reading – writing – publishing
I’ve been researching mystery writing for the Cat and Mouse Adventure series (mainly because I am totally unhappy and unimpressed with the draft of Ghost at the Cemetery that I’ve written). I’ve discovered three websites that I want to add to my website. For two reasons, I want to be able to find the websites again, in the future, and because visitors to my website might benefit from them.
Frank Gruber’s “Fool-proof” 11 Point Formula for Mystery Short Stories
The planning for The Fantasy Novel is going well. Extremely well, in fact.
The world history I developed some years ago is thorough and will not be discarded. I know how our world and the fantasy world are connected. The characters don’t and the reader won’t either. Not in this book, anyway. Maybe in the sequel, if there is one (and there’s no guarantee). Of course, I see gaps in places I never saw before. Those gaps leave questions that I need to answer. Some of the things I’ve been researching over the last few weeks are herbal medicine, how to find edible food, different types of religion and politics, what is needed to make ink, and magic. It’s been interesting.
However, the characters are a different matter. They lack substance. I know these characters well, but I realise that the reader does not. With this in mind, I see characters without a past, without deep motivations. They are going through the actions, but that’s not enough. Currently, I am working on the character profiles; writing voice journals and finding out what makes them who they are today. It’s interesting to see these journals take shape. Knowing why they act the way they do is important for me to know, and for the reader to discover along the way.
The research phase will continue until I feel I have everything covered. I’m in no rush and I want to do this right. Besides, this book is my main commitment this year.
Finally, I am pleased to say that I have dedicated on average at least two hours every day (except one day when I was unwell with a stomach bug) to The Fantasy Novel. I feel excited because my focus is real and complete, but more importantly, fresh and eager. I feel no pressure, no uncertainty, which only confirms that now is the right time for this book.
These offers have expired.
Everyone loves free stuff, right? Of course, they do. With only 10 days to go until Christmas, I have decided to offer two special deals between now and Christmas Day.
Deal 1:
Effective immediately, Journey to Freedom is FREE! This offer is only available on this website and will end in three days. Be quick or miss out.
Deal 2:
Starting on 18 December 2019 and ending 25 December 2019, all three books in the Land of Miu series can be downloaded for free. Simply add each of the books to the cart when you see the sale notice on books 2 and 3 (Book 1 has always been free to download). The titles are The Land of Miu (Book 1), The King’s Riddle (Book 2) and The Lion Gods (Book 3).
Take me to the shop for free stuff
Be warned: If the red “Sale!” notice is not showing, the sale has not started yet or has finished.
“Every first draft is perfect, because all a first draft has to do is exist.”
–Jane Smiley
I saw this quote today and thought it was a timely reminder as I am currently writing the first draft of Ghost at the Cemetery. At a little under 6,000 words, I cannot say I am particularly happy with the result so far. In fact, I was feeling a little despondent this afternoon–until I saw this quote.
Yes, I can acknowledge this first draft isn’t great, but as long as I continue writing until I get to the end, I will be happy. The first edit will be HUGE! But at least I will have a (shaky) draft to work with.
I’m pleased that I can recognise the fact that I still have a lot of work ahead of me, especially when the first draft is done. Yet, I feel invigorated knowing that my brain is already working on the improvements I intend to make. And knowing that, the story I currently write is morphing in a slightly different direction than I intended to accommodate the changes.
My intention is to complete the first draft by 30 November. I am on track to reach that goal.
A mini fantasy collection. Four stories with common themes of oppression and struggle. The main characters crave freedom, but can they find what they are looking for?
Journey to Freedom will be available for preorder through online bookstores within days. Just go to the store of your choice and search for “Karen Lee Field” to discover my books.
Want to know more? Here’s the blurb:
When warrior mages try to abduct her son, a woman must trust her past to ensure her son’s future.
A scullery maid is sent to retrieve an old book and discovers that some stories are larger than life.
The Chosen of Ra envisions the most magnificent monument his people have ever seen, but the disc in the sky threatens to destroy everything.
Left for dead by his master, a slave dares to cross magical boundaries to find love and freedom.
But what is freedom, and will they be able to find what they are looking for?
