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 Health issues, so the doctor upped a medicine, and now pain has been replaced by drowsiness.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 ofFevered 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:
Although I knew December’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group post was speeding closer, I forced myself to focus on completing November’s priorities first. So, this month’s question had me stumped… out with no runs. But I’ve jumped ahead and need to back up to address my writing intentions.
Last month, I said my Snowdon Shadows police procedural, Fevered Fuse, was shelved, but some kind writers offered to critique a few chapters for me, as that decision was preying on my mind. They helped me devise a strategy for the series… well, for the first two books, in chronological order. Naturally, my heart is still in Wales.
‘Fevered Fuse’ needs work before it is publishable, unless I release it in serial form to fans of Sparkle Anwyl, its quirky lesbian detective. One issue could be that the novel attempted to incorporate Sparkle’s early cases and her earlier teenage conflicts.
‘Fates Maelstrom’, the second book in the series, is my priority and a better use of my final time here, if I avoid all the pitfalls that plague ‘Fevered Fuse’.
The two other titles, No. 3, Seeking a Knife, and No.4, ‘Ruined Retreat’, will remain as drafts to revise if an earlier title encourages readers to demand more of Sparkle.
As for my Ukraine saga, Freedom Flights, our Ninja Captain was correct in saying, “I know you are passionate about Ukraine. Keep after that story. Don’t let people forget”. The people of Ukraine are why I keep writing. I’m now attempting to write enough episodes to cover two earlier months every current month. Hence, in November, I covered events that took place between April 1st and May 30th, 2025.
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!
December 3 question – As a writer, what was one of the coolest/best gifts you ever received?
My first thought was, “I’m stumped, or I’m floored”, since nothing came to mind.
Then, like last month, I remembered “A Sailor’s Life for me”. Aged about eleven, I wrote an essay on ‘A Day in the Life of a Navy Helicopter pilot’, which was among the winners of a memorable three days with the Royal Navy. All the prize-winners went to Portsmouth, toured HMS Victory, visited the Fleet Air Arm’s HMS Ariel, went inside a docked submarine at HMS Dolphin, and travelled on the guided missile destroyer, HMS Devonshire, along the South Coast from Portsmouth to Devonport. Of course, I didn’t join the Royal Navy, as my career took a different path, as I covered last month.
HMS Victory in drydock at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Date: 9 May 2008 (according to Exif data). Source/Author: Ballista
However, prizes aren’t gifts, and that means thinking of one that gets me off the floor…
Maybe a tape recorder. Recently, my wife, Juanita, bought me a recorder so I could tape crazy thoughts at night or when my laptop was asleep. Great gift and better than the high-tech digital one that was too small for my fingers in the dark. The only problem is when Juanita asks who I’m talking to. Perhaps creating an acronym, as my detective Sparkle Anwyl does, is my most accessible mnemonic device.
Looking at my desk reminds me of other cool gifts: the decorated notebooks that friends and family have given me over the years… some too attractive for my scrawl.
There are sure to be cooler gifts, but they’ve evaded recall.
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!
Another month has slipped by, so it’s time for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group post. And yet another chance to reassess my writing strategy, and my life.
Although I’d shelved my Snowdon Shadows police procedural, Fevered Fuse, while I changed focus, that decision has been preying on my mind.
Is ‘Fevered Fuse’ something I need to rewrite to make it publishable? Is Sparkle Anwyl, its quirky lesbian detective, a minus? Is revising ‘Fates Maelstrom’, the second book in the series, a better use of my final time here? The two other titles of the series exist: No. 3 ‘Seeking a Knife’s first draft is half-written; No.4 ‘Ruined Retreat’s first draft was written in November 2017, for NaNoWriMo. Have I been wasting my time creating Sparkle Anwyl and her world? Did my beta-readers and my editor waste their precious time?
Please, does anyone have enough time to read even the first page or chapter of ‘Fevered Fuse’? If someone is really keen, she/he could read the first three chapters of ‘Fevered Fuse’ and ‘Fates Maelstrom’ to let me know if either is worth continuing with.
