Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last six months and more, you’ll be well aware that 2020 has been a shit-show of a year. One of the consequences of this for me is that I haven’t felt inclined to update my blog regularly, or at all for that matter, for quite some time. But earlier this week I finally made a decision which now means I have one less worthless distraction to keep me away from blogging more often, not to mention it will go some way to preserving my mental well-being.
Yesterday, during a bout of nostalgia for my childhood, I decided to embark upon an ’80s movie marathon during the month of April, watching at least one of my favourite films from the ’80s every evening until the end of the month. Though I’m interested to see how many I can get through, my primary purpose is to discover which of these films the adult me will still find to be as good as I remember. Obviously I no longer have the sensibilities of a child, so I have no expectation that all of them will stand the test of time, but I look forward to rewatching everything without rose-tinted spectacles.
It’s been a while since my last blog post, to say the least. Even those of you who are long-time followers may not notice that my blog looks a little different than the last time you saw it. But the ongoing makeover is for more than cosmetic reasons. The change is the first part of a decision prompted by my need to rectify the infrequent updates. I realised that the principal cause for my lack of updates was the narrow focus of the blog. When I started the blog, it was my intention to use it to chart the progress of my writing and publishing career. This objective has made it difficult to come up with new posts because there is only so many times I can submit an update basically saying the same thing: that I’m currently focussed on my WIP.
Well, it’s that time again. The first day of a new year. The day when many of us engage in the annual ritual of making resolutions about the changes we intend to make in our lives, but rarely follow through with. History suggests that I’m wasting my time making any New Year’s resolutions, yet here I am doing it again. So these are the five goals I’m setting for myself this year.
To say that the writing of my second novel has been a slow and painstaking endeavour would be an understatement; my word count got way out of hand, and nailing how the story should end was a dilemma that took an age to resolve. That being said, it hasn’t been nearly as stressful an experience as writing my debut novel, The Exercise Of Vital Powers. Nonetheless, the time and effort I’ve had to put into finishing my manuscript has meant that I’ve been quieter than I would have liked about my progress, and the status of the book. Today I’m coming out of hibernation to present you with the cover reveal for The Apprentice In The Master’s Shadow.
Hey people! I realise it has been a long time since my last blog post, and longer still since I was last able to post updates on a regular basis, but I want to assure you that I haven’t abandoned my blog. I hope it goes without saying that the lack of activity is not the result of laziness on my part. On the contrary, this year I’ve been so busy with other matters I haven’t even had time to keep up with the blogs I follow never mind keep my own updated regularly. But the time has finally come to rectify that state of affairs.
Hey peeps. If you are active on social media you are probably already aware of the #IndieApril hashtag which is being used to promote independent and self-published books and authors this month. We are now more than halfway through the month, and to mark the occasion, the ebook edition of my first novel, The Exercise Of Vital Powers, is on sale for just £0.99/$0.99/€0.99 all this week.
One of the inescapable truths about literature is that there is no such thing as a universally loved book. Even the most lauded work you have ever read has its detractors. In other words, one person’s masterpiece is another person’s trash. This being the case, every author knows that sooner rather than later their books will receive bad reviews, and yesterday I received my first ever 1 star review on Goodreads for The Exercise Of Vital Powers. I have since been inspired to write how I’ve chosen to deal with this unwelcome development.
Greetings people. To say that I have been neglectful of my blogging duties this year would be something of an understatement. Regrettably, as much as I would like to be posting new updates on a regular basis (I certainly have plenty of unwritten posts I want to share), all my free time at present is being spent on writing my second novel while continuing to promote my first. In other words, I’m not likely to be in a position to start frequently updating the blog again before the end of May, at the earliest. Until then, this is a quick post to let you know I’m still breathing, and inform you of the most significant developments in my writing life since the turn of the year.
You are no doubt aware that C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe is one of the most beloved and successful children’s fantasy books in history. But have you ever wondered what inspired Lewis to write the story? Well it’s a question that has been answered in the book, Of Other Worlds: Essays And Stories, a posthumously published anthology of essays and unpublished stories by Lewis.
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