It has to be straight on from here

After a long hard slog that has felt very unproductive, Ive finally reached the point where I can see where I'm going with my new novel. I began the summer with about ten thousand words completed but then the story took a different course. It reached a couple of blocked off pathways and I had to find new ways through.

But it's done! Those ten thousand words have been whittled down to about seven thousand. the locations are the same. The characters are the same - mostly. And those one or two episodes that turn out never to have happened? Well, they might form the basis of another story later on.

How did we get here from there?

It's well into November and I haven't posted anything since June. The summer and early autumn must have been rather squashed up - I'm sure they usually last much longer than this.
So how is it going with Bunderlin? Encouraging, really. Or discouraging. Depends on which way I'm looking. One major publisher requested the full ms, liked it, said it was good. But not in the present economic climate. Hey ho. A small independent publisher liked the opening chapters and asked for the rest - still waiting. And still waiting for two or three others. I'll get there in the end.

In the meantime, here's a picture of me taking a harris hawk for a walk in the woods. In Cheshire, of course.

Well, here we go

After a few months of working on the very last final edit of Bunderlin, the one with no more to follow, I start the business of trying to find a publisher or agent. I suppose I ought to feel pretty confident because earlier drafts have made it to the short lists of a couple of competitions, and this version is a big improvement upon those. But it does feel rather odd sending out the submissions and waiting to see what happens.

I guess what I really must do now is immerse myself in my latest novel. The last year hasn't been all that easy for writing cause I've been working full-time in my day job and haven't been able to manage the two full days together per week that I prefer. But from the end of this summer I'm back to part-time so I have no excuses. I know I could think of one or two but I'm not going to. I'm going to get on with my writing.

Cwmcarn Forest

I love forests - but they are scary places. Look at this old tree:













Then I realised I need to get out of there fast because this wasn't really a tree at all!

It was yet another poor animal that the witch of the forest had turned into a tree.

PODs Pirates and Publishers

Over the past couple of weeks on writers' forums and email lists, I've come across several questions about self-publishing. So here's a few thoughts about the things people ask:

If I self-publish my book, does that count as being published?
Depends what you mean. If you're thinking of your approach to agents and publishers with subsequent work, it probably doesn't count for very much at all. There's a lot of self-published trash out there and having your previous book in the pile doesn't earn you many points. So simply to say that you are a self-published author says only that you paid for some printing. Like Jimmy the plumber who paid for a stack of letterheads and brochures. If you can say that you sold 5,000 copies of your book, well that says something very different. Sell only 20, though - it's probably best to keep quiet about that.
If you are planning on entering any competitions for unpublished first-timers, a go-it-alone job with an ISBN will probably disqualify you. Even if you didn't manage to sell those 20 copies.

Is there a danger that I'll be ripped off?
I guess that's a danger wherever you go and whatever you do. But I can't see that there is very much of a threat that someone is going to steal the book of an unknown wannabe author, pass it off as their own and make a fortune out of it. While you are struggling to sell your 20 copies. When you topple J. K. Rowling off her perch, on the other hand, there will be the danger that some devious little blank at your publisher's office will nick your manuscript and pre-empt your launch date with a boot-legged version from China.

Will I self-publish my own stuff?
Not sure. A while ago I seriously planned to do that with Bunderlin, but for the moment I've changed my mind. I guess I've got back a bit more confidence. I've had some encouragement from a couple of publishing professionals. And I've been short-listed in a couple of competitions. So I'm all set to take the latest, much improved version around the agents and publishers.

A warehouse full of stories

Margaret and I took a drive into Gloucester last week and went into the splendid antiques warehouse in the docklands. Our excuse was looking for Poole pottery. But there wasn't any, not of the colour we were looking for. So we'll just have to keep going back.

What struck me this time was how places like this are full of stories – many of which begin, 'My Gran had one of these...' It's a great place for a storyteller to take a break from cyberskiving. Among the various things that took Margaret's eye (and my own) was an old table-top Singer sewing machine. 'My mother had one of these,' I began.

In fact, the Singer found its way into my novel Bunderlin. It wasn't amongst all the junk and treasures which Martin eventually found in his house. Bunderlin had given it away long before then. If only someone would just give me one, Margaret might have thought because the asking price was a little more than spur-of-the-moment-don't-really-need-one-of-these level.

She told the tale a couple of days later. And then the following day this one, the one in the photo, was sitting on her desk when she got into her office. A colleague, only hours later, had been to the churches' charity shop and there, sitting among a pile of junk waiting to go to the tip, was this beautiful thing. It's in full working order and easily restorable to showroom condition. And it was on its way to the tip!?

Advertising?

Oh dear, I've just had my wrist slapped for self-advertising. I sometimes log on to a forum for ex-Jehovah's Witnesses - which seems a pretty reasonable thing to do especially since my first published book was an academic study of that movement. I hardly ever say much about my book, but I will post something if it's relevant in answer to a query.
So when someone posted a message asking for information about the connection between William Miller, the 19th century American adventist preacher and Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the movement that eventually became the JWs, I posted a link to my book. Seemed reasonable, particularly since my book contains the only detailed academic treatment of the Miller/Russell link that is readily available.
The forum administrator didn't like that and sent me a warning. No advertising. You meant well, but don't do it again. Okay, I won't. Well, I might not. I'll get back to my novel.