Maybe I need to skip both titles and revise ‘Ruined Retreat’. 😉
As for my Ukraine saga, Freedom Flights, I face different dilemmas. Will I finish writing the episodes before the war ends? More importantly for the people suffering, when will that end and with the just peace they deserve?
For the few still reading the episodes, including those clicking ‘Like’, I should post the second April 2025 episode later this week. Obviously, I’m still following the news from Ukraine and now the troubling news from Venezuela. Cuban Missile Crisis Mark 2, Trump version?
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!
November 5 question – When you began writing, what did you imagine your life as a writer would be like? Were you right, or has this experience presented you with some surprises along the way?
My first thought was, “A Sailor’s Life for me”, but then I remembered when I made my first scribblings and dreamt of “A Farmer’s Life for me”.
A decade later, after part-time work mowing lawns and mucking out horses in Canada, I entered the journalism world… as a lowly sub-editor in London, back home in the UK. Beyond subbing ‘Fishing Reports’ and short pieces in The Field magazine, I was gradually allowed to attend events that required brief reports. Finally, I wrote my first published full-page article, anywhere. It was also my first equestrian article, and about a place where I’d had a summer job, The All England Jumping Course, at Hickstead.
By then, I wanted to be a journalist, even returning briefly to Canada to cover the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, with interesting results, especially equestrian. Writing an article for the Canadian equestrian magazine The Corinthian on a major British event should have been my breakthrough as a journalist, as should have been my brief time at a Journalism College.
However, a series of events turned me into an equestrian photographer, then an organic fresh produce wholesaler, to green campaigner, and a video producer.
I’ve never stopped scribbling, even before my job at ‘The Field’. In my teens, I was already penning short stories, mainly science fiction and fantasy. While at my finishing school in Canada, I produced an SFF fanzine called ‘Mind Sphere’ and received my first and only physical rejection letter.
In my late thirties, I was briefly the editor of the Socialist Environment and Resources Association’s journal, New Ground, and wrote a few articles. Almost two decades after my first foray into journalism, I became a regular contributor to some equestrian magazines as a journalist and occasional photographer.
Dick Lane and his team of Lipizzaners at Brighton Driving Trials. Photo: Roland Clarke
While watching a show-jumping class at Olympia in London, the ideas for a plot took shape, and thirteen years later, my only published novel, Spiral of Hooves, was released.
My writing life hasn’t been straightforward, mainly because I’ve let myself be sidetracked. Finally, bedridden by multiple sclerosis, I should be able to focus on writing… one thing. Unfortunately, not, as I outlined last month.
Now, I have Sparkle Anwyl, my favourite character, vying withFreedom Flights, for my attention. The latter now dictates my life, but something tells me I need to keep ‘making hay while the sun shines’.
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!
Another month has passed, so it’s time for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group post. And another chance to reassess my writing strategy.
I’ve shelved my Snowdon Shadows police procedural, Fevered Fuse, while I change focus. I will continue revising ‘Fates Maelstrom’, the second book in the series, although that will require months.
I’ve just posted two more episodes of my Ukraine saga, Freedom Flights. If you read Part 1 of No Cards Game, you may realise how the episode ends before you reach Part 2. Obviously, I’m still following the news from Ukraine.
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!
October 1 question – What is the most favorite thing you have written, published or not? And why?
My first thought was, “These are a few of my favourite things”, but then I realised “There can be only one”, but which one? And why?
The obvious work would be my only published novel, Spiral of Hooves, the first book in the ‘Chasseur’ series. The MCs return in the first draft of a sequel, ‘Tortuous Terrain’, as does Zoo Sécurité, an organisation that appears in other series. Spiral will always be a favourite, but not quite number one. Gradually, the Zoos have become a valuable creation.
