My bad!

I can't believe it has been so long since my last post! In my defence, nothing really exciting has been happening. I'm writing which is basically bum in seat and typing on a computer! I have the next Space Rats book planned out and will begin that some time soon. For anyone that is interested in the sequel to Red, I have to admit I hit a brick wall with that and had to step back from it. I didn't think I was going to be able to finish it but last week something happened, I honestly couldn't tell you what it was. I was writing a short story when inspiration hit and I thought of a great plot point for the sequel and it brought back my flow on that particular story. The worst thing about self-publishing is that there is no agent or publisher breathing down your neck making sure you're working and on time to deliver. My self discipline is not good although it is getting better the more I'm writing and I'm constantly working on it. This is something all writers - or perhaps everyone who works for themselves - has to work on for themselves. Anyway, this is just a quick post to let people know that I'm still working despite a few hiccups and will have new work out next year - hopefully the beginning! : )

Couple of videos ...

This next one is on the aniboom channel which has some very talented movie makers contributing their work. Worth checking out! : )

Space Rats on Monster Planet

Coming soon....

I'm almost done with this and it will be released on Sunday 12th. My son's birthday so I thought it was quite fitting! : )

Free on Kindle

A funny thing happened a couple of months ago. I checked on my Kindle reports and noticed that my children's science fiction novel had been downloaded nearly 300 times  that week but as a free book. At first I was rather confused as I hadn't put it for free on Kindle until I remembered that I had done just that on Smashwords and Amazon like to price match.
Both 'Space Rats' and 'The Spirit Tree' can be downloaded free on amazon.com - tbh, I'm not sure about the UK as no-one has downloaded it there yet. I was surprised that no-one has downloaded 'Spirit Tree' as I always thought that fantasy would do better than science fiction (it's my preferred genre) but as always these things just can't be predicted! : ) 'Space Rats' has been downloaded between 100 to 200 times a week for the past month and a half so this has made me realise I need to get the next one all polished and shiny and up for sale.
I have it booked in for a proper edit the end of this month and I'm looking for someone who could do a cover for me - possibly for the first one too so they have a similar cover to make them recognisable as a series. I'm quite pleased as I really enjoyed writing the first one, it was a fun adventure, and I'm enjoying getting back to these characters.

Oh happy day!

Nothing to do with writing or books...

Two months ago our oldest cat Tom disappeared. At twelve years old we surmised he'd probably passed away somewhere. I hasten to add that we did look and knock on doors but no one had seen him - he's a big black and white cat yet somehow invisible as only cats can be! : )
Anyway, yesterday as I opened the door to let our last cat in for dinner (4 cats down to 1) who should be sitting on the doorstep but a much slimmer Tom! Took me a minute to take in I was actually seeing him! : ) He was quite a fat cat - active but still fat - and now we can feel his ribs and all that belly flab that almost reached the ground is gone. He's alive though and that's what is important.
Not sure what happened to him but the fact that he won't stay in a room on his own makes me think he got trapped somewhere and has spent the last few weeks alone. He slept with me last night, something in all his twelve years he's never done. He obviously missed us as much as we missed him!

Wandered a little there

I've been wandering creatively lately, not really sure what I should be concentrating on. I knew I had to get on with the next two books after Red but it just wasn't happening! After a good talk with a friend of mine and a little focused thinking I've finally got a path to follow.
I'm going to write the next two books of the Daemon Moon Trilogy back to back. The first one, Red, was a fun book to write and set up Sarah quite well, I really enjoyed the family interactions and the characters I just loved  - don't all writers love their characters? : ) I think the sequel was proving hard to begin because I had no story but now I have and it will span over the next two books in a clear (I hope) plot but still retain the humour I had in the first.

This is a pic of a wolf pup whose colouring I used for Sarah when she's in wolf form - plus, he's so cute!

 And this little guy because I couldn't resist - I love hedgehogs!

Competitions and writing

Sorry I haven't been updating lately, January is always a hectic month of family birthdays - me, sister, 2 nieces - plus this year we had a death in the family. Anyway, now that we're in the middle of February (already) I'm back to writing as much as possible and I've also entered Red in a competition on Createspace.
It's the Amazon Breakthrough Novel award in the Young Adult category. There are three or four stages, can't remember exactly, and the next stage will be on the 23rd. I've never been lucky with competitions of any kind but I'm trying to stay positive even though there are thousands of entrants - if I don't try I'll never have a chance.
Apart from that I've written a YA cyberpunk novel, I'm finishing up my second Space Rats novel and I'll hopefully start soon on outlining the sequel to Red. It sounds like a lot but the Space Rats novel was my nanowrimo book so it was mostly done anyway! : )
So that's it! I'm just doing a lot of writing right now which isn't exactly exciting to look at! I will try to keep a more regular update from now on.