An Excerpt of My Novel

With one novel on submission to agents, another almost half-way through, a full-time job and a list of manuscripts as long as my arm to critique, I'm not finding as much time for blogging as I'd like. So in future I will be dialing back on the number of manuscripts I accept and finding more time for this little site. Here is my humble September offering.

When I hear than an editor is also a writer I'm always more curious about their work than about anyone elses. An editor should know and avoid the common mistakes, be more 'clued-in', and generally be able to see the good and bad in a manuscript. So in the interests of full-disclosure, since I've spent the last year reading and editing and giving opinion on all your work, I thought I would do a little sharing of my own. This is a short extract from the first chapter of the novel I currently have on submission to agents.

He set the receiver down and aligned the phone with the edges of the small side table, wiping a few errant motes of dust from the thick-varnished fake mahogany surface. Marius stared at the inhabitants of his sparse apartment, their blithe taunts cut deeper today, small verbal nicks, like those received by careless shaving stabbed at him from all sides. This was not uncommon, Marius had woken up to them, left for work with their words dancing in his ears, come home to them and struggled to sleep each night for the over a year with nothing to break his routine. So, in an inconceivable moment of spontaneity, Marius took up his jacket and dashed out of the flat before another barb could reach him.

Marius went to a bar. This was the first and only repeat of an act of peer pressure from his eighteenth birthday. He assumed, through its glorification by the media, that this was ‘the thing to do’ when the day had shit on you so hard that only neat alcohol and anonymous company could dig you out. He entered the first establishment he came across and, seeing the Friday night rush, resolved to leave immediately. Turning to flee, he was blocked by a team of loose-suited, sun-blushed city-types, forcing him further into the throng of after-work revellers and up to the bar. He was sardined between the three-deep crowd of money-waving patrons and the hulking stock-market-in-the-week-ruggers-on-the-weekend louts behind him.

Panic was rising. Marius could feel the stale beer-tainted breath on his face, burning into his nostrils and watering his eyes. His shoulders were touching his ears and his made-in-Taiwan canvas shoes offered no protection from the Italian calf-skin loafers intent on crushing them. An almighty roar from behind and the horde surged forward. Smelling it before feeling it, the acid tinge of spilt alcohol covered his left shoulder. Cigarette ash stuck to the spillage and its owner came within millimetres of his eye. The nicotine smog swirled above him in a demonic haze. The ceiling disappeared, the floor disappeared, the people around him melded into one fleshy mound and Marius’ vision blurred.

Desperate not to collapse surrounded by these oblivious thugs, Marius employed his elbows, tucked his head down and barged his way free to a chorus of disapproval.

‘Oi mate, calm down!’ a rotund fellow in an army jacket shoved him back but Marius persisted.

‘You wanna stop that mate,’ a meaty hand gripped his hunched shoulder.

Marius’ mouse whisper apology did nothing to stem the tide of drunken anger soon to be directed at his torso and face.

‘You wanna learn some manners son,’ Marius now noticed that covering the man’s head, in place of hair, was the wide, stretched skin of a scar. 

‘You looking at something son?’ the man’s tone had turned sinister. Marius tore his vision from the torn scalp to a pair of ferocious baby blues.

‘I think you oughta come outside with me, eh? I’ll gi’yuh something to look at, ay?’

Marius’ blood turned to ice. He’d never been in a fight before. What were the rules? Should they exchange insurance information beforehand?

The squat bulldog was ushering him to the door, the man's hand was carved out of wood, impossible to wriggle free. Marius’ protests went unnoticed or unheard.

‘Teach you ta stare won’t I ay?’

The bulldog’s right hand was on the door handle, the other still vice-like on Marius’ shoulder. Shit. Marius couldn’t fight. Marius did not like confrontation. Marius was a pacifist. Oh shit the door was opening, the dog was pushing him outside. Who was he kidding? Pacifist? Marius Arnold was a coward. One foot out the door. Shit. They say that a guy’s first fight is a defining moment, that it turns you from a boy to a man because you can’t be a man until you’ve felt the fist of another man break your cheekbone. Marius did not give this any weight but he did wonder in this moment if, had he been beaten to a bloody mass during adolescence, he would not now be shitting himself quite so liberally. Both his feet were now outside the safe confines of the pub. Shit.

Then, an angel in khaki.

