Thankfully it is the summer holidays and I get a good amount of time to write. I’m working on many projects and hope to get much done over the six weeks.
I’ve two novels to complete. Both are on their sixth rewrite and I’m hoping to finish them by the end of the summer. Each has had a major overhaul and I think are much stronger for it. Now all I need to do is find an agent willing to read my work and for them to fall in love with my characters and plot and take me onto the next level.
I’ve had interest from publishers before and I’ve also had requests for full manuscripts from agents and publishers alike. But when push comes to shove the book just isn’t right for them. I’m hoping that these two fantasy novels will evoke interest.
On a really brilliant note, two of my writing friends have just signed contracts with agents and are about to unleash their novels into the world of publishers. They both have strong novels and it won’t be long until they see their work in the book shops. Two names to watch out for: Tim Blinko and Steve Barley.
The talented Toby Frost’s book Space Captain Smith is making a good name for itself and we are all awaiting for the second book due out I believe in September. If you haven’t read the first one then go out and get your copy now – it’s a romping good read.
Anyway I’m off now to do some real writing.
Monday, 28 July 2008
Thursday, 26 June 2008
It is a business not a hobby.
As promised when I started this blog, I wanted to share the good and bad times with you. By that I don't mean my life, only my writing life.
So here goes:
The bad first. I received another rejection, but as rejections go it was basic and said nothing about the book or the plot, writing or target market. Which is frustrating, although you may think I should be upset about this, I'm not. I'm quite lucky in that I do have contact with publishers and other agents who take time to make personal comments on my work. It is obvious to me that the subject matter in this case didn't appeal to that particular agent. Therefore it is going off to another agent and with some luck it will be more to their liking. It is just a matter of finding an agent who loves my work as much as I do. On and up.
The good news: Well this is different. I'm off to Winchester Writers Conference again, but this time as a mentor. This means I'll be helping delegates find their way around and answering questions etc. I'm also looking forward to catching up with old friends I've made over the years along with the networking with possible new contacts. A few friends from my writing circle are attending for the first time, I hope they find it as informative and useful as I have over the years. I'll report back once I've attended and let you know how it all went.
I hope this helps you face rejection and realise that you will get rejected many times when you aim to be a writer. Even once published it isn't always guaranteed that you'll never receive a rejection. So my advice is 'get used to it' then it won't hurt quite so much or for as long. After all you are selling a product. It is a business not a hobby.
So here goes:
The bad first. I received another rejection, but as rejections go it was basic and said nothing about the book or the plot, writing or target market. Which is frustrating, although you may think I should be upset about this, I'm not. I'm quite lucky in that I do have contact with publishers and other agents who take time to make personal comments on my work. It is obvious to me that the subject matter in this case didn't appeal to that particular agent. Therefore it is going off to another agent and with some luck it will be more to their liking. It is just a matter of finding an agent who loves my work as much as I do. On and up.
The good news: Well this is different. I'm off to Winchester Writers Conference again, but this time as a mentor. This means I'll be helping delegates find their way around and answering questions etc. I'm also looking forward to catching up with old friends I've made over the years along with the networking with possible new contacts. A few friends from my writing circle are attending for the first time, I hope they find it as informative and useful as I have over the years. I'll report back once I've attended and let you know how it all went.
I hope this helps you face rejection and realise that you will get rejected many times when you aim to be a writer. Even once published it isn't always guaranteed that you'll never receive a rejection. So my advice is 'get used to it' then it won't hurt quite so much or for as long. After all you are selling a product. It is a business not a hobby.
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
Sponsored Walk
Sponsored walk in aid of the Hospice of St. Francis – Berkhamsted. I wanted to participate in this walk in 2007, but never got around to organising myself. So this year when the flyer came out I took the plunge and enlisted. However I didn’t want to do it alone so I got the girls from work to join me. Altogether there were seven of us.
Three others from work, Fiona, Chris and Claire along with Fiona’s daughters Lorna and Emma and an amazing lady called Rita, who has climbed Everest!! And boy couldn’t she walk!!
We had all prepared for the walk. Out every Sunday in all weathers, thunderstorms included. Walking at night we didn’t practice, but although it was dark we were still able to see quite clearly. We set off at around 12 midnight and returned some three hours forty minutes later – or thereabouts. However the younger members of our group, Emma, Lorna and Rita arrived back twenty minutes before us.
