Author Topic: What books are we writing at the moment?  (Read 18875 times)

Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #50 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!

quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #51 on: 25 July, 2020, 08:15:48 pm »
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

Steph

  • Fast. Fast and bulbous. But fluffy.
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #52 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.
Mae angen arnaf i byw, a fe fydda'i

quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #53 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
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

JennyB

  • Old enough to know better
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #54 on: 03 August, 2020, 06:17:43 pm »
I mostly edit other people's work, but recently I had a piece published in this.
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.
Jennifer - Walker of hills

JennyB

  • Old enough to know better
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #55 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

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
Jennifer - Walker of hills

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #56 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.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Steph

  • Fast. Fast and bulbous. But fluffy.
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #57 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

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.
Mae angen arnaf i byw, a fe fydda'i

Steph

  • Fast. Fast and bulbous. But fluffy.
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #58 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.
Mae angen arnaf i byw, a fe fydda'i

ravenbait

  • Someone's imaginary friend
  • Pudge controls the weather.
    • Someone's imaginary friend
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #59 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
https://ravenbait.com
"Created something? Hah! But that would be irresponsible! And unethical! I would never, ever make... more than one."

CrazyEnglishTriathlete

  • Miles eaten don't satisfy hunger
  • Chartered accountant in 5 different decades
    • CET Ride Reports and Blogs
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #60 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.
Eddington Numbers 130 (imperial), 182 (metric) 571 (furlongs)  114 (nautical miles)

ian

Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #61 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.

Redlight

  • Enjoying life in the slow lane
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #62 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.....
Why should anybody steal a watch when they can steal a bicycle?

ian

Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #63 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.

Redlight

  • Enjoying life in the slow lane
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #64 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
Why should anybody steal a watch when they can steal a bicycle?

ian

Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #65 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.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #66 on: 12 November, 2021, 11:55:33 pm »
I reckon doctor oho could do with the ian treatment...

ian

Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #67 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.

CrazyEnglishTriathlete

  • Miles eaten don't satisfy hunger
  • Chartered accountant in 5 different decades
    • CET Ride Reports and Blogs
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #68 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.
Eddington Numbers 130 (imperial), 182 (metric) 571 (furlongs)  114 (nautical miles)

CrazyEnglishTriathlete

  • Miles eaten don't satisfy hunger
  • Chartered accountant in 5 different decades
    • CET Ride Reports and Blogs
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #69 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.
Eddington Numbers 130 (imperial), 182 (metric) 571 (furlongs)  114 (nautical miles)

Steph

  • Fast. Fast and bulbous. But fluffy.
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #70 on: 12 January, 2022, 02:41:38 pm »
Latest one is in review from today: 'Exit Wounds', a short novel and five short stories.
Mae angen arnaf i byw, a fe fydda'i

Steph

  • Fast. Fast and bulbous. But fluffy.
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #71 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.

Mae angen arnaf i byw, a fe fydda'i

ravenbait

  • Someone's imaginary friend
  • Pudge controls the weather.
    • Someone's imaginary friend
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #72 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
https://ravenbait.com
"Created something? Hah! But that would be irresponsible! And unethical! I would never, ever make... more than one."

Steph

  • Fast. Fast and bulbous. But fluffy.
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #73 on: 06 October, 2023, 07:42:03 pm »
Ah, my reader has come round.

Predatory trains stations. You mean apart from Mordor Central?
Mae angen arnaf i byw, a fe fydda'i

ravenbait

  • Someone's imaginary friend
  • Pudge controls the weather.
    • Someone's imaginary friend
Re: What books are we writing at the moment?
« Reply #74 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
https://ravenbait.com
"Created something? Hah! But that would be irresponsible! And unethical! I would never, ever make... more than one."