Finding Balance/Saying No

Posted under A Writer's Life on November 17th, 2018 by

First of all: Finding balance is hard when you suffer from Meniere’s Disease. Physically, that is. It’s not what this blog post is about, but I thought I’d put that out there.

It’s also hard to find balance, mentally, when you’re a perfectionist. Not to mention being a writer, as well. You want to write the book. You want to finish it in good time. You want it to be perfect. But you can only really pick two of those things. (unless you’re SuperWriter, which I dunno, you might be. I’m definitely not.) You make goals and fail to meet them, which makes you more pedantic about trying to meet the next goal.

It’s been a demanding year for me; but along with a lot of bad stuff, there’s been a lot of good stuff, too. I’ve been learning that it’s okay to say no to people and things; that I don’t have to wear holes in myself trying to be there for everything and everyone. More importantly, I’ve been learning that it’s okay for me to say no to my own unrealistic expectations. Or even those expectations that weren’t necessarily unrealistic, but turned out to be unexpectedly hard to fulfil because life happened.

November has turned out to be a more demanding month than I expected (and I knew I was going to be doing NaNoWriMo, so perhaps you can just imagine how demanding I already thought it was going to be). Last month, I also signed an audio deal for the rights to the first two City Between Books, Between Jobs and Between Shifts, so there has been a lot to do in sending paperwork back and forth, etc. And while that means there should be audio of those two in the reasonably near future, it’s definitely adding heaps to my pile of things-to-do…

November has also been the month of All The Doctors, where W.R. trots out in search of answers to various health complaints that have been ignored for the last 2-3 years. Some of those answers have been forthcoming, and some have not. Medication has also been forthcoming–and, with it, side effects. That, along with the steady work I’ve been doing on Between Floors, has begun to wear me out.

The upshot of all this added busy-ness is that, unfortunately, Between Floors won’t be out until January. I’m so disappointed with that, but I don’t want to rush this one and put it out while it’s still not ready. There are a lot of threads that need to be pulled together in Between Floors, and I want to do it well. I also want to be able to enjoy writing it–and to enjoy my interactions online as a writer. I love talking to you guys on my Facebook and Twitter, but it feels strained when I’m trying to do too much. I want it to be fun to answer my notifications, not a chore. You all make me laugh, and I want to take time to enjoy that.

I also want to get back some balance in my life. I want to be able to keep this blog updated, to not forget things that I said I’d do, get a little time to learn how to advertise, and maybe a smidge of time to do fun stuff like going to concerts and relaxing with my nephew without always thinking of what I still have to do. I want to enjoy reading again without feeling guilty about not being writing. I also want to do well enough at publishing so that I feel comfortable publishing every four months to six months instead of feeling the rush to try and publish every three months and then feeling guilty because I didn’t manage it (again).

I want a bit of brain space again, and I think I’m finally at the point where I can do that. So I hope it won’t be too disappointing to wait another month for Between Floors–I’m certain the results will be worth it in terms of story and structure, and I want to do this series well. I love it a lot, so I don’t want to mess it up.

So this month, I’m going to stop and rest for a bit, finish reading Intisar Khanani’s amazing Thorn (again), and go enjoy the local show that’s on this weekend. I’m going to let myself say no to a few things that are stressing me out, and take it easy. And I’m going to let myself thoroughly enjoy writing Pet’s adventures Between…

You can keep updated with my progress over on my Author Facebook Page, where I’ll still be regularly posting excerpts, updates, and random music videos that I love. And do look forward to January–I promise it will be worth the wait!

Three cheers (and lots of Hogan’s Heroes)!

Posted under A Writer's Life, accomplishments on February 15th, 2016 by

It’s finished!

The Short Thing I started as a challenge has grown to be a 41k word novella titled PLAYING HEARTS, and has finally finished its growth spurt! I had a huge day of writing on Saturday (6k) and a huge day today (5.5k) to finish it; and it feels SO GOOD!

Now I’m gonna put it aside for a week and not touch it until I start my week of intensive editing.PLAYING HEARTS BOOK COVER-picmonkey

That means…

Me watching Hogan’s Heroes
Me reading LOTR again (then more Hogan’s Heroes)
Me finishing Catching Fire (then more Hogan’s Heroes)
Me drinking SO MANY cuppa teas (while watching Hogan’s Heroes)

*Happy Sigh!*

A WHOLE WEEK to relax!