At the beginning of the walk it was warm and dry. In fact we had all worn a second t-shirt underneath our ‘Walk with the Stars’ t-shirt by the time we’d reached Berkhamsted from Hemel Hempstead we were all too hot. We slipped off our under shirts and headed off nibbling on our bars of chocolate and sipping our water. We’d gone about 500 yards when the heavens opened and we got drenched. There was a quick struggle with back packs and waterproofs and we were heading back to Hemel Hempstead. It is a strange thing, but the walk back appeared to be much easier to do. I don’t know why, I guess it was the call of a hot cup of tea that made us walk faster.
My pity was with those we passed going back that hadn’t yet made it to Berkhamsted sports centre, but were still just entering Berkhamsted town. They were soaked and still had a long way to go.
Walking into the school hall after the walk was great. You received a round of applause and after registering, got a medal and a leaflet telling us how stretch out over the next few days. We had bacon rolls, I just had bacon, and a lovely hot cup of tea. We took a few pictures of ourselves and
We set off to our cars, more walking, and as we did, it poured down again. Our thoughts were with those struggling through the second downpour. We were soon safe and dry in the car and heading home. Again past ladies still walking.
It was a great evening. One of challenges and self achievements. I’m glad I did it, and although we all ached the next day, we felt that we had achieved something special. Altogether I think we raised around £700 and the total so far from the hospice has been £170,000.00 a great amount.
You can still donate if you want to, just go to http://www.justgiving.com/susanfranklin or http://www.justgiving.com/christinebayliss or http://www.justgiving.com/clairehughes10 or http://www.justgiving.com/emmaandrita
For more information about the hospice of St. Francis go to their website: http://www.stfrancis.org.uk/index.htm
Thank you for reading this and for all your support.
Susan
We had all prepared for the walk. Out every Sunday in all weathers, thunderstorms included. Walking at night we didn’t practice, but although it was dark we were still able to see quite clearly. We set off at around 12 midnight and returned some three hours forty minutes later – or thereabouts. However the younger members of our group, Emma, Lorna and Rita arrived back twenty minutes before us.
At the beginning of the walk it was warm and dry. In fact we had all worn a second t-shirt underneath our ‘Walk with the Stars’ t-shirt by the time we’d reached Berkhamsted from Hemel Hempstead we were all too hot. We slipped off our under shirts and headed off nibbling on our bars of chocolate and sipping our water. We’d gone about 500 yards when the heavens opened and we got drenched. There was a quick struggle with back packs and waterproofs and we were heading back to Hemel Hempstead. It is a strange thing, but the walk back appeared to be much easier to do. I don’t know why, I guess it was the call of a hot cup of tea that made us walk faster.
My pity was with those we passed going back that hadn’t yet made it to Berkhamsted sports centre, but were still just entering Berkhamsted town. They were soaked and still had a long way to go.
Walking into the school hall after the walk was great. You received a round of applause and after registering, got a medal and a leaflet telling us how stretch out over the next few days. We had bacon rolls, I just had bacon, and a lovely hot cup of tea. We took a few pictures of ourselves and
We set off to our cars, more walking, and as we did, it poured down again. Our thoughts were with those struggling through the second downpour. We were soon safe and dry in the car and heading home. Again past ladies still walking.
It was a great evening. One of challenges and self achievements. I’m glad I did it, and although we all ached the next day, we felt that we had achieved something special. Altogether I think we raised around £700 and the total so far from the hospice has been £170,000.00 a great amount.
You can still donate if you want to, just go to http://www.justgiving.com/susanfranklin or http://www.justgiving.com/christinebayliss or http://www.justgiving.com/clairehughes10 or http://www.justgiving.com/emmaandrita
For more information about the hospice of St. Francis go to their website: http://www.stfrancis.org.uk/index.htm
Thank you for reading this and for all your support.
Susan
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Submitting again.
Since reporting on the SCWBI retreat, I've been busily working away at preparing submissions. Research, re-writing and revising. But that is all done now, well for the three manuscripts I've just sent off. Technically I've sent five things out. Two of those five have been for the Winchester Writers Conference in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately it doesn't look like I'll be able to go down this year. I'll miss my writing friends and catching up with their lives. And the networking that happens naturally. It is frustrating, but something I'll have to get used to. Two of the other manuscripts have gone to a publisher, after a positive conversation. they are both picture books. One simple but hopefully beautiful text, the other a text with a musical refrain. I can but hope they will be loved, just as I love them. The last manuscript has gone off to an agent, and this is a pitch for representation for my fantasy work, and the series I'm currently writing.
