#IWSG – Feedback

May 6, 2026 by Roland Clarke

As my regular followers must have noticed, I haven’t posted anything since April’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group post, Apology.

Fortunately, my health has improved, so I have been writing.

My writing has focused on revising my North Wales police procedural Fates Maelstrom. My answer to this month’s question makes my decision to focus my time here clearer.

For those following my Ukraine saga, Freedom Flights, that project is on hold, except I keep abreast of the ongoing war daily.

Slava Ukraini

Heroiam slava!

Every month, IWSG announces a question that members can answer in their IWSG posts. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

Remember, the question is optional!

May 6 question – What was the most inspiring feedback you received from readers, including agents, editors, and beta readers?

Although I’ve had some invaluable feedback during my writing career, I’m going to focus here on my Snowdon Shadows Mysteries, set in North Wales.

Last year, I finished Draft 8 of Fevered Fuse, which chronologically is Book 1. When my beta readers read Draft 3 in 2020, comments like ‘Overall, congratulations! You have a really fun character, location and story. It will be such a super fun book to read’, and more specific ones, inspired me to hone that draft over the next five years with a professional editor’s help.

However, Draft 8 garnered a mixed response from writer friends and the first rejection from a publisher. Confused, I stopped submitting the manuscript and began revising Fates Maelstrom, chronologically Book 2 of the Snowdon Shadows Mysteries. When I sent the first three revised chapters of ‘Fates Maelstrom’ to one of my original beta readers, her response encouraged me to focus on that book.

“…I’m enjoying those first three chapters—I feel so far like this is much more put together than FF [Fevered Fuse] was when I first saw it… So, I guess my feeling so far is that the series is worth going on with….”

I’ve finished revising the first fourteen chapters, but after reading a writing article, I realised my original Scrivener outline would lead me astray. Fortunately, I have a synopsis with updates added, plus extensive notes on the new potline. So, I’m writing a new outline to guide my revision process.

I did start posting the opening six chapters of Fevered Fuse, if anyone is interested in seeing where I might have gone wrong. The comments there make me realise FF still has a future, someday.

Sparkle & Kama
Graphics by Jonathan Temples –
http://jonathantemples.co.uk/

The awesome co-hosts for the May 6 posting of the IWSG are Jenni Enzor, Jemima Pett, Jamie of Uniquely Maladjusted but Fun, and Kim Lajevardi!

Finally, don’t forget to visit other writers via the IWSG site for their invaluable insights on writing:

Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG, and our hashtag is #IWSG.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group Day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

#IWSG – Apology

April 1, 2026 by Roland Clarke

As my regular followers must have noticed, I haven’t posted anything since March’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group post, Space Lunch.

Not only have my eye problems continued, but I’ve had severe head congestion, mainly in my sinuses and throat, creating terrible phlegm. This has made it hard to do anything except emergency work.

It’s been impossible to write or even clear my emails. Although I’ve made writing plans in my head, I’m unsure when I’ll post the next episode of my Ukraine saga, Freedom Flights.

Slava Ukraini

Heroiam slava!

Until the next complete post, I’ll just hand over to the IWSG information and pass on the optional question.

Remember, the question is optional!

April 1 question – If you have a playlist (or could put one together) that either gets you in the groove to write or fits with one of your books, what is it? What type of music or what songs?

The awesome co-hosts for the April 1 posting of the IWSG are Melissa Maygrove, Cathrina Constantine, Kate Larkinsdale, and Rebecca Douglass!

Finally, don’t forget to visit other writers via the IWSG site for their invaluable insights on writing:

Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG, and our hashtag is #IWSG.

IWSG – Space Lunch

March 4, 2026 by Roland Clarke

Although I knew March’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group post was approaching, I’ve continued to have eye problems, which have made it hard to write or even clear my emails. So, I’ve delayed the next episode of my Ukraine saga, Freedom Flights.

Slava Ukraini

Heroiam slava!

