Category Archives: Snowdon Shadows

#TheIWSG – Pitfalls or pratfalls?

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Insecure Writers Support Group Badge

I will be straight for today’s  Insecure Writer’s Support Group monthly blog post as life has become hectic. In fact, I’m writing this before the chaos and stress arrive in the form of three undisciplined step-great-grandkids – okay for short periods, but they are staying for a month with their parents before the parents buy their own place.

This may be the last post that I manage for some time. My writing will also suffer – and probably, my health.

August 1 question – What pitfalls would you warn other writers to avoid on their publication journey?

Don’t let your debut creation become a trap – money-trap or time-trap. Or even an ego-trap. Or downward spiral.

My debut novel took over thirteen years to get published – in December 2013. Although there were minor hiccups and cul-de-sacs, the result was okay. In many ways, I needed to leave it there and move on – case made.

However, the pitfall was over the next five years, during which I poured money and time into correcting the textual errors in that version, re-publishing and over-promoting the paperback – at the expense of my next project.

I’ve taken ages to drag myself out of the ‘spiral of shame’ pit – in fact, only last week, I changed the front page of this blog, so visitors get to the Blog posts first not the Welcome that promotes my sole novel.

Next step away from massaging my ego is to change this site’s focus completely. Then, focus on the future.

 

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The awesome co-hosts for the August 1 posting of the IWSG are Erika Beebe, Sandra Hoover, Susan Gourley, and Lee Lowery!

Purpose of IWSG: 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!

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or 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.

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! 

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG

#IWSG – Spring Inspiration

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IWSGBadge

Another month and another IWSG post. Well, not just any month but the Blogging from A to Z Challenge month, so I managed to write 26 posts and got them scheduled on the correct days. But enough of that – I’ll post my reflections on the Challenge next week – this is an IWSG monthly past.

May 2 question – It’s spring!

Does this season inspire you to write more than others, or not?

Of course, Spring inspires me – to get outside and soak up the sunshine. And yes, Spring is here, and the little grey cells are sparking – despite the MS. Okay, I have my struggles with the misfiring nervous system, and my brain loses direction and thoughts. I forget what I am doing, my fingers hit too many wrong keys, and my body must sleep sporadically or suffer the painful body-wrenching attacks.

Officially, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, Spring arrived on March 20, 2018. That means that the Spring Equinox must have set all those A-to-Z posts in motion.

I’ve even used the last few days to devise a cunning plan. Did Baldrick help with that?

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The cunning plan: to write a review once a week of one of the books I’ve read and failed to review here. Those reviews will be scheduled for every Thursday.

However, I reserve the right to write other posts – if motivated.

What about the deviously cunning Fates Maelstrom plans? Not abandoned or shelved but extended.

I wrote draft one of Book 3 in the Snowdon Shadows series for NaNoWriMo last November. Then I started editing Fates Maelstrom in December, developing all the ideas needed for the final draft prior to beta-reading.

That has led to Goth Patrol, a short story about the main protagonist, policewoman Sparkle Anwyl and how she lost her first love and joined the CID. I’m starting on another short, Face Trash, her first case as a detective, fresh from police college. Call these stories ‘character research’.

Or should I publish those stories first?

That’s what Spring does for my devious brain – seeds seeking fertile soil.

[One problem: I need a friend to sit with and chat, face-to-face over a pint or a meal. I lost that when I moved four years ago.]

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The awesome co-hosts for the May 2 posting of the IWSG are E.M.A. Timar, J. Q. Rose, C.Lee McKenzie, and Raimey Gallant!

Purpose of IWSG: 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!

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or 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.

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! 

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG

 

 

H is for Hellblade

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 H

 

The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper. [Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

Game: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is an intense psychological action-adventure game which PCGamesN rated, “a miraculous technical feat made by a team just a fraction the size of the ones that typically dominate the triple-A space.”

Release Date: April 8, 2017

Developer/Publisher: Ninja Theory

Genre/gameplay mechanics: Award-winning game – dark fantasy action-adventure; hack and slash; puzzle-solving; psychological horror. Voice-acting integral to unique, 3D binaural audio design. Cutscenes combine motion/performance capture by video editor-turned-actress Melina Juergens and live-action performances by other actors.

