Andrew Toynbee's Blog, page 2
April 5, 2016
‘A Fury of Angels’ is now available for pre-order
April sees me unusually organised with my work.
With ‘A Fury of Angels’ out for beta reading, I’ve already listed the book provisionally on Amazon, and its now available for pre-ordering, should anyone be keen to read it.[image error]
There’s plenty of time for me to make final changes to the MS before it goes live, but I thought I’d set myself a publication deadline in order to get this, the final story in the (first) trilogy completed and put to bed.
Put to bed? Nah!
It ought to be rising with the lark, ready for the day ahead, its tummy filled with tasty breakfast!
Just to demonstrate that Amazon’s pre-ordering system works, I found this whilst browsing:
Also available for pre-order in Japan. Don’t you love the 21st Century?
Have a great day!
I must now Write On. Half a million words aren’t going to write themselves!
March 23, 2016
Cover reveal – A Fury of Angels.
It’s been a few months since my last post. I’ve been extra busy this year with artwork, formatting, editing and writing. Already my word count is matching that of 2015, which means I might once again hit half a million words, even though I’d only planned a target of one third million.
One of the projects has been ‘A Fury of Angels,’ the final story in ‘The Angels of York’ trilogy.
Yes, Sara and Michael’s adventures have now concluded, although they haven’t ended by any means.
So here, for the first time, is the third cover, as created by the talented Ravven.
It’s consistent with the previous two covers, featuring the quatrefoil tower, stormy sky and mysterious supernatural character. I’ve already received early feedback that this colourful cover is more eye-catching than the first two, something which was intentional.
Each new cover is brighter than its predecessor, promising a better and brighter future for my characters, even though the stakes are higher and the danger grows.
I’m close to completing the Kindle-formatted ‘Fury of Angels,’ and the Createspace layout is all but finished, meaning the trilogy will be complete and up for sale very soon.
Watch Amazon and Smashwords closely!
Until then, I continue to;
December 11, 2015
Is half a million words per year normal for a writer?
Goal achieved.
Fifty-four short stories and a 60K First Draft later, I finally reached my target, with three weeks of 2015 still to go.
*celebrates*
Entering NaNoWriMo for the first time this year probably helped me to hit the magic number a little earlier than I would have.
My average for the year to date was around 1,400 words per day (very much an average. Some days were noticeably better than others), and November’s average was a little over 1,700 per day. I would still have reached the half million, but the race would have been much closer to the wire.
The obvious question now hangs over me:
Can I do it again in 2016? Would I want to?
The answer would largely depend on how much work I can bring in. 2015 has been particularly fruitful for short story projects. Upwork.com has been an excellent source of clients, keeping me busy for the entire year. If I work as hard as I did in 2015, half a million is possible.
Over the past few months, I’ve begun to wonder what the ‘normal’ output is for a writer, particularly someone who writes full time. For the record, I also have a full-time job. I was speaking to Sheila Quigley, another North-East (England) writer about my endeavours. When I told her about my target, she stared at me, then blew out a long breath.
I got the impression that 500k is not the norm. :)
I’m relatively fortunate in that I work away from home and have my evenings free from distractions as I write in my hotel room. When I’m not away, I find it tricky to concentrate with the TV on (not my choice) all the time.
So, what is everyone else producing over twelve months? I’d be interested in hearing from both full-time and part-time writers. How do you manage to keep up the pace when you work AND live with a family? What’s your routine?
October 31, 2015
NaNoWriMo – dipping a toe…
Okay, so I’ve signed up for the crazy whirlwind of NaNoWriMo for the first time ever. I want to see what all the fuss is about, and to be honest, I’m still in two minds about the whole event.
However, being a creative sort, and willing to dip my toe into all kinds of new adventures (up to a point), I decided I’d use the opportunity to build the remainder of my third novel, ‘A Fury of Angels.’
Okay, it’s already 36k strong, but I need to add at least 50k to make if full-sized. So, I’m starting NaNo with half a project, but I consider it to be part of my story planning. I know how it will end, and I already have the beginning, so let’s complete the rest.
50k in one month? Well, I’ve already written 442k this year, so I’m merely continuing that pace through November, and adding a large chunk toward my ‘half a million words in one year’ project.
