Andrew Toynbee's Blog, page 6
July 16, 2014
Does a second book imply greater determination?
The first week my debut novel was listed on Amazon, back in 2012, I was buzzing with excitement – and personal pride. However, that feeling settled after a wee while and I began thinking about the sequel, which has now been over a year in the making. As the First, and then the Second Drafts dragged on, a mild sense of panic began to rise within me.
What if I can’t do this again?
What if the first book was all I had inside me?
And so, a renewed determination to finish the sequel arose. I would NOT be a one-book wonder. I wouldn’t end my days thinking ‘What a shame I only ever wrote the one…’ *croaks*
Sure, I’ve written many, many stories in my time. A lot of them have even begun paying me back for the time I spent on them. But a novel is something else, isn’t it? It’s the obelisk of the publishing world, the menhir of our career, the monolith…
Well, you know what I’m getting at. To me, the magazine articles I’ve written are fine, if a little thin, like single sheets of paper in a breezy doorway. My short stories (especially electronically-published ones) can feel like leaves in the wind, but in comparison, the novel is a bit of a cast-iron doorstep. To have published one feels like a serious achievement; to publish a second means it wasn’t a one-off event and I really, really can do it.
And then, of course, there’s the pressure to sustain the output until the end of days. Once that begins, there’s no getting off the roundabout.
Can anyone else relate to this feeling?
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July 14, 2014
CreateSpace – Part V of my anticlockwise journey towards a paperback
Well, my second proof copy has arrived from the USA and despite my best hopes, I’m still finding errors in the text. :(
I asked my significant other if she’d read through it for me… a fresh pair of eyes, and all that. However, after five weeks of gathering dust (the book, not me!), I realised I’d have to undertake the task myself. *sigh*
After hundreds of read-throughs, I’m having real trouble concentrating on the text and find myself drifting along with the narrative instead.
Why, I keep wondering, do these text errors continue to plague my MS? I like to think I’m meticulous with my grammer and, speeling. I can only imagine the errors are typos I’ve somehow missed.
True, my typing isn’t perfect. As It gets faster, mistakes begin to appear, so I temper my speed to keep the typos down. However, impatience can sometimes bite and my fingers will get carried away, often typing faster than my brain (that only takes eight words a minute, usually!).
So this week finds me ploughing (yes, that’s how it feels after 500+ reads) through the paperback, hoping to upload and receive a corrected version before the end of July.
I have to – a couple of Floridian friends are keen to see a paperback copy in early August.
Anyway, back to reading…
In the meantime:
July 11, 2014
It’s okay to be Geek
Does it still trouble you that you didn’t fit in well at school? Were you outside the circle of ‘cool kids,’ bullied, ridiculed and cast aside because you were bright?
Well, a recent report now casts doubt and shines light on those of us who suffered through our teenage years.
Read this and feel better about yourself. I did! If the link goes down, try here instead.
I was single-minded in my desire to learn as much as I could during my school years, to the extent that I was banned from the Chemistry, Physics and Engineering Science labs during lunch hours because I was ‘reading too far ahead’ (two years too far, to be precise).
My life at school was hell because I was surrounded by wannabe rebels and pseudo anarchists (this was at the beginning of the punk era in Britain) and learning wasn’t anti-establishment enough for these guys.
Still, I managed to cram in some secret learning along the way, a desire that continues to this day… although I have more trouble remembering stuff than I used to.
I remain, yours, a veritable information sponge.
July 8, 2014
Books viewed in the mirror may appear smaller…
As I near the half-way point in the editing of my sequel to ‘A Construct of Angels’, I realise the MS is going to fall well short of the 164k achieved by CoA.
Whilst this is not a bad thing in itself, the current 50k of VoA (A Vengeance of Angels) is looking a bit lost. The additional material I added in the early part of the story didn’t improve the word count as much as I’d hoped.