Setting: A rendition of Helheim, the Norse underworld – effective use of audio and visual to submerge players in Senua’s nightmarish journey and her accurately-portrayed mental world. The world feels horrifyingly real as the sounds and graphics seem subtly distorted.

Storytelling: Hellblade follows Senua, a Pict warrior who journeys to Helheim to save the soul of her dead lover from the goddess Hela. Also, the character struggles with her mind, and the game revolves around her condition. Senua suffers from psychosis but believes it to be a curse. She is haunted by an entity known as the “Darkness”, voices in her head known as “Furies”, and memories from her past.

As Ninja Theory said in 2015, “Senua experiences psychosis, including hallucinations and delusions, as well as suffering from anxiety and depression. As a player, you will witness Senua’s living nightmare through her own eyes… Developing Hellblade independently gives us the freedom to tackle a subject as challenging as mental health. It is a subject that we are handling with all the respect it deserves, ensuring that our portrayal of Senua’s condition is both accurate and sensitive. To help us with this we are working closely with Professor Paul Fletcher, a professor of Health Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, as well as arranging to consult directly with people who have experience of mental health difficulties. We are also very proud to say that Hellblade is being supported by Wellcome Trust, which is a global charitable foundation which aims to build a greater public understanding of science and in particular health.”

Releases:

  1. August 8, 2017 – Windows, PlayStation 4
  2. April 11, 2018 – Xbox One

Origins (Chronological):

  1. 2010 – Ninja Theory released Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, a video game that saw the Ninja team develop their motion capture with Andy Serkis.
  2. 8th century – The Roman Empire was unable to conquer a group of Celts in the northern reaches of Great Britain known as the Picts. Towards the end of the century, the first Vikings arrived in the islands of Orkney and replaced them as the main population of the land. Senua is portrayed as a Celtic warrior on Orkney.
  3. 793-1066 – Norse Mythology in the Viking Age: “Before the Norse (a.k.a. the Vikings) were converted to Christianity during the Middle Ages, they had their own vibrant native pagan religion that was as harshly beautiful as the Nordic landscape to which it was intimately connected.”
  4. The 1st century and earlier – The main inspiration of Senua’s character was the Iceni queen Boudica, while her name came from Senuna, a Celtic whose name was at first read incorrectly as Senua. The team researching Celtic culture and the Celts’ views on mental disorder, found out that they used the term ‘gelt’ for a man or woman who had been driven mad by a curse, grief, or the trauma of a battle. A gelt would take to a life in the woods in search of penance, punishment and purgatory. The team decided to make Senua a gelt, who had left her home in exile for those reasons.

Recommendation: Hellblade was a commercial success and was well received by critics, who praised it as a work of art and applauded its uncommon choice of revolving around psychosis, the quality and uniqueness of its approach of the condition, and its story and main character. Reviews included this  7 August 9 stars review from IGN: “An incredible atmospheric story reinforces Hellblade’s serious subject matter in this vivid tale of harrowing darkness.” 2017 Players were equally enthusiastic in their reactions.

Hellblade_02

4.55 Stars: Before I played the game, I watched numerous video reviews, diaries and walkthroughs, and I was excited. The game ticked so many boxes, and elements tied into my current WIP, whose second protagonist suffers from a form of psychosis. The actual experience was intense. As expected the voices-in-the head and confused images created a disturbing atmosphere, at times nightmarish. The combat should have been simple, but not for this nerve-jangled oldie who can’t hit the right keys fast enough – so died repeatedly…frustrating. I’ll keep trying though.

  1. Setting: 4.5*
  2. Storyline: 5*
  3. Gameplay: 3.75*
  4. Entertainment: 4.5*
  5. Genesis: 5*

Alternative ‘H’ thoughts:

H is also for Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials, but I’ve yet to find a suitable game. Is there one?

+ ‘H’ Games played: Heroes of Might & Magic – but that comes under M.

Hela da

#IWSG Celebration

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Insecure Writers Support Group Badge

The month seems to have flown by – but then February does that, even when it leaps around…like a March Hare perhaps. That brings us around to another Insecure Writer’s Support Group monthly blog post and my chance to knock my erratic thoughts into the round edges of the IWSG voluntary guidance or prompt:

March 7 question – How do you celebrate when you achieve a writing goal/ finish a story?

Simple answer: sigh, fall asleep (again), eat a chocolate or eight, then escape into some online game.

