Steven J. Pemberton's Blog, page 6
September 30, 2021
September's Writing Progress and Cover Reveal for Racing the Storm
I've mostly been head-down on Command Authority this month. I wrote about 14,000 words of it, which I'm quite pleased with, and it now stands at about 51,000 words.
While I wait for the remaining beta readers to comment on Racing the Storm, have a look at the cover for it. This illustrates the opening of the title story.
While I wait for the remaining beta readers to comment on Racing the Storm, have a look at the cover for it. This illustrates the opening of the title story.
August 31, 2021
August's writing progress
Racing the Storm has gone to the beta readers. While I wait for them to come back to me, I've returned to Command Authority. I know I hinted it was "finished" earlier in the year, but my critique group convinced me that what I had didn't really work as a story in its own right. So I picked up where I left off, and wrote another 4,000 words of it this month.
Our local writers' group, Writers in the Wood, entered a general knowledge quiz hosted by the town council, and we won, retaining our title from the last time this quiz was held, two years ago.
The town council also hosted a virtual literary festival, building on the success of a similar event last year. This time it was split into two videos. The first video features Pete May and Will Self (yes, that Will Self). The second video features members of Writers in the Wood - Arnie Harris, Jenni Clarke, Emily "Madge" Payne, and yours truly.
Our local writers' group, Writers in the Wood, entered a general knowledge quiz hosted by the town council, and we won, retaining our title from the last time this quiz was held, two years ago.
The town council also hosted a virtual literary festival, building on the success of a similar event last year. This time it was split into two videos. The first video features Pete May and Will Self (yes, that Will Self). The second video features members of Writers in the Wood - Arnie Harris, Jenni Clarke, Emily "Madge" Payne, and yours truly.
July 31, 2021
July's writing progress
My collection of science fiction short stories, Racing the Storm and Other Stories, has gone to the beta readers, and I'm waiting for their comments.
I wrote another short Doctor Fung story, The Case of the Missing Schedule, which you can read free on Wattpad. A year ago, the Doctor received a mysterious invitation to move some rocks around in the Arizona desert. Now the time has come for him to accept...
I recorded some videos of readings from my more recent books - chapters 1 and 2 of The Dragons of Asdanund (lots of spoilers for The Mirrors of Elangir), chapter 1 of The Reluctant Dragonrider, and chapter 2 of Simon and the Birthday Wish.
Our local writers' group had their first live event in nearly two years. I read Blame the Cat, and discovered how out of practice I am. "Fortunately" there weren't many people watching - it was a very hot day, which I think kept people at home or somewhere cooler.
I wrote another short Doctor Fung story, The Case of the Missing Schedule, which you can read free on Wattpad. A year ago, the Doctor received a mysterious invitation to move some rocks around in the Arizona desert. Now the time has come for him to accept...
I recorded some videos of readings from my more recent books - chapters 1 and 2 of The Dragons of Asdanund (lots of spoilers for The Mirrors of Elangir), chapter 1 of The Reluctant Dragonrider, and chapter 2 of Simon and the Birthday Wish.
Our local writers' group had their first live event in nearly two years. I read Blame the Cat, and discovered how out of practice I am. "Fortunately" there weren't many people watching - it was a very hot day, which I think kept people at home or somewhere cooler.
June 30, 2021
June's Writing Progress and a Retrospective
I finished the first draft of Racing the Storm, which came in at 8900 words. Most of this month has been taken up with editing the other stories in the short story collection. I suppose I should start looking for beta readers soon...
I appeared on the June episode of The Weekend Write-In podcast. The hosts interviewed Fox Universe creator Jason Greenfield, and several writers, myself included, read excerpts from our Fox Universe stories.
Saturday 3rd July will be the tenth anniversary of the publication of Death & Magic, when I decided I'd had enough of playing guessing games with literary agents, and I'd try this newfangled Amazon KDP that all the cool kids were talking about. I've now got ten books on sale, with an eleventh coming out later this year, along with various short stories and novellas that are available free online. My published work totals just over a million words.
I won't say I've never looked back, but overall I don't have many regrets. I haven't sold as many books as most traditionally published authors (nor as many as some self-published authors, for that matter). But you have to set that against the fact that if I'd continued to try for traditional publishing, I wouldn't have sold any unless I was one of the 1% or 0.1% who manage to get representation.
