Richard Dee's Blog, page 97

Insight

I think it was the great Bill Bryson who said that a waiter will never see you until he’s ready to see you, and in the same way, you can’t tell a story (great or otherwise) until it’s ready to be told. What this means for me is that I might have the idea but for various reasons the whole thing is not completely assembled in my brain, there are parts that I haven’t processed properly yet, and to try to write it down at this time is to fail. I’ve seen this myself on several occasions and having since been able to go and finish the work I know it to be true.

If you remember, George Lucas always said that he had waited to film Star Wars episode 1 until the technology of CGI had caught up with his vision, well it’s the same sort of thing. Before I could write Myra I had to get my thoughts in order and work out how I was going to incorporate the flashbacks and that meant a lot of research; in that time I read a lot of excellent stuff and learnt how other writers had dealt with the techniques. And the back story had developed enough in my head as well, to give me a better idea of where I was going.

And often, while I’m writing, I’ll realise that I have nothing more to say about a particular story, all my ideas come to a grinding halt and it feels like I’m unable to move things along, even though I know where I want to end up in the narrative. I have to put the project to one side and get on with something else. Then, in time it will all make sense, a logical order will come to me and I can return to it. Hence why I have several ideas on the go at once; I can hop around as ideas take shape in my head.

I can’t imagine how much easier it is in this age of word processing to write than it was in the old days of typewriters and longhand (even though I still use a notebook sometimes).

And so, having finished two of my ongoing novel projects this month, I’m going to be spending May on edits and Short Stories.

I have a novel called “Jungle Green,” which my editor has gone through; it needs a bit of a rewrite,  and I have another, “A new life in Ventis,” which is off for a first look this month, that of course, will need working on when it returns. I have several short pieces which could do with a bit of attention, I’d like to publish another selection of short stories soon and the more content I have the better it will look. And working on short stories is a lot easier to fit in around editing. At the moment I have a mixture of straight Sci-fi and Steampunk ideas and who knows, one of them might just develop into more than a short story. One of them is, in fact, a sequel to a short story I wrote which features in Flash Fiction, a part three to my story “Tales from the Sleepers,” an examination of time dilation and its possible outcomes.

If you haven’t yet you can get Flash Fiction FREE from this link

 

 

The post Insight appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

That was the easy bit, Part 2

So I have the corrected manuscript and I’ve sent it to my beta readers, depending on what they say, and what I have thought about since I saw it last, there may well be bits to change, perfect and modify. Then it’s time for a second edit.

Meanwhile, I will have found a cover picture or at least a concept for one. I’m extremely fortunate to have a brilliant cover designer in Cathy Helms at Avalon Graphics and I’ve also found a local photo-artist in Vicki Boulter who got my idea for Myra perfectly.

Anyway, this is the time to sort out the cover and prepare the metadata, the nuts and bolts that go with the ISBN and the eBook. Things like the genre, the page count, keywords, long and short description etc. etc.

And if you think that writing the book is hard, try condensing it into 250 words for an interesting hook to put on the back cover (giving nothing away), or 350 CHARACTERS for an ISBN entry! Once I have input these the ISBN is assigned and cannot be changed. I prefer to use my own as I’m then identified as the publisher.

The metadata and manuscript go to my formatting service, Coinlea, who lay it out ready for printing as a paperback, depending on the final size I’ve chosen and as an eBook.

First Coinlea will send me a pdf of the paperback layout for approval and after having a look; it gets a final once-over from my editor.

And that’s where we are with Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café, the last step is to upload all my files for approval, then I can set up an on-sale date and press “publish!”

And then it’s about a week until I get a proof copy of the paperback in my hand, wow it feels good to get a physical copy in your hands.

Another check for quality and we’re ready to go. The eBook is uploaded and the marketing can start. And you can pre-order

The post That was the easy bit, Part 2 appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

Cover reveals and an update

I’m a little bit early with the post this week, there are important grandad duties for me on Tuesday so the post is a day early. And I’m afraid that it also means that my next post about the book production process will have to wait for a bit.

