Yet Another Cycling Forum

Off Topic => The Pub => Arts and Entertainment => Topic started by: Jock Stewart on 04 August, 2016, 01:53:26 pm

Title: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Jock Stewart on 04 August, 2016, 01:53:26 pm
Mine is a female version of Kes set in 2016.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 04 August, 2016, 02:22:26 pm
An abridged modern take on War and Peace but without any Russians.  Well, hardly any Russians; IIRC there's about one.  And not much writing, really.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Wascally Weasel on 04 August, 2016, 04:36:38 pm
I think the thread title would be "Which books are you currently not writing?" in my case.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 04 August, 2016, 09:57:07 pm
Gins wot I have drunk
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 05 August, 2016, 06:34:10 pm
Er.... serious answer. "A Longer War", a development of my short story "Dark Night of the Soul", starting in 1944, and "Sisters", another volume of the Sussex Border Stories which has its focus on Elaine Powell and her wife. About 60K and 80K words respectively so far.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Jock Stewart on 06 August, 2016, 11:19:02 am
Published?
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Jakob W on 06 August, 2016, 11:50:58 am
FCVO writing:* a history of gas turbine and jet engine research at Metropolitan-Vickers in Manchester.


*As in I've all the research material and and have finished various sections, but haven't looked at it for the best part of a year after the publishers went belly-up... Should probably see what the current situation there is.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 06 August, 2016, 05:51:16 pm
Published?
Mine? Ten so far. These two are nearly finished.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: ian on 09 August, 2016, 07:57:27 pm
Final draft of my frankly awfully overlong SF magnum opus space opera thing that I wrote as a pub dare after a long gripe about multi-volume SF series. Really, just don't bet me stuff. No I mean it, it's like 900,000 words and two years of my life. For £10. And they changed the rules. Apparently I don't just have to write the thing, it has to be published (properly, not vanity or self-publishing), and only then I get my £10.

On the plus side, that's probably twice as much as most authors earn for a book.

I'm reading it now on my kindle and it's not that bad, but could stand to go on a substantial wordage diet. But hey, it's SF. I should probably try to do something with it (tbh, writing is a labour of love rather than a plan to make a living). If anyone knows a literary agent with a masochistic bent (OK, that's possibly all of them), let me know.

That out of the way, I'm working on on my far more enjoyable vampire book. Oh, I know it's hackneyed cliché pile up of a genre, but really, if you like undead sarcastic librarians, murderous angels, serial killers, the anti-christ, and, erm, the apocalypse coming to Croydon, you might like it. If you like Twilight, really you won't. Like I say, I write for fun rather than to expose my talents or make a living. Which is probably for the best. Plus it diverts me from writing crap on the internet.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Andrij on 09 August, 2016, 08:42:55 pm
I was under the impression Mr Larrington had literary aspirations...
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Torslanda on 14 August, 2016, 07:46:24 pm
I was under the impression Mr Larrington had literary aspirations...

We keep feeding him plot lines, too . . .
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 14 August, 2016, 08:01:46 pm
Final draft of my frankly awfully overlong SF magnum opus space opera thing that I wrote as a pub dare after a long gripe about multi-volume SF series. Really, just don't bet me stuff. No I mean it, it's like 900,000 words and two years of my life. For £10. And they changed the rules. Apparently I don't just have to write the thing, it has to be published (properly, not vanity or self-publishing), and only then I get my £10.

On the plus side, that's probably twice as much as most authors earn for a book.

I'm reading it now on my kindle and it's not that bad, but could stand to go on a substantial wordage diet. But hey, it's SF. I should probably try to do something with it (tbh, writing is a labour of love rather than a plan to make a living). If anyone knows a literary agent with a masochistic bent (OK, that's possibly all of them), let me know.

That out of the way, I'm working on on my far more enjoyable vampire book. Oh, I know it's hackneyed cliché pile up of a genre, but really, if you like undead sarcastic librarians, murderous angels, serial killers, the anti-christ, and, erm, the apocalypse coming to Croydon, you might like it. If you like Twilight, really you won't. Like I say, I write for fun rather than to expose my talents or make a living. Which is probably for the best. Plus it diverts me from writing crap on the internet.