I love writing, fantasy and will one day be shouting on here saying I've done it but until that day occurs, I'll keep on submitting and writing.
I love writing, fantasy and will one day be shouting on here saying I've done it but until that day occurs, I'll keep on submitting and writing.
Sunday, 25 May 2008
Writing Retreat
Having never been on a writing retreat before, I was unsure of what to expect, I needn’t have worried it was great fun. This was the British SCWBI children’s writing retreat held at Pendrell Hall, Nr. Wolverhampton. The writers-in-residence: Julia Golding http://www.juliagolding.co.uk and Shoo Rayner http://www.shoo-rayner.co.uk The weekend started on Friday night with a wonderfully tasty meal and then in to a critique session. We were split in to two groups the 5+ and 8+. During these sessions we read, commented and developed ideas to develop each other’s work. I for one had missed a few changes with POV which were corrected and now I’m working through the MS to check for any more slips. After our two hour session, we met up with the other group and enjoyed a well deserved drink from the bar. After that sleep was easy coming.
Waking early, Saturday morning with many ideas on how to improve my MS I set to work. Making notes and scripting lines. Breakfast was the full English, as it turned out to be each morning. For a girl who normally only eats a small bowl of cereal to start the day this was a great indulgence. I had to put thoughts of my waist line out of my mind. After breakfast we had time to write before we went for our first work shop with Shoo Rayner. There were two with Shoo, both of which were informative. I’ve since written up mind maps for all my books and this technique added to my own trusted method has improved my understanding of plotting and character development. I was interested in the software ‘FLASH’ that Shoo uses to add elements to his illustrations. I’m going to see if I can save up for this. I liked the way he produced online books for his website. I think this would be great for the children at school to try and for me to produce my own online books for children to look at on my own website, once I’ve built it. Between the writing, workshops and food it was a very productive day. The food was delicious and they were kind enough to cater to everyone’s needs. The evening was spent writing then a quick drink at the bar before bed.
The following day, Sunday, I set about writing before breakfast then again after. Before our first workshop we met up for coffee/tea then went in to listen to Julia Golding, another inspiring writer. How she manages to do so much, I’ll never know. Again Julia shared her plotting, character development stages along with many other fabulous tips. She got us to work on our own pitch. This was to sell ourselves to agents or publishers. To start with I found this daunting, but after taking a moment to think, It came to me in a flash. After that we had to encapsulate our novel in just a few words. For the novel I was working on was easy, but for others I’m sure it won’t be that easy. We read some out and Julia gave us guidance on where we could alter and improve our pitches. We played a game of top-trumps with the characters from her current book; I was the slave with shackles. Yes real shackles - okay plastic look-a-like ones. The whole day was one of learning or reinforcing knowledge. After dinner we met up to read our reworked pieces. Thankfully everyone thought my piece was much better and heading in the right direction. Everyone’s work had improved some amazingly so. One member of our group had written a completely new piece – oh to have such talent. We all met up for a drink before bed.
On Monday morning, we had to check out by 9:30 then we set about writing in one of the upstairs rooms. This was quite a powerful session. A room full of writers, writing. There was an aura of creativity flowing through the air which made the writing seem more focused. After morning coffee/tea we joined Tessa Strickland from Barefoot Books http://www.barefootbookstore.co.uk She is a lady with vision, direction and drive. You couldn’t help being impressed and inspired by her. She chatted about the state of publishing in general, and about the direction Barefoot books are heading. We learnt a little more about booksellers and distributors along with the difficulties publishers have. It was quite illuminating. Then she told us exactly what she was looking for. Yippy! A publisher saying what they want. I can’t tell you what that is, but I am going to be writing something for her as will the other members of the retreat - quite a few of us really. Tessa wrapped up with a question and answer session and once again I was scribbling notes.
This was a wonderfully inspiring retreat, one I would do again.