Since my January IWSG post, I’ve been posting Fevered Fuse, the first of my Snowdon Shadows novels featuring Sparkle Anwyl, in serial form. Links to each post can be found via my updated Snowdon Shadows page on the left-hand sidebar. However, I’m postponing the next chapter for the same health reasons and, vainly, hoping for more feedback on my recent post, Serialise or Submit? My Recurring Dilemma.

However, I realise, after reading this invaluable post, that I’ve become appalling at visiting other writers’ sites. So, why should they visit me? Health could be a reason for my non-involvement, but there are others as well. I seem to have too little time and too many commitments… or is checking up on news from Ukraine and now Iran a distraction?

Before I answer this month’s question, some of you may be wondering about the strange post title, Space Lunch. In fact, the file is called ‘Space Launch’. Alongside my eye strain, I also have a keyboard that’s misbehaving, typing too many letters or missing them. I try using dictation software, but it also makes ‘misssteaks’ I must correct.

Yet Space Lunch sounds intriguing.

Remember, the question is optional!

March 4 question – What elements do you include in your book launch? Or what do you have in mind for your future book launch? Or what advice do you have to offer to others planning to launch a book?

Cover design by Jonathan Temples. Cover photo by Nick Perry.
https://rolandclarke.com/spiral-of-hooves/

Until I have another ready for release, my only published novel, Spiral of Hooves, remains my only launch. Initially, with the Kindle release on Monday, December 9th, 2013, by Spectacle Publishing, I concentrated on contributing posts to the website of other Spectacle authors whose books were released at the same. We also reciprocated by posting on each other’s sites.

Released on Monday, August 7th, 2017, the second edition was a chance to try a different approach with an online release day gathering involving author friends, one of whom, a published mystery writer, provided an endorsement for the back cover. I encouraged the other writers to talk about their writing and books. There were also competitions with prizes, including autographed copies of the novel.

Whenever I get to launch another novel, I’ll probably repeat the online book launch gathering, but I’ve seen more authors doing extensive book tours, including visits to other writers’ blogs for interviews or to post there.

I would advise fellow writers to look to more successful published writers than me, for instance, Jacqui Murray, author of the popular prehistoric fiction saga, Man vs. Nature. Her latest book in the saga, Balance of Nature, has just been released. In 2019, I joined her tour for Book 2 in the Crossroads trilogy, the second part of her engrossing saga.

So, Space Lunch is still intriguing. Any thoughts on what it is or where it’s being held or performed? Answers on a postcard or in the comments, please.

The awesome co-hosts for the March 4 posting of the IWSG are PJ Colando, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, and Natalie Aguirre!

Finally, don’t forget to visit other writers via the IWSG site for their invaluable insights on writing:

Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG, and our hashtag is #IWSG.

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant

March 1, 2026 by Roland Clarke

I nearly forgot to post about St David’s Day being celebrated today, since it is also Juanita’s birthday. We’ve had some of my wife’s family around, so I’m posting a link to a previous post:

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant

Ukraine Twelve Years On

February 24, 2026 by Roland Clarke

Four years ago, on this day, February 24^th, in 2022, Russia began its bloody invasion of Ukraine. But it wasn’t the start of the illegal attempt to conquer Ukraine. That was 12 years ago, when their green men occupied Crimea from February to March 2014.

Yet Putin’s so-called ‘special military operation’ failed in its three-day plan to seize Kyiv and impose a puppet government in Ukraine. Even after four years of a costly and genocidal war, especially in terms of lives, Russia occupies at most 20% of Ukraine. Despite Trump saying he would resolve the war in 24 hours, a year of peace negotiations has achieved almost nothing, except the release of prisoners on both sides.

Putin’s maximalist demands for peace, which basically mean the subjugation of Ukraine, have never changed over the years of the bloodiest European war since the Second World War. On January 11^th, 2026, the Russians had been fighting the Ukrainians for longer than the Soviet Union’s Red Army fought against Nazi Germany.