Where can we download these tomes of wonder?
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: ian on 15 August, 2016, 02:36:28 pm
Final draft of my frankly awfully overlong SF magnum opus space opera thing that I wrote as a pub dare after a long gripe about multi-volume SF series. Really, just don't bet me stuff. No I mean it, it's like 900,000 words and two years of my life. For £10. And they changed the rules. Apparently I don't just have to write the thing, it has to be published (properly, not vanity or self-publishing), and only then I get my £10.

On the plus side, that's probably twice as much as most authors earn for a book.

I'm reading it now on my kindle and it's not that bad, but could stand to go on a substantial wordage diet. But hey, it's SF. I should probably try to do something with it (tbh, writing is a labour of love rather than a plan to make a living). If anyone knows a literary agent with a masochistic bent (OK, that's possibly all of them), let me know.

That out of the way, I'm working on on my far more enjoyable vampire book. Oh, I know it's hackneyed cliché pile up of a genre, but really, if you like undead sarcastic librarians, murderous angels, serial killers, the anti-christ, and, erm, the apocalypse coming to Croydon, you might like it. If you like Twilight, really you won't. Like I say, I write for fun rather than to expose my talents or make a living. Which is probably for the best. Plus it diverts me from writing crap on the internet.

Where can we download these tomes of wonder?

Nowhere at the moment because I've not decided what I want to do with it*. It genuinely needs the skills of a proper editor.

My vampire book is about to go through the final revision, admittedly mostly so I can moon over the heroine, the immortally sarcastic, and splendidly freckled Jess. My wife thinks it's unnatural that I spend my late evenings in front of a computer doing this rather than 'downloading porn like a normal bloke.'

*If anyone is that keen to read nearly a million words of pre-release SF claptrap you can have it provided you heartily promise to buy the vastly overpriced published version should it ever become available and also promise not to sue me for any mental distress reading it may cause.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Jakob W on 14 December, 2016, 10:23:44 am
Well, I now have a contract for a kids' illustrated history of aviation, so I should probably get on with the writing, especially as they want the manuscript by late February...
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Wascally Weasel on 14 December, 2016, 11:15:16 am
Final draft of my frankly awfully overlong SF magnum opus space opera thing that I wrote as a pub dare after a long gripe about multi-volume SF series. Really, just don't bet me stuff. No I mean it, it's like 900,000 words and two years of my life. For £10. And they changed the rules. Apparently I don't just have to write the thing, it has to be published (properly, not vanity or self-publishing), and only then I get my £10.

On the plus side, that's probably twice as much as most authors earn for a book.

I'm reading it now on my kindle and it's not that bad, but could stand to go on a substantial wordage diet. But hey, it's SF. I should probably try to do something with it (tbh, writing is a labour of love rather than a plan to make a living). If anyone knows a literary agent with a masochistic bent (OK, that's possibly all of them), let me know.

That out of the way, I'm working on on my far more enjoyable vampire book. Oh, I know it's hackneyed cliché pile up of a genre, but really, if you like undead sarcastic librarians, murderous angels, serial killers, the anti-christ, and, erm, the apocalypse coming to Croydon, you might like it. If you like Twilight, really you won't. Like I say, I write for fun rather than to expose my talents or make a living. Which is probably for the best. Plus it diverts me from writing crap on the internet.

Where can we download these tomes of wonder?

Nowhere at the moment because I've not decided what I want to do with it*. It genuinely needs the skills of a proper editor.

My vampire book is about to go through the final revision, admittedly mostly so I can moon over the heroine, the immortally sarcastic, and splendidly freckled Jess. My wife thinks it's unnatural that I spend my late evenings in front of a computer doing this rather than 'downloading porn like a normal bloke.'

*If anyone is that keen to read nearly a million words of pre-release SF claptrap you can have it provided you heartily promise to buy the vastly overpriced published version should it ever become available and also promise not to sue me for any mental distress reading it may cause.

You are Peter F Hamilton AICMFP.  I can wait until you get your tenner though.

I'm still angry about how stupid the ending of one of his ridiculously lengthy trilogies was.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 14 December, 2016, 11:55:47 am
You are Peter F Hamilton AICMFP.  I can wait until you get your tenner though.

