Gill Fernandez's Blog, page 6

Did You Spot the Mistake?

In my last post, a little rant on writer's block in which I said I was having a bad day. Brain dead type bad day where everything I was writing, was dull, bad or just plain wrong... and guess what, to prove the case I actually had a mistake in the title of the blog post. I've corrected it now, but there is nothing I can do about the Goodreads feed version, as it only synchronises the once for each post. Back to the estuarial mudflats for me!

One of Those Days!

It's like trying to build a sandcastle out of estuarial mud with the tide coming in. Every word I write today plops on the page with a loud squelch then slides into a rank smelling mound of something unspeakable. Wrong, dull, boring.... Agh.

Is this writers' block? Well, sort of. But not the blank white page version nor the I've got no ideas type. It's the someone's borrowed my brain and left me with a poor substitute, that can't string a sentence together and has lost all contact with the character's voices.

I've always been of the belief that the only way out of writer's block, which ever type it is, is to write... just keep on writing until the right words flow again. Which is why I'm here on my blog sharing my pain.

You might be wondering what am I doing that is proving so difficult?

So I'll tell you. I'm working on a free story for members of the Readers' Club. It's about Sally, George's mum out of Millie and George.

Everything started well. I had the story line, the characters... even the last words all planned. That in itself is amazing since I am a seat of the pants type of writer normally and have been known to hurtle off ten thousand words on the inspiration of a title alone. I put this unexpected orderliness down to the fact that I knew so much about Sally already, from writing her in Millie & George and when the first three thousand words flowed, I genuinely thought that I would be finished by the end of this week. I even got the cover page designed (see below) so that I 'd have everything needed to set up the final (edited and formatted) version on Bookfunnel, for sending out to members of the readers' club in December.

Then bam! I found myself sinking in the mud and cannot move on. So there you have it... one of those days.

Here's the cover page of the new story. Hopefully it will be about ten thousand words. Totally exclusive and free to readers' club members.

One of Those Day!

It's like trying to build a sandcastle out of estuarial mud with the tide coming in. Every word I write today plops on the page with a loud squelch then slides into a rank smelling mound of something unspeakable. Wrong, dull, boring.... Agh.

Is this writers' block? Well, sort of. But not the blank white page version nor the I've got no ideas type. It's the someone's borrowed my brain and left me with a poor substitute, that can't string a sentence together and has lost all contact with the character's voices.

I've always been of the belief that the only way out of writer's block, which ever type it is, is to write... just keep on writing until the right words flow again. Which is why I'm here on my blog sharing my pain.

You might be wondering what am I doing that is proving so difficult?

So I'll tell you. I'm working on a free story for members of the Readers' Club. It's about Sally, George's mum out of Millie and George.

Everything started well. I had the story line, the characters... even the last words all planned. That in itself is amazing since I am a seat of the pants type of writer normally and have been known to hurtle off ten thousand words on the inspiration of a title alone. I put this unexpected orderliness down to the fact that I knew so much about Sally already, from writing her in Millie & George and when the first three thousand words flowed, I genuinely thought that I would be finished by the end of this week. I even got the cover page designed (see below) so that I 'd have everything needed to set up the final (edited and formatted) version on Bookfunnel, for sending out to members of the readers' club in December.

Then bam! I found myself sinking in the mud and cannot move on. So there you have it... one of those days.

Here's the cover page of the new story. Hopefully it will be about ten thousand words. Totally exclusive and free to readers' club members.

Love Is - New Cover Reveal

Here's the new cover reveal for Love Is, the sequel to Millie & George. The Ebook version is already available to pre-order. Paperback due in early 2022.

How can writers stay fit?

Recently, someone posted on social media that writing is an unhealthy activity - all that prolonged sitting. (I paraphrase). And they asked how other writers manage to incorporate activity into their daily work schedule.

My first response was dull, serious, but I thought it was accurate: 'I have a fitness tracker on my wrist and it buzzes when I've been sitting too long.'

Today I realised that the truth is slightly different. My tracker does not buzz very often and the reason is I drink prodigious amounts of tea, coffee, and also water (when I'm trying to be healthy). This requires regular stepping away from the laptop to prepare and collect said drinks, followed later by the inevitable need to visit the bathroom. It is quite amazing how many steps I accrue with this routine.

Writer's Staying Fit

Someone posted recently on social media that writing is an unhealthy activity - all that prolonged sitting. (I paraphrase). And they asked how other writers manage to incorporate activity into their daily work schedule.

My first response was dull, serious, and accurate: 'I have a fitness tracker on my wrist and it buzzes when I've been sitting too long.'

Today I realised that the truth is slightly different. My tracker does not buzz very often and the reason is I drink prodigious amounts of tea, coffee, and also water (when I'm trying to be healthy). This requires regular stepping away from the laptop to prepare and collect said drinks, followed later by the inevitable need to visit the bathroom. It is quite amazing how many steps I accrue with this routine, and I'm still creating in my head while I wait for the kettle to boil.

The 'Birth' of Millie & George

Some people may be wondering how Millie & George got to be published before Love Is. The truth is, it was never planned as a full length book. It was supposed to be a short story, available only to members of the Readers' Club but it simply would not stop growing! Before I knew it, I had a novella on my hands and still it kept on getting longer, until it was a novel in its own right. Its not unusual for characters to get away from me and do their own thing. But this is the first time a whole piece of writing has taken control. An interesting experience. You can find Millie & George here.

At Last - A Published Book

After many months, several rewrites and a ton of editing, it is not Love Is that has made it to publication but its prequel, Millie & George. But you can read chapter one of Love Is at the end of Millie & George, which you will find on Amazon now.

What's Happening? (I wish I knew!)

The eagle eyed among you will have noticed a change in the release date of Love Is. Originally it was planned to let it out in the wild on the 14th February. It seemed a good plan for a love story. BUT... ahead of Love Is there was to be a free book which was supposed to be released in December.

The free book turned out to be more than the extended short story originally planned. In fact, Millie & George (Young Love) ran away with itself and morphed into a novella and prequal to Love Is.

I have had characters take over and do exactly what they wanted to do but I've never had a complete work of fiction do that before.

So it was decided that Millie & George should be published in the usual way rather than as a give away to readers group members and that it should be quickly followed by the main book - Love Is. So that's the current plan. Tomorrow it could be different again, but right now I am working hard on getting both books publication ready and trying to ignore the need for a free book for the moment.

I am currently looking for ARC readers. (Advance Review Copy readers). If you fancy being an advance reader and getting a free copy of either book, use the contact form to let me know.

IN CASE YOU'RE WONDERING

I'm really sorry to announce that Love Is has been delayed.

It's not a bad thing. In fact it's good - it simply means there's more work to do because I want it to be the best it can possibly be. So rather than rush out something I am not yet totally happy with, the launch has been delayed until 2021.

The manuscript is with my editor at the moment and doubtless I will have more to do when she has done her job but after that I will be looking for a final round of beta readers and an advance reader team for reviews. If you enjoy romance fiction and would like to join my team either as a beta, advance reader, or both, just drop me a contact message.