I’ve since debated several ways to correct this problem, including weaving in a new sub-plot to boost the word count or continuing the story straight into FoA (A Fury of Angels – book three) territory and living with a duology rather than a trilogy.
However, neither of these appeal because
A) An additional sub-plot can only detract from the main storyline, plus:
B) VoA ends with a definite cliffhanger. This would not work if the story was to continue immediately.
A third option, that of ‘padding out’ the exisiting MS doesn’t appeal either. It would dilute the story… plus I’d feel as if I was cheating the reader.
My other sneaky plan, that of hoping for an inspirational bolt of lightning from my Muse as I typed this (waits for several heartbeats with ears cocked), also fell flat. :(
I know many writers would say ‘don’t obsess over word count,’ but it remains the gauge of a novel, as does page count. Every Kindle book I’ve seen includes a page count… which is odd, because that will change with every reading device, depending on the reader’s preferences for text size.
Has anybody else encountered this problem with their sequel? If so, how did you solve it?
I’m open to suggestions.
Otherwise, out comes the bicycle pump and I’m just gonna push up the pressure until I can make that sucker bigger!
Like this:
In the meantime:
May 31, 2014
Thank you everybody!!
Today, I received this notification from WordPress:
Thank you everyone, for your support, comments, likes and encouragement!
I look forward to following your wit, wisdom, tips and pics in the future.
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May 27, 2014
When inspiration strikes…
Recently, an opportunity arose for a Saturday visit to York, the setting for ‘The Angels of York’ trilogy.
Well, it follows, doesn’t it? :D I had to go.
At the time, the final chapter and Big Battle scene was quietly pushing open the door, ready to peer into the room. I was happy with the way my characters had used the church I’d researched last year (as detailed in ‘Angels Week‘), but I didn’t want to stage an unholy battle between the denizens of Heaven and Hell inside a church. Too much damage. So as I headed into York on the city bus, I perused the city centre map in the hope that inspiration might strike – and it DID!
A diagram of the ancient (rebuilt many times) city wall leapt out at me, particularly the acute angle of the North-West corner. I decided to investigate – and found myself here:
Very photogenic – and a distinct possibility for the site of an unholy battle.
Unfortunately, I’d taken a wrong turn in my attempts to find it. I was on the wrong street. York is a medieval maze of narrow twists and turns. I’d been steered away from my goal.
So I began again, paying closer attention to the street names, and finally found myself in this place:
This is the outer section of the corner keep. Quite imposing to an attacking force, you might think.
Inside, it looked like this:
Rather difficult to defend unless you were on your knees – or you happened to be called Tyrion Lannister.
image source: http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Tyrion_Lannister
Seems the Victorians who refurbished this part of the wall had little use for its defensive capabilities, preferring instead to reconstruct it into a viewing platform.
Still, I could envisage the possibilities of the battle in this setting and was satisfied that I needed to look no further. I took a few photographs and returned home to research the history of this section of wall.
I was able to make use of the new outdoor location almost immediately. Once my characters had finished with the church, the story picked up at the corner section of the wall in dramatic (I hope) style.
Apologies to English Heritage for all the damage I’m about to cause in the narrative. It IS necessary for artistic reasons – honest.
In other news, I am now typing furiously on my replacement Netbook, a Windows 7 version of my poorly Acer Aspire One.
Unfortunately, Acer issued this model with a set of flat keys, rather than the earlier chamfered type, which has led to an increased number of typo.
I’m struggling to get used to it and wish they hadn’t changed something that worked perfectly well for the sake of asthetics. :(
So, first draft now has its dramatic climax. On with the read-through.
Hope your writing is marching along too!
Introducing, for the first time… Ginger:
Be nice and say hi. He has rather large (virtual) shoes to fill.
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May 8, 2014
Originally posted on 
April 25, 2014
The tribble with Technology (*trouble*)
image source: therussianrevolver.tumblr.com
The last week has seen the end of my trusty Acer Netbook… :’(
Technology comes and technology goes, but when so much time has been spent with a single device, the experience can be pretty disarming for a writer.