I'm still angry about how stupid the ending of one of his ridiculously lengthy trilogies was.

Oh, let me guess, was that the one where the (devilishly handsome) young hero flies off and finds the mysterious shiny (definitely not a McGuffin) neo-god and talks it into saving the universe?
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Legs on 14 December, 2016, 12:08:38 pm
TBH I've just checked out the synopses of a few PFH books and they do sound like utter dross - what were you expecting?  But then I've got quite a low sci-fi threshold...
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Wascally Weasel on 14 December, 2016, 01:13:31 pm
You are Peter F Hamilton AICMFP.  I can wait until you get your tenner though.

I'm still angry about how stupid the ending of one of his ridiculously lengthy trilogies was.

Oh, let me guess, was that the one where the (devilishly handsome) young hero flies off and finds the mysterious shiny (definitely not a McGuffin) neo-god and talks it into saving the universe?

Yeah that, about 5,000 pages later.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Jakob W on 14 December, 2016, 01:45:00 pm
The Greg Mendel books were pretty good, as was _Reality Dysfunction _*; I think it was just that the latter was so successful PFH decided massive potboilers were the way o go, and of course he became too big to edit...

*or at least some cracking set-pieces IIRC; it has been 15 years or more since I read it.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: ian on 14 December, 2016, 06:52:46 pm
I pick up PFH books in a knowledge that I'm effectively planning to circumnavigate the world on a pogo stick and end my epic journal in Slough with a celebratory pint of Fosters. But I do it. There was some godawful crime one which comprised a million pages of some boring copper-of-the-future simulating a crime scene. A bit more each time. One million pages. The sci-fi stuff isn't quite that painful. But yes, this was my muse for writing a sci-fi epic, though I topped out at the 750k word mark. Credit to the man, it's harder than it looks. Anyway, I managed to squeeze inscrutable aliens, redheads (always), more aliens, and a lot of shit blowing up, some completely made-up physics (the best kind), robots, sex robots, redheads (robot and non-robot), and a suitably vague ending that suggests either that there's more to come, or that it was supposed to be that way because I'm annoyingly cryptic. I write the endings first. Everything else is figuring out how to get there.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: tiermat on 14 December, 2016, 07:26:49 pm
Most deffo not writing but (at the moment), in homage to Mark Radcliffe, "Diary of an IT Nobody"
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Jock Stewart on 16 December, 2016, 10:40:59 am
I've given up on a female version of Kes. Decided to write a gothic 19 century tale of a suave drunken psychotic Scottish gamekeeper/laird who makes the local poor beauty pregnant. It all ends in murder, a skewered love triangle, and gritty sadness for all concerned.

No humour, just black irony.

Depending on the quality of the writing to lift it above being a cliche.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Jock Stewart on 16 December, 2016, 10:43:13 am
Published?
Mine? Ten so far. These two are nearly finished.

Blimey. That's cool.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: CrazyEnglishTriathlete on 16 December, 2016, 09:54:30 pm
I'm writing tonight as I have been off and on since 1997 when I started with what I thought would be a light-hearted antidote to writing an epic fantasy novel.  I still haven't written that epic fantasy novel but i have written a lot around it, and I'm running out of excuses to get going on the centrepiece.  Then, when I eventually retire I might get round to the hard task of editing them (when I no longer have to wordsmith professional reports and proposals) and see if I can get them published.  If not, will still enjoy reading them, as the stories have been so long in gestation that they have been bound up with my life.

Unfortunately I put that DVD of Ritchie Blackmore's return to rock on and I've been mostly watching that, so very few words have actually been etched onto the flash drive.  But as I have returned to the gambler and the spy from the first tale back in 97 the words will soon start to flow.  And there will be plenty of time over Christmas to get going.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 27 February, 2017, 10:27:37 pm
Well, Kindle have now delivered a workable but slightly clunky dead tree format, and I spent a couple of hours formatting one of my books, 'Cider Without Roses', which was interesting to write as the narrator is a Norman woman who speaks very good English but delivers it in a notably French way. One thing I enjoyed was translating the swearing literally from the original French.

