#IWSG – Reworking an Old Story

March 2, 2017 by Roland Clarke

For my latest monthly post for Insecure Writer’s Support Group Day I must apologise as I am running a few days behind in my head – totally befuddled I am. Mainly because I’m beginning an online Revision Workshop today tutored by the amazing Janice Hardy, and I only decided what to revise yesterday. But I digress.

At least, I had given some thought to this post last week.

March 1 Question: Have you ever pulled out a really old story and reworked it? Did it work out?

Although I have a few very early scribblings around, mainly from my teenage years, none of those has been recycled – yet. However, I wrote a poem some years ago:

Dewy Cobweb ~ by Norman Hyett

Echoes

by Roland Rafael

Her nut-brown hair hid them,

but something stir

red a childhood memory.

A hinted shape betrayed by the fall of hair

carried echoes of dreams put aside.

Age had seemed to take them away

but now he knew they were just buried

like a treasure unrecognised.

Moon-spun gems reflected

the small curve of her lobe.

Free from under those locks,

that hid their secret from first glance.

Staring deeply he followed the line

to an imperceptible point

like an arrowhead.

He caught her almond eyes –

pools of almost drowning depth,

but sparkling with mischief and wisdom

so ancient and natural.

He felt those sleeping memories

were perhaps not mere fancy.

Eyebrows curving upwards,

slim face so finely sculpted,

those tapered ears.

Of fairy folk,

if this was fantasy,

but in reality

just one of nature’s bursts of poetry.

[January 1998]

This has now evolved into a short story, Flight of the Sister Skein, and that expanded to other stories and then Gossamer Flames, my post-apocalyptic sage. However, that project is in turmoil as there are so many plotlines and I need to re-structure the spiralling outline/story/saga.

Whether I resurrect anything else remains to be seen.

Have you resurrected any writing?

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group Day. We post our thoughts on our own blogs. We talk about our doubts and the fears we have conquered. We discuss our struggles and triumphs. We offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling.

Please visit others in the group and connect with my fellow writers.

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter hashtag is #IWSG

And be sure to check out our Facebook group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/IWSG13/

Our revved up IWSG Day question 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.

The awesome co-hosts for this March 1 posting of the IWSG are Tamara Narayan, Patsy Collins, M.J. Fifield, and Nicohle Christopherson!

WHERE NOW WITH SPIRAL OF HOOVES?

February 24, 2017 by Roland Clarke

My writing year has got off to a good start as I completed Stage 1 of my writing plans. Over the last month, I have managed to finish a re-edit of my debut novel “Spiral of Hooves” with the aim of getting it republished. For those that missed the original release, it was in December 2013.

So, I removed a subplot that didn’t work and garnered some negative comments. I also tidied up some strange sentence constructions, and corrected all the Americanisms, as it’s set in England, and I had a UK publisher in mind.

Then, everything went awry – I read more about the publishers including an interview with their main man and I concluded that my mystery was wrong for them – not gritty or dark enough. They also tend to go for writers with a few books to release at the same time.

The problem now is what next? Do I submit this novel to a UK agent, a UK publisher, a US agent, a US publisher, OR do I translate it into German or Martian? Joking…

Oh, in case you were wondering, it’s a mystery set against the horse world, but not a cosy mystery. It has action, darker moment, and a couple of erotic scenes, but it isn’t really bloody or violent except for a few brief moments.

A shorter version of this post first appeared on Facebook, and several friends made helpful suggestions, some of which I will mention here.

In the FB comments, and back on my January blog, several people talked about self-publishing. However, I know now that will require extra skills that I need to acquire or pay for – not just the editing services that I already use. I have been reassured that I am capable of learning to format but I’m a writer. I am aware that there are excellent companies out there that will help in that process.

My major concern is the money, as we face major health bills that look like a bottomless pit. When my wife spent two days in the hospital after her recent heart attack, the bills came to $30,000.

The logical alternative is to try to find an agent or a publisher in either the UK and/or the US. How many submissions should I do at once? Do I start with agents first? Does it matter where the agent/publisher is?

The big quandary: As I’m disabled, I’m very restricted in where I can go. Flying is out, so that leaves driving – well, someone else driving me. What happens if an agent in New York wants me to go there = 2+ days driving? Book tours would be a challenge.

Then there is the language – British-English and American-English. I changed the manuscript into British-English with a US address, but I’ve found a US agent that is interested in submissions on horses. Guess I need an American-English manuscript for US agents and publishers. Yikes. Back to Grammarly then.

That would then allow me to submit to publishers like Imajin Books when they open for submissions in April? Although they like to see reviews, Amazon deleted mine but my Goodreads reviews are still up. One of their star authors said, “I wouldn’t worry about it. You can do this.”

So, do I submit to agents first and then, come April, I submit to publishers?

Different World ~ Image courtesy of manostphoto at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Do I mention that I don’t stick to genre? “Spiral of Hooves” is a mystery with a sequel; then I’ve almost finished “Storms Compass”, Book I of my post-apocalyptic saga; then comes “Fates Maelstrom”, first of the Snowdon Shadows mysteries; and my alternative history, “Eagle Crossing”, is flying along.