Waking early, Saturday morning with many ideas on how to improve my MS I set to work. Making notes and scripting lines. Breakfast was the full English, as it turned out to be each morning. For a girl who normally only eats a small bowl of cereal to start the day this was a great indulgence. I had to put thoughts of my waist line out of my mind. After breakfast we had time to write before we went for our first work shop with Shoo Rayner. There were two with Shoo, both of which were informative. I’ve since written up mind maps for all my books and this technique added to my own trusted method has improved my understanding of plotting and character development. I was interested in the software ‘FLASH’ that Shoo uses to add elements to his illustrations. I’m going to see if I can save up for this. I liked the way he produced online books for his website. I think this would be great for the children at school to try and for me to produce my own online books for children to look at on my own website, once I’ve built it. Between the writing, workshops and food it was a very productive day. The food was delicious and they were kind enough to cater to everyone’s needs. The evening was spent writing then a quick drink at the bar before bed.
The following day, Sunday, I set about writing before breakfast then again after. Before our first workshop we met up for coffee/tea then went in to listen to Julia Golding, another inspiring writer. How she manages to do so much, I’ll never know. Again Julia shared her plotting, character development stages along with many other fabulous tips. She got us to work on our own pitch. This was to sell ourselves to agents or publishers. To start with I found this daunting, but after taking a moment to think, It came to me in a flash. After that we had to encapsulate our novel in just a few words. For the novel I was working on was easy, but for others I’m sure it won’t be that easy. We read some out and Julia gave us guidance on where we could alter and improve our pitches. We played a game of top-trumps with the characters from her current book; I was the slave with shackles. Yes real shackles - okay plastic look-a-like ones. The whole day was one of learning or reinforcing knowledge. After dinner we met up to read our reworked pieces. Thankfully everyone thought my piece was much better and heading in the right direction. Everyone’s work had improved some amazingly so. One member of our group had written a completely new piece – oh to have such talent. We all met up for a drink before bed.
On Monday morning, we had to check out by 9:30 then we set about writing in one of the upstairs rooms. This was quite a powerful session. A room full of writers, writing. There was an aura of creativity flowing through the air which made the writing seem more focused. After morning coffee/tea we joined Tessa Strickland from Barefoot Books http://www.barefootbookstore.co.uk She is a lady with vision, direction and drive. You couldn’t help being impressed and inspired by her. She chatted about the state of publishing in general, and about the direction Barefoot books are heading. We learnt a little more about booksellers and distributors along with the difficulties publishers have. It was quite illuminating. Then she told us exactly what she was looking for. Yippy! A publisher saying what they want. I can’t tell you what that is, but I am going to be writing something for her as will the other members of the retreat - quite a few of us really. Tessa wrapped up with a question and answer session and once again I was scribbling notes.
This was a wonderfully inspiring retreat, one I would do again.
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Space Captain Smith by Toby Frost
I'm eagarly awaiting the release of this book. I've listened to snippits and enjoyed the colourful characters involved. Take a look at http://www.spacecaptainsmith.com/ for all the nitty gritty details.
With this excellent endorsement from Dirk Maggs it can't fail to be a hit.
With this excellent endorsement from Dirk Maggs it can't fail to be a hit.
'Set in a universe where the suns never set on a stiff upper lip, this warm-hearted and funny interstellar romp gives the sacred cows of sci-fi a good kicking before racing home in time for tea.'
Dirk Maggs, Director, The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy Tertiary, Quandary and Quintessential Phases
This book promises to be big, no, very big and finding its way into future book awards of that I'm sure. Brilliant Toby, just brilliant.
Tuesday, 8 April 2008
The last line that leads to more.
The moment when you write the last sentence of your novel is so special. It has to finish the book and leave it open for the next in the series. It's important, no critical that you get it right. The trouble is it is elusive. A bit like the perfect body or the purest diamond. More often than not you'll be teasing that last sentence out for weeks or months before you decide on the correct structure. You'll be happy with it. You'll think - YES! YES! YES! I've done it - only to find when you come back for the read through - the last line just isn't right.
Well, I'm hoping that that isn't the case with my latest novel. I've just finished my latest 7-9 novel Wybird's Secret Pet and still love the last line. It leads on to the next book in the series - Wybird's Circle of Stone, yet to be written. I'm hoping this will be the book to get me the publishing contract I crave. With a good bit of luck and a lot of hope I'm keen to get this one under the nose of the right agent or publisher or even better both.
Well, I'm hoping that that isn't the case with my latest novel. I've just finished my latest 7-9 novel Wybird's Secret Pet and still love the last line. It leads on to the next book in the series - Wybird's Circle of Stone, yet to be written. I'm hoping this will be the book to get me the publishing contract I crave. With a good bit of luck and a lot of hope I'm keen to get this one under the nose of the right agent or publisher or even better both.
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