It has an additional short SF/horror tale which opens "There was a group of children on the street, playing with a dog. As I watched, one of them started to eat it from the tail end."

https://www.amazon.co.uk/S.-A.-A.-Calvert/e/B00E9GBM6C/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1488224734&sr=8-1
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 17 July, 2017, 05:20:09 pm
Just finished uploading the manuscript and publishing the latest novel, a bit of a departure for me as it is about a man and written from his point of view. It is very largely set in and around the city of York and features Acaster Malbis.

The title is "A Longer War" by S.A.A. Calvert, and it should make its way through their publishing system in two to three days.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 18 October, 2017, 06:20:36 pm
And again, the book I was writing in parallel is in the publishing pipeline. It is one of the Sussex Border Stories, with the title 'Sisters'. It is a mixture of lesbian romance/relationship story and crime novel. The lead character is a police officer presented with a series of violent assaults to clear up, assaults that are getting steadily worse. A lot of stones are turned over, and sundry vermin revealed.

'Sisters', by S.A.A. Calvert.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 19 October, 2017, 03:45:05 pm
It's up.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B076KB1C8H/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508424244&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=susters+sussex+border
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 19 October, 2017, 11:04:54 pm
Bloody hell...just seen a comment from USAnia from a couple of months ago, on 'A Longer War'. Gobsmacked!

"Read this book to meet this good man. And along the way, enjoy a wonderful tale masterfully written.

It took me fifteen hours and a quarter of a box of tissues to read this novel. This is the story of an exceptionally good man. The story was so moving it frequently reduced me to sobbing. Not in sadness but in joy. In another novel, one of Calvert's characters exhorts 'be excellent to one another'. And the protagonist of this novel lives this paradigm to the maximum of his ability.

I have read all (I think) of Calvert's prior work. It is very good. This novel is so far beyond good as to beggar my vocabulary in attempting to describe it. Let me just say this: There is a saying that what can be imagined can be achieved. Calvert has imagined a truly good human being. Let us all strive to achieve her vision. Even if we fall short, the result will be glorious"
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: T42 on 20 October, 2017, 08:45:20 am
:thumbsup:
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 07 April, 2018, 05:18:33 am
...and another one published, a police story:

The Job. It's also listed under 'Sussex Border Stories' on Amazon, and I have taken the liberty of dedicating it to three people OTP.

It is set around Cardiff and Barry.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Graeme on 09 April, 2018, 07:20:29 pm
...and another one published, a police story:

The Job. It's also listed under 'Sussex Border Stories' on Amazon, and I have taken the liberty of dedicating it to three people OTP.

It is set around Cardiff and Barry.

Is it scary?
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 09 April, 2018, 07:28:10 pm
...and another one published, a police story:

The Job. It's also listed under 'Sussex Border Stories' on Amazon, and I have taken the liberty of dedicating it to three people OTP.

It is set around Cardiff and Barry.

Is it scary?
My books get scary in places, as they are real world stuff, or as real as I can make them.  What I concentrate on is the power of love, friendship, family in the broad sense. Both the Dun Run and PBP  make appearances in the set... as well as the FNRttC
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Graeme on 09 April, 2018, 08:54:39 pm
...and another one published, a police story:

The Job. It's also listed under 'Sussex Border Stories' on Amazon, and I have taken the liberty of dedicating it to three people OTP.

It is set around Cardiff and Barry.

Is it scary?
My books get scary in places, as they are real world stuff, or as real as I can make them.  What I concentrate on is the power of love, friendship, family in the broad sense. Both the Dun Run and PBP  make appearances in the set... as well as the FNRttC

Currently reading The Longer War.  O:-)
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 10 April, 2018, 12:48:48 pm
Have a box of tissues ready. Let me know what you think?

No. Not a box of tissues for that reason, you filthy lot.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Graeme on 10 April, 2018, 04:44:14 pm
Have a box of tissues ready. Let me know what you think?

No. Not a box of tissues for that reason, you filthy lot.

 ???

/Innocence
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 10 April, 2018, 07:12:02 pm
 ;D
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 13 February, 2019, 09:51:22 pm
Just had a spooky moment. I will place it in a spoiler box for anyone that might want to read the book. Suffice it to say that I picked a crime for my characters to investigate, and selected a location for it to occur in. It is not a common crime. The Beeb have just reported on exactly that crime taking place in EXACTLY the spot I selected.