Now I just have to be firm about Not Writing.

Hey! If you want a free, advance copy of PLAYING HEARTS (on March 1st), join my mailing list! You’ll also get MASQUE for free!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Posted under A Time-Traveller's Best Friend, A Writer's Life, accomplishments, Current WIP, Dayjob, Distractions, editing, Publishing, Self-Publishing, Short Stories, so much work, writing on April 11th, 2015 by

It’s been a busy week. And now that I’ve written the word ‘busy’ five times, it’s looking really weird to me. Maybe I need a nap.

But I digress.

It’s been a busy week. My proofs for Wolfskin came in (finally!) but since they’re late arriving I have only a week and a half to check and correct. So there’s that. Then there’s the last 5000-odd words of Spindle that need to be done by next week if I want to keep on target with that particular deadline. And then there’s Memento Mori (the second volume in the Time-Traveller’s Best Friend series). I’ve only just begun it, and though I know roughly what the story arc for the collection will be, and have a few titles and ideas for a few of the stories, I still need to write the thing. By August at the latest.

With all these deadlines, you’d think I’d be madly at work on one or all of them. No such thing. I also got a new idea for a Short Thing for Weekly Fiction’s Open Call For Submissions. Naturally, I started work on that, with a little bit of editing and proof-reading around the edges. Fortunately, Wolfskin is proving much less complicated than Masque was. I seem to have caught most of the errors and inconsistencies and missed words before this point (does that mean I’ve advanced a level? New Power! Error-Free Gained!) and it’s really mostly a matter of a tiny change here and there.

Added to all the above is a busier-than-usual week at work, coupled with an annoying surge of my favourite companion, Meniere’s Disease.

I may just quietly go mad for a while. Don’t mind me. It’s a self-chosen madness after all.

What about you guys? Who else has a murder of deadlines? (Well, what is the group word for many deadlines, anyway?) And are you actually working on them?

Housekeeping

Posted under A Time-Traveller's Best Friend, A Writer's Life, Adventures In Real Life, editing, Favourite Movies, Housekeeping, Movies, Publishing, so much work, Stuff you learn on April 1st, 2015 by

Did you guys know that printed books should always be odd-numbered on the right page? Or that text should be right and left justified? Or, for a matter of fact, that when you shorten the front of a word with an apostrophe (ex. ‘leave ’em alone’) that the apostrophe must face the same way as one that shortens the end of a word (ex. ‘doin’ what comes naturally’).

I didn’t until I started self-publishing. Got any idea how long it takes to go over 300-odd pages of text, looking at every flamin’ apostrophe? Oh yeah, and MS Word just puts ’em through as regular apostrophes. You gotta think about every shortened word as you type it. (Well, there’s probably a function I can turn on somewhere in the recesses of the program, but beggared if I know where it is.)

Also on today’s housekeeping: both Masque and A Time-Traveller’s Best Friend: Volume One are on a Goodreads giveaway at the moment, until about mid-April. I’ve got three signed copies of each to give away, so if you’re interested, click through the link on either above, and enter to win. A handy little feature of Goodreads that I found out about just a few days ago, and that I’m very happy to make use of!

And as I announced on my Facebook and Twitter pages, Wolfskin is at present being sent out to bloggers and reviewers. If you’re interested in getting a free copy (either ecopy or paperback) for the purposes of a review, contact me at gingellwrites [AT] gmail.com, through the comment section, or from the form on my Contact page.

Fourthly and lastly, I’ve been bingewatching On The Up with the wonderful Dennis Waterman, delightful Sam Kelly, inimitable Joan Sims, and pot-stirring Jenna Russell. SO MUCH FUN. So many glorious one-liners. And I’m completely in love with the ending.

Well, that and the equally wonderful live-action version of Black Butler. I’ve watched it three times now. It’s become one of my all-time favourites along with Alice (mini-series version with Andrew-Lee Potts), The Fall (Lee Pace), and City of the Lost Children (Ron Perlman).

Seriously. Watch any of these.

Over and out.

