Sarah Painter's Blog, page 11

Friday Five: The Writing Life

Friday again! In my part of the world the kids are on holiday from school so it’s been a week of snatched moments on the laptop* and many games of Boggle. Which, just to be clear, is brilliant. I love Boggle.

This week, I’ve been thinking about the writing life. Not so much the practicalities of getting the work done, but all the other stuff that comes along with being an author. It began when Neil Gaiman was asked this question on tumblr: ‘How stable of a career would you say being an author is?’

1. His answer is pictured above. [Link to the original post]

2. This funny piece by Jim Crace on his advice to aspiring writers: ‘The Secrets of My Success’. The Guardian.

3. Natalie Whipple is a YA author and she writes about the realities of being a mid-list author with honesty and clarity.

4. One of the (brilliant) aspects of the writing life is being in a position to promote books and reading. If you’re an author, perhaps you’d like to become a Patron of Reading for a local school?

5. My piece for Novelicious this week is about the importance of being professional.

*Truthfully… Snatched hours while they play Minecraft.

[Image credit: Quote picture made with Quozio]

Monday Motivation: Community

Last week I shared my new colouring-in method for recording word count and, I’m happy to report, it has continued to work well for me. Even on bad-writing days, I would say to myself that I only had to write a sentence or two and I could colour in my chart.

This month, I have written Every Single Day, which makes me very happy!

I mentioned that there was another tactic in my fight-against-procrastination and I shall reveal it now… Community.

Wonderful (and very lovely) author Stephanie Burgis ran a ‘March Madness’ challenge on FB. I’ve joined writing challenges before and found them helpful but this one was particularly good. I think the daily check-ins were key. There is something about writing down your goal for the day (in public!) which really focuses the mind.

Plus, they’re an incredibly kind and supportive group – thanks again, guys!

 

Monday Motivation: Writing A Rainbow

I’m considering a new regular feature on the blog: Monday Motivation.* I’ll share my latest and shiniest tricks for staying motivated. (Or, if work is not going well, wail and whine about that. Sounds fun, huh?!)

Writing a novel is a long old slog and, even with the best of intentions, we all slip into despondency from time to time.

After working very hard to get The Secrets of Ghosts finished, I had a mini writing slump. I was struggling to get a couple of hundred words done in a session and spent days (okay, a couple of weeks) actively avoiding opening my Scrivener file.

However, during March I’ve managed to write every single day and I’ve hit my word count goals every single week. Hurrah!

In part, this phase of productivity is probably due to having had those sucky couple of weeks (we all need a break, after all), put it’s also to a couple of motivation tools I’ve been using.

The first is a new way I’ve been using to record my word counts.

I’ve been using a ‘don’t break the chain‘ style thing in my diary since the start of the year, but this month I hit on the idea of colouring in the boxes on my calendar with nice pencils, instead of marking them with an ‘X’.

Look! It’s so pretty!

Next week I’ll share the other thing I’ve been trying (assuming I haven’t just jinxed my good progress by writing this blog).

*You know, until I forget about it. Ahem.

Friday Five: The self-involved edition

Hello, hello! How are you all?

It’s been an exciting couple of weeks with The Secrets of Ghosts going out into the world (eek!) and getting some lovely reviews (phew!).

Plus, I’ve been knuckling down on my WIP. It’s so satisfying to see the word count go up and I’m almost through the ‘dreaded middle’. Hurrah!

I’m sorry I haven’t been here very much, but I have been popping up around the internet, promoting The Secrets of Ghosts. I wasn’t organised enough to do a formal blog tour this time around but, in case you’re interested, here are some links:

1. As you might suspect from the title, my latest book contains a measure of spookiness. I talked to OneMorePage about my favourite ghost stories.

2. Fellow Carina author, Samantha Tonge, interviewed me about cake, writing, and cats on her blog.

3. Are you a writer? If you’re interested in finding a literary agent, I wrote about that very subject for Novelicious this week.

4.  ’The Book That Changed My Life’ at Novelicious featuring – you guessed it – me!

5. The most excellent Sunday Opening Hours has invited me this week (thank you!). Do drop by on Sunday to learn all about my fascinating (ah-hem) Sunday routine.

The Secrets of Ghosts Publication Day!

The Secrets of Ghosts is released into the wild today!

[Shameless Amazon link]

It’s the follow-up to The Language of Spells and, as some of you may know, it put up a bit of a fight. I can’t quite believe it’s finished. And I really can’t believe it’s now Out There.

I’m delighted, though. In a year I’ve gone from being unpublished to having two books out, which feels pretty amazing.