 

New Challenge - Cover Design

A friend of a friend of a friend asked for my advice on the cover design of his new, self-pub book. After a bit of discussion he asked me to design the whole thing. I do cover layout in my day job but I don't create the graphics so this was a new challenge for me. A bit of back and forth, well, a lot of back and forth, and we came up with this -

This is now up on Amazon and here is the blurb -

The Veil. A doorway between worlds, hidden, feared and worshipped. The Veil reflects the life of the world and on Nalamae, there was no darkness within its silks, not one flicker of black. Nalamae breathed fresh air but when darkness does come to a green world, it comes swiftly and it comes with an army.

Nikki, Leah and Tobias are the only survivors of the attack. They must escape Nalamae and find the man who killed their world, the son of tyranny, Vladimir. Once through the Veil, the three discover the darker side to the universe and for Leah and Nikki, a destiny that will test the limits of their friendship.

The three travel through worlds of deserts and forests, of genetic technology and dagger-like mountains, right into the heart of darkness itself. To get to Vladimir they must get through the Dimlight, the place behind the blackness of space. Dragons roar through it, ridden by beings of pure magic and it is here that Nikki realises that she is much more than simple girl.

But Vladimir has a plan of his own, he has been hunting them since they left Nalamae, intent on completing an ancient task that will shake the universe to its core.

Darkling Worlds is an epic fantasy that takes you through the universe on the back of a dragon, to worlds of magic and death, and through the fabric of space. 

During my design time, I also read the book. I don't usually read self-pub books, I'm a firm believer in traditional publishing and the importance of editors but Darkling Worlds might change my mind a little. I'll just say that if this book doesn't get picked up, I'll be surprised. And obviously with a surname like Lewis, AJ is already on the right track to stardom!

Writing Update

I have been a bit lax with blogging and updating and all that jazz. The reason for this is because in the middle of February I finished my WIP. I then spent the next 6 weeks editing and revising it. Now it is on submission to agents and the responses have been wonderful so far.

This isn't the only thing that has been taking my attention away from blogging. I have started a new WIP which I am super excited about, even more than the first book. This new project currently stands at 12k and I'm really happy with it. It is using narrative techniques I haven't used before and I'm experimenting with chapter length and jumping POVs. In short, loving it. I'm also getting married in 6 weeks so the planning has just overwhelmed every other spare moment.

I will be blogging more in the future, hopefully with some good news of my first WIP! :)

The First Line Series: 1 - The Hook

When it comes to the first line of a book, there seem to be a few different theories floating around. Each one deserves it's time in the spotlight so I will discuss these theories and their pros and cons over the next few blog posts. The first discusses that old adage of 'hook your reader' and 'make that first line a killer'.

The Fish Hook in the Cheek
This is the idea that a first line should grab the reader like the titular fish hook. It should entirely prevent the reader from looking away, putting down the book and wandering out of the bookstore. It should, in fact, drag the reader to the counter where he or she will slam down their hard-earned cash, thank the cashier and hurry home, all without having looked up from the page. This theory states that you, the writer, should spend hours painstakingly crafting that first sentence until it jumps off the page and gives you a Roger Rabbit-esque kiss.

First Lines that Do It Right: 
Rebecca - 'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.'
Mrs Dalloway - 'Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.'
1984 - 'It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.'

There is a commonality between these lines. They each introduce something new to the reader and leave them with questions, be it a place, character or event. If you only had these lines, what questions would you come up with? What the hell is Manderley? Why is this person dreaming about it? Again?? Who is Mrs Dalloway? Why is the buying flowers? Why is she specifically buying them herself? How is a clock striking thirteen? What kind of place has 13-hour clocks?

With your first line, try to think of what a reader, if given just your sentence, would question. Does it make you want to read on or does it leave you cold? Then give it to a reader, a friend, relative, online forum, anyone. All feedback is good feedback.

The downside of new writers trying to make that first line sucker punch a reader is that one can spend so much time making those first ten words perfect, that the other 80,000 do not live up to the hype. I believe a novel should be the same standard throughout. I've read so many that start off so well, the first three chapters are incredible but after that the writing flounders, the plot turns sluggish and I leave the characters feeling disappointed.

This happens because so many new writers concentrate on the first line or first three chapters because that is what is sent to an agent or publisher and that small section of the whole is what 'sells' the book. If you have an amazing first line, great, good for you, but make sure the rest of your work is of the same standard and has received the same amount of attention from you. Yes it will take a while, yes it will be difficult, but that is what writing a book is all about. How do you do this? You edit. You edit like your life depended on it. You cut. You re-write. You bang your head on your desk until that first line is just a taster, not the pinnacle, of wrting within. Stop concentrating on selling your book and instead concentrate on writing it.

