The Write #Word? Post 8

Do you sometimes struggle to find the ‘right’ word for your writing? I do. Perhaps, in improving myself, I can help other writers. I’m sorry I was unable to place a post in this series last week. If you’re curious as to why, I’ll post a detailed explanation later, but, for now, please forgive the …

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Yet Another iMac Fail!

Regular readers will know I've been having serious problems with my Mac recently. I hoped it had been fixed (at great expense!). But another update was needed this morning and it has failed and set the machine on a downward spiral to utter uselessness, again! There is clearly something wrong with the update system, either …

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Catling’s Bane, by D. Wallace Peach: #BookReview.

310 pages. Science Fiction and Fantasy. What an engaging tale this is. It says a lot for the quality of the writing and the compelling nature of the story that I continued to read this despite some pretty difficult issues in my online/working life at the time! I’m a reader who loves books where characters …

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A Great #Review for War Over Dust!

A new and very positive review for War Over Mars has now appeared on both Goodreads and Amazon. You can read it here. https://read.amazon.co.uk/kp/card?asin=B0749NW6W8&preview=inline&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_AtWHAbQ4J5NG6&tag=stuartaken-21

The Book Reviewer Yellow Pages, by Christine Pinheiro: #BookReview.

Subtitled ‘A Promotional Reference Guide for Authors and Small Publishers’, this extensive reference guide is full of information and helpful advice. It’s essentially a listing of websites, blogs, service providers and organisations involved in the promotion of books. As the subtitle makes clear, it’s of special relevance to the self-published author and the small independent …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

The rewrite is now under way and progressing pretty well considering… ‘Considering what?’ I hear you cry. In answer, I’ll simply direct you to a previous post here. Added to what’s in that post, my Mac continues to play silly buggers for reasons I’m at a loss to determine. I’ve looked at the ‘help’ and …

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When Inanimate Objects Conspire Against You!

Gremlins? The wicked hand of fate? Bad luck? Or simply a random event that’s not personal at all? On Friday, I rose at my customary hour (between 07:00 and 08:30 now I’ve retired from the ranks of the wage slaves). My Mac had a little notification, top right, advising that some updates hadn’t been installed. …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

I finished the first draft of the current novel on 19 January, with 63269 words written. For reasons I’m unclear about, I neglected to write one of these posts on the following Wednesday, my regular day for this. I probably forgot in the joy of getting the story on the page! So, my apologies for …

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Getting to Know the #Author

I have recently been interviewed on a website to which I contribute a short monthly column. You can find the interview by clicking this link. And the picture above? Well, it's drab January here in UK, so I thought I'd warm us up with a picture of summer in the Greek Islands. And there's a …

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My Route to a Publisher

Below you'll find a link to a short post from the blog run by the writing group I belong to. It shows, in very few words, how I came to be published instead of only self-published. And it offers the chance of a similar route to other writers. http://www.hornseawriters.com/2018/01/local-publisher-takes-shine-to-hornsea.html  

The Write Word? Post 4

Do you sometimes struggle to find the ‘right’ word for your writing? I know I do. Maybe, in helping myself, I can help other writers. Today’s words: Chronic/Acute, Completely Annihilate, Synaesthesia Words often misused: Chronic is often confused with ‘acute’, but, medically, they’re opposites. Chronic means long-lasting and includes such conditions as Type 1 diabetes, …

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The Write Word? Post 2

Do you sometimes struggle to find the ‘right’ word for your writing? I do. Maybe, in helping myself, I can help other writers. I’ve been posting pieces titled ‘Looking for the Best Word?’ until I reached post 70, at the end of 2017, and decided a different approach could help remotivate me and might be …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Last week I had a total of 30,829 words. This week, in spite of the two-day celebration, a book review, a lunch at a local pub, a night spent watching a play on a local stage, and several longish walks through the forest, clearing fallen trees and branches to allow other walkers to get through, …

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Looking for the Best Word? Tip #69

Help for writers and language learners; these posts look at different aspects of the world of words to stimulate curiosity and enhance creativity. My apologies: This post should have appeared yesterday. No real excuse, except I took a rather longer walk than usual and the day was over before I realised it! This week’s words: …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Last week I had a total of 18,835 words; this week’s total is 30,829, an increase of 12,000. Not bad, considering the other things that have been happening in and around my life. Only today, we had an interruption in our power supply as the local company came along to update some of the equipment …

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