Tag Archives: roland clarke

The Writer’s Cut

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Roland_PBookV1

You are invited to the launch of my equestrian mystery Spiral of Hooves: The Writer’s Cut aka The Second Edition on August 7th, 2017, which is incidentally my 64th birthday.

Join me on Facebook or Goodreads as I discuss how the novel came about, my horse world, being an MS warrior, and my future from motorbikes and longboats to spacecraft and airships. I will answer any question posed…within my ability to do so. Of course, there will be prizes from signed copies to other goodies.

The party begins at 9 am. MDT (1600 BST; 1100 EDT; 0800 PST) on Facebook – see HERE for details and invite. (Facebook says in Boise but the party is online so come as you are.) I will also drop in and out of Goodreads to chat and answer questions – HERE – whenever I can slip off Facebook. I am running Giveaways for signed paperback copies of “Spiral of Hooves” – one copy on Facebook, one on Goodreads, and one on each Blog running my ‘interview-promo’ post.

If any authors are willing to join the Facebook party it would let me sit back and chill for an hour – or visit Goodreads – while you entertain the fans and promote yourself. Just ask for a slot and I can add you to the schedule.

ARC copies are still available to read in PDF format, and there is still time to review Spiral of Hooves before the release on August 7th.

I can also supply blog copy to anyone willing to post about the novel and my world. Each blog will be invited to run a Giveaway for a signed paperback copy.

The following links should also direct you to specific Amazon sites:
https://www.createspace.com/3893100
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1548508411
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/1548508411
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1548508411
http://www.amazon.de/dp/1548508411
http://www.amazon.es/dp/1548508411
http://www.amazon.fr/dp/[1548508411
http://www.amazon.it/dp/[1548508411
…………………

  • BLURB: In Canada, researcher Armand Sabatier witnesses what could be the murder of groom Odette Fedon, but traumatic images from his past smother his memory, and a snowstorm buries the evidence. Harassed by nightmares but fighting through them, Armand remembers the crime a few months later. By then he is in England, where he is dragged into a plot involving international sport horse breeding.

Suspecting everyone around him, Armand is forced to brave the past that he has kept buried. But what made Armand leave France? Where did he learn to survive and fight for justice? Why is the English rider Carly Tanner treading the same path as the first victim, Odette?

Can he save Carly before he has more blood on his hands?

  • Genre – Mystery-thriller
  • Tone of the book – serious but not gory
  • Target audience – young adult upwards interested in horses and mysteries

I hope to see you at The Writer’s Cut Party.

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The Road Ahead

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Llywdro_SWTOR

Apologies for the silence. I had hoped to blog about our moving plans, as we thought we were finally in a position to advance. But again we have to wait. Maybe next week.

For now, here is a link to an interview with me, just published on Tasha’s Thinkings. It was a great chance to talk about myself, my writing, and most crucially… about Star Wars.

Read on and enjoy.

Two Futures: Facts or Fiction

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What is the best way forward for this blog?

Ever since I wrote my post Eight Headless Chickens I have been wondering what the most important next step is.

The clear priority has to be our move to Wales, and – Beware Cliché – fingers & toes crossed, that is proceeding smoothly thanks to my wife and special friends, but no thanks to immediate family. By the end of February, I should be blogging from a new desk with a view of Harlech, the sea and mountains in Snowdonia.

But even with the inspiring view what will I blog about?

I have two, or is it three futures that are churning around in my mind.

  1. Facts: the simplest way forward. I continue posting my usual observations on my experience of the writing process, interspersed with thoughts on issues of the day. As a relative newcomer to writing, at least in getting published, I feel unable to offer great insights on good writing techniques. There are far better sites/blogs for that, some in my Links.
  2. Fiction: tasters of my writing. Should my blog become a means to release short fiction strategically over time?  Since the start of the year, I have been working on short stories and now have seven at various stages. They are loosely connected, in that they are set in the same world, one akin to the game Gossamer Steel, so that is their collective title.
  3. Dual carriageway: a mix of both Facts and Fiction. So when a story was written and edited it would be available, and when I was inspired to supply concrete Facts that would be the post.

Which do I choose, 1, 2, or 3? What would you the readers of this Blog prefer? Why do you tune in here to what I write?

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Of course life is never simple, especially here at Writing Wings where there are challenges.

There is another element, a Newsletter. It’s an option that I have given serious thought to. The factual blog would continue to share my thoughts and experiences as a writer, and as a retiree with MS. The tasters of my fictional worlds would continue, whether as interviews or as extracts.

However, for those of you that sign up to my Gossamer Wings Newsletter there would be treats: the tasters would become short stories for free. In that way you could see how the Gossamer Steel universe evolved. I would also be extremely grateful for your comments and feedback, as they would contribute to the ongoing story, providing an invaluable asset in developing the world.

As part of the ongoing creation, I am using Aeon Timeline to construct a Chronology into which the short stories fit. In the same universe, I also have two novellas that I intend to self-publish and release later this year so everyone can experience the world of Gossamer Steel.

Should newsletter subscribers benefit with the novellas in some way? Is having a pre-taste of the world enough? There would be other news and fictional snippets in the newsletter as well.

