Happy New Year – Writing in 2023

Happy New Year to all of you out there and I hope you have a wonderful 2023.

I haven’t posted for a few weeks as I’ve been very busy. I was working in London in early December and brought back Covid19 unfortunately.

After recovering I was busy tying up loose ends at work to have a few days off over Christmas. I hope you were able to spend some time relaxing with family and friends.

After a patchy year creatively I had a stronger end to 2022. My ghost story ‘Outbreak’ came second in the Crowvus Christmas ghost story competition and I also had a piece about Anglesey published on a travel website.

In the coming weeks a piece I wrote about the Birmingham suburb of Digbeth is to be published in a new anthology and I also have flash fiction scheduled to be published in Missouri.

I’m currently working on a radio script and really enjoying it. More on that in the next few months. I hope a change of creative direction will finally lead to a breakthrough in 2023.

Good luck with your creative endeavours this year!

Rangers top of the league

This afternoon Stafford Rangers beat Yorkshire side Liversedge two-nil to go top of the table*. They have a tricky run with three upcoming away fixtures but it was great to see them win on a blustery, but bright and warm afternoon.

The attendance was 698 and second half goals came from Kaiman Anderson and Tom Tonks. Here’s a few pics I hope capture the spirit of non league football.

*Rangers play in the Northern Premier League.

Maturing words

I’m not sure if words mature like wine or cheese. I’ve always been too eager to go back to something after a first draft. Even the prolific Steven King recommends a break of 6 weeks and to write something else first.

Put simply the dust has to settle.

A greater problem for the writer is looking critically at your own work. I find my moods swing wildly from believing I’ve ‘got something ‘ to thinking I should bin the lot. As is often the case in life the answer is in the middle rather than either extreme.

A great writer – I forget who – said something about writers having to get used to their shit stuff. In other words accepting development is slow and painful and persisting.

I have crushing doubts, not helped by failures and near misses. Also not helped by my changing focus. I’ve written novels, short stories, memoirs and travel pieces, journalism and poems. Perhaps I’m too thinly spread. It’s also a case of work v play. What do you enjoy doing versus what might be read or published.

I’ve just blown the dust off a novel I wrote back in May/June. It’s a revenge plot and doesn’t have a title yet. To be honest it’s better than I thought but I’m only 10 per cent in so may change opinion. We’ll see.

I shall read it through and then decide if it’s worth editing. The first draft should always be ‘all story’ – the real work begins in the second draft, but something should be there…..a meaning, a conflict, a great character.

I fill notebooks endlessly and have a dozen at least going back to 2007. Themes often re emerge. I hope I have something but who knows? It’s certainly a strange feeling reading your own words after a pause.

Novel Launch – She’s Out There Somewhere

My novel ‘She’s Out There Somewhere’ is launched on Kindle today.

You can view it here.

Thanks to everyone who helped with viewpoints about the cover. I received a lot of feedback on wordpress, Twitter, and good old-fashioned word of mouth.

The vote was quite tight, but came out as a tie between the black and white photo cover of the gatepost, or (following advice and discussion) development of a template. After careful consideration I opted for a template and this is the result below. I think it has the air of a thriller and hope the design gives the impression of a missing body/person and broken or failed communication.

The story outline/tease is here:

A chance discovery leads to Chrissy Clews investigating the disappearance of schoolfriend Laura, who went missing thirty years ago. The case was shrouded in secrecy with rumours about the involvement of a group of local men, and even Chrissy herself, in Laura’s disappearance.

After her release from care Chrissy is quietly rebuilding her life working at a motorway service station when her former teacher walks in and tries to discreetly buy a porn magazine. He doesn’t recognise her, but when he drops his wallet she hides it and can’t resist looking inside. She’s shocked to find a tatty passport photo of Laura Duggan, a school friend who went missing 30 years ago and was never seen again.
Chrissy decides to investigate but, with a troubled past and history of violence, how will she find Laura and get at the truth of what happened? Laura was a friend of Chrissy’s, but they fell out. Is it possible she had involvement in Laura’s disappearance? If she can find out the truth will anyone believe her?

I am sorting out a few review copies as requested, so please bear with me (also as I sort teething issues and Amazon profile etc.)

Once again, thanks for all your support and interest and comments.

Can you help me choose the cover?

If you have a few seconds free, I’d really appreciate your opinion…..

I’ve written a book which, subject to any late changes, I’m going to self publish in the coming weeks.

It’s a suspense/thriller novel of around 95,000 words called ‘I Know She’s Out There.’

I’m preparing the cover and tidying/editing the text at the moment.

To assist I’ve included the elevator pitch below:

After her release from psychiatric care Chrissy Clews is quietly rebuilding her life working at a motorway service station when her former teacher walks in and tries to discreetly buy a porn magazine. He doesn’t recognise her, but when he drops his wallet she hides it and can’t resist looking inside. She’s shocked to find a tatty passport photo of Laura Duggan, a school friend who went missing 30 years ago and was never seen again. She decides to investigate…

I’ve taken some images and mocked up covers. Obviously, I’m an amateur at this kind of thing (very much Sunday pub league), but please let me know if you have a preferred option, or indeed, if another approach is required.

When I publish I’d be delighted if anyone wishes to have a copy to review.

Thanks for your time.