Books Are Not Free

February 9, 2017 by Roland Clarke

From 11th to 15th February there is an excellent event taking place on Facebook called ‘Our Books Are Not Free’ to make readers aware that books cost money to produce.

Here is the Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/events/206705409792190/222606034868794/?notif_t=admin_plan_mall_activity&notif_id=1486627935877048

This is the online magazine detailing why ‘Books are not free’ and the writers involved: https://www.joomag.com/magazine/golden-box-book-publishing-books-are-not-free/0748123001485514607

I am supporting the event, but what do you think. Should writers give their books away for free?

[If you say ‘yes’ then there is a second question – should shopkeepers sell their goods for free?]

Announcing: The 2017 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge! #atozchallenge

February 6, 2017 by Roland Clarke

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Last week, I posted an advance notice of exciting news about The 2017 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. That teaser got me wondering what we would learn.

Well, the waiting is over and the announcement has been made, HERE.

Not what I thought, but it seems logical. Some bloggers might need to adjust their schedules, but I believe that is feasible.

Read the announcement, then let me know what you think below.

#IWSG – READING AS A WRITER

February 1, 2017 by Roland Clarke

I must apologise to any followers still out there. I realise that I haven’t blogged even once since my monthly post for Insecure Writer’s Support Group Day on January 4^th – #IWSG – TO BOLDLY GO.

I had intended to post one or two book reviews as there are seven novels screaming at me for reviews. My excuses are getting stale, although I wish my health were better as that would help. However, a month has passed and here is my February IWSG post.

February 1 Question: How has being a writer changed your experience as a reader?

When I was a child, and through my teens, I devoured books – well not like Firmin the rat at the heart of Sam Savage’s fantastic debut; belatedly, I just wrote a quick review on Goodreads.

In my teens, I did write as well, but at that point, the writing merely fed my desire to read some great science fiction and fantasy. Perhaps I was picking up something from the reading, although not vice versa.

It was when I retired as a journalist and began working on “Spiral of Hooves”, my first published novel, that I began to read as a writer. It wasn’t immediate, but I began to note how the writing elements came together in other people’s books – or didn’t.

I follow a few writing ‘mentors’ that have written fiction, such as K M Weiland, so reading their creations is both an insightful and enjoyable experience as a writer/reader. Example: K M Weiland’s Storming which I did manage to review.

However, I try to switch off my analytical self when I read – most of the time. The time for this writer to assess the elements is not when I’m engrossed in the tale. That works in a similar way that my internal editor must be locked away during a first draft. I must find the right moment to switch brains and avoid interrupting the flow.

So my writing has enhanced my reading experience.

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The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group Day. We post our thoughts on our own blogs. We talk about our doubts and the fears we have conquered. We discuss our struggles and triumphs. We offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling.

Please visit others in the group and connect with my fellow writers.

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter hashtag is #IWSG

And be sure to check out our Facebook group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/IWSG13/

The awesome co-hosts for the February 1 posting of the IWSG are Misha Gericke, LK Hill, Juneta Key, Christy and Joylene Butler!

A Big A To Z Announcement Is Coming! #atozchallenge

Six years ago, at about this time the first A to Z Blogging from A to Z April Challenge Linky List appeared as sign-ups opened. A successful and popular blogging experience was born – thanks to founder Arlee Bird, who celebrates his birthday today so I hope it’s a great one. [He’s three years ahead of me, but I move one year closer in August.]

I admit that I was an observer in the first few years of A to Z. The first year that I took part was in 2014 when I chose aspects of the future world that became Gossamer Flames. In 2015, it was the War of 1812, and last year I went for a story format entitled ‘A Brilliant Conspiracy’.

Last May, I started scribbling out some ideas for 2017, and have added to those notes. However, there is exciting news on its way, if I read the tempting ‘trailer’ on the A to Z website correctly. If you want to know more, which you must do, then visit and be tempted: http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/2017/01/a-big-to-z-announcement-is-coming.html

#IWSG – TO BOLDLY GO

January 4, 2017 by Roland Clarke

Attempting to ignore my ill-health, it’s time for my monthly post for Insecure Writer’s Support Group Day.

January 4th Question: What writing rule do you wish you’d never heard?

As there are a few rules that I wish I’d never heard, it seems easiest to start with the first one I broke.

At school in the 1960s and 1970s, my teachers tried hard to teach me, and other students, not to split our infinitives, ever. I never felt that these teachers gave me a reasonable explanation, so when the split infinitive worked, I insisted that I had the right, in the words of Star Trek “to boldly go where no man has gone before.” This usage seemed appropriate as many of my earliest short story attempts were SF.

I felt justified in breaking this cardinal rule when I later heard that the first English Grammar used Latin Grammars as its basis – the Latin infinitive is one word so can’t be split. To my mind, that explained why my teachers, most of them trained in Latin, stuck to the rule.

I have since discovered that although many authorities quote the Latin argument, others point to different 19^th-century grammarians for the rule’s origin. Check out these links if you want to know more about split infinitives:

http://www.grammar.com/split-infinitives-2/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_infinitive

http://grammarist.com/grammar/split-infinitives/

As for me, I learned as a teenager that there were writing rules that needed questioning, and fifty years later nothing has changed, and I welcome excuses to break rules.