(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Redlight on 14 February, 2019, 02:57:48 pm
Life imitates art?

(Actually, I hope that not true as I have just finished a story set in a POW camp near Carlisle at the end of a very bloody British civil war.)
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 12 March, 2019, 07:01:36 pm
,,,and again. I have one book which starts with some pretty dire sexual abuse in a secure 'home', and one of the worst culprits, Charlie Cooper, appears in a couple of later books. I had a very, VERY clear image of his appearance.

THIS is how I saw him.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-47258310
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 31 May, 2019, 07:17:01 pm
That is done, then. Latest book, my 14th, some 179.5K words, is "in review" with Amazon. It is called "Dancing to a New Beat" and follows on from "The Job".

It is a police procedural-cum-romance-cum-Stuff. There is a lot less cycling in this one, but it does include a little bit of climbing, frozz yog, CAIK and BEER.

Should be up on sale in a couple of days, unless they play silly sods with the copyright checks again.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 06 July, 2019, 07:25:55 pm
Out and selling... and I just can't leave things alone.

Four chapters into writing No. 15.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 01 June, 2020, 08:45:48 pm
I am not going to go into the incompetence of Amazon Kindle...but my paperback version of The Job is now on sale.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B089CZ3ZW3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3E9WPFT0TNBTV&dchild=1&keywords=sussex+border+stories&qid=1591039886&sprefix=sussex+bo%2Caps%2C642&sr=8-1
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Redlight on 29 June, 2020, 02:35:51 pm
Shameless plug here.  It's only the first chapter, but I'm delighted to have one of my short stories in a collection published today and available as an E-book on Amazon. The book contains the winners of  flash fiction competition in which writers had to produce a 1,000 word story in seven days, using two randomly-assigned prompts.

You can read my piece as a taster below but then, if you like it, please buy the book as the other 19 stories offer a diverse and intriguing selection of ideas. All profits go to First Story, which is a UK-based charity that puts creative writers into schools to help foster children's creativity through storytelling.

http://tldrpress.org/index.php/1kwhc-flash-fiction-winner-children-of-the-moon-by-rob-mcivor/ (http://tldrpress.org/index.php/1kwhc-flash-fiction-winner-children-of-the-moon-by-rob-mcivor/)
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: MikeFromLFE on 29 June, 2020, 11:03:36 pm
I scratched an itch about a year ago, and published my book on Smashwords earlier this year. It was a dystopian post-Brexit crime procedural kind of thing - unfortunately bits of it are coming true.

I've started sketching out something a bit more imaginative based on the same 'world' but using a letter I've left for my great-grandchildren telling them to go and find all the places in my sketch books - so it's a future travel journal of a trip round a dystopian England. If it ever gets past the drafting stage.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: ian on 30 June, 2020, 02:15:41 pm
I am writing the followup to Jess's most recent adventure in poor grammar and spelling mishaps. The gang is back together. A pair of lovelorn angelic (mostly) ex-assassins, a genocidal archangel, a mass outbreak of demonic possession and a plot to invade the realm of the dead, a consequently very cranky Death, a nuclear war in Heaven, two psychotic, bickering demi-gods with a serious case of sibling rivalry, and Jess's ghostly, movie-debating flatmates. Of course, one of those demi-gods is Finestre, current Queen of Hell and honorary Lucifer (because, well, she killed all the other demons). Jess is, on the other hand, trying not to kill so many people, well, not unless they deserve it which it seems they so often do.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: ian on 01 July, 2020, 03:27:39 pm
I totally forgot the zombie babies. There are zombie babies.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 25 July, 2020, 10:51:20 am
I totally forgot the zombie babies. There are zombie babies.

My latest was out yesterday, "Lifeline". Abused child finds home with those living in cracks of society. Straights get outraged.

