Category: Fiction

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 …

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

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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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 …

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

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 …

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

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 …

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Dreaming of Steam, An Anthology from Fantastic Books Publishing, Reviewed.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review4 Comments

Subtitled, ‘23 tales of Wolds and rails’, this book of shorts contains a veritable trainload of charming stories. There are histories, romances, memoirs, ghosts, crime, and even some science fiction and fantasy displayed in this box of delights. Although each story has a different author, there’s unity of approach and style that makes the volume …

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The Polygamist, by William Irvine, Reviewed.

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

A very human story of one man’s relentless search for a way of life that will suit his view of what a man’s life should be. Culture, religion, philosophy and morality all impact on the story, which has a Muslim protagonist, Omar, living in India, where his beliefs are in the minority. There are lessons …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

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

Halfway through the major re-write, and a good many story elements yet to change. That’s the result of working as a pantster: plot develops as the story is created, and that impacts on parts already written. It’s particularly influential on the denouement on this occasion, since I had a ‘light bulb’ moment during an interrupted …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

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

Editing has started! So far, I’m halfway through chapter 3 with the major re-write. But, prior to that, I’d reduced the ‘story’ element of the editing notes from 20 to 12 items, and dealt with 15 of the other notes I’d made whilst writing/re-reading the first draft. I’ve also made progress on the drawing I’m …

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Perils and Pleasures of Penmanship.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, opinion4 Comments

Writing is such an odd occupation, requiring peculiar minds combined with unusual personalities. All writers are weird; that’s a given. We know we’re strange, some of us peculiar to the point of near insanity, others merely eccentric. We’re definitely an odd bunch. But there’s a strange beauty, a wonderful schizophrenia about writing, especially when the …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress3 Comments

A busy few days. But I’m now approaching the point where I can actually begin the editing process. So, what have I been doing this past week? Well, I visited 81 different website posts to consult them on various relevant topics. Some of those were just a few paragraphs, others a few pages, with much …

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NSA, by Benny Neylon, Reviewed.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, politics, Reading, Review

This is satirical, dystopian science fiction taking a brutal swipe at the media, politicians, conspiracy theorists, security experts and the military. All of it richly deserved. The writing is good, characterisation is thorough, creating archetypes rather than indulging in stereotypes as is so often the case with books of this type. The humour is hard, …

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