This time I have two covers to reveal for you and also an update on my challenge for the year, I forgot to put it last weeks.

Firstly, the full cover for Andorra Pett is back from Avalon Graphics,  my thanks to Cathy for another great piece of work. Andorra is the creation of Matthew Britton and is brilliantly drawn, he’s captured her personality exactly as I imagined her. Chapter 1 is still available to sample HERE

 

The novel will make its debut at the Tiverton Literary Festival, firstly at Credfest on June 17th, and then at Tiverton Library on June 23rd, signed copies of all my titles will be available for a special price.

I have also made the cover for my next FREE collection of short stories,

 

 

which I’m hopeful will be out before the end of May. It will feature 21 stories and 8 excerpts, including three from books that have never seen the light of day, “Jungle Green,” the sequel to “Ribbonworld,” “Survive,” a spin-off from “Freefall” (and part of the Galactographic! universe), and “A new life in Ventis,” the sequel to “The Rocks of Aserol.”

While we’re on the subject of new work, so far this year I have written 155,000 words. Not all of them on one title, but “Survive” has 30,000, “A new life in Ventis” 60,000 and “Andorra Pett on Mars” has 50,000, with the rest spread over short stories.

You might have noticed the title “Andorra Pett on Mars” and wondered what I was on about, well it’s the second book featuring Andorra and I have two more in planning, “Andorra Pett takes a break” and “Andorra Pett and her sister.” They are very much at the initial planning stage as I write this, but I have basic plots and they will be produced, the only question is when?

I will have to add them to the list, which also includes a third Balcom story, provisionally entitled “The lost Princess,” and a sequel to “Myra,” which has no title at the moment. If I can keep up my wordcount and make 500,000 this year I should be able to get most of them done, as long as I don’t run out of ideas.

The post Cover reveals and an update appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

Shop Here

Just click on the button to go to the Shop.

 

 

The post Shop Here appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

That was the easy bit

 

I’ve just about got a new story finished, now a lot of you might think that was writing the story was the hardest part, after all, I started with a blank piece of paper and had to build my world, populate it and get my characters to have adventures. I had to guide them along the plot I’d chosen, kill a few of them off and give the survivors a triumph to two to celebrate.

Then, of course, it all had to tie up and make sense at the end, with maybe a place left open for a sequel to start from.

And that’s about where I am now, this story was actually a sequel, a tying up of a lot of loose ends and completion in a way. Even though the first book was complete, there was enough left over from the final few pages to inspire a “what happened next!”

It’s taken me a year or so, if I hadn’t been encouraged by readers of the first story asking me why I had finished it when I did, it would not have been done at all. But in my mind seeds were sown by their remarks and I began to wonder what might have happened after “The End.”

The result now has to go through a lot. First, it will be scrutinised by my wonderful editor, she will spot all my typos and grammar faux-pas, all my plot-holes and bad English and the bits that make no sense whatsoever. She may also say whether she liked it, or what she thinks it needs (not the delete button, hopefully!).

After I get it back I will correct it and re-write it, then send it off to my wonderful beta readers for their impression. That’s the bit I hate, waiting for the verdict on my creation.

Meantime, I’ve got to decide on a back cover blurb and liaise with my cover designer on initial ideas. As this is a sequel I will need to go with the same style as before, so that makes this part a lot easier.

And that’s just the first part of the process, there’s a whole lot more to do before the story can see the light of day (or kindle).

But that’s a story for next week.

The post That was the easy bit appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

The Curse of Exposure.

As a science-fiction novelist, and a proudly self-published one, I’m fortunate in having plenty of ideas for new projects. Plots present in observation of life, often I will remember a dream and that will set me going. If it doesn’t work out as a book, it could always make a short story. I jot down a few notes and I can come back to it anytime.

