C.J. Wright's Blog, page 3

Writing Process Blog Hop Tour:

I've been invited to join the Writing Process Blog Hop tour by Kyra Halland, I would like to thank her for this opportunity to answer questions about my writing.
Q1) What am I working on?
I have numerous works at various stages of production at the moment. I have just published the second in my Vampire Hunter Trilogy, The Shadowing Coven, and I am writing the first draft of the next book in my Ramton Gallow Mystery series, The Amazing Pickwick Circus. There are a couple of projects still at the plotting stage, and once The Amazing Pickwick Circus is complete I will choose one of them to start writing the first draft. And so the cycle continues.
Q2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
I’m not sure how to answer that question; I think I’ll leave it to my readers. I just write the books that I would like to read, and hope that others feel the same.
Q3) Why do I write what I do?
I’ve been asked this question numerous times, and I still don’t have a decisive answer. I guess I write what I do because it’s the kind of stories that are inside me, bursting to get out.
Q4) How does my writing process work?
My writing process usually starts with the spark of an idea, which can come from anywhere, that I jot down and let germinate. When I am ready to develop the idea into a book, I write out the plot and do any necessary research. As this can take weeks, sometimes months or more, I start writing the first draft of a book that has already been plotted and researched. The story is divided into chapters, and given a target word count for each chapter, which is an easier and less daunting task to concentrate on than the book as a whole. It also means that when I go over the target word count on some chapters I can bank them for when a chapter falls a little short. Once the first draft is done I leave it to rest for about six weeks before I start on the second draft, this means that when I return to it I do so with a fresher eye and notice those things in the story that need to be changed. Once I feel it is ready to be published I format it to publication specs and go through it again for any mistakes. I then print it out in book form to see how it looks, go through it again just to make sure everything is fine, and then... it gets cast out to the whole world. I almost never return to it once it has been published. The irony of writing books that I as a reader would love to read is that because I have written them I can’t re-read them without a critical eye, and so do not enjoy my work.
That's my writing process in a nutshell, I hope you enjoyed finding out a bit more about how I take those crazy thoughts out of my head and put them down on paper.
Here are a couple of others who have been involved with the Writing Process Blog Hop Tour:
John James Loftus
Heather Heffner
Be sure to check them out.

Vampires VS. Witches? - The Shadowing Coven

When I wrote Ritual of Blood I always thought that the characters were far too big for just one book, so after the publication of my first novel I went to work on the next one in the series, The Shadowing Coven. I got about two thirds of the way through before things outside the world of writing took over.  Ill health caused me to stop writing for a number of years, and it wasn't until I began working in The Witch of Primrose Hill that I managed to get back into the swing of things.  Needless to say, The Shadowing Coven was placed on the back burner while I built up my confidence to write again.
Fast forward nearly ten years since I began, and now finally The Shadowing Coven is finished, and the adventures of Victor Drake and the others have continued.  There shall be one more Vampire Hunter book to round off the trilogy and tie up all plot strings nice and neatly.
Set eighteen months after the events in Ritual of Blood, we find Victor Drake now married to Jessica, and trying to live a quiet life working at the British Museum, until news from his brother leads them away from London to Cornwall, where things drag Victor back into hunting not only vampires but also The Shadowing Coven, a sisterhood of witches hellbent on bringing the sister of Dran Val Karlic, named Ishanna, back into this world.
The publication date for The Shadowing Coven in paperback and Kindle formats is 31st March, with it being available in ePub eBook format about three months later.
Now work will have to begin in the final book, and hopefully this one won't also take nearly a decade to write.

Halloween ePub Special Offer

I've been working hard, (well, I say hard, to be honest I've been procrastinating rather a lot over the last few weeks,) on the sequel to Ritual of Blood - The Shadowing Coven.  I hope to have the first draft finished by the end of November, with a hope to have it in a publishable state in March 2014.

Until then I've decided that for Halloween week (25th Oct-1st Nov) this year I am offering the chance for my readers to download my ePub format eBooks for free. So if you haven't read one, or any, or my books now is your chance to get a copy and enjoy a great read, (if I do say so myself). You can also have your say about my books by reviewing them on Goodreads.com.

They will be available to download for free from midnight (GMT) tonight.

Happy Halloween Everybody.

Get your scares for only 99p, ( in eBook formats anyway).

It's been a while since my last post, so I thought it would be a good time to update you all on the goings on in the world of C J Wright and Dark Crucible Publishing.
Progress on the current writing projects is coming along slowly, but surely. Hopefully a new title will be ready for release either by the end of this year or the beginning of next, with plenty more to follow.
The most likely release first will be the follow-up to Ritual of Blood, currently titled The Shadowing Coven. Victor Drake returns to face more vampire threats, as well as a powerful coven of witches.
In order to make my books available to the widest audience possible, I have dropped the prices of all electronic versions (ePub and Kindle formats) of my books down to the rock bottom price of 99p or less. The ePub format versions will be sold through lulu.com and the Kindle formats through Amazon.co.uk (or .com or whatever it is from your location in the world).
Ritual of Blood (10th Anniversary Edition) - ePub or KindleKilling Time - ePub or Kindle The Witch of Primrose Hill - ePub or Kindle Falling Star ePub or Kindle -
If you've not got yourself a copy of my books this is a great time to get your hands on them and bring yourself up to speed before any new releases come out. 