We shall see how it goes… :D
October 28, 2015
NaNoWriMo… pros and cons
If you’re still on the fence about NaNoWriMo, don’t get involved with lasers.
I mean…
Well, if you read this you’ll understand.
(This is too funny not to share.)
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/10/27/why-you-should-do-nanowrimo-and-why-you-shouldnt/
September 30, 2015
Half a million words in a year?
source; Stock.Xchng
Back in June, I wrote a blog post about my aim to achieve Quarter of a Million words by midsummer. That particular goal was achieved, and more, so I looked ahead and wondered if it would be madness to aim for half a million before the end of 2015.
Crazy, I thought. Half a million?
Now, at the time of writing, I’ve somehow (and it still amazes me) racked up 410,000 real words, most of them the in order right.
(Yes, I know I did the same joke back in June) *shrugs.*
So, at this point, half a million words before the year end seems achievable. My target for the end of September (this week), if I had been writing consistently, was 375,000. Bang. Blown that figure out of the water.
How have I been able to put down so many words this year? Having a whole string of contracted short stories to write has been a major part of this, leaving me with no shortage of writing material. Got a block? Simply skip over to another story until the block passes.
The downside of all this is that my third book, and the last in the trilogy, ‘A Fury of Angels,’ has slipped behind schedule, so if I’m to complete it in time for my editor to savage (kidding!) in January, I need to put aside at least a month to complete it.
If only I had a cloning machine…
September 22, 2015
Live action book trailer for A Construct of Angels.
image courtesy of jaylopez at Stock Xchng, modified by Andrew Toynbee
In the past few days, I’ve released several teaser trailers for ‘A Construct of Angels,’ my live-action trailer.
Now here’s the full video, which has gone through many phases of editing, as well as a beta review by several friends.
A Construct of Angels (novel).
image courtesy of gianni testore at Stock Xchng
As with writing, it’s only once you embark on making something like this, do you realise how many people become involved. Creating something as complex as a novel or a short movie requires patience, dedication and a number of good friends, willing to lend a hand.
There were many other elements I wanted to add to this short trailer, but time, money (i.e. the lack of it) and a wish to see this released on September 16th, the day the first book begins, all led to the video being wrapped up in late August, with a few last-minute edits (inevitably).
I hope you like it. I’m not sure if I’ll ever have the time to make a sequel, but who knows? If the response is encouraging, then it would be worthwhile.
Until then, I endeavour to Write On…
September 15, 2015
Teaser trailers for ‘A Construct of Angels.
It’s been a long time coming, but my efforts to create a live action trailer for my novel are nearing completion:
The Full video will be released on September 16th. It’s been almost three years (November 2012) since I conceived the idea of a live-action trailer. Finding people to feature in it has been difficult.
I’ve tried in vain to engage drama schools in both Burton-upon-Trent and York areas. Finally, with the help of a work colleague I managed to find Tamar, the young lady who acts out the role of my main character, Sara Finn.
More on this feature in a couple of days.
Logo created by Tarnya Rutheford
Teaser trailers 1, 2 & 3
It’s been a long time coming, but my efforts to create a live action trailer for my novel are nearing completion:
Teaser1:
Teaser2:
Teaser3:
The Full video will be released on September 16th. It’s been almost three years (November 2012) since I conceived the idea of a live-action trailer. Finding people to feature in it has been difficult. I’ve tried in vain to engage drama schools in both Burton-upon-Trent and York areas, and eventually managed, with the help of a work colleague, to find Tamar, the young lady who acts out the role of Sara Finn, my main character.
More on this feature in a couple of days.
Logo created by Tarnya Rutheford
Teaser trailer 1
It’s been a long time coming, but my efforts to create a live action trailer for my novel are nearing completion:
Teaser1:
Teaser2:
Teaser3:
The Full video will be released on September 16th. It’s been almost three years (November 2012) since I conceived the idea of a live-action trailer. Finding people to feature in it has been difficult. I’ve tried in vain to engage drama schools in both Burton-upon-Trent and York areas, and eventually managed, with the help of a work colleague, to find Tamar, the young lady who acts out the role of Sara Finn, my main character.
More on this feature in a couple of days.
Logo created by Tarnya Rutheford
