Category: Author

Letting Go, by Maria Thompson Corley, Reviewed.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review

The characters in this lengthy romance lead full and interesting lives. They’re an ethnically diverse group with a couple of the lead protagonists being West Indian. The narrative is set largely in New York and Canada and there are cultural references to these two countries that mean little to a UK reader who’s never visited …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

Well, that’s about it. Today, I finished the line edits and content edits sent by my publisher. It’s been a pretty intense period, with long hours staring at the screen and trying to get the best word(s) in place. I’ve printed the whole book off now (222 pages in Word) and will read it through …

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Looking for the Best Word? Tip #43

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice2 Comments

Some changes from today. Still offering help for writers and language learners, but adding some variety to the topics covered. This series of posts will remain a resource for word lovers but will expand its scope. So, to this week’s words: Ambiguous  Ambiguous - Roget lists these headers: unconformable, double, countervailing, uncertain, semantic, puzzling, equivocal, …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

The MS is complete. I even have a title, agreed after consultations with my publisher, Fantastic Books Publishing. Of which, more later in this post. Because, in publishing terms, the book has a short lead in time (we want to launch at Fantasticon in Hull; a fantasy/gaming/scifi convention that takes place on 2nd and 3rd …

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The Sweet Oil of Vitriol: A Tom Glaze Hit, by Daniel Eagleton, Reviewed.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review

This is a different type of thriller. Dealing with the murky lives of Mossad Agents, it follows the early career of Thomas Glaze, a young man totally deluded about his appeal to women, his ability in the field, and his tolerance for drugs and alcohol. Unsurprisingly, with such a catalogue of denial, he fails miserably …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress2 Comments

Some weeks are a country walk, others a trek across mountainous desert. This one has been a touch demanding. But, the book itself is now done. It lacks a title, of which I have a brainstorming session’s worth of around 50 at present. And the blurb demands to be done. I usually try for three …

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Looking for the Best Word? Tip #41

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Word Choice

Here’s a bit of help for writers who want to make their work more interesting, varied, accurate and effective by using the most appropriate words. There are also insights into some peculiarities of English for those learning the language. A good thesaurus gives substitutes for the idea of a word, but not all are true …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

Reading each chapter, making amendments, additions, deletions, corrections, and then feeding them through grammar checker, Prowritingaid.com. It removes unintended repetitions, weak verbs, and many other small errors you can miss when reading from the screen. It’s pretty intense. But I’m up to page 329 of 411. Twelve chapters to go; mostly in the denouement now, …

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Laid in Earth, by April Taylor, Reviewed.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review2 Comments

Georgie Pattison sings again in this continuation of the amateur sleuth’s adventures. This is a heroine with all the self-doubt, anxieties and fears of any normal woman, but with the courage and sheer bloody-mindedness to find the truth. Justice matters to this lady and she’s willing to take personal risks to find it. Once again, …

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Looking for the Best Word? Tip #40

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice

There’s help here for writers who like to make their work more interesting, varied, accurate and effective by using the most appropriate words. And there are insights into some peculiarities of English for those learning the language. A good thesaurus gives substitutes for the idea of a word, but not all are true synonyms: context …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress2 Comments

I’m currently reading each chapter and then feeding them through grammar checker, Prowritingaid.com. This removes unintended repetitions, weak verbs, and many of other small errors the eye misses when reading from the screen. It’s a fairly intense process. So far, I'm at page 165 of 412 in a Word doc that's double spaced. After that …

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Looking for the Best Word? Tip #39

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice

Some help here for writers who want to make their work more interesting, varied, accurate and effective by using the best words. Also insights into some peculiarities of English for language learners. A good thesaurus gives alternatives for the idea of a word, but not all of these are true synonyms: context is vital. One …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress2 Comments

The work continues. All characters have now been subjected to scrutiny for consistency in their various appearances through the book. Some selected words have been substituted, and certain terms have been introduced. One or two special features are now included to make the story more in keeping with the future in which it’s set. I’m …

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Looking for the Best Word? Tip #38

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Word Choice2 Comments

Some help here for writers who want to make their work more interesting, varied, accurate, and effective by using the best words. Also insights into some peculiarities of English for language learners. A good thesaurus gives alternatives for the idea of a word, but not all of these are true synonyms: context is vital. One …

Continue reading Looking for the Best Word? Tip #38

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

The first rewrite is complete! Whoopee! But that’s by no means the end of the process. Having made the changes to the story elements, I’m now checking for consistency on all 36 named characters over the 54 chapters. So far, I’ve done two of the major players and two minor ones. It’s a check to …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.