One member of Zoo Sécurité is a key secondary character in my Snowdon Shadows police procedural, Fevered Fuse, which has yet to reach an audience. However, Sparkle Anwyl has become my favourite character. But the series falls short of that Number One slot despite Sparkle and my overall arc for her career. I’ll still revise ‘Fates Maelstrom’, the second book in the series, and one day, hopefully, another Sparkle mystery, ‘Ruined Retreat’, featuring another Zoo operative.
As I attempt to assess my favourite written work by trawling through predominantly unpublished scribblings, I recognise an ongoing obsession that might be holding me back. Creating and outlining series ideas.
If I’d stuck with the characters and equestrian world created in Spiral of Hooves, I might have succeeded in publishing more. Instead, I have five or more unwritten series.
For instance, the Gossamer Flames saga grew from my two ‘Wyrm’ draft novels, written in 2011 before ‘Spiral of Hooves’ was published… but after SoH was written. Instead of revising a draft novel, I built new projects to muddle my writing plans. Like ‘Eagle Crossing’ in 2016, set in a 21st-century Viking North America called Kanata. It was extensively researched at the time of devising, as I believed Kanata was my writing future.
Eventually, I developed Sparkle Anwyl, who became my favourite character.
Yet, the favourite thing I’ve written is Feathered Fire, the 1944-based short story published in the 2020 IWSG Anthology (No. 5), Voyagers: The Third Ghost. My reasoning is, firstly, as a standalone story, all the elements seem to work, thanks in part to the editing by L. Diane Wolfe from Dancing Lemur Press.
Secondly, writing Feathered Fire gave rise toFreedom Flights, a crucial part of my ongoing writing journey. Readers asked what happened to the two Ukrainian sisters in the story, so when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, I created their two granddaughters and the modern Night Witches. The present-day episodes led me to start writing about the post-1944 growth of the Chayka Family and their aviation business based in Canada, Chayka Air. Of course, there are at least two Zoo Sécurité operatives involved.
So, Feathered Fire inspired the saga that’s now a key part of my writing, alongside the unfolding career of my Welsh detective, Sparkle Anwyl. All other scribblings must be shelved… for now.
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!
Another month has passed, so it’s time for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group post, and an opportunity to plan another writing adventure.
First, it’s almost two months since I submitted my Snowdon Shadows police procedural, Fevered Fuse, to London-based publisher Joffe Books, and I’m still waiting for an answer. I’m beginning to suspect a rejection is awaiting me when the three-month deadline is reached in early August. At least I’m checking out other publishers by listening to a few of their authors’ books,
However, as I wait, I’m distracting myself by working on draft 6 of ‘Fates Maelstrom’, the second book in my Snowdon Shadows series. This revision primarily involves changing the POVs from multiple 3rd Person to Sparkle Anwyl’s 1st person, an interesting challenge as Sparkle isn’t in every scene.
I have yet to write another episode of my Ukraine saga, Freedom Flights. The last one was Eagle’s Flight, and the next is provisionally called ‘Dispersal and Concealment’, and picks up on something discussed in Eagle’s Flight. Obviously, I’m also still following the news from Ukraine.
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!
July 2 question – Is there a genre you haven’t tried writing in yet that you really want to try? If so, do you plan on trying it?
This may be hypothetical for me, given that I have so many drafts to revise. There are also others that I must accept as remaining abandoned. Most of those to revise fall under the Crime & Mystery genre, although there is one that would be classed as Science Fantasy, Gossamer Flames. Also, Freedom Flights starts in 1944, and although the current episodes are Present Day, it would be classified as Historical Fiction… especially if I keep developing the 1944-2014 chapters.
However, I have written Fantasy and Science Fiction stories, an Alternative History, and a few Children’s short pieces, all of which are unlikely to be revised. I even started a Romance novel on the international tennis circuit. Checking out genre lists, such as Reedsy’s The Ultimate List of Book Genres: 35 Popular Genres, Explained, or Wikipedia’s List of writing genres, I realise there are quite a few genres I’ve missed attempting.
Two stand out: Horror and Erotica. A few of my shorts have had horrific elements, and one reviewer of Spiral of Hooves was unable to finish reading because of the “sexual scenes”.
