Arrived at the state of deciding I had to break the second-lead out of the local jail ... and had to stop! Writing does this now and again. It's like journeying, writing a story, you are the story while writing and sometimes the staory has to pause while things get themselves together in the unconscious, and in otherworld. One fo the most famous authors in the world, Tolkein, tells how he came to a standstill at Balin's tomb and that it was a long time before he cou;d get going again. I hope this is just a short pause and I'll get going again tomorrow ... or even later today.
However the pause ... paws ? *g* ... is useful. I've got a lot of other work to do. I'll pick up the journey later ...
Showing posts with label novels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label novels. Show all posts
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Saturday, 23 January 2010
Feedback on my books
I'm getting some excellent feedback on Moon Song and Owl Woman. The latest on the latter is ... "Elen..Owl Woman is really great, so rich and deep. I really like your writing style. I haven't done any house work for 2 days!!" ... I think that's a brilliant reccomend for a book.
If you also feel like giving up housework, for a day or 3, you can buy the books here
Enjoy *smile*
Friday, 15 January 2010
Monday, 11 January 2010
The Case of the Ginger Cat
Amused & confused LOL. I've been trying to write the novel about the 3 gold torcs, set here where I live, for a while now. Got loads of notes and background and research but could never really get "the off"! It happened last night, I just took off and got 2.5K words into the laptop just like that, then more again this morning.It's very different to how I had thought it would be! For a start, I'd imagined it being a teen-novel. It's not. It definitely wants to stay in my mystery/romance/magic vein. I don't mind, I'm just surprised. And ... so far ... I'm writing it in the first person. And from the male POV! Not done that before.
I'm enjoying it, and it is different, as I said *g*. It throws you right in at the deep end with a shapeshifter doing his shift in the first 10 lines! He's the hero ... and very sexy as well as nice and magic and all that crap.
She's fun too. It's her learning curve we follow in the mainstream but, of course, he has lots of learning to do too. as does the secondary hero who has rather a shock when he wakes out of 1500 yr sleep into the 21st cetury! Poor lad! And he seems to be a tramp in this century/incarnation but ... well, no spoilers, all will be revealed IDC.
Will keep posting about how the story goes. In the meantime, hope you're enjoying Moon Song. As I said the other day, Moon Song is out now and available at
http://stores.lulu.com/elensentier
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Monday, 9 November 2009
The Moon's Song
Woo-Hoo !!!I've done it !!! I've got to the end, and I quite like the end too :-). It was exhausting, I really groaned as I finished the last words. and it still surprised me right up to the end !!! This story certainly knows its own mind and what it wants.
Of course, there's loads of editing and I'm beginning the first read-through this afternoon. Then my editior has to get her teeth into it and send it back covered in red-line *g*.
I'm going to try to get it fit for publication for the Midwinter feast but will keep you all posted.
Thursday, 5 November 2009
The Moon's Song
Well, it's up to 92K words on the novel but I've still not got the end. It's elusive, I know but I don't know, a definite feel of "stalking" ... very appropriate *g*.
This story, "The Moon's Song" has taken me all sorts of places I hadn't thought of going with it, some deep stuff, but it's also a romance as well as a mystery and I'm extremely fond of the characters. One of the lead males, Tristan, had become rather wet and this didn't suit me (or him!) so this morning was devoted to some reclamation work on him. He tells me being a ghost and without clear memory is very difficult ... I can believe it *g*.
The male lead has evolved considerably during the writing. I thought he would but some of the ways have been surprising. He turns out to have a lot of nouse with regard to magical stuff even without having much experience. I need to explain and expand this some more ... bother! That means more words to write *g*.
The heroine is good, very bolshy at times and feisty but I like that. She has to learn some heavy stuff about control and she manages it too. Like all of us she forgets at times and goes back to ancient habits then has to turn about and do it properly. New habits are always hard to learn.
I'm very pleased with the story. It's far deeper than I expected when I began it, yet has a lightness to it that makes it easy to read - or so my test readers tell me *g*. I love that about writing, how it takes you on a journey, you don't know where you're going properly at the beginning although you start out with a general idea and a plot-line. But you can't stay rigid with that, you have to be flexible and take some apparent side-turnings - they usually lead you to incredibly interesting places. Not always, of course. I followed one for a while with this story and, although it is good, it's not for this book. I've cut it out and stored it away for somewhere else. There's a whole folder full of this stuff, clippings for the future. All witters have them.
So ... I'm hoping to have found the end by the end of the week - say Sunday. will keep you all posted.