Would I have got there if I'd kept trying and kept learning? Of course, I've no way of knowing, but seeing as people who don't know me have bought my books, and some of them have been kind enough to post positive reviews, I'd like to think it would've happened eventually. I might not have published as many books as I have (traditional publishing works very slowly), and the books might've been subject to what TV Tropes calls "executive meddling," where someone from the marketing department insists on changes to fit with what they've decided the next big thing is going to be. The first two or three of my published books suffered from my being torn between writing the book I wanted to write and writing a book that (I thought) an agent (would think he or she) could sell to a publisher. The later ones are much closer to "the book I wanted to write." They're not necessarily better by anyone else's standards, but I'm happier with them.
For the month of July, I'm taking part in the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale. All my books there are 50% off. Go to https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi... and bag a bargain!
I appeared on the June episode of The Weekend Write-In podcast. The hosts interviewed Fox Universe creator Jason Greenfield, and several writers, myself included, read excerpts from our Fox Universe stories.
Saturday 3rd July will be the tenth anniversary of the publication of Death & Magic, when I decided I'd had enough of playing guessing games with literary agents, and I'd try this newfangled Amazon KDP that all the cool kids were talking about. I've now got ten books on sale, with an eleventh coming out later this year, along with various short stories and novellas that are available free online. My published work totals just over a million words.
I won't say I've never looked back, but overall I don't have many regrets. I haven't sold as many books as most traditionally published authors (nor as many as some self-published authors, for that matter). But you have to set that against the fact that if I'd continued to try for traditional publishing, I wouldn't have sold any unless I was one of the 1% or 0.1% who manage to get representation.
Would I have got there if I'd kept trying and kept learning? Of course, I've no way of knowing, but seeing as people who don't know me have bought my books, and some of them have been kind enough to post positive reviews, I'd like to think it would've happened eventually. I might not have published as many books as I have (traditional publishing works very slowly), and the books might've been subject to what TV Tropes calls "executive meddling," where someone from the marketing department insists on changes to fit with what they've decided the next big thing is going to be. The first two or three of my published books suffered from my being torn between writing the book I wanted to write and writing a book that (I thought) an agent (would think he or she) could sell to a publisher. The later ones are much closer to "the book I wanted to write." They're not necessarily better by anyone else's standards, but I'm happier with them.
For the month of July, I'm taking part in the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale. All my books there are 50% off. Go to https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi... and bag a bargain!
May 31, 2021
May's Writing Progress
Officially I'm still working on the third draft of Command Authority, but I haven't done much with it this month.
I've written three more short stories for the Racing the Storm collection, and these actually have titles, or at least, working titles. They're called The Conspiracy Goes Lower Than You Think, (which isn't really a story, more of a rant), ...apart from all the others, and Blame the Cat. I finally started the collection's title story, too, and have about 3000 words of that.
I got my second dose of COVID-19 vaccine last week. This time, my luck held - no side effects apart from occasional soreness at the injection site for a few days.
I've written three more short stories for the Racing the Storm collection, and these actually have titles, or at least, working titles. They're called The Conspiracy Goes Lower Than You Think, (which isn't really a story, more of a rant), ...apart from all the others, and Blame the Cat. I finally started the collection's title story, too, and have about 3000 words of that.
I got my second dose of COVID-19 vaccine last week. This time, my luck held - no side effects apart from occasional soreness at the injection site for a few days.
April 30, 2021
April's writing progress
I started the third draft of Command Authority, which still doesn't have a proper title. I finished the first draft of my new science fiction short story, which doesn't have any sort of title. It came in at 7,100 words, which is under the maximum for a short story (according to the definitions used by the Hugos and the Nebulas).
I wrote a new Doctor Fung story, which is a mere pamphlet by my standards - 3,100 words. It's called The Case of the Missing Submariners, and is independent of the other Doctor Fung stories I've written so far. You can read it for free, here on Wattpad.
I wrote a new Doctor Fung story, which is a mere pamphlet by my standards - 3,100 words. It's called The Case of the Missing Submariners, and is independent of the other Doctor Fung stories I've written so far. You can read it for free, here on Wattpad.
March 31, 2021
March's writing progress
As you can probably imagine, given last month's post, I haven't done much writing this month. Mum's funeral was on the 17th, four and a half weeks after she died, which seems to be typical for the UK these days. I had my first dose of COVID-19 vaccine a couple of days later. I've never had a bad reaction to a vaccine before, but my luck ran out this time. For a few hours, I was shivering and had a high temperature, then my arm was sore at the injection site for a few days, but after that I was fine. It's worth it to be (partially) protected from the virus.