All sounds rather tame compared to Ian's. I am unable to offer zombie babies, but I do have the Kinks, a Triton and Northumberland coasts and castles. And Chester.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Peter on 25 July, 2020, 11:37:29 am
Triton as in Bonneville in a featherbed frame?  I once rode pillion on one of those and not that far from Northumberland.  One of the scariest moments of my life - all that power yet totally powerless!
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 25 July, 2020, 07:25:59 pm
Not a Bonny, but  still a Triumph in a Norton frame. In another of my books, Cold Feet, a central character has an even nicer beast, a Norvin.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Peter on 25 July, 2020, 07:46:16 pm
Pretty sure "mine" was a Bonny but it's a long time ago.  Never saw a Norvin.  Looking it up on wiki, I realise that's a great shame!  The Vincents were quite common in my youth, mainly Shadows, I think.  And the police rode whispering velos!
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: quixoticgeek on 25 July, 2020, 08:15:48 pm
It's up.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B076KB1C8H/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508424244&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=susters+sussex+border

It's book 9, do we need to read books 1-8 for this to make sense? Does it spoil any of the others?

J
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 26 July, 2020, 10:23:19 am
It's up.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B076KB1C8H/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508424244&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=susters+sussex+border

It's book 9, do we need to read books 1-8 for this to make sense? Does it spoil any of the others?

J

All the books are linked, but they work as stand-alones, mostly, except where there are paired sequels. ;Riding Home', for example, is the follow-on to 'Ride On', and 'Dancing to a New Beat' follows 'The Job'. There is a pool of characters who pass through several of the books, but knowing who they are isn't crucial.

What I do is write almost entirely in first person, but not FP omniscient. That means that the narrator only reports on what they see and hear, which allows me to "see" an event from multiple viewpoints. As an example, a unifying plot element is a murder. The viewpoints I have set up  different books/stories for that are:

The victim, as far as the start of the evening in question.
A friend of a friend, who helps trigger a proper investigation.
The police officer tasked with body bag duties.
The youth worker who helps organise the funeral.
Two separate colleagues who watch the damage done to the first police officer by PTSD and guilt.

I tend to write about characters rather than relying on Twisty Plots, partly because TPs are not my forte, but mainly because writing character-driven stuff is, IMHO, easier. Once you've established the character, they write themselves.

Your quote is about 'Sisters', from 2017, which is completely self-sufficient as a book. I wrote "Cold Feet" seven years ago, and the main character has a sister who is quite important in the plot. "Sisters" is her story, and can be read without knowing the 'Cold Feet' part as [Venn] it overlaps rather than eclipses.

My first book REALLY shows my lack of experience, but I still like it, clunkiness and all.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: quixoticgeek on 02 August, 2020, 11:38:18 pm

I saw this on twitter from one of my favourite authors and it made me think of you all...

https://twitter.com/megelison/status/1289642958849847297

J
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: JennyB on 03 August, 2020, 06:17:43 pm
I mostly edit other people's work, but recently I had a piece published in this (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Women-Aloud-NI/e/B088FX2QTC?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1596474601&sr=8-1).
I'm currently writing a novel about what happened to the shepherds of Bethlehem, featuring a twelve-year-old Jesus, a trans Judas, and a very disillusioned Angel Gabriel.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: JennyB on 03 August, 2020, 06:22:38 pm

I saw this on twitter from one of my favourite authors and it made me think of you all...

https://twitter.com/megelison/status/1289642958849847297 (https://twitter.com/megelison/status/1289642958849847297)

J
I'm not surprised. Paul Klee called drawing 'taking a line for a walk'. Writing is taking a phrase for a ride. Poems and Short stories are wee spins: novelists are audaxers.  :P
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Mr Larrington on 03 August, 2020, 11:29:02 pm
Having just finished the latest offering from Mr S King of USAnia, if a talking rat offers you a deal in order to finish your novel, make sure you read the small print before accepting.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 04 August, 2020, 03:05:44 pm

I saw this on twitter from one of my favourite authors and it made me think of you all...

https://twitter.com/megelison/status/1289642958849847297 (https://twitter.com/megelison/status/1289642958849847297)

J
I'm not surprised. Paul Klee called drawing 'taking a line for a walk'. Writing is taking a phrase for a ride. Poems and Short stories are wee spins: novelists are audaxers.  :P