Vampires invade Kindle.

Today sees the Kindle release of Ritual of Blood - 10th Anniversary Edition. This has been a long time coming, and I am very happy with the result. With a brand new cover, and new dedication, the story, however remains the action-packed same.
At the moment it will solely be available on Kindle, but over the next few weeks the paperback version, and then finally the ePub ebook version, will be released.
Work has begun on completing the second novel in this vampire series, with a target release for the end of 2013. Granted, my targets have been very hit and miss, so keep checking for changes and updates as they are revealed.
To get your copy of Ritual of Blood on whatever Kindle device you have click on the links below:
Kindle UK
Kindle US

10th Anniversary of Ritual of Blood - Coming Soon.

This year marks a decade since the publication of my first ever full length novel, the vampire horror, Ritual of Blood. It initally started out as an attempt to see if I could start, and then finish, a novel length story. I had tried to get a few started previously, but after a few pages I gave up. It took me about 18 months of work, on and off, and once I'd finished the first draft I wondered how far I could go with it - could I get it published. Well, the rest, as they say, is history, but looking towards the future, a brand new edition is just around the corner - and will be followed by the sequel that I began shortly after release of Ritual, got 3/4 of the way through, and then stopped, but am now finally continuing with.
This is the cover of the 10th Anniversary edition in paperback. It will also be available in ebook formats, firstly on Kindle, and then a few months later in ePub format for all other eReaders.
I still do not have a secure release date yet, but I'll make sure it will be available in the coming weeks rather than months.
A couple of weeks ago I happened upon an old folder of mine full of notes and plot ideas for stories that I thought I'd lost. Luckily, now I have it back it has fuelled me with determination to write more, so expect some more scary novels, and even at least one short story compilation.
So it looks like the next few years are all planned out for me, well, my writing is at any rate :)

The Clock is ticking.... Killing Time is out.

After months and months of work, set backs, and basically 'Life' getting in the way, Killing Time is finally ready and available to buy.  I originally wrote Killing Time back in 2002-3 while I was waiting for Ritual of Blood to get published. The plot came to me as I sat in my grandmother's house and looked at the clock on her mantlepiece as it chimed the hour. It had sat there for years, sometimes working, sometimes not, and I hadn't really taken much notice of it until I was thinking of my next writing project after being in the world of vampires.
From thinking how I could use the clock in a story, I then needed to come up with a villian to bring the horror into the plot - that was when I created The Dark Man (last seen in my novel, Falling Star). Killing Time was published in 2004, and hasn't been in publication since 2006. This new version has been updated (I was amazed as how much culture and technology has changed in the past decade), and is more the way I wanted it to be originally.
You can get a copy now in paperback or ePub ebook format:
Paperback (£7.99)
ePub format (£1.99)

2013 - What is coming?

I had hoped to get the new editon of Killing Time out by now, but due to ill health I've had to postpone the release. Fingers are crossed for the first quarter of the month.

On New Years Day I will be offering the ePub format version of Falling Star as a free download from my website, from the end of Big Ben's chimes and the start of the fireworks until the stroke of midnight, 24 hours later. So, if you have yet to get your hands on a copy of Falling Star, now is your chance to snap one up. And remember, if you've enjoyed it tell all your friends, or even post a review on Goodreads.com.

Also, 2013 is the ten year anniversary of Ritual of Blood, and the new edition will almost ready to go. The date has yet to be fixed, so keep an eye out for the release announcement.

I hope you all had a great Christmas, and you have a wonderful New Year.

New Edition of Falling Star.

As with the new editon of The Witch of Primrose Hill, today sees the release of the new cover editon of Falling Star for Dark Crucible Publishing.
Also, the format inside has been changed to make it look better than before. It is also available in ePub format as well.
Work of Killing Time is still going forward, and the projected release date of December 11th (exactly two weeks before Christmas, and also my sister's birthday) has been pencilled in.
In the next few weeks this edition of Falling Star will be available on Amazon and other online book store, but if you can't wait to get your hands on a copy you can order either format from the links below.

Paperback - £5.99

ePub - £1.99

New Edition of The Witch of Primrose Hill

Today sees the release of a new edition of The Ramton Gallow Mysteries: The Witch of Primrose Hill. It is now available with a new cover, and in an ePub eBook version, under Dark Crucible Publishing.

The format inside has also changed, which I hope will give the reader a better experience as they go through the dark and scary streets of Ramton Gallow.  As for the new editions of my other books, they should all be out by the end of the year, including the release of Killing Time for the first time since 2006 when it went out of publication.Though it will be a few more weeks before this new edition and the ePub edition will be available to buy from Amazon and other online bookstores, you can still get a copy right now by using the links below:
Paperback - £4.99
ePub - £1.99