Reconciling our differences

You are now reading the blog of a published author. Twisted Tongue # 11 went out Friday night and I couldn’t be more pleased. I’ve got the free PDF version and am going to get a couple of printed copies for prosperity. I can’t believe how a short a piece it was, barely over a magazine page. Looking back, it seems quite raw and I find that almost cute.

Other stories are still with mags, haven’t heard back from them yet, should chase up a couple today.

For those of you who are regular readers (or have been in my vicinity at any time these past few months) you’ll know I’ve been in a crisis, worrying about my writing, especially about my novel. I’m slowly getting back to my old self, trying to just sit and have fun with it rather than angsting over every word. It’s slowly beginning to work I think, but it would be nice for those magazine editors to write back and tell me my most recent stuff is quite good. I need a bit of a morale boost.

Just playing about with Promises at the moment, trying to make it a bit better. As usual these days I don’t think its great but can’t for the life of me really see what’s wrong with it, I just wish it was better. I’ll just have to submit it and see. Will hopefully have a draft done in the next couple of days then back to the novel.

Just need to keep my nose to the grindstone and hope it all comes out fine in the end.

Thanks for reading.

And I suppose I should mention it. A friend of mine from work died last week and I miss her a lot. She was always there to smile and enthuse about books and things with me in the tea room. Things just won’t be the same without her.

Thinking Hard, Thinking Soft

Been a while since I posted.

I've been on holiday the past week. By holiday I mean from my day job. Been staying at my parents in the country writing for about 5 - 7 hours a day. Can't say I got as much done as I'd like but I at least got some done.

I was givcn some nice advice about writing a couple of weeks ago in Bloomsbury Bowling Alley of all places. Well, actually, the girl was talking about bowling but it all boiled down to the same thing. The amateurs, she said, start off better than the pros because they don't care. The pros over think the ams just have a laugh and do well.

Though I don't want to call myself a pro (rumour is that Twisted Tongue # 11 starring your truly is released tomorrow) but I think being published has caused a change. Now I look at everything I do, especially the novel, and ask will this we published? Always the answer is no. I see a small error, get pissed off and end up rewriting and being annoyed that that isn't perfect either. But the truth is, and always has been, nothing I write will ever be word perfect, nothing anyone writes is ever word perfect. I have to reacquaint myself with that fact.

I've been trying to keep that in mind while I've been going back to the novel. it's worked to a degree but I just have to try and go back to enjoying myself, knowing that it isn't perfect but it's still damn good (in my opinion). All I can do is my best and hope its good enough, not my best and tell myself is shit and start over again.

Everything else is fine. Something Wicked have Of The Father and Weird Tales have No Longer Living.

Thanks for Reading.

The Joy of Admin

Hello again.

Another short post.

Things are ticking along nicely, writing (a bit too slowly for my liking) some new scenes for Act Two at the mo with an eye for cutting out a whole bunch later on when I reach them. After watching Hancock, which I thought could have been amazing but it didn't develop its ideas, I decided to lose an entire character from the story so I have to go back and rewrite bits of Act One to omit them.

Now I have to go write a short bio for Twisted Tongue.

Thanks for reading.

Middle of the Road

Hello all.

As of this morning, I semi-officially reached the halfway mark of the novel. I still need to look back over my last stint of work and much will still need to be changed but I'm happy with what I've done (I said that about it in the first draft, but still).

Looking into the second half of Act Two now. Much needs to be done, things set up for part three and generally cutting out bits that have been altered by new events in the first half. It's all very daunting, but hey, I'll worry about that in the morning.

Nice to reach a landmark.

Other than that, I've not heard any more from Twisted Tongue. I'm assuming that means that everything is fine and Waterstones have yet to get in touch but haven't declared the winners yet so I'm also thinking of that as a good sign.

I'm all about the optimism.

Also, friend Rob has another poem in the TLS this coming Thursday. Bravo to him. I may poison him at the barbeque next weekend. Someone has to stop that poetry-writing juggernaut.

Back on Track

My internet was down last week, hence no blog.

Which is nice since I didn't have much to say last week.

This week however has been a good one. The novel feels like it's back on track. I completely stormed it this weekend and got lots done and I'm feeling my usual happy self again.

I was rejected by Murky Depths, yesterday, which is a shame. They said it was good and that I'd done a fine job getting into the head of the main character but they're not looking for a story like it in that length. Or as Roy Walker would have put it "It's Good But It's Not Good Enough."

I think the problem is that though I am now good enough to be published, I am not published enough to be published.

Which makes my next piece of news very contradictory as I am being published. Twisted Tongue got back to me and said that they would love to publish me. Aces. I shall be in their August issue and if I make editor's choice I'll get £10! Hurrah! I'm happy more for the kudos of course, to have one publishing credential on my covering letter shall be a right feather in my cap and no mistake and editor's choice would be even nicer.

They've asked for a short bio but I meekly requested to hold off until I find out whether or not I can also put Waterstones WYS competition winner. Let's see people talk that Roy Walker smack at me if I win that!

Right, I'm off to bed. A friend was kind enough to get me a copy of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (out in October *scoff* *scoff*). I'm really enjoying it, the beginning was excellent but I'm only two chapters in. I shall report more next week.

Thanks for reading,

signed

Grey Freeman (soon-to-be-published-author *scoff* scoff*)