If you have a Smashwords account, please add the book to your library.
Journey to Freedom will be released on 11 December 2019. Click on the following links to preorder the ebook.
I am excited to announce a new book will be released soon. Journey to Freedom is a mini fantasy collection of four short stories.
The common themes in the stories are oppression and struggle. The main characters crave freedom, but can they find what they are looking for?
More details to follow in coming weeks, but today I will reveal the front cover.
If you are interested in receiving a free review copy of the ebook version of the book, please use the contact page and let me know which format you prefer (ie epub, mobi, pdf).
I have officially and unofficially participated in NoNoWriMo before, but had to go into the archives of my website to find out when the last time was. It is a shock to find out that it was in 2007–12 years ago! I am gob smacked by that discovery.
In the years including and preceding 2007 I had completed NaNo twice officially. The first time was a disaster and put me off doing it again. Looking back, even though I managed to write the 50,000 words in 30 days, I felt totally washed out and the manuscript I wrote was terrible. Now I know I was not sufficiently prepared and that put a lot of pressure on me. Totally my fault.
Then I believe a writing colleague talked me into doing an unofficial challenge, which we called a mini-NaNo. I successfully completed two of those in different years. Both times I felt good about the result and I didn’t suffer mentally or physically.
Then, I completed the second official challenge successfully in 2007 and this time was happy with myself and my writing.
I never joined the challenge again. Didn’t even consider it, for reasons I cannot explain or remember.
Last week I saw a mention of the 2019 NaNo challenge and something sparked in me. I want to enter the challenge. Officially or unofficially, I’m not sure yet. My next writing project will not be 50,000 words in length so I know I cannot reach the goal. This makes me think I’ll need to bash out the words unofficially. But, I could attempt to write two chapter books in the official time frame. If I can do that, I could join the thousands of other writers officially.
To do or not to do, that is the question.
To be honest, I have a hankering to go official. Bash out two manuscripts in 30 days. How sweet would that be?
However, being realistic, my head is saying “slow down, you don’t want to burn out now that you’re writing regularly again”. It’s true. I am writing most days and I’m loving it. I don’t want to lose that, not ever.
I think I just talked myself into doing an unofficial 2019 NaNoWriMo, with the added thought that I might start work on the second chapter book if it happens naturally. If not, no pressure, no problem.
It’s a shame the NaNoWriMo website didn’t cater for a mini-NaNo because I would love to join the offical buzz.
My blog seems to have turned into a book review website over recent months. I read regularly and try to write reviews for every book that I read (including paperback, epub or audiobook). For two reasons: 1) it’s a brilliant way to keep track of the books I’ve read, and 2) I like to share my opinion so that other readers might be encouraged to read the books too.
I love to read, but I love to write too. Yet, writing posts seem to be few and far between. I would not blame you for thinking that writing isn’t on my agenda. How wrong you are.
My writing is going well. I released Domino Effect at the beginning of the year and House on the Hill in July. And now I’m working on a mini-fantasy collection. The title is uncertain right now and will be announced at a later date. What I can tell you is that there will be four short stories. All fantasy themed. I’m pleased with the way they are developing. There is no release date as yet, but I am hoping that it will be before the end of the year.
2020 will be a big year too. I have two projects intended for release. The first will be Ghost at the Cemetery (another Cat and Mouse Adventure). The second is a personal favourite of mine. Something I’ve worked on for nearly three decades! I won’t share the details of that one yet, except to say that it is a fantasy full-length novel. I’m excited to finally publish it soon though.
A well known Australian author, Fiona McIntosh, once gave me some really good advice. It was at the time I was organising and publishing a number of anthologies. She told me that what I was doing was good (for other authors) but she told me not to forget about my own writing. I didn’t see it then. I thought I was still writing, but in truth, I was not. I rarely wrote a word at that time.
Everything happens for a reason. Things in my life changed, I changed with it because I had too. Now, things have changed again and it has allowed me to find my way back to writing. And I am embracing it. I write at least five days out of seven, often seven days out of seven. And I love it.
I may not be here, on my website, writing page after page of posts. That’s because I am where I am meant to be. I am sitting at my desk writing stories–long and short. And I’m loving it!