Given my way of writing (create a character, then let them tell their story), it's more like doing LEL as a tandem stoker with a pilot who has much more stamina than you.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 24 July, 2021, 01:36:55 pm
Finally put book 16 into the review cycle, so it should be out in a day or two. 'Broken Wings'

Sequel to 'Lifeline;

A bit of ab epic, at 248K words.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: ravenbait on 29 July, 2021, 12:41:09 pm
I have two novels in progress. "The Earth Cannot Hold" is an alternate universe version of the fall of the Romanov Empire in a science fiction setting. "An Elegy In Dustvines" is another science fiction story about identity and the value of human life. My novella set in a far future version of the Hebrides has been rejected again, so I'm considering expanding that into a novel.

Mostly I'm writing shorts, though.

Sam
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: CrazyEnglishTriathlete on 01 August, 2021, 05:45:59 pm
I continue to write, but without any plan for publication, until I retire, at which point (a) I should have finished what I am writing and (b) will have more time and energy for the painful task of editing, but the current volume, tying short stories together in a frame that reflects the overall history related by the short stories, is gradually coming together.  That sets everything up for to start the final volume towards the end of the year.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: ian on 02 August, 2021, 01:01:16 pm
People always ask me when I'm going to get my stuff published (like it's that easy), which sort of misses the point that I'm not that bothered, I write because it's a hobby and it gets stuff our my overstuffed head, and we should all cohabit our mental space with a morally compromised undead librarian.

It's like going for a bike ride and everyone saying 'well, when you are entering the TdF?'

Of course, if someone wants to give me a massive advance and publish them, I wouldn't complain.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Redlight on 02 August, 2021, 06:45:11 pm
I'm currently attempting to edit an ambitious novel (which begins with the unexplained death of the race leader on the penultimate day of the Tour De France) down from the 240,000 word first draft to something a little more manageable. I'm down to about 170,000 at the moment and about halfway through, leaving a trail of slaughtered subplots and vanquished minor characters in my wake. 

Quite what I'll do with it once I don't feel I can edit in any further I don't know, but I have a feeling it's not going to appeal to a traditional publisher so may have to go down the self-publishing route.

In the meantime, I have a decent portfolio of short stories that I'm thinking of collecting together in an anthology, perhaps with a view to publishing myself next year.   All I need is more time.....
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: ian on 02 August, 2021, 07:57:48 pm
Getting published is still a bit of a connections game, battling with the slushpile has very low odds of success unless you've got the connections to net an agent. And even then, I'd need to be convinced that the world needs yet another volume of 'urban fantasy.' But it's so much fun to write, so whatever.

That said, I do have an epic 350k sci-fi epic, which I suspect is more publishable because people like big sci-fi books (and I wrote it big because I was dared to). It's got robots and spaceships and aliens things blowing up on astronomical scales. I did reread it recently, and it's honestly not that bad, I would read it. Then I remembered just how discriminating I am when it comes to books and film. I should not be anyone's guide to talent and taste. It needs an unsentimental and brutal editor though. With a chainsaw.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Redlight on 11 November, 2021, 03:19:08 pm
Not a book (no 1 is in the 'to be revisited' drawer and no 2 is about 30,000 words in) but here's a little bit of flash fiction that popped up on the interweb on Tuesday, inspired by some people I encountered on an early morning walk along a beach in West Africa some years ago.

https://www.sledgehammerlit.com/post/the-price-of-power-by-rob-mcivor (https://www.sledgehammerlit.com/post/the-price-of-power-by-rob-mcivor)
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: ian on 12 November, 2021, 09:44:33 pm
Undead Jess's second adventure is coming to an end. Entire armies of the possessed. Shopping malls in Hell. The truth about open-plan offices. Bickering, homicidal angels. Movie night with the undead. Ghostly flatmates. Archangel Gabriel and his overcompensating blade. Death himself. A guest appearance by the flesh-eating dead babies*. No mere ending of the world this time, we're talking the end of the universe. And yes, yes, yes, Finestre, she of the heels and the horns, and Queen of Hell makes her debut. Splendidly psychotic. Admittedly, she does have a head in a carrier bag, though to be fair, Jess put the head in the bag. Those two are getting on fine. Cliffhanger, so I'm going to have to write a third.