What about a life of crime? Have I abandoned my criminals and their victims? Never.  As well as a stand-alone psychological thriller, there is the cyber-crime novel, ‘Wyrm Bait’. This is the first of a series that has the gaming world of Gossamer Steel as its background.

Plus there is the sequel to ‘Spiral of Hooves’ that I wrote for NaNoWriMo 2013. ‘Tortuous Terrain’ the second part of the Chasseur series has to have a future as well. The reviews on Amazon and elsewhere have been five star, so I have a lot of positive thoughts looking ahead.

So what do you feel is my future? Please, gaze not into your crystal ball but into the past at what you enjoyed. What do you want next?

Painted Lady Butterfly (Vanessa cardui)

Painted Lady Butterfly (Vanessa cardui)

 

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what_works_III

On Monday I will be taking part in an exciting blogfest and sharing my experiences, so far, on marketing. Do I dare mention my past in the film industry?

What Works…

The first ever “Online Marketing Symposium!“

A blogfest with information you can use.

The event happens on Monday January 20, 2014.

 what-works-jan-20 copy

http://www.yolandarenee.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/marketing-what-works.html

Spiral of Hooves ~ Cover Reveal

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Cover credit: Danielle Sands

After many years of scribbling, worrying and dreaming, I hope that you are all as thrilled as I am about this cover reveal for my equestrian mystery ‘Spiral of Hooves’.

This is another taster before the novel is released next month as an e-book from SPMG. I am grateful to this supportive publishing team for ensuring that my victims’ blood, my heroine’s sweat and my tears have all been worthwhile.

Will this be your thrill on a cold winter night?

What do you think of the cover? Where is the mysterious light leading the hooves?

Stay tuned for more details.

For other tasters, visit my ‘Spiral of Hooves’ page, which features Interviews with some of the characters. Who is in danger? Can you expose the murderer?

Will you be next?

‘Spiral of Hooves’ Interviews

Rising from rejection: the search for recognition

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The Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger shortlist has been announced – http://www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/2012/index.html – and I didn’t make it into the chosen few.
Am I surprised and dejected at what at first felt like rejection when I was desperate for recognition?  Part of me is – the part that thought Spiral of Hooves had been honed into a version worth entering into the Debut Dagger competition back in January. But now I’m seeing flaws everywhere: from the sport background creeping into the foreground which creates a mid-novel slump, to the 2012 setting when events in my story have been rained off in reality. Plus there could be other things IF I do yet another rewrite.

Moral: Keep the main plot focused and the sub-plots in the background.

Getting the basic preparation right

Do I want to do another revision after 12 years of working on the same story?  My mind has moved on to other plots that are already drafted, like Wyrm Bait which I have just re-read and done the ‘Overview’ edit of.  Will tinkering with Spiral of Hooves rescue what is the result of listening to too much advice and making changes that play to critics’ whims?  The original story is in there somewhere, but I’m no longer sure where.

Moral: Learn to recognise constructive criticism and ignore everything else.

Telling it like it is

Do I count the first novel as experience and just move on?  I could just resign myself to doing one final edit, an attempt to remove the worst offences and then self-publish in a minor way.  I have a low-key strategy that would be more about developing my platform than about selling books worldwide.  However for those who need to know what my first novel is like, it will at least exist in more than a bottom drawer.

Moral: The bottom drawer is for work in progress.

European Championships at Blenheim

What do you think as one of my readers and as a fellow writer? Am I giving up too easily or is the idea dying along with my enthusiasm?   Constructive criticism and advice invite here.

Of course I could burn the offending manuscript like Robert Louis Stevenson and from the ashes a phoenix would rise….  However I’m ready to move on and work on one of the newer fresher stories already alive and trying to fly.

From the ashes

And yes, I want recognition for what I’ve done but my wife already gives me that – then there was yesterday. We went to the Horse Trials that I revived in 2005 at Borde Hill with the help of a knowledgeable friend. Due to my MS I handed the reins to a new team of organiser at the end of 2009 but was made the President. Sitting with my First Lady having lunch we were joined by various officials including the British Eventing CEO.  In things said there was recognition for what I had achieved as an event organiser; also reflected in a silver salver that I received in 2008 from BE for everything I had done over 14 years in the sport.

So I’ve got recognition and the writing will follow suit.

Borde Hill and sculpture

Welcome to Writing Wings

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Welcome to Writings Wings, my Blogging home online and a place to keep friends and followers informed about my journeys in the World of Writing & Scribbling as I try to evolve from a fledgling fiction writer into someone that can offer words of import or entertainment or even amusement.

On this Blog I will post my more instant musings as I perfect my writing and learn the art of editing the words into something that you would like to read.  For details on my writing you can also visit my website at www.rolandclarke.co.uk where Work In Progress gives a few clues to the novels and other creations that are finding their own wings through my scribblings.  If you want to know who I am, click here on About fora few clues.

In time I will add some Favourite Links including a portal to my life beyond writing at The Duskweald – www.duskweald.co.uk – as well as other valued links.  Finally if you want to get in touch either click on the Facebook, Twitter links above OR by following the blog by email below.

See you on the journey fellow traveller ~ The Silver Scribbler aka Roland Clarke.