New competitions

Although I'd promised myself I would concentrate on my works-in-progress, I saw this:
http://www.aerogrammestudio.com/2016/02/16/opportunities-for-writers-march-and-april-2016/?utm_content=buffer3bff5&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer.

Could be interesting......

Loyalty - latest edition released

For those of you who already have a copy of Loyalty - thanks for your support and I hope you enjoyed it. A new edition has just been released (available from Monday) with a couple of typos corrected. You can get this revised edition, free of charge, by going to your Amazon account and selecting 'manage my kindle'. Then just click on the book title to update it.
For those of you who have yet to get a copy, wait until Monday to get the latest version.
Don't forget, reviews are always welcome.

Insomnia put to use

Well, once again can't sleep. Too tired to tackle my complicated historical texts. So, I found a competition to enter. A short story by a British writer for the Irish Post. It's part of Listowel writers week. 1000 word limit on an Irish theme.
That was a challenge. What is an Irish theme?
Anyway I produced a short piece I was very happy with and with a click if the mouse it was gone!
So, let's see what they think.
After the deadline I'll publish it here, so you can comment..

Putting my time to good use?

Just decided to enter the Reader's Digest 100 word story competition, as suggested by my wonderful Dad. His blog.
100 words is not a lot, and it had to be precisely 100, not 99 and not 101. Submitted a piece called Retribution. Successful entries for public voting (how scary is that!) go on their website 6 March.

Another sleepless night

Oh well, if I cant sleep I might as well think about my writing. I was trying not to use the computer, trying to let the brain chill and hopefully fall asleep, but I couldn't resist!

I've been working on my sci-fi novella, and finally found a name for my alien protagonist. Imagination defeated I turned to the internet. I looked up some ancient names and found one that fitted the pronunciation patterns I had decided upon for my alien language. When I looked to see what the name had been associated with I found that it was the goddess of a moon of Venus and/or Venus - and my story references that planet. Co-incidence? Did I already know that? I don't care - its a great name and I'm really happy!

I have also been trying to progress Maryland - my novel about the transportation of female convicts to the American colonies in the 1730s.
I have pivotal violent scene in the early part of the book and  keep going back to it. It's the first time I've written such a sexually violent  section and I am almost literally sweating blood over it. Am I over-sensitive? I don't want it to be trite or hackneyed. I want it to be respectful of the victim - after all the writer does not know their reader, they may be a victim. I want it to be accurate but not overly-disturbing. Its probably the hardest thing I've ever written. I'll let you know how I get on.

Work in progress

Well, I've been working on several pieces at once! Not to be recommended as it's easy to get confused!
Last night I finished off two short pieces - both less than 2000 words - and took the plunge by sending them in for a competition. Although the judges don't give feedback it will be interesting to see if they get placed in the commended group.

So that leaves me with books two and three of my King,God and Country trilogy (Loyalty being book 1) partially written; a historical novel set in the 1730s; a science fiction novella of 17000 or so words, a short speculative fiction story and a bubbling idea about my home town of Bridgwater.

2016 seems to be my year of inspiration. Hope it keeps up!

I think I might also get Loyalty out in paper copy. I won't get any royalties for it given the pricing but I'd like those people who don't do ebooks to be able to get a copy.

If you have read Loyalty, please give it a review on Amazon, or tweet about it #strugglingauthor #commuteread

Insomnia strikes

Well, its 2.50 am. I cant sleep. It's a pain because I have to go to work in a few hours. Thought through a few more angles on the sci-fi story - got two titles to choose from. Progeny or Mergers and Acquisitions. I'm favouring the latter.
Also going to work up a short children's fantasy piece and a short i started as part of an on-line fiction writing course.