Michael Bray's Blog, page 5
October 4, 2012
Dark corners released!
So Dark corners was released via Dark Hall Press on September 21st! the related amazon links etc are below, along with the first review . As this was a debut release for me, i was anxious to see what the first reviews would say, but needless to say i was immensely proud and a little bit relieved when i read it. check it out for yourself and see what the critics said!
Review: http://horrornews.net/59207/book-review-dark-corners-author-michael-bray/
Get Dark Corners Here:
Amazon ( U.K)
PAPER EDITION:- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Corners-Twelve-Tales-Terror/dp/0615696422/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348247743&sr=1-10
KINDLE: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Corners-Twelve-Terror-e
book/dp/B009DP4UHC/ref=sr_1_10_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348247743&sr=1-10
Amazon ( U.S):-
PAPER EDITION: http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Corners-Twelve-Tales-Terror/dp/0615696422/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1348239274&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=dark+corners+michael+bray+paperback
Also avalaible through Barnes & Noble for Nook!http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-corners-twelve-tales-of-terror-michael-bray/1112935183?ean=2940015692846
July 25, 2012
Not as easy as you think…
With the pending release of my novel Dark Corners, I was recently speaking to somebody about the releif involved in finally finishing the book when the person ( who shall remain nameless) offered a wry smile and said they were surprised at how stressed I was over the entire thing. Following that comment ( which in fairness was probably just throwaway and not intended to offend) I decided to write a blog about the reality of writing with intent to be published.
The first thing that is essential for anyone intending to write professionally is skin. Very thick, very durable skin. Why?
Well lets see. Self doubt plagues all authors in some way. I think because the work itself has been such a personal thing that when it is finally released into the world we fear the negativity that may come.
Of course, we hope that everyone loves the work that we do and that our skies are filled with rainbows forevermore, but the cold hard fact is that you wont please everyone, and at some point you will need that leathery hide that I mentioned earlier.
So we have our thick skin, and an idea which we hope will make a great novel. What next?
Simply start writing. Not tomorrow or next week. Today. Millions of people worldwide say the ‘plan to write a book’ and never do.
If you really want to do this then its going to take a huge personal commitment to get it done. Forget all the excuses like too busy or no time. If you want to write a book then you will find time.
I juggle a full time job, family and countless other distractions but still carve time out of my day to get some writing done. I aim for at least a thousand words a day, and hope to write three thousand. On a good and distraction free day I might get 8000 words done.
BUT you have to make sure you get into the habit of writing every single day without fail. Eventually it will become second nature but are first it will be tricky.
So you have the idea and the thick skin and in the habit of writing daily. Just how long will this book take to write?
In truth it depends. It could take weeks, or months or even years depending on how much time you devote to it. Dark Corners took 10 months from start to finish, but for you it will be different.
So lets fast forward. You have spent months working on your manuscript and finally finish it. You sit back in your chair and smile. Time to find a publisher, right?
Sadly, no. Not yet!
You have been working on the book for days, weeks, months. You are invested in the story and characters, which is good, but no good for editing which comes next. You need to see the manuscript with fresh eyes in order to edit properly ( and even if you think its perfect and wont need edits, believe me it will), so my suggestion is to do nothing
Yep. Not a thing. Put the manuscript away in a drawer and resist the urge to read it. Let it sit there unread for as long as you can bear it. 2 weeks as an absolute minimum. 6/8 if you have the willpower.
Lets skip on another few weeks. You open up your perfect manuscript for the first time in weeks and begin to read.
Uh-oh
See the typos?
See the redundant text?
See all the places where you can already see a better way to write what you once though perfect?
Easier to see now isn’t it?
Fresh eyes work wonders don’t they?
And so we begin draft 2. We read through and edit and change, fix and rewrite. Essentially we are writing the book again from scratch. Don’t worry though, because this second draft will be better all round.
So we spend a few weeks (or months) editing, rewriting and fixing things that we didn’t even see first time round. Eventually we reach that point for the second time. Finished manuscript. Edit done. A job well done right?
Not yet.
We are going to do the same again. File that manuscript away on its own for a few weeks before going through the entire process again. Welcome to draft 2.
By now the manuscript should be shaping up and starting to look good. How many edits you do is up to you. I did five, so for my one 108,700 page novel I essentially wrote the book five times.
So you are finally happy. No more edits. No more rewrites. Its done. Before you ask, yes. Its time to find a publisher or an agent. Which like the rest of the process isn’t as easy as you might think. Ill cover that in my next blog. Thanks for reading!
Dark Corners is released worldwide in August 2012 via Dark Hall Press.
July 16, 2012
Welcome to my personal blog / author page.
Welcome to the place where i will be sharing my experiences on the continued and ever evolving process of the writing of my novels, short stories, blogs and anything else that springs to mind. I am a Horror writer based in Leeds, England and my debut novel titled Dark Corners is to be released in 2013 ( if we survive the predicted end of the world)