This story, "The Moon's Song" has taken me all sorts of places I hadn't thought of going with it, some deep stuff, but it's also a romance as well as a mystery and I'm extremely fond of the characters. One of the lead males, Tristan, had become rather wet and this didn't suit me (or him!) so this morning was devoted to some reclamation work on him. He tells me being a ghost and without clear memory is very difficult ... I can believe it *g*.
The male lead has evolved considerably during the writing. I thought he would but some of the ways have been surprising. He turns out to have a lot of nouse with regard to magical stuff even without having much experience. I need to explain and expand this some more ... bother! That means more words to write *g*.
The heroine is good, very bolshy at times and feisty but I like that. She has to learn some heavy stuff about control and she manages it too. Like all of us she forgets at times and goes back to ancient habits then has to turn about and do it properly. New habits are always hard to learn.
I'm very pleased with the story. It's far deeper than I expected when I began it, yet has a lightness to it that makes it easy to read - or so my test readers tell me *g*. I love that about writing, how it takes you on a journey, you don't know where you're going properly at the beginning although you start out with a general idea and a plot-line. But you can't stay rigid with that, you have to be flexible and take some apparent side-turnings - they usually lead you to incredibly interesting places. Not always, of course. I followed one for a while with this story and, although it is good, it's not for this book. I've cut it out and stored it away for somewhere else. There's a whole folder full of this stuff, clippings for the future. All witters have them.
So ... I'm hoping to have found the end by the end of the week - say Sunday. will keep you all posted.
Thursday, 22 October 2009
The Moon's Song
Very nearly there, on the home stretch with The Moon's Song. I've put a taster up here for you to enjoy :-). It's certainly been an eye-opener for me, the story's taken me places I didn't know it wanted to go when I began. I've thoroughly enjoyed writing it ... and learned a bit myself too *g* ... so I hope you do as well. Let me know ...
Here's the taster ... Books
Here's the taster ... Books
Monday, 3 August 2009
New ideas for Oak Man
The latest novel, Oak Man, has being lying 
around lethargically for months now, just not going anywhere. On Friday night there was a breakthrough.
The story's set in the not too distant future, circa 2027, after a massive influenza plague has wiped out 2/3 of the world population. It's also set in the place where I live which has its own Merlin legend - a character called Dyfrig, who is the Oak Man of the title. I need him to have partially lost his memory and I had real difficulty working up a good reason for this that didn't feel too "manufactured". I hate it when I read stories with "clever" reasons that somehow leak and don't feel right so I hate having to write such :-). Not sure what was going on - except perhaps to keep me focused in the garden growing our food ??? - that stopped me realising this "reason" before, it's certainly one I've known about for a good for years, just didn't make the connection. There was a terrible plague, called the "Yellow Death" at the end of Arthur's reign, and the end of Dyfrig's life. It's scientifically documented and thought to have been augmented by Earth being hit by a small comet causing endless winter for a couple of years and adding famine to the plague. There's archaeological evidence for it all over the northern hemisphere of the planet.
I was reading Caitlin Matthews' "Mabon" - checking up on some reading I need the students to do - and something she said about Merddyn Gwylt led me to the Yellow Plague. a mad Dyfrig, fallen into trance-sleep for some 1400 years, to wake confused and with only half his memory, felt pretty right. And he wakes into a time of the aftermath of plague again. This all fits nicely with my "bad guy" who set up the first plague (in my story, not real history!) and is now involved in the latest one.
There are some twists here - what else? I'm a riddling Celt after all LOL. The Yellow Plague was bad but the latest one has many, many good points. All this helps to add to Dyfrig's confusion. He's aided in his quest for his memory by 2 teenagers, Jenni & Art, and hindered by his old adversary from 1400 years back who has also come forward in time.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeee !!! Off to write some more while the muse smiles *g*
around lethargically for months now, just not going anywhere. On Friday night there was a breakthrough.The story's set in the not too distant future, circa 2027, after a massive influenza plague has wiped out 2/3 of the world population. It's also set in the place where I live which has its own Merlin legend - a character called Dyfrig, who is the Oak Man of the title. I need him to have partially lost his memory and I had real difficulty working up a good reason for this that didn't feel too "manufactured". I hate it when I read stories with "clever" reasons that somehow leak and don't feel right so I hate having to write such :-). Not sure what was going on - except perhaps to keep me focused in the garden growing our food ??? - that stopped me realising this "reason" before, it's certainly one I've known about for a good for years, just didn't make the connection. There was a terrible plague, called the "Yellow Death" at the end of Arthur's reign, and the end of Dyfrig's life. It's scientifically documented and thought to have been augmented by Earth being hit by a small comet causing endless winter for a couple of years and adding famine to the plague. There's archaeological evidence for it all over the northern hemisphere of the planet.
