We’ve just finished packing the last of my sister’s things that we’re taking home.
Just waiting on a friend to visit, then it’s tea tonight, over night here and then our trek home tomorrow.
We’re taking our time to go home so it might be another week or so
For those who don’t know, earlier this year my sister passed away so my partner and I embarked on the long trip across Australia to help her partner with the rest of her estate.
It’s a lot to go thru and doing so has brought back memories of family and great times. It’s been an eye opener because she was someone who I thought would be with us far longer than she was and that is the sad part for us. I’m glad that I was able to spend 2 weeks with her last year.
So this post is to let you all know that I may not be as prolific in my posting as I normally am. We are both doing well, however and bringing some stuff back with us that is as surprising as it is haunting.
Will post later
Well, today I learned I am probably on the right track. I posted the new prologue to Dark Dimensions to a group of mine and one of them promptly posts “Oh, this makes me want to go back and read it all over again!”
Tick the “excited to read” box!
But seriously, rewriting Dark Dimensions is a monumental task and I’ve actually written a side story for one of the opposing characters to ensure that his reactions in Dark Dimensions are true and correct and to clarify for myself what he would actually know before Troy meets with him.
I’ll be doing that to a few more of the antagonists, too, i think. I don’t think I could write the same for Geophis, I think it would be difficult at the moment, him being such a complex character as such. I’ve done a few of his own scenes when exploring ways to write Dark Beginnings, though, and found them quite interesting.
I am also contemplating rewriting the start of Dark Reign, only to give it that narrative hook at the start.
Same with Heart of Deception. Although the opening scenes are great, I don’t think they capture attention enough, so I’ll make sure I get that before I send it out again.
But, yes, rewriting is a must for these earlier books. The new version is so much more dynamic than the earlier version.
I can’t say enough about working with an agent. I had numerous people reading Dark Dimensions when it first came out and everyone, including me – especially me – passed right over a hole in the first chapter!
How we missed this I don’t know.
I do know that Dark Dimensions is going to be a heap better than what it is now. And I think I have finally figured out my writing style.
I still go with pantsing (writing by the seat of my pants) because that’s what I love doing.
From now on, though, each second draft will get a plan completed and I’ll drill into the characters that have poked their heads out in the first draft.
Another thing I have learnt is that, much as I hate the idea, a character “sheet” is a must for the drafts that are planned. One of the exercises I did was to write the prologue and chapter one after I’d written the character sheets and to keep those sheets in mind when writing the scenes. That made it a lot more real in my mind, so the task now is to get that reality into the book.
What an indepth journey this has been. But it means the book will be a lot better once it’s done.
Well, having an agent who is willing to help you get the best contract out is amazing. Thanks to my agent, I have been going over Dark Dimensions and I believe I’m adding a whole lot more to the beginning.
It’s something I think every writer needs to do – to revisit their early work after it’s been out there a few years and see if it could be tweaked.
When I wrote Dark Dimensions, I was still in a full-time position and while I was no longer writing training documents, my mind-set was still on writing for business.
After 6 books and working on 7 and 8, I’ve noticed that the books have been getting deeper and deeper and I believe that I was still in a “writing for business” mindset when I wrote Dark Dimensions. I’ve had a lot of positive responses from the drafts I’ve shared and even had one person close to tears at the prologue. That tells me it’s a job well-done. I’m still tweaking, though, and hopefully I’ll finish tweaking really soon.
I encourage all other writers to do this to their early books. I know I’ll have another look at Heart of Deception after this one.
So, it’s Camp NaNoWrimo again and again I’m breaking rules. I’m doing 2 projects instead of 1. But that’s me, isn’t it.
In other news, I actually got another interview click here to go to it.
I have started working on the rewrite of Dark Dimensions. It’s amazing, after 7 years, you realise that there are things that could be improved in it.
Don’t get me wrong, I love it as it is, but it could be better. In fact, it was the first book I finished after leaving full-time work. I only just realised this year that when I was writing it, I was still in business writing mode. Which meant very little emotion. Time to dust things off and really hone in on emotions and stuff.
And it’s been fun to finely tune that book. I’ll keep working on it, too. Just to get it right. So the next edition should be much, much better than what’s out there currently.
Yep, it’s that time again. Waiting for Beta Readers to read The Dark Road and provide feedback.
So, I’m going through the gamut of emotions, do they like it? Does it work? Have I separated the characters enough?
All these questions are designed to trip a writer up and trick them into thinking their writing is not good enough and won’t go anywhere. But the secret is to battle your way through the doubt and worry. Just accept that if you enjoyed what you wrote, then others should, also.
I did delete one whole chapter and sent that to a friend for her to confirm it shouldn’t be in there. She agreed with me but said the character interaction was great and the characters were dynamic. She also said it was good to see more of one of the characters from Dark Dimensions who was only very lightly written about in Dark Reign (oh, yes. Still being released).
So, after this ghostwriting, I’ll be working on my paranormal story, for all out there who enjoyed reading about Sam and Nina, as well as my time travel dinosaur/pandemic story.
Also, I will be travelling across the country in August, so these might actually turn into a little travel blog in between writing blogs. I will be taking my writing with me, so I will continue to write a little bit each day (apart from the trek across the paddock).
But I can now hear my court case calling so I will talk to you all soon!
My editing of The Dark Road is finally finished. Minus a chapter. Yes, I decided to take a chapter out. The Dark Road will now to to beta readers and I’ll give them the option of with the chapter or without it. It’s more appropriate without it though.
So, after the beta readers have read it will be off to the editor for editing, then, once any more updates are done, it’ll be with the publishers!
My heart’s a’flutter!
A change is coming to the Clans in Conflict series
Dark Dimensions will be coming out in a second edition to celebrate the change.
And we have a date for Dark Reign
Hopefully, The Dark Road will be ready by then! I have edited it, am now reading it and then sending it to beta readers, then onto the editor.
I did have to take a few days off editing as I came down with a cold. Getting over that and back into the swing of things.
Sooooooooo excited for the changes! And to see a release date for Dark Reign!
Okay, Draft 2 of The Dark Road is complete. I have also split a lot of the chapters up – they were just a tad too long – like really long. There is now 29 chapters in it.
So, I have a little tidying up in it and then i will start listening to it through Word. (Love that feature!)
I’m trying to leave that for tomorrow, however, and give myself a day’s break away from it. It’s hard, though, because I still want to complete it as soon as I can so that everyone can read it.
Dark Reign will be coming out, soon, however, we have as yet to get a date. Same with Dangerous Heart which is the third in the Consequences series.
There is a fourth book to the Clans in Conflict series, but it is more of a prequel and deals with Vlad the Supreme and how he got there.
Also, I have the bare bones for a fourth Consequences, but not completely sure about that one as yet. Still in the pipeline.
Just to remind you all that the books below are available to purchase:
Clans in Conflict
Dark Dimensions
Consequences
Heart of Deception
Legacy of Risks
J A Duxbury's World 