R.A. Black's Blog, page 4
June 29, 2015
Happily Ever After, chapter one rewrite
I’m looking for feedback on the first chapter in order to get it polished up for a mentoring competition. Any feedback gratefully received. I’m home. The castle rises out of the mist, an imposing monolith in the pre-dawn silence. For the moment, two armies sleep and everything is still. Soon, though, those walls will ring […]
June 5, 2015
How to Slay the Blank-Page Beast
I came across a thread about the hardest thing about writing. For me, editing is probably the thing I find hardest. Having created something, tearing into it, criticizing it, breaking it down into little pieces is very hard, even if the end result is so much stronger. But for other people, the hardest bit was […]
May 31, 2015
Why “Making your Dreams Come True” should raise red flags
Let’s say you’ve just finished your book. And I mean finished. You’ve gone through multiple drafts, had it looked over by alpha and beta readers then sorted through their feedback, edited, redrafted, almost turned to drink, and come out the other side with something wonderful. What to do next? This thing has been your focus […]
May 14, 2015
#Nestpitch2015
At the beginning of April, I noticed a pitching event being mentioned on Twitter – #Nestpitch. I quite enjoy this sort of thing, so I thought I’d give the rules a quick look and see if it was one for me. The Moritician’s Boy met the criteria, so I sent of my details, grateful I’d […]
May 5, 2015
Book Review – Chronicles of the Nocturnal Forest
Chronicles of the Nocturnal Forest – Vanessa Kings Melanie is living an ordinary, boring life when one night she is transported in her dreams to the Kingdom of Astebeth. Night after night, the fairy of her dreams will tell her the stories of the inhabitants of the Kingdom, its town, and the magical Nocturnal Forest […]
April 23, 2015
Book Review – The Beholder
The Beholder by Ivan Amberlake Around the world, people die under mysterious circumstances. Each branded with an arcane sign, they are pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. When more people are missing, with similar signs appearing in and around their homes, Jason, an average New Yorker, realizes the victims are a riddle addressed to him. He […]
April 19, 2015
Gone Fishing
Bloody bitch! Mike swore in his head as he slammed the car door. Even now, out here, he couldn’t bring himself to say the words out loud. His hand trembled as he tried to force the key into the ignition, and this time he did let one out. “Shit!” She was standing at the window, […]
March 23, 2015
Learning to Love a New Story
When inspiration strikes, there’s a wonderful sense of being drawn into something new and exciting. It’s unexplored territory, like waking up in a foreign country or finding that all your favourite cereal has been swapped for something in a language you can’t read. But sometimes, when you’ve just started to look around or had a […]
March 20, 2015
I Wrote a Book. What Next?
I came across someone asking this question on Figment, and its a good question. Where do you go once you’ve typed The End? This was my response, hopefully it will help others as well. Firstly, make sure you’re really ready to be published. Finishing a book is great and you should be very proud, but […]
March 11, 2015
Can Your Characters pass the Cabbage Test?
Picture a room. The walls are bare sheet metal. The floor is blank and rubbery, and the ceiling is just out of reach. There’s a light source somewhere, but you’re not entirely sure where. In the centre of the room is a red button on the floor. There is nothing else present. What do you […]
