Pam Baddeley's Blog, page 4

Editing Takes Forever

Courtesy of ClkerFreeVectorImages, Pixabay, public domain

Well, another length gap from my last blog, but I have at least been doing ‘stuff’. My separate blog post on cover designfor self published books has been in preparation for weeks, and I finally published that today.

The main thing I’ve been doing, apart from working with a designer to complete my custom cover for ‘Rian’, which is now complete, is slowly but surely doing a final line edit on that MS. I’ve been doing that under Camp NaN...

Book Cover Research

Courtesy of Nemo, Pixabay, public domain

You can’t judge a book by its cover, right? Well, the trouble is, everyone does. I had a rapid and interesting education on the subject earlier this year when I commenced my search for a suitable cover for my epic fantasy novel, formerly known as ‘Rian’, and I thought I’d pass on some of the findings for the benefit of other writers who are embarking on self publishing and wondering what to do about a cover.

Before you start looking, its a good idea to...

Recap of a Busy Few Months

Courtesy of TeJyng, Pixabay, public domain

OK, I’ll hold my hands up. Another massive gap in blogging. More life events. Never mind, I’ve been working away behind the scenes researching the ins and outs of self publishing. I’ll blog separately about aspects of that.

I’ve also been getting a few things done that I’ve meant to do for ages such as a proper web banner on my very skeletal site for my Ann Bradbury pseudonym, as can be seen here. Thanks very much to Fantasia Frog Designs for a very...

Difficult Year

Sad dog by George Hodan

Well, not wanting to make excuses– I think the picture says it all – I’ll gloss over the unbelievable time lapse since my last post. The trouble is, life happens and so no real writing has gone on in the interval, hence nowt to report. However, things are looking up and I’m getting excited about the new possibilities that will be opening up for me later this year that are going to give me more time for writing and other important things.

In the meantime, I’ve attended...

Made a Goal at Last

Daffodils. Copyright author.

Well, things have been on the slow side though I have been working on one of my goals for ROW80, so far not stated:

Enter novel to Bridport Create Goodreads account and do the Udemy course I bought Do something on the WIP Get back to blogging

OK. Well, I have been working on number 1 the last couple of weeks, re-revising the beginning of one of my novels and whittling the synopsis down yet again, this time to 300 words, less than a standard A4 sheet.

Today I wen...

And the Journey Goes On…

Horse and Covered Wagon circa 1924, public domain image

Well, only managed a small amount on the WIP today, to fill in a small gap that was pointed out to me by someone who kindly read chapter 2. Had to spend most of my time working on a completed MS that I want to submit to the new novel comp that Bridport are doing. Had to slice away at a synopsis that has already been pared down and pared down over the years because they want a 300 word synopsis. On a long book that’s tough and so it’s bee...

Entering the Fields

Green Fields by Larisa Koshkina

It’s been a toil, but I sat down today and made a push. After a lot of thought, I decided the best thing to do was edit chapter 2 where my protagonist is travelling to the city. I realised I had to create much more of an impression of the journey than I had in the first draft, rather than fast-tracking her to the bit where she’s climbing up the pass and then sees and approaches the city.

So that’s what I’ve done and it’s now helped me to, I hope, give a much be...

Nothing to Report

Decomposing cow skull in desert – public domain

Well, it’s embarrassing but the whole daunting mass of climate and agricultural research is still weighing me down and I haven’t been able to make any progress. I do still keeping thinking about it though and trying to work out how to ensure that the land can get enough rainfall inland of the mountains in order to grow viable crops to support the population. But I can’t get quality time around life to sit down and try to get my head around it.

F...

Research is Hard

Peasant Woman Planting Beets by Vincent van Gogh – Public Domain

Well, it can be. I have made a list of questions I need answers to that relate to the terrain of the country and how this affects the climate. I do have dry conditions on the leeward side of the mountains that circle around the inner part of the country, with wetter conditions on the coast BUT I also have a lot of farmers in the inner part of the country as well as different communities nearer the mountains that include a fishin...

January Blues or Something?

Lynn Greyling’s Clouds in Blue at Sundown

As grovelling apologies are probably irritating, suffice to say life got in the way during January and I’ve only just started writing last weekend when I finally did some tidying up on the first draft of the novel I completed during NaNo. That reminded me of the large amount of factual stuff that needs tackling which includes working out the climate, the rainfall pattern and how easy it is to make leather armor! So that needs some serious time and tho...