You may recognise this as the unit I used to create my ‘Keep Calm and Write On’ logo (see bottom of the page).
I have no real way of calculating this for sure, but I must have written close to a million words on this faithful (wipes away a small tear) little device.
Fortunately, almost everything on the little hard drive had been backed up and is in no danger of being lost. However, the times spend pounding the pint-sized keyboard will always remain with me, a considerable number of years in the 1999 to 2014 span of my ‘real’ writing.
The Netbook wasn’t my first writing device.
It followed the clunky Acer Notebook (Laptop) which was heavy and sucked the life from its battery in under sixty minutes.
Then there was the quirky, palm-sized HP Jordana. Tiny (like peering through a letterbox at a billboard) but with almost infinite battery capacity.
Sure, I could let the poor thing slip quietly away to Silicon Heaven (where all the pocket calculators go), but I’m strangely reluctant to put this significant episode of my fledgling writing career behind me.
I know, but technology can be revived, right? I mean, it’s had a new screen, two new batteries, some extra memory and a replacement modem. What’s a little more TLC?
image credit funny-pictures.picphotos.net
Am I alone in not wanting to move on? Has anyone else found themselves stymied when their favourite piece of technology has shuffled off its coil? Have you successfully divested yourself of it, or does it still languish in a cupboard somewhere, a reminder of happy times?
Or am I just being over semi-mental?
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And so, for possibly the last time,
Write On…
So long and thanks for all the memory,
(all 2048Mb of it)
April 13, 2014
Apologies – been busy *tries to get breath back*
Image courtesy of YelloShine at StockXchng
Hello everyone. I have finally emerged from my writing cave after an obsessive recheck of my MS for ‘A Construct of Angels.’
Following the re-launch on February 28th, I spotted a typo in the first chapter whilst posting a sample of the story onto Wattpad (yes, I’ve managed to stretch myself even thinner!). Anxious as to why I’d missed something so basic, I felt compelled to re-read the whole story (again) – and I’m very glad I did. Scores of silly mistakes scuttled around in the daylight once that particular rock had been lifted, mistakes that should never have happened. I can only blame the way I used Word (in ‘show all changes’ mode) to enter the edit suggestions from Tara, my editor and ‘Words with Friends’ buddy.
I will be applying the lessons from this latest faux-pas to my next MS and sequel to CoA, ‘A Vengeance of Angels.’
So, I finally completed the read-through and Sonya Loveday has kindly offered to read it through for me, because if I have to read that story one. more. time. I might go a wee bit crazy. *sigh* Does everyone get to this love-hate stage with their MS, where they cannot bear to plough through it yet again?
If Sonya gives it the all-clear, I will finally be able to revisit the CreateSpace site and upload the finished MS, before I order a second proof copy. It’s been a long time coming…
In the meantime, Write On!
March 31, 2014
Spelled (Book 2 of the Casted Series) ~ Now Available!
The long-awaited sequel has arrived! My copy is nestled in my Kindle-for_PC ready for bedtime reading. :D
Originally posted on Sonya Loveday:
Spelled
Book 2 of the Casted Series
Now Available!
Confused by the turn of events, Jade is only sure of four things:
My name is Jade Kinsley.
I’m 20 years old.
I’m an Enforcer for the Triad.
And I have a debt to settle with Original Coven.
Will Jade be able to break through the spell her Grandfather put on her and remember who she is, or will she become just another piece in Lorenzo’s game?
It dawned on me, at that moment, that Elliot would do whatever he could to bring Edge back around. It was possible Elliot thought Edge would come around the more he had contact with me. The thought of being close to him made my heart quicken, and heat crawled up my neck.
“You ready to take one for the team?” Elliot asked. His face was stoic, but his eyes were pleading.
“Let’s do this.”…
View original 295 more words