(What? You didn’t think my housekeeping would include actual work, did you? Well, apart from all the apostrophes.)

Let The Games Begin! (Aka, Masque Is On Tour, And So Am I)

Posted under A Writer's Life, accomplishments, Book Blog Tour, Book Excerpts, Distractions, Fun Stuff, Masque, New Things!, Paperback, Publishing, Self-Publishing, so much work, Stuff you learn on March 15th, 2015 by

Let the games begin! The book blog tour for Masque has kicked off at The Indy Book Fairy, where you can read an excerpt and enter to win a paperback copy of Masque. Come on along and say Hi!

Further stops will be:

15th- I Heart Reading (Starter Party)

17th- Nat’s Book Nook (Promo Post)

18th- Books, Books, and More Books (Promo + Excerpt)

20th- Howling Turtle (Promo Post)

22nd- Mystical Books (Guest Post)

24th-100 Pages a Day (Book Review)

25th- Tea Talks (Promo Post)

26th- Jooniel Obsesses Over Stories (Book Review)

28th- Literary Musings (Book Excerpt)

28th- Dreams Come True Through Reading (Promo + Excerpt)

29th- C.J. Anaya’s Blog (Book Review and Character Interview)

So follow along with me as I traipse merrily across the blogosphere: and don’t forget to enter into the rafflecopter draw to win a paperback copy of Masque!

(I’ll even sign it for you. Hmm, draw or put-off . . . ?)

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Wolfskin Excerpt

Posted under accomplishments, Book Excerpts, Current WIP, Fairytales, Publishing, Self-Publishing, writing on March 2nd, 2015 by

Wolfskin is on its final edits and will be published May 1st, 2015! It’s set in the same world as Masque but is a standalone novel with separate characters. I will hopefully be doing a blog tour a month or two after publication, but in the mean-time, here’s a short excerpt for you to get a feel for the book.

Enjoy!

 

When I stepped from the thread to the path leading to Akiva’s front gate, there was a woman between me and it.

She was so beautiful. I’m not sure why I expected her to be otherwise. Her hair was black and glossy, and hung loose to her waist in a sleek, rippling sheet that mingled with royal purple satins and silks that were as sleek as her hair. Her eyes, framed by impossibly long, dusky eyelashes, were of an equally impossible shade of violet. I saw them and my herbs scattered themselves on the path, dropping heedlessly from my nerveless fingers. Those twin violets gleamed with the same darkness I had seen in Bastian’s eyes the first time I met him.  

Horned hedgepigs! I thought, swallowing. It could only be Cassandra.

She looked me up and down with those brilliant, purple eyes while I regretted fervently that I hadn’t been a moment quicker, and then said: “You’re not pretty.”

Her voice was bell-like in consideration; and, like every other part of her, breathtakingly beautiful.

“I know,” I said. Even if I had been as beautiful as Gwendolen, I couldn’t have hoped to compare with Cassandra. I eyed her unblinkingly, wondering why it mattered to her.

“You’re not pretty,” she repeated; a statement, not a question. “I didn’t expect that. He must be desperate.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, scowling. I was coldly frightened, and that made me angry. Black, tarry magic was stirring around her, creating nasty pockets of corruption in the air that made me feel ill: it was vastly more powerful than anything I had ever seen.

She looked at me contemptuously through the haze. “Beauty is all that matters to him, stupid child. You can only lose.”

“Bastian isn’t here,” said Akiva’s voice suddenly and startlingly. I tore my eyes away from Cassandra’s and saw her, knobbly and infinitely welcome, leaning on a stick behind the enchantress. For a horrible moment it had felt like I was drowning in the brilliant lavender of Cassandra’s eyes.

Akiva hobbled past her and put a hand on my shoulder. I felt a sense of her power, welling up deep inside her, warm and comforting. I think I was still looking up at her with wide eyes when she said quietly: “Go into the house, Rose.”

As I closed the gate with cold fingers, I heard Akiva reiterate: “The wolf isn’t here.”

“I can smell him all over her!” hissed Cassandra.

There was a silence suggesting that Akiva was shrugging; then her old, firm voice said: “I sent him away: he knows what I think about him. Today was goodbye.”