 

However I have noticed a trend, as my work becomes more widely read, and that is being given plot ideas to extend my already published titles with sequels and prequels and spin-offs. These come from me reading the manuscript and spotting details, from my editor and from readers and reviewers.

 

My first book, Freefall, had a few things in it that I considered in my naiveté to be no more than attention grabbing, enigmatic statements. Of course, now I know better, all that happened was that they worked in a way that I hadn’t considered, people actually wanted to know more about them. And so the prequel Myra was born, I have made a full novel out of a throwaway remark, a paragraph on P12.

“No matter how many times I hear the voice – it’s Myra by the way, it reminds me of the happy times. When she had put her voice print on the computer she said it was so she could order me around. It must be fifteen years ago, but I sometimes look over my shoulder expecting to see her in the hatchway. You can still see the faint dent in the panel if you look closely, I try not to. The paint was worn there; I rubbed it every time I passed.”

See what I mean? I’ve just spent 75,000 words explaining that dent!

 

 

 

 

Myra is available now; the artist who did that amazing cover came up with a suggestion while we were working on the concept that made such perfect sense that I just had to include it in the finished story. And it led me logically into what will be the third part of the Dave Travise Trilogy as I’m now (rather grandly) calling it. But that’s another job.

And another comment that I found in Freefall has given me an idea for a spin-off, with characters that are alluded to in passing getting their story told. Survive, the Tale of Ballantyne Alysom, is in development.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And it hasn’t stopped there; my editor read the first draft of The Rocks of Aserol and said, “Presumably there’s a sequel? If not, why not?” Well now there is, or at least there will be. At the last count, I have just over 50,000 words of what I’m calling “A new life in Ventis.” This will tell the story of the aftermath of events in the first book. Expect a lot of surprises when it’s published, hopefully that will be later this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A reviewer suggested a spin-off from Ribbonworld; (I had already worked out a sequel for myself) and then another person who had bought the book suggested yet another plot line that could be explored. They both go together by some weird chance, So that will be three books in that series if I can get around to writing them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My next release, Andorra Pet and the Oort Cloud café, will be out in June 2017 and comes from a short story I wrote. I wondered what could happen to the characters in the situation they found themselves, and the novel was the result. And that’s led to a sequel, which has given me other ideas. Andorra is turning into  cross between Miss Marple and Agatha Raisin in space. You can find Chapter 1 HERE

 

 

 

 

 

It’s very nice to think that I’ve got people’s attention. I can’t believe it sometimes, that a reader is that engrossed in the contents of my imagination that they want to know more. That I’ve managed to interest them enough that they can imagine how my worlds could develop. And that they want to know more about my characters pasts (or futures) from what I have written. At first, I wondered if it meant that I hadn’t done enough; then I realised that it really meant that I hadn’t done too much.

Incidentally, the current list of my Works in Progress stands at eight, that’s probably five or six years of work. And only two of them have been my own ideas. The good part about having so many projects is that, when I get fed up with writing one book, or the flow stops, I can swap over to another. I find that it keeps me from getting bored.

So if you don’t want me to get bored, keep reading the books and keep the ideas coming in. With your input, who knows where we might end up?

The post The Curse of Exposure. appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

Inspiration

“Ideas are like rabbits, you get a couple and learn how to handle them and pretty soon you have a dozen. –  John Steinbeck.

Inspiration is a funny thing, it can strike when we are least expecting it and it can lead us in directions that we could never imagine.

Way back when I was still employed, I was sent by my boss on a course in Portsmouth for a week.  Before I went; people who had already been on the course warned me that the hotel was not exactly five-star accommodation.

And when I opened the door to my room, I could see what they meant, it was the sort of place, I thought to myself, where you would not be surprised to find a body in the bathroom.

At the time I had one book published and to be honest was a little unsure where my writing journey might take me.

The body in the bathroom idea stayed with me and I guess my subconscious must have worked in it because I found myself wondering what I would do if I had opened the door and actually found one, what would happen? Why was it there? and what it could mean in terms of my future actions?

