Apologises as ever for
the lack of updates recently. Who would be a writer during the
summer? It must be the most unproductive season. There are
distractions everywhere: lawns to be cut, Pimms to drink, gardens to
tend, barbecues, parties, weddings, the lure of the outdoors. There's
no harder time to work. All of those of just excuses of course, and
the only thing that keeps a writer from writing is laziness –
another hazard of summer.
So where am I with
work? Well,
The Amateurs didn't turn out as I planned. Not
that I was really planning it, which looking back is the problem.
Instead of the lengthy novella I intended,
The Amateurs has
fragmented into a series of loosely connected short stories which as
they stand do not form a cohesive whole. I'm not satisfied with how
it turned out but there is no one to blame but myself. The lesson
learned is to always have a plan; a beginning, middle and a clear
end. Writing in the dark doesn't work for me. It wasn't a complete
waste of time. There is some good stuff in there – characters and
stories that stand up on their own. Some of those stories will
feature in my next collection while others will sit in their folder
until inspiration strikes again.
The proposed paperback
of collected novellas has also stalled. Mainly because my skills are
not yet sufficient to produce a book of the quality I want. I can't
see the point in releasing a physical book that is substandard. If
it's going to tempt readers away from their Kindles then a physical
book has to something special. Something beautiful. It's not there
yet, but I haven't given up.
The project I am
focusing on right now is my third short story collection. The title
for this was originally The Exhibitionists. That was until
last week when the brilliant Kevin Killian made a casual comment and
triggered a light bulb moment, giving me the most brilliant title for
the book. What is it? You'll have to wait and see but it's a
winner. I have nine stories complete so far, one of which is a piece
from The Amateurs, the other is an episode from the abandoned
Risk Addiction novel. Depending on length I plan to write
another four or five stories before making the final selection for
the book. I'm not going to jinx myself by trying to set a
publication date before the book is finished but late autumn/ winter
is a realistic target.
This weekend Wild
West Hero is going to be relaunched with a new cover. Using the
same model as before, the new design fits in better with the style of
my other e books. Despite being my favourite Wild West Hero
hasn't sold as well as my other titles. Maybe people just don't
fancy it, but it could be that the mismatched cover is putting them
off. So I'm giving the book a re-brand to see if can find a
readership. Check it out:
With no new release on
the horizon I'm going to be doing some promotions and give aways over
the summer. I might even post some of those abandoned stories on
line to see what people think of them. I've also rediscovered some of the old tales I wrote for Men Magazine and Freshman way back in the day. Maybe some of those old relics deserve another day in the sun.
Regards
Thom