Plus, although the book was hard to write, it’s stuffed with things I think are fun:  A 1930s mystery, a reformed con man, ghosts, and revisiting Pendleford and the Harper family.

Thank you for reading my waffle and for your continued support. And, if you do read the book, I *really* hope you like it. Meep!

The Secrets of Ghosts: Book collage

When I’m working on a book, I make a collage. Definitely a digital one and, usually, a paper one, too.

You can see the collage for The Secrets of Ghosts on my bookcase in this picture. This was taken during the first draft, so the collage is nowhere near complete. It’s a lot busier now!

Choosing pictures and objects that ‘feel like my book’ and positioning them on the collage gives me ideas for plot twists and insights into character. Also, the pictures that I choose to ‘cast’ the characters help them to become real in my mind (especially during the early stages, when everything feels very sketchy).

Since The Secrets of Ghosts is out on Wednesday (eek – two days!), I thought I’d share with you the casting for two major characters.

The first, Katie Harper, is represented by an actress I’m very fond of – Ellen Page.

Whether fourteen (as in The Language of Spells) or twenty-one, as she is in the new book, Ellen Page portrays the perfect mix of strength and fragility. Plus, she delivers sarcasm beautifully.

Max is a new character. A reformed con man who turns up at the country house hotel in which Katie works.

I cast James McAvoy as Max early on and found him, ah-hem, inspiring.  Staring at pictures like this for hours at a time is tough work, but someone has to do it.  

Lucky

While working on the final revisions for The Secrets of Ghosts, I found time to turn 37 (I know, I’m a multi-tasker extraordinaire).

I had a lovely birthday with a surprise trip to Edinburgh (which included delicious red wine in my favourite bar),  and a brilliant gift from my brilliant husband. Look! Aren’t they pretty!

It’s been a fantastic start to 2014 and I’m feeling very lucky. And I can’t believe my second published book is out next month. Meep!

I’ve been mulling over ideas for a ‘release day giveaway’ and will be back soon with full details. I hope you’re all having a good (or, at least, productive!) January and, as always, thanks for reading.

My New Book! The Secrets of Ghosts

Yes, it’s true! There will be a sequel to The Language of Spells. It’s called The Secrets of Ghosts and it comes out next month! 25th February, to be precise.

My lovely publisher has released the cover and title and it’s up for pre-order on Amazon. Meep!

I’m incredibly excited and grateful, but it also feels a little surreal. I’m still working on revisions and there’s lots I want to do to make the book as good as it can be. I’m going to take several deep breaths and remind myself that it’ll all come together, but if I’m quiet during this month, you’ll know why.

I love the cover and think it works really well with the first book. Hope you guys like it, too!

Oh, and here’s the blurb:

On her twenty-first birthday Katie Harper has only one wish: to become a real Harper woman. Mystical powers are passed down her family generation after generation – some even call them witches – yet every spell Katie attempts goes disastrously wrong.

When her magic does appear, it’s in a form nobody expected and suddenly Katie is thrown into a dangerous new world with shadowy consequences. For the realm of the deceased is not as peaceful as she once thought. The dead are buried with their secrets and only Katie can help the ghosts of the past finally find peace.

If that is what they are looking for…

Happy New Year!

Well, here we are… 2014!

2013 was amazing (a word I can no longer say without hearing the Horrible Histories version of Professor Brian Cox), and, at the risk of sounding greedy, I’d love more of the same in 2014.

As well as the highs (becoming a published novelist, connecting with lovely book reviewers and readers, becoming a bestseller – yay!), I was quite stressed out for a lot of last year.

This year, I’m hoping to be more organised and to have more faith in myself.

I also want to write more. Fiction just for myself/for fun, as well as contracted projects and freelance.

With that in mind, my goal for the year (I don’t make resolutions, as such, but I love a goal or two), is to write fiction every day.

I’m a great believer in the ‘little and often’ approach to getting things done. If you can build something into your daily routine and stick at it long enough, it becomes habitual (like brushing your teeth).

How about you? Whatever your plans are for the coming year, I hope you have a good one.

And, as always, thank you for reading.

[Image Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net]

Happy Holidays!

My lovely editor sent me this Christmas bauble. *Happy Author*

Just a quick message to say Merry Christmas!

I’m shutting down the computer for a week and, although I’ll keep a notebook handy, I’m not *planning* on doing any writing at all.

Instead, I’m going to enjoy lots of  reading, sleeping, family time, and wine. Can’t wait!

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday. See you in 2014!