From there it was easy(?) to develop the idea for a book, to use it as a starting point for an adventure and Ribbonworld was born. Ribbonworld gave me the idea for a yet to be published sequel, using the same characters and the unfinished business that always seems to exist in any book. The undeveloped plot strands, the back story and the characters that pass through the plot all have stories to tell, sometimes hinted at, sometimes worthy of a more detailed examination.

I wrote the sequel and what do you know? by ending it where I did, although it’s a perfectly sensible place to end that particular tale, it sets up the third book in what is rapidly becoming a series.

And the same pattern continues, people asked if there will be a sequel, you think about it and ideas flow. Or perhaps you do a bit of research, invent a back story and realise it has potential. Before you know it, a whole new world opens up.

And that’s where the quotation at the start comes in, you have one idea and before you know it, there are a hutch full, it’s almost as if once you start exercising a creative muscle, it develops and grows stronger on its own.

Find out about the body in the bathroom at myBook.to/Ribbonworld

The post Inspiration appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

My Video Interview

As part of the Myra book launch, I was interviewed by Tracey Norman, here is the result

 

The post My Video Interview appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

Indie Author Tips

Hi everybody, today I have a few tips for authors who exist in a community of the same. The reason I’ve done this is because often, in some circles, authors would rather lie to somebody to receive positive feedback than tell others the truth about their work and help them progress.

When you’re an indie author you’ll be given lots of opportunities to review other people’s work in exchange for them doing you the same service. While I do not condone lying to the people you’re helping out, and believe you should maintain a good level of integrity we do absolutely believe that there is a certain way to review a product.
For example, a book you have read is terrible and you in no way want to be advertising the product as good for fear of losing said integrity, but you also want the author to come away from your exchange happy and with an understanding of what they can do to improve their work. In this instance you should pick at the parts of the book you did like; i.e. strong character development or a plot device that worked really well, or even the potential for an amazing story. Make sure the elements you pick out are genuinely strong points and tell people that this is what worked within the story, and give the author the same feedback, but make sure you do it in a friendly and supportive way. In offering this positive feedback you are always going to stroke somebody’s ego and that’s a far better way to review a bad product than by slating its worth. People don’t take kindly to being stomped on and we absolutely understand why; there’s never a need to diminish somebody’s worth or their work because you didn’t like it, and the author in question will always come away a lot happier with positive and constructive criticism.
On the flip side of this however, there is, of course, those authors whose work you did enjoy in some format and these are the authors whose work you need to push in every way possible. To collaborate on advertisements with other authors with a high calibre of work will give you a good name, and other authors who want their work reviewed by you so they may receive some of your flattery will, therefore, offer to review your work, thus promoting you further, and so on and so forth. What a lot of independent artists don’t like to admit is that their product will not reach mainstream success without the help of fellow authors, if at all.

So when going into you writing career, make sure to bring plenty of positivity and a touch of grace with you, because it’s better to be a friendly advocate for somebody’s work as opposed to being superfluously unkind. It’ll make a better name for you in the long run.



My other point today is that sometimes you will have to shamelessly promote yourself sometimes and, again, it’s important that you do it in the right way. Some things you shouldn’t do: beg, reason, humblebrag, exclaim repeatedly all over social media how great your book is, lie, or annoy the hell out of people with repeated posts. No. You should find Facebook pages/blogs/twitter profiles to review your work and post it, so you can share it with an honest opinion from a consumer onto your social media accounts as an author. Believe me, the only thing worse than a badly written book is a badly written book being promoted by a narcissistic social media aficionado. Less is usually more in this instance.



I hope these tips help some of you in the coming months of your careers and look forward to having you back to the site next week. But until then, take care and many thanks!

 

The post Indie Author Tips appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

On the Radio, Part 2.

I was lucky to be interviewed on The Voice, a local radio station in North Devon last night.

Here is the edited result,

http://richarddeescifi.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Interview.mp3

The post On the Radio, Part 2. appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..