I still get to be scared, though. I'm reserving that one.
Today, I wrote a lot of Haiku. You can find them on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook. I won't bother you with them here. However, they proved to me what I needed to know:
1) I can use them to get words going through my head and,
2) I can write on command when I need to.
Obviously there's a very specific requirement for Haiku, but that doesn't mean they didn't help. They helped to entertain, too. People found some enjoyment in them, and it meant that I felt like I was actually doing something today. See, I was concerned about that. I didn't want to do something that would so obviously exhaust me the day before I set out to write. While I may be tired right now, that's from everything today building up.
I'm hoping I'll be fine. I'll be reading over my plan tonight, and getting the webcam all set up for tomorrow. Then it's simply a matter of trying to sleep. My friends have been incredibly supportive, so that has helped.
Okay, I need to get away from the laptop. Long day ahead of me tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
T-Minus 1 Day
Back in April, I sent an email to three friends of mine - Messr Shanley, Mille Oz and Mille McQuaid. I had gotten an idea, and I wanted their feedback on it before I really got down to doing anything about it. Since then, I've released the press release, planned the book and begun a series of competitions.
And, you know, I've gotten a lot of exciting news since I started all of this that I'm not sure I can share publicly just yet.
However, from those early, out-of-the-blue ideas, I suddenly find myself with a day to go before I start writing Balor Reborn. A day. Tomorrow. Then I'm to be writing the book, on camera, and that kind of freaks me out. It's too late to back out, too. I don't plan to, mind you, it's just that I can't.
This is a good kind of fear, though. If I wasn't feeling this, I don't think I'd feel the excitement of the project when it comes to actually writing. I'd be sitting down, doing all the same things I normally do. Instead, I anticipate I'll be nervous waking up on Thursday morning. My stomach will be in bits, but I'll try have a cereal. I'd have to.
Then, I'll be sitting down at the laptop, ready to go, and getting the live show set up. I'll have my bathroom-break sign at the ready (seriously), a cup of tea by my side, lunch packed, and then I'll be live for the day.
I'm hoping I can write to a pace that would allow me to work from ten until six for a maximum of three days to get the first draft done. With the book cover and trailer to come after that, that's another day gone. Then I'll be editing, doing the most extensive work in my life for a prolonged period of time to ensure it's down to a tee!
The final day, I want to have a launch party while I make the book available for purchase. I'll have the trailer online, the cover available to see, possibly even a free sample for people to read. I'll go through my answers for the competitions I'm running...
And that's way ahead of schedule. That's the fun and exciting day I have to look forward to, that won't happen that way if I don't do the work. And that terrifies me. This whole thing terrifies me. I reckon I'll be boring on camera. I may end up listening to music through a headset and singing along badly to it. If that happens, I apologise. But I'm sure it'll be more entertaining than me sitting there going insane, right?
And, you know, I've gotten a lot of exciting news since I started all of this that I'm not sure I can share publicly just yet.
However, from those early, out-of-the-blue ideas, I suddenly find myself with a day to go before I start writing Balor Reborn. A day. Tomorrow. Then I'm to be writing the book, on camera, and that kind of freaks me out. It's too late to back out, too. I don't plan to, mind you, it's just that I can't.
This is a good kind of fear, though. If I wasn't feeling this, I don't think I'd feel the excitement of the project when it comes to actually writing. I'd be sitting down, doing all the same things I normally do. Instead, I anticipate I'll be nervous waking up on Thursday morning. My stomach will be in bits, but I'll try have a cereal. I'd have to.
Then, I'll be sitting down at the laptop, ready to go, and getting the live show set up. I'll have my bathroom-break sign at the ready (seriously), a cup of tea by my side, lunch packed, and then I'll be live for the day.
I'm hoping I can write to a pace that would allow me to work from ten until six for a maximum of three days to get the first draft done. With the book cover and trailer to come after that, that's another day gone. Then I'll be editing, doing the most extensive work in my life for a prolonged period of time to ensure it's down to a tee!
The final day, I want to have a launch party while I make the book available for purchase. I'll have the trailer online, the cover available to see, possibly even a free sample for people to read. I'll go through my answers for the competitions I'm running...
And that's way ahead of schedule. That's the fun and exciting day I have to look forward to, that won't happen that way if I don't do the work. And that terrifies me. This whole thing terrifies me. I reckon I'll be boring on camera. I may end up listening to music through a headset and singing along badly to it. If that happens, I apologise. But I'm sure it'll be more entertaining than me sitting there going insane, right?
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