My wife described Jess's first adventure as the 'work of a very disturbed mind.' Plus she thinks I am having an affair with Jess. I so would. This one is going to get me sectioned and possibly divorced.

*yeah, yeah, I know what you're going to say, but they eat glass first and then use that to grind through your flesh.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Kim on 12 November, 2021, 11:55:33 pm
I reckon doctor oho could do with the ian treatment...
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: ian on 27 November, 2021, 09:35:15 pm
Put the final full stop on Jess's latest adventure. 230k words of sassy dead-librarian sarcasm which is about 595 paperback pages. I figure 200 of those could be edited away by a grown-up.

Now caught on whether to write the next episode of my robot sci-fi opus or have the renegade angels rescue Jess before she eats everyone in south London.

It's probably a good job I have gainful employment as an authoritarian thought leader.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: CrazyEnglishTriathlete on 16 December, 2021, 08:46:59 pm
Started the last volume today.  It should be finished sometime in 2023 and then I can review the whole lot and decide what to do with it.  Volunteer proof readers welcome.  Its all in Time New Roman 11 but that can be line spaced and changed at the touch of a Command-Shift-A.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: CrazyEnglishTriathlete on 03 January, 2022, 08:57:50 pm
Started the last volume today.  It should be finished sometime in 2023 and then I can review the whole lot and decide what to do with it.  Volunteer proof readers welcome.  Its all in Time New Roman 11 but that can be line spaced and changed at the touch of a Command-Shift-A.

Huge strides over Christmas with no work and no studies to distract.  Everyone else in the house had their noses in their own laptops so in between 3 century rides including the Poor Student Audax managed to get most of Part 1 down, c40,000 words.  Helps that I've had much of the central character in my head since they were an NPC in a role-playing game I was running in 1985, but its still good to see how they have grown in 37 years of reflection.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 12 January, 2022, 02:41:38 pm
Latest one is in review from today: 'Exit Wounds', a short novel and five short stories.
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 26 September, 2023, 09:28:03 am
I use a writing site for beta reading, and in one of the three novels in progress I have just had to kill a character.

One of my readers has just told me they hate me.

Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: ravenbait on 28 September, 2023, 05:14:55 pm
Had a story out last year in The Reinvented Heart from Arc Manor books, in which I use the superficialness of virtual masks and cocktails to mimic the weird, arbitrary games NTs apparently play when conducting relationships. Got another one coming out this year in the next book in the series. This one is about a detective who's a dog solving a murder that involves a futuristic Strictly Come Dancing. One of my beta readers said the detective should have been a cat, because how dare they be a dog and not want to be petted.

Sometimes you have to ignore your beta readers.

I really want to sell my first person plural predatory train station story.

Sam
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 06 October, 2023, 07:42:03 pm
Ah, my reader has come round.

Predatory trains stations. You mean apart from Mordor Central?
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: ravenbait on 17 October, 2023, 12:01:49 pm
Have just seen the TOC for the Reinvented Detective anthology, and am having a little moment.

http://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/2023/10/16/announcing-the-reinvented-detective/

I don't know what Mordor Central is. I was unaware Tolkien had written public transport into LOTR, although he clearly missed a trick.

Sam
Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Kim on 17 October, 2023, 01:25:19 pm
I don't know what Mordor Central is.

Colloquial term for Birmingham New Street station, as used in the Scary Devil Monastery (https://groups.google.com/g/alt.sysadmin.recovery) and possibly also Ye Shedde (https://groups.google.com/g/uk.rec.sheds), and that makes perfect sense to anyone who's ever had the misfortune to change trains there (particularly before the refurbishment (https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=70917.0)).

Preserved for posterity in Hansard courtesy of Tanni Grey-Thompson, via That Nice Mr Paulley.

Tolkein nerds would doubtless point out that Sandwell & Dudley station is more convenient for actual Mordor, but it lacks the Mines Of Moria aesthetic...

Title: Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
Post by: Steph on 23 October, 2023, 03:51:46 am
An odd aspect of the place I spotted a few years ago is that the maze of shops and Stuff above the station is well-provided with maps. Unfortunately, unless it has been rectified, none of the maps carried the minor feature of a dot with the words "You are here"