Their voices faded with distance, but as I loitered on the garden path I saw the warm glow of an astonishing and formidable power rising to meet and match Cassandra’s. I recognized it as Akiva’s, hale and hearty, and stronger than I could ever have imagined. After that I hurried to get into the safety of the cottage, feeling the hairs prickle on the back of my neck, because I knew that it was no longer safe for me to be out in the open. Once inside, I plumped myself down in Akiva’s chair, absently staring into the fire and contemplating the extraordinary power I had just witnessed. For the first time in the excitement of my new magical prowess, I felt thoroughly humbled and weak. My own power, puny in comparison to that shown so effortlessly by both Cassandra and Akiva, was pitiful past thinking about. I was suddenly very thankful for Akiva’s protection. In the coldness of the moment, I knew there was no chance that I could ever hope to fight against Cassandra and win.

Wolfskin is available for preorder on Amazon and Kobo, due for release May 1st, 2015.

Anticipation (Also, Happy ‘Straya Day)

Posted under accomplishments, Paperback, Publishing, Release date is here!, Two Monarchies Sequence, writing on January 26th, 2015 by

The day is almost here! Masque will be officially available this Sunday! But in the meantime, I’ve released the paperback early for people like me, who can’t wait. So if you were just waiting to order Masque, you need wait no longer! The paperback will, in fact, probably be with you before the Kindle and Kobo editions are quite released.

You can order the paperback of Masque from Amazon and Createspace, and the Kindle and Kobo versions are available for preorder, awaiting Feb 1st. If you want a refresher on what Masque is all about, read on!

Otherwise, have a great ‘Straya Day!

(And, as always, if you want to get your mitts on a review copy of Masque, get in contact through the contact page.)

MASQUE - 2000

Masque (The Two Monarchies Sequence)

Beauty met the Beast and there was . . . Bloody murder?

It’s the Annual Ambassadorial Ball in Glause, and Lady Isabella Farrah, the daughter of New Civet’s Ambassador, is feeling pleasantly scintillated.

In the library is Lord Pecus, a charming gentleman whose double mask hides a beastly face, and who has decided that Isabella is the very person to break the Pecus curse.

In the ball-room is young Lord Topher, who is rapidly falling in love with an older woman.

And in the card-room, lying in a pool of his own blood, is the body of one of Isabella’s oldest friends: Raoul, Civet’s Head Guardsman. The papers sewn into his sash seem to suggest espionage gone wrong, but Isabella is not so certain.

Lord Pecus, as Commander of the Watch, is of the opinion that Isabella should keep out of the investigation and out of danger. Isabella is of the opinion that it is her murder to investigate, and that what a certain Beast-Lord doesn’t know won’t hurt him. . . .

Will Isabella find the murderer before Lord Pecus does, or will she end her investigation as a bloody spatter on the parlour floor?

Milestones

Posted under A Time-Traveller's Best Friend, A Writer's Life, Growing as a writer, Hassles, Musings, Self-Publishing on November 10th, 2014 by

Milestones are a big part of a writer’s life. From the first short story or novel that we finish to the first book signing or reading we give, life seems to be measured in tiny increments of success. I still remember the first novel I ever completed. It’s almost entirely rubbish and needs to be extensively rewritten, of course, but at the time it was a massive achievement for a fourteen-year-old writer who had never completed a manuscript.

Then there’s the first successful short story I ever wrote. The first time someone was excited to read something else I’d written because they enjoyed the first Thing. The first full ms request from a publisher. The first personalised rejection from a publisher (well, actually gutting rather than good, but it was no form rejection).

My first paperback sale felt amazing. Yes, it was someone I knew, but it was the first. And the other day, my first reply from a book reviewer, who said that A Time-Traveller’s Best Friend sounded interesting, and that she’d added it to her list.

Today, my milestone is the 1000th visitor to my blog. 6 months, and 1000 visitors.

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Bloggers out there, you know what it’s like. Even if you’re a mastodon, you were once a pygmy like me, delighting in that 1000th visitor. It feels good, doesn’t it?

Milestones aren’t the be-all and end-all of a writer’s life, but they are a lovely reminder that life isn’t entirely always slog. Sometimes you actually get somewhere. And that keeps you slogging on until the next milestone.

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