Territory is the stumbling block in the negotiations, specifically, the 30% of the Donbas which Ukraine controls. They’re reluctant to give up this area because some of their most hardened defences, their fortress cities, are in that territory. Even acceptable security guarantees, which Russia is unlikely to accept, might not be enough. Past treaties have not saved Ukraine, since Russia has repeatedly broken its word and the West has done nothing. Until 2022, stunning Putin.

Furthermore, millions of Ukrainians live in this territory. Unable to defend themselves, their freedom, their property, their lives, their children, and their belongings. Russian occupation has already proved unspeakable. From loss of identity, through rape and torture, to disappearance and death.

We must not abandon the human angle in the negotiations, in the struggle for a just peace.

Russia’s demands have been impossible for Ukraine to accept, especially over the Donbas. Others have assessed this four-year war far better than I have. Watch or read these contributions. Especially the NATO commemoration speeches and the DW News interviews.

KEY LINKS

NATO commemorates the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine 🇺🇦, 24 FEB 2026: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi51Po8T9rI

Can Russia keep up its war effort indefinitely? | DW News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1-MGOaTl_4

How Putin’s 3-day war became 4-year bloodbath | How We Got Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QhN2RSZPB0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QhN2RSZPB0

Ukraine Four Years On: What’s Next for European Security?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XkQOWE59bg

4 years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a look at the war by the numbers: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/4-years-into-russias-invasion-of-ukraine-a-look-at-the-war-by-the-numbers

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine#

Slava Ukraini

Heroiam slava!

Serialise or Submit? My Recurring Dilemma.

February 22, 2026 by Roland Clarke

Apologies for the delay in posting anything. Health issues, so the doctor upped a medicine, and now pain has been replaced by drowsiness. So, posting this has been difficult.

I was intending to post the next part of Fevered Fuse, but I began to wonder what effect that would have on my publishing rights. Although I’m posting on my own website, it seems a publisher is likely to consider that excerpt too long and therefore ‘published’. That means I’ve given up my First Publication Rights.

Or have I?

I’ve already posted 13,000 words, which is about 18% of the novel’s total word count. The percentage some say might be acceptable is 5-10%, which I’ve exceeded already. However, although I have over 900 subscribers, the most ‘Likes’ I’ve received is 8, which is 0.9%. So, surely posting Fevered Fuse chapters has yet to dent future sales.

Nevertheless, before the novel is submitted, it would be advisable to change anything I post online, or instead I could explain in my submission letter that few people read those chapters.

Unless I switch focus onto revising Fates Maelstrom, which follows in chronological order from Fevered Fuse in the Snowdon Shadows series, and which one beta reader felt had a stronger opening in the first three chapters, so far.

I realise I decided to serialise after the responses to my January IWSG post, though I didn’t fully understand the consequences. Does anybody have any further comments?

Do my eight plus faithful readers want me to continue the serialisation of Fevered Fuse? An alternative is that I send a copy of the current draft to anyone as if they were beta readers. If you would like that, post a request with your email address in the Contact section.

The following are the posts I referred to, although opinions vary on the pros and cons:

Posting Writing Online Is Dangerous If You Post Too Much: https://kidlit.com/post-writing-online/

Let’s Address a Common Misunderstanding About Author Websites: https://writerunboxed.com/2016/02/22/author-websites/

Stop Being Afraid of Posting Your Work Online *: http://writerunboxed.com/2010/04/23/stop-being-afraid-of-posting-your-work-online/

What Writers Should Know about Copyright: https://www.copyright.gov/engage/writers/

Is it a Good Idea to Post Chapters of Your Novel On-Line to Build Your Platform?: https://authorkristenlamb.com/2010/04/is-it-a-good-idea-to-post-chapters-of-your-novel-on-line-to-build-a-following/

Should You Post Your Novel Online for Free?: https://www.writersdigest.com/questions-and-quandaries/should-you-post-your-novel-online-for-free

Posting Writing Online: https://www.goodstorycompany.com/blog/posting-writing-online