Category: Fiction

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

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

Much like the swan paddling upstream, most action on the WIP is happening beneath the surface for now, so I thought I’d post a piece on the process of writing the book, the reasons behind some decisions. As I recently had a rather unusual review of the first two books in the series, highlighting the …

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The #Write #Word? Post 27

On By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Fiction, Grammar, Word Choice8 Comments

Struggling to find the ‘right’ word for your writing? You’re not alone. Maybe, in trying to improve my own work, I can help other writers. Today’s words: Tranquil/Turbulent, Transpire, Take action to, Tenant, Triskaidekaphobia. Antonyms: words that express the opposite of other words can be hard to find, because thesauruses usually give no examples. When …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

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

We’re in that quiet-on-the-surface period, when the publisher is frantically busy behind the scenes but very little shows on the surface. So, briefly, regarding progress: the book’s with the publisher and proceeding through the various steps that take an author’s words and make a book of them. The cover’s well on the way to being …

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The 93-E Contradiction, by Melodie Trudeaux: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction

Science Fiction 24 pages This science fiction short story looks at the threat imposed by over-reliance on technical advances without regulation. We live in a world where many things are possible. This book asks the question, ‘Just because we can, does it mean we should?’ I leave it to the reader to decide, after reading …

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Mrs Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Literature, Reading, Review6 Comments

Classics 208pps This classic of English Literature breaks all the rules of writing a novel; a bold step at the time of its creation. Viewpoints come and go, often without any real introduction, and sometimes within a paragraph. Passages develop and proceed, often without any indication of who we’re listening to in their internal dialogue, …

Continue reading Mrs Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf: #BookReview.

The #Write #Word? Post 26

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

Struggle to find the ‘right’ word for your writing? You’re not alone. Maybe, in trying to improve my own work, I can help other writers. Today’s words: Science Fiction, Somewhat, Sceptic/Denier, Set forth in, Solicitor. Synonyms are alternative words that might say exactly what you’re trying to convey. Science Fiction: defined as a genre of …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

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

‘Tis done! The final version of the MS ran out to 76,749 words in 41 Chapters. Great when you get back an acknowledgement from your publisher’s editor saying, ‘Excellent! Next time you see it, it’ll be a book!’ The next stage will be the cover, which I’ll post here as soon as I’ve seen it. …

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

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

Well, it’s back with the publisher.  The finished MS ran out to 75949 words, though whether that will be the published total depends on how the editor sees my changes. I’m expecting to have the book back for some minor tweaks and the odd typo, etc. But I’m relatively confident the MS I delivered on …

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

1000 Yards, by Mark Dawson: #BookReview.

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

85 pps Thriller/Espionage. This short is written in typical ‘thriller’ style, however, it also gives the reader some meat on the bones of the characters, which is great. The depiction of North Korea is chilling, and reads as though the author has first-hand experience. The protagonist, Milton, shows some concern for those who help him …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

And the tale continues. This book’s been subject to a number of interruptions during its creation. Not least was the collapse of my iMac, it’s replacement with a Windows 10 PC, and the appallingly drawn-out and unnecessarily complex issue of transferring files from iCloud to MS OneNote. I’ve dealt with corrupted files along the way, …

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

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

As a general rule, authors dislike dealing with the edits sent them by their publishers. It’s often a battleground between competing egos. However, I welcome the chance to correct those things that escaped my attention by being too close to the creation. I’m on the third pass through the MS, having already done the full …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

Now the serious editing has started: I received the publisher’s editing notes on Monday and I’ve been beavering away at them ever since. Both the creation and my editing of the book were interrupted by several events over which I had no control. And my final editing session was done under pressure of knowing I’d …

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Everybody Shrugged, by Walt Pilcher: #BookReview.

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

354 pps Genre Fiction/Political/Literary humour. Humour in any book is a gamble. We don’t all see with the same eyes. Whilst this novel rarely made me laugh out loud, I did smile and grin a lot, so it was a positive experience. That it managed this while dealing with such issues as government incompetence (this …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

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

Now the WIP is with the publisher, and I’m awaiting the response, the result of their edit, the cover and design suggestions, I thought I’d review my Science Fiction activity to date. ‘Ten Tales for Tomorrow’, was self-published in January 2011. It’s a collection of mostly dark, sometimes humorous, speculative fiction. There’s variety here; everything …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress6 Comments

Well, that’s it! The book is with my publisher. At 67,269 words, it’s the shortest of my novels. But it’ll be a damned good read (not that I’m in any way biased, you understand). The final part of the editing process for me was a read-through, aloud, from a print run. Many authors neglect this …

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