I finished the second draft of Command Authority, which came in at 32,000 words. While I wait to forget what I think I wrote, so that I can do the third draft with fresh eyes, I started another science fiction short story that will eventually be part of Racing the Storm. It doesn't have a title yet, not even a working title, but I expect I'll think of something. So far, I have about 2,000 words of it. Here's hoping it'll remain a short story, rather than turning into a novella-that-wants-to-be-a-novel, like the last one did!
I finished the second draft of Command Authority, which came in at 32,000 words. While I wait to forget what I think I wrote, so that I can do the third draft with fresh eyes, I started another science fiction short story that will eventually be part of Racing the Storm. It doesn't have a title yet, not even a working title, but I expect I'll think of something. So far, I have about 2,000 words of it. Here's hoping it'll remain a short story, rather than turning into a novella-that-wants-to-be-a-novel, like the last one did!
February 28, 2021
February's (lack of) writing progress
My mother died on the thirteenth of February, so as you can probably imagine, I haven't done much writing this month. She had Alzheimer's disease, so we knew this day was coming, but I don't think any of us expected it quite so soon.
As you'll have guessed from the "about the author" section at the end of each of my books, she was one of the main reasons I love books and writing so much. My dad, being a librarian when I was a boy, would bring me whatever he thought I might like, and it's perhaps thanks to him that I love reading in general. But it was Mum who loaned me her copy of The Hobbit and started my life-long love of fantasy specifically. (Though to be fair, I don't think that was her intention. She was probably just trying to stop me complaining of boredom when I was off sick from school for a couple of weeks.)
Around that time, Mum started writing short stories and articles, and had some of them published in magazines. Her example was at least partly why I started writing my own stories. She was my first fan, and later, my first (and gentlest) critic. She's listed in the acknowledgements of most of my early books, and she earned her place there. She was very well-read, and had a knack of suggesting improvements in a way that made me wonder why I hadn't thought of them already. She was always willing to listen to my accounts of how well or badly my writing and marketing were going, though the dementia made those conversations increasingly one-sided in later years.
As someone wiser than me said, grief is the price we pay for love. I know that the pain of losing her will fade, but never go away completely - and I wouldn't want it to. I count myself fortunate to have many happy memories of her.
In other news (!) I did manage a bit of writing and editing of Command Authority, which now stands at about 31,000 words. I think most of the scenes are there, and it's just a matter of filling in gaps now. A possible problem is that the ending is quite open. Without wanting to give any spoilers, the protagonist proves that the accepted answer to a question is wrong, but doesn't make much progress on proving the right answer. So I might have to write another novella (and maybe a third after that) or carry on writing and make it a novel.
I also decided what my next novel will be after all the other stories I said I want to finish. I had thought it would be a standalone sci-fi novel, but then thought that (especially if I leave Command Authority as a novella, with more to come), I'd have too many ongoing series. So instead my next novel will be another Dragonrider book. This will be the third, after The Accidental Dragonrider and The Reluctant Dragonrider. It will probably be the last in the series (though never say never again). Following the "tradition" of the series, the protagonist will be the son or daughter of Tiwan, the protagonist of The Reluctant Dragonrider, who is the daughter of Iko, the protagonist of The Accidental Dragonrider. I have an antagonist, and a felonious little plan for him or her to mature (actually quite a big plan), but I haven't quite worked out how the protagonist and his or her allies will thwart it. Still, plenty of time for that. I also don't have a working title, except that I know it will be The [Adjective] Dragonrider, because I like my series titles to follow patterns, to make it obvious which books belong in which series. Seeing as I don't need a title until I'm about to publish it, I have even more time for that.
(And yes, I'm aware that saying I have plenty of time in an article that starts with someone dying isn't the greatest idea I've ever had, but I have to stay optimistic...)
As you'll have guessed from the "about the author" section at the end of each of my books, she was one of the main reasons I love books and writing so much. My dad, being a librarian when I was a boy, would bring me whatever he thought I might like, and it's perhaps thanks to him that I love reading in general. But it was Mum who loaned me her copy of The Hobbit and started my life-long love of fantasy specifically. (Though to be fair, I don't think that was her intention. She was probably just trying to stop me complaining of boredom when I was off sick from school for a couple of weeks.)
