I had always planned to pay for promotion on Facebook for my novel, Social Media Central. And I was going to use the trailer as the main focus of that promotion. There's been a lot written by authors about the changing face of social media platforms and how it's harder to get yourself out there …
Adultery and the Beta Reader
For the first time I used a Beta Reader. I've tried to before on another project but the person I wanted wasn't interested as the main character was not gay. He reasoned that he'd spent a lifetime reading mainstream novels, and that now with the explosion of queer writing, he wanted to indulge in stories …
Tayler’s other love interest in Social Media Central (Deleted Scene)
We all know how scenes get deleted from writing projects. In Social Media Central, two characters showed up unannounced and wanted to stay. One was Felicity, a bookstore owner who ended up taking a major role in the novel. The other was introduced in a scene at the park. He too was telling me he …
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How Gay does a GLBTQI book need to be?
Some time ago, author David Pratt wrote a novel named Bob the Book. In the story, Bob is a gay book. At a literary festival we both attended, David talked about the absurdity of a book being deemed gay. That's why he questioned the notion and came up with this character. This came to mind …
Self editing my first draft
Over the last two days I've read through the first draft of a work in progress. I finished this draft three months ago. This is how long I take before I revisit a manuscript. Any sooner and I wouldn't be able to clearly see what elements need work. I had some doubts about this novel, …
As an author, how much social media is enough?
I have two designated days a week to write. That's more than most. One of those days is Monday and like most people find, Mondays fly by quickly. I usually do the washing on that day as well, and pop off to the gym in the morning. So I don't get to my laptop until …
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Trusting my author instincts
Something has changed in my approach to writing. Or perhaps it's just a change for the book I'm currently working on. I usually meticulously plot chapter by chapter, but for the sequel to Social Media Central, that's not the case. Maybe it's because it needs twists and turns as its a dystopian thriller. It's better …
Words. They have power!
I've often blogged about my favourite editor, Mary Belk. She was assigned to my first novel and totally helped me re-imagine it. But I realised something the other day. I have no idea what she looks or sounds like. That's not unusual as I have the same relationship with my current editor, Jason. I wanted …
Ideas, and where to find them.
I've been travelling. I took some time off to realign my life. Before this trip my day job got very hectic, taking over both my time and my thoughts, and forcing my current writing project to feel abandoned. Yet, in a way, this has turned out to be a good thing. The work in progress, …
For the love of pens!
Last Friday I encouraged my workmates to try writing with the fountain pen on display in a gift shop we entered. I had one as a teenager and loved the way it glided on paper. I wanted others to experience this. After a few attempts they got it. In a world where most of us …
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