(When I’m frustrated, the formula is similar, except the game must involve killing something – like hell-bugs, raptors or orcs.)

Convoluted answer: For this I wish that I had a time-travelling cat like Ellen, or a familiar with better writing skills. My dog, Quetzal just sits on my lap or in front of the desktop screen while my brain ties itself in knots- although she can inspire me.

Celebrations require real achievements and they are as rare as blue moons, especially when I keep going backwards. If my writing was like knitting, then it would be the scarf that I knitted decades ago for a girlfriend who a few years later recycled the wool.

So, where was I? Unravelling my insecurities.

My WIP is going backwards. My protagonist now has a deaf sister as well as her own struggles with being bisexual. This author wonders if he/I should choose a pen name – Roland Clarke is a prolific musician; maybe Rafael Clarke or Buxton. Revision is becoming a re-write.

I’ve fallen down a cliff, and my escape route seems to be a 1st person POV novella-exercise set before my WIP.

Is that a good idea or just another diversion? Can I celebrate even if the scribbles lead to a landslide?

What do you celebrate with?

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The awesome co-hosts for the March 7 posting of the IWSG are Mary Aalgaard, Bish Denham,Jennifer Hawes, Diane Burton, and Gwen Gardner!

Purpose of IWSG: 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!

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or 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.

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! 

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG

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Mystery and Crime

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Today is not only the first 2018 post for the Insecure Writer’s Group but also the Flaming Crimes Blogfest, so this is a double post – of sorts.

#IWSG – Schedule Mystery

Insecure Writers Support Group Badge

First, the January 3 IWSG question – What steps have you taken or plan to take to put a schedule in place for your writing and publishing?

In truth, nothing specific. 2018 in writing terms is in some ways a continuation of 2017’s objectives, or rather what my plan became in October when I decided to focus on my Snowdon Shadows series.

So, in November, I wrote draft one of ‘Ruined Retreat ‘(Book 3) and now I must finish the revision of Book 1, ‘Fates Maelstrom’. The only plan is devising some way – legal of course – to raise the funds to cover the editing stage; not easy when you are retired, on a limited budget and dealing with a chronic illness.

Maybe the bank robbery is a good plan. Call it research – if they catch me.

Now, that’s a plan. (Our dogs are complaining that it’s too complicated and I should stick to reading. Then, they fall asleep.)

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The awesome co-hosts for this January 3 posting of the IWSG are Tyrean Martinson, Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Megan Morgan, Jennifer Lane, and Rachna Chhabria!

Purpose of IWSG: 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! Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post. And please be sure your avatar links back to your blog! If it links to Google+, be sure your blog is listed there. Otherwise, when you leave a comment, people can’t find you to comment back.

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or 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.

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Now, for the exciting part of my post.

Welcome to the Writing Wings ‘blog-stop’ for the

Flaming Crimes Blogfest

Flaming Crimes Blogfest Badge

 Prompt: What is something ridiculous you would save if there was a fire?

‘Wondering what to save if there was a fire’ has been in my head for most of my life, although I’ve been fortunate to never face the real thing. As Chrys Fey and others have said, fires are serious especially wildfires. But for this blog post, I’m thinking ‘off-piste’.

Beyond our two dogs, who would get out faster than me in my wheelchair, and the flash drive with my writing – my current notebook lives in the chair – there are some precious items but those could never be ‘ridiculous’. Like the 1957 leather-bound Holy Bible my late-mother gave my wife, and my late father’s 1932 copy of George Brooksbank’s Old Mr Fox.

As my eyes glance past the grandfather clock and inherited paintings – too heavy to save – I see our collection of cuddly toys. They have names and evoke memories – they are characters that need saving, but there are too many and they don’t come in a flash drive.

Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

My wife will grab her daughter’s ashes but I’m taking the box with my cat Oliver’s – his painting by my late-mother is on the wall so I could take that.

Decisions, decisions. Dang the flaming heat is removing my options.

So, I grab the Waterford paperknife from my desk. Well’ it was a 50th birthday present from a horsey colleague and it will be useful when I stab my next victim.

What should I have saved?

FlamingCrimes_w12192_ib

Series: Disaster Crimes #4
Page Count: 304
Digital Price: 4.99
Print Price: 16.99

Rating: Spicy (PG13)

BUY LINKS:

Amazon / Barnes & Noble

The Wild Rose Press

BLURB: Beth and Donovan are now happily married, and what Beth wants more than anything is a baby. Her dream of starting a family is put on hold as fires burn dangerously close and Donovan becomes a victim of sabotage.