I was reading Caitlin Matthews' "Mabon" - checking up on some reading I need the students to do - and something she said about Merddyn Gwylt led me to the Yellow Plague. a mad Dyfrig, fallen into trance-sleep for some 1400 years, to wake confused and with only half his memory, felt pretty right. And he wakes into a time of the aftermath of plague again. This all fits nicely with my "bad guy" who set up the first plague (in my story, not real history!) and is now involved in the latest one.
There are some twists here - what else? I'm a riddling Celt after all LOL. The Yellow Plague was bad but the latest one has many, many good points. All this helps to add to Dyfrig's confusion. He's aided in his quest for his memory by 2 teenagers, Jenni & Art, and hindered by his old adversary from 1400 years back who has also come forward in time.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeee !!! Off to write some more while the muse smiles *g*
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Self-Publishing Thoughts ...
I just furtled about in Lulu - a good self-publishing place with links to Bowker's Books in Print and Nielsen Book Data, and it gets listed for sale at Amazon.com. This service used to cost $99 but is now free. I've got 2 other books on it - TOAD IN THE SHADOWLANDS and DREAMWEAVER - and they should be up on amazon and available in US (maybe UK?) bookstores soon, like about a month-6 wks I think. See Lulu Marketing Packages.
Lulu put my novel, OWL WOMAN, into their Amazon Marketplace Pilot. The pilot program doesn't cost anything, as yet, but Lulu say that once the service fully defined, an end date will be chosen for the pilot and Lulu will communicate in advance any changes to the service so I can decide whether to continue to list the title on Amazon's Marketplace or not. I feel this is a good idea.
Amazon have got their own self--publishing POD companty together too - booksurge - but this one costs you something over $1000 to set up! Ha! Not the way for most of us penniless, garret-living, starving authors.
I'm becoming quite a Lulu fan. There's some well-known authors using it as well us still scrambling at the bottom rung of the ladder. The rpoduct is nice, good paper, nice rpinting, nice feel to the book. And they do download to.
Not sure if t goes to Kindle but I would have thought it might as they're a US firm. we still can't rally do Kindle well in the UK - it being stuck in one network service provider like the iPod. europe doesn't really go for that kind of monopoly *g*. and Nokia is now pushing hard at iPod for both music and phone stuff, with free downloads for all music while you're on contract. I wonder if they'll get something similar for books? Shall keep my eyes open :-).
I'm slogging away at the Lulu "cook-book" style for the Biodynamic Gardening book - This may be the answer to get what I want but I'm still not sure! It may end up as several small booklets of 20 pages each, depending on cost but also on readabitlity. I need to go see Heather Gorringe at Wiggly wigglers and aske what she thinks. That woman has her head very frimly screwed on with regard to what sells ... AND she's relaly committed to organic and environmental. And she's fun *g*.
Watch this space ...
Lulu put my novel, OWL WOMAN, into their Amazon Marketplace Pilot. The pilot program doesn't cost anything, as yet, but Lulu say that once the service fully defined, an end date will be chosen for the pilot and Lulu will communicate in advance any changes to the service so I can decide whether to continue to list the title on Amazon's Marketplace or not. I feel this is a good idea.
Amazon have got their own self--publishing POD companty together too - booksurge - but this one costs you something over $1000 to set up! Ha! Not the way for most of us penniless, garret-living, starving authors.
I'm becoming quite a Lulu fan. There's some well-known authors using it as well us still scrambling at the bottom rung of the ladder. The rpoduct is nice, good paper, nice rpinting, nice feel to the book. And they do download to.
Not sure if t goes to Kindle but I would have thought it might as they're a US firm. we still can't rally do Kindle well in the UK - it being stuck in one network service provider like the iPod. europe doesn't really go for that kind of monopoly *g*. and Nokia is now pushing hard at iPod for both music and phone stuff, with free downloads for all music while you're on contract. I wonder if they'll get something similar for books? Shall keep my eyes open :-).
I'm slogging away at the Lulu "cook-book" style for the Biodynamic Gardening book - This may be the answer to get what I want but I'm still not sure! It may end up as several small booklets of 20 pages each, depending on cost but also on readabitlity. I need to go see Heather Gorringe at Wiggly wigglers and aske what she thinks. That woman has her head very frimly screwed on with regard to what sells ... AND she's relaly committed to organic and environmental. And she's fun *g*.
Watch this space ...
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