Around that time, Mum started writing short stories and articles, and had some of them published in magazines. Her example was at least partly why I started writing my own stories. She was my first fan, and later, my first (and gentlest) critic. She's listed in the acknowledgements of most of my early books, and she earned her place there. She was very well-read, and had a knack of suggesting improvements in a way that made me wonder why I hadn't thought of them already. She was always willing to listen to my accounts of how well or badly my writing and marketing were going, though the dementia made those conversations increasingly one-sided in later years.
As someone wiser than me said, grief is the price we pay for love. I know that the pain of losing her will fade, but never go away completely - and I wouldn't want it to. I count myself fortunate to have many happy memories of her.
In other news (!) I did manage a bit of writing and editing of Command Authority, which now stands at about 31,000 words. I think most of the scenes are there, and it's just a matter of filling in gaps now. A possible problem is that the ending is quite open. Without wanting to give any spoilers, the protagonist proves that the accepted answer to a question is wrong, but doesn't make much progress on proving the right answer. So I might have to write another novella (and maybe a third after that) or carry on writing and make it a novel.
I also decided what my next novel will be after all the other stories I said I want to finish. I had thought it would be a standalone sci-fi novel, but then thought that (especially if I leave Command Authority as a novella, with more to come), I'd have too many ongoing series. So instead my next novel will be another Dragonrider book. This will be the third, after The Accidental Dragonrider and The Reluctant Dragonrider. It will probably be the last in the series (though never say never again). Following the "tradition" of the series, the protagonist will be the son or daughter of Tiwan, the protagonist of The Reluctant Dragonrider, who is the daughter of Iko, the protagonist of The Accidental Dragonrider. I have an antagonist, and a felonious little plan for him or her to mature (actually quite a big plan), but I haven't quite worked out how the protagonist and his or her allies will thwart it. Still, plenty of time for that. I also don't have a working title, except that I know it will be The [Adjective] Dragonrider, because I like my series titles to follow patterns, to make it obvious which books belong in which series. Seeing as I don't need a title until I'm about to publish it, I have even more time for that.
(And yes, I'm aware that saying I have plenty of time in an article that starts with someone dying isn't the greatest idea I've ever had, but I have to stay optimistic...)
January 31, 2021
January's writing progress
This month has been entirely taken up with my new science fiction novella, which still has the annoyingly inappropriate working title of Command Authority. Officially I finished the first draft, but I held off writing the ending, because it depended on other scenes I hadn't written yet. So now I'm editing, but also writing new scenes to fill gaps. I've added a net of about 8,000 words this month, and the book now stands at 29,000 words.
January 1, 2021
Goals for 2021
Apart from not being killed or crippled by the virus, this is what I'd like to do in the coming year...
- Publish the collection of short science fiction stories that I mentioned a few months ago. I have eight stories so far for this, two of which have previously appeared as bonuses for newsletter subscribers. I need another two or three stories before I can consider it complete. It will be called Racing the Storm and Other Stories, or possibly just Racing the Storm, with the usual caveat of "unless I think of something I like better."
- Publish a science fiction novella. This was originally going to be part of Racing the Storm, but it "grew in the telling," as Tolkien said. It's almost as long as all the other stories put together, so I think it deserves its own ISBN. Its working title is Command Authority, but that will have to change, because it's (mostly) a military term, and it's definitely not a military story.
- Publish a new episode of my Doctor Fung stories. I need at least one, probably two, more episodes to finish the overall arc that I started. The two published episodes are free to read on Wattpad.
- Start a new novel. I haven't quite decided which one this will be, as there are a few I could pick. Given the expected lengths of the other projects, I should be about halfway through the first draft by the end of the year.
Come back in twelve months to see how I did!
- Publish the collection of short science fiction stories that I mentioned a few months ago. I have eight stories so far for this, two of which have previously appeared as bonuses for newsletter subscribers. I need another two or three stories before I can consider it complete. It will be called Racing the Storm and Other Stories, or possibly just Racing the Storm, with the usual caveat of "unless I think of something I like better."
- Publish a science fiction novella. This was originally going to be part of Racing the Storm, but it "grew in the telling," as Tolkien said. It's almost as long as all the other stories put together, so I think it deserves its own ISBN. Its working title is Command Authority, but that will have to change, because it's (mostly) a military term, and it's definitely not a military story.
- Publish a new episode of my Doctor Fung stories. I need at least one, probably two, more episodes to finish the overall arc that I started. The two published episodes are free to read on Wattpad.
- Start a new novel. I haven't quite decided which one this will be, as there are a few I could pick. Given the expected lengths of the other projects, I should be about halfway through the first draft by the end of the year.
Come back in twelve months to see how I did!