Donovan escapes what could’ve been a deadly wreck. Their past enemies have been eliminated, so who is cutting brake lines and leaving bloody messages? He vows to find out, for the sake of the woman he loves and the life they’re trying to build.

Amidst a criminal mind game, a fire ignites next to their home. They battle the flames and fight to keep their house safe from the blaze pressing in on all sides, but neither of them expects to confront a psychotic adversary in the middle of the inferno.

Their lives may just go up in flames…

Chrys Fey - Cropped

About the Author: Chrys Fey is the author of the Disaster Crimes Series, a unique concept blending romance, crimes, and disasters. She’s partnered with the Insecure Writer’s Support Group and runs their Goodreads book club. She’s also an editor for Dancing Lemur Press.

Author Links:

Website / Blog / Goodreads

Facebook / Twitter / Amazon

 

Here are the other Flaming Crimes Blogfest participants – Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to see what they saved…

NaNoWriMo Musings

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NaNo-2017-Winner-Twitter-Header

November has gone and another NaNoWriMo is over. Time to think about what I discovered.

First some basic stats. This was my sixth year of NaNo and my fourth win, writing at least 50,000 words. Other wins were: 2012 – Wyrm Blood; 2015 – Fates Maelstrom; 2016 – Eagle Passage. I did write over 50k in 2011 but failed to validate that total in time. Although I fell short some years and didn’t start in 2014, I have completed the first draft of every ‘novel’ by the end of the year. My ‘lifetime achievement’ – NaNo writing – is 354,334 words.

My daily average for this November was 2,008 words and as a result, I reached the 50k target on November 22nd, in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with my US family – without feeling that I ought to be writing. By the end of November, I had written 60,264 words of Ruined Retreat.

On reflection, I realise that with perseverance I can write 2,000 words per day – if I know roughly where I am going. I did have to minimise the time working on emails, checking Facebook, getting distracted but I wasn’t a total bore, I hope.

Back to that outline: a rough one, sketchier than with previous ‘novels’ but with the advantage of being Book 3 in the Snowdon Shadows series, so I knew some of the characters. Now, as I return to the fifth draft of Fates Maelstrom, Book 1 of the series, I know even more about the characters and where they are going.

Previously, I had plotted my novels with intricate detail, almost scene by scene. The problem was that diversions were difficult even if the characters demanded them. The danger of a too-rough outline is having too many wild plot horses to tame – as with Spiral of Hooves which took thirteen years to complete.

 

Dolbadarn Castle

Photo of Dolbadarn Castle, Snowdonia by Etrusia UK on Flickr

 

This time, I used a mystery plot template from The Novel Factory at https://www.novel-software.com/ and the three-act structure proved ideal, especially when I discovered that Scrivener had a similar three-act fiction template when I created the Ruined Retreat file. Having merged the two ‘guides’ to create, my novel flowed out more easily and logically. On November 26th, I completed the first draft and spent the next four days reading through what I had written, changing the glaring errors and marking the phrases that needed to be worked on and developed.

An interesting side-note is the research for this novel. Some research was done while I roughed out the plot, although that was more like compiling links for later use. I also marked up keywords in the text with Scrivener – yellow highlights and red text – to remind me where research was still needed. However, I must confess that my research brain doesn’t always switch off and niggles me until I check a fact. But I do ‘favourite’ the site if there’s too much to check, then knuckle down to writing more words.

Okay, 60,264 words are not going to be the final total for Ruined Retreat, but it’s the first draft so something to build on. I have finished a first draft during NaNo before but in most cases that was the furthest stage reached, even if they can be developed. This time, I won’t get to draft two for a while, but writing Ruined Retreat makes the earlier books in the series more achievable in 2018.

So, once I’ve cleared some non-writing priorities – like getting a good US health insurance policy and my UK tax return –  will make finishing Fates Maelstrom top of my agenda. But I suspect I’m facing a tough task deciphering the copious notes that were meant to bring order to a writhing plot some months ago.

Or do I just ignore the stray sheep and write knowing where I’m heading – towards a ruined retreat in Snowdonia?

NaNo-2017-Winner-Badge