So Many New Ideas! Ahh My Brain!!

I'm now coming to the end of my WIP, the finish line at the end of the tunnel is in sight (yes, I mixed my metaphors, what are you going to do about it?) and what invariably happens at this stage of a project is my mind gets flooded with all these new shiny novel or short story ideas. This is very annoying. It's distracting from the most important part of the book, the denouement, the climax of climaxes, the bit where all the disparate little threads of thought are wound together into a beautiful macrame teddy bear which the reader can hug to hold onto the magic of the story. But then the other ideas come and they stay your hand from tying those knots and they dance and sing and frolic before you, tempting you away from your work.

Do not go! Avoid temptation! Sit back down and finish that book you've been writing for what feels like 63,000 years. Are you sat back down? Good. So what can we do about those pesky ideas? Listen closely and I shall tell you.

There are three options.

1. You can be tempted away, start a new writing project with this new, shiny, best idea EVA and have the same thing happen 5k from the end. Your call.

2. You can ignore those flashy lights and bells and whistles, you can put your ear muffs on and hunker down under a blanket until they go away. But they won't go away. Do you know why? Because they're inside your head!

3. You can catch the little gits and force them onto a piece of paper. Tether them to the fibres of dead tree or the cyber page. Write down everything you know about them, everything that comes into your head and do it quickly. Then put that page or notebook in a drawer and lock them away until the last word is written on your current project. When you have done that, you can let them out, pick the best one and start the process all over again.

What will you do? I'll give you a hint - 1 & 2 are the wrong answer.

Happy holidays!

Now Closed to Submissions

Hello all you lovely folks of the Internet. Since opening my cyber doors I have been inundated with submissions. I've tried hard to keep on top of things but alas, I am being buried beneath the slush pile. So, to rectify this situation, catch up on my backlog, and allow myself a few days of Christmas holiday, I am now closed to submissions until the New Year.

I will attempt to post my pearls of wordy wisdom on a semi-regular basis but will not be accepting any new editing projects for the time being.

NaNoWriMo 1: Characterisation

This is the first in a series I'll be writing during NaNoWriMo. To survive the most horrible month in the publishing world, there are certain rules that one can follow to make that 50k go a little easier. The first one is the importance of solid characterisation so I'm going to outline some methods for creating well-rounded, realistic, and memorable characters.

The 5-Way Plan

This is when you take a sheet of paper and write down absolutely everything about the character. Writing classes often do a stripped down version of this as a writing exercise. Write down 5 aspects of the character's physical appearance, the more detailed the better, i.e. 5ft 1 instead of 'short'. Then 5 things about their background (where they work, where they were born etc.). Then 5 members of their family/friends/contacts. Then 5 personality traits. 5 habits or quirks. This is the most time consuming method but will give you a solid idea of how your characters will act and react to situations.

The Mimic Plan

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this but if it is done well, it can be very effective for the reader. If you're a more visual writer who uses cues from films or other works to generate ideas, then this may be for you. So, you're writing a fantasy book, you have a hardened woodsman/warrior/ranger who you see as an Aragorn type. That's fine but don't stop there. Use the fundamentals of Aragorn but not the specifics. Write down how your character is different from Aragorn, physically and emotionally. Then show it to a friend and if that friend says 'Oh that's Aragorn without the beard' then you may have to have a rethink. The advantage of this is that it can be a very quick way to form a rounded character and NaNoWriMo is all about speed.

The Improvisation Plan

This is the way I tend to work on a project and depending on the type of writer you are, this is even quicker than the previous. I tend to think of a name first and build from there as I write then go back and alter if needed. If you end up with a clear idea in your mind then it can extremely easy to write a believable character but if you don't, then you can end up with inconsistencies. When I write I let my characters lead me, it's more organic and I let them evolve as any real person would given the experiences so I don't like having a detailed blueprint of a person written down, as in the 5-Way Plan. When I write I feel like an explorer so I like to discover things about my characters as a reader would. If I have a long planning document then it feels like the discoveries have already been made and I lose interest. So this method can be the most fun to write but is the most risky.

For a task like NaNoWriMo the biggest thing you need to do that will save you the most time is to be decisive. I know writers who second guess their decisions or don't make them so the writing itself is stalled. NaNoWriMo is a crazy undertaking for anyone and do bear in mind that 50k is very very very short to be called a novel, it's more of a novella, if you really want to write a novel in one month, aim for 80k.