Time to attempt writing an Erotic Horror… featuring a female vampire with strange fetishes. Or is that a ‘miss-stake’?
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!
It’s time for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group post, and an opportunity to reflect on the dawn of my book adventure.
First, it’s just a month since I submitted my Snowdon Shadows police procedural, Fevered Fuse, to London-based publisher Joffe Books. Not surprisingly, I’m still waiting for the publisher to answer. I’ve yet to start rewriting ‘Fates Maelstrom’, the second book in my Snowdon Shadows series, but I have written another episode of my Ukraine saga, Freedom Flights – Strategy and Tactics.
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!
June 4 question – What were some books that impacted you as a child or young adult?
My distant memory of books I read in my childhood throws up a few titles that have endured.
Initially, I had to research Fingerling, whom I vaguely recalled was a gnome in the illustrations. Actually, his original name is Pinkeltje, and he’s “a fictional character from the eponymous children’s book series by the Dutch writer Dick Laan. Pinkeltje is a white-bearded gnome and wears a pointed hat and is as big as a pinky finger, hence his name, meaning “fingerling” (literally “little pinky”) in Dutch.” I’m unsure how many English translations of the original twenty-nine books my parents bought for my siblings and me, but I remember enjoying a few.
However, I vividly remember devouring The Story of Ferdinand (1936), “the best-known work by the American author Munro Leaf. Illustrated by Robert Lawson…” This wonderful children’s book tells “the story of a bull who would rather smell flowers than fight in bullfights. He sits in the middle of the bull ring, failing to take heed of any of the provocations of the matador and others to fight.” I adored the illustrations and the story even more, especially as the ending felt perfect, and it probably had an impact on my storytelling. I’m certain the fact that my Chilean grandmother had a Pekinese called Ferdie, aka Ferdinand, added to the appeal. Perhaps, he was named after the bull.
As I recall my childhood, there are other books, like A.A. Milne’s stories, especially those about Winnie the Pooh, many of Beatrix Potter’s stories, and another favourite, The Happy Lion, which I received on my birthday, being a Leo. This 1954 children’s picture book by Louise Fatio, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, “follows a Happy Lion in France who, after escaping the small zoo where he lives, is surprised that people, who loved visiting him there, are now scared of him.”
I still have one of the books that I read and loved as a child, George Brooksbank’s ‘Old Mr Fox’. With a cover by celebrated Scottish wildlife artist Archibald Thorburn, this was my father’s copy, which he was given in 1932 for Christmas, the same year the book was published. This treasured book inspired me to write my first short story… about a fox running free.
C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narniafed my passion for fantasy, which became the first genre I embraced in my writing. I read all the books in the series, some numerous times, and again, I still have the set. Lewis was the first of the Inklings, whose works I read fervently. Two more were later discoveries.
I could list other books I read as a child, but none were truly influential until, in my teens, I added Science Fiction to my reading addiction. The authors included Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Douglas Adams, Philip J. Farmer, Harry Harrison, Karl Vonnegut, Frank Herbert, Harry Harrison, Poul Anderson, …and the list goes on. Imagine my surprise when I found Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series crossed from engrossing fantasy into space, and became gripping Science Fiction.
Inkling three would be Owen Barfield, but not until I was in my twenties. Before then, though, for me, there was only one masterful Inkling.
My favourite author, even now, is J.R.R. Tolkien, whom I first discovered when I read his essay based on his lecture “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics“. So, reading “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” came a few months later. I read the whole of “The Lord of the Rings” over one very long weekend when I was at Eton College in 1969, age 16. I still have the three hardback copies with their detailed fold-out maps.
Although most of these books had some influence on my writing, Tolkien’s works had a much greater impact. Ironically, my first effective creative writing teacher, the poet and writer Roger Woddis, said my writing was becoming ‘purple prose’ as I wanted to imitate Tolkien. Fortunately, I restrained myself from writing ‘purple prose’ while improving. I also read more books as I grew older. But that’s another chapter.
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!
Writing Wings 