The initial draft of my first novel was titled Staging Life. It told the story of two friends, based on me and my husband, who end up in the Afterlife. A few theatre references were thrown in and, hey presto, I had my first draft. Then I had it professionally assessed. Besides changing the title, …
I signed a new book contract.
The week before writing this blog I signed a book contract. It was for an eBook titled Winter Masquerade. At one stage I wanted to expand this book but after reading it for editing, I liked its pace. I didn't want to bloat the story. Someone asked me during the week which of my novels …
Everything old is new again, in my writing.
I'm currently working on the second draft of my fantasy novel, Winter Masquerade. As I'm ironing out its shortcomings I'm finding the problems are the same as I originally faced with my first novel, Drama Queens with Love Scenes. At the moment my new work is novella length and I've been trying to find ways …
Continue reading "Everything old is new again, in my writing."
Just finished a Fifth Draft
These days, that's more that I usually do. But this manuscript is special. This story, The Midnight Man, took me a year to finally start as I was revisiting my earlier works for a new publisher at the time I came up with this story. And while I'm more efficient in my writing these days, …
When Worlds Collide
This blog was originally published at On Top Down Under as part of their sixth anniversary. In it I talk about my new New Year's Eve novelette titled Midnight Angel and discuss why some of my characters continue to appear in different stories. There are several reasons I’m excited about my new holiday read. The first …
That Manuscript you Agonise Over
Perhaps 'agonise' is too strong a word. You see, I've gone back to work on the fifth draft of The Midnight Man, a novel I need to get right. I haven't been this obsessed with perfection since my first book. It's currently novella length and tells the story of Stan, a middle aged man in an …
Writing on a Work Trip
A couple of weeks ago I went on a work trip. I flew to Broome in Western Australia on Tuesday, flew to Perth late on Thursday night for a meeting the next day, then returned home to Sydney on Saturday evening. I had my meetings, worked on work stuff back in my hotel rooms, and …
I’m Pantstering a Bit More!
My religion has changed a little. I used to be a devout Plotter. My love for working out what would happen chapter by chapter happened with my second novel, Drama Queens and Adult Themes. Two worlds are described in that story and characters from one realm, the Afterlife, interfere with the lives of an unsuspecting …
Outsourcing ideas from a 10 year old
This post was originally published while I was still working on Winter Masquerade. This ebook novella has since been published. Click HERE to find out more. My current work in progress is delayed. I have to complete assessments for a course I attended, so my current novel is still in its planning stages. I have …
The First Novel
Tomorrow I’m going to feel a sense of déjà vu as my first novel gets relaunched for the third time. My last publisher closed down, so I was very lucky that NineStar Press decided to re-contract my works. An author's first novel is special. It’s the one they sweated over. It’s the one that was redrafted …
