The attentive amongst you will gave noticed that there wasn't a story of the week last week. I have a few things at various stages of development but nothing anywhere near ready for publication.
This project was always going to be a bit of a stretch and I'm pleased to have got as far as I have. The intention, as well as challenging myself, was to get as many stories out there as possible (and in a variety of different styles). I've managed that and my recent giveaway on Amazon (all my books free for a day) was extremely successful both in terms of people picking up freebies (over 1300 downloads) and in driving subsequent sales.
So, I'm not left with the question of whether to try and continue the project or just call it a day. One of the things the giveaway flagged up to me was that novels are much more popular than short stories - about 40% of the downloads that day were for my novel Sunliner.
I certainly have more short stories I want to tell but I've also started working up a Guillotine! novel and my intention now is going to be to try and balance the two. I'd like to get the novel finished this year whilst also getting a few more short stories out.
That said I'm very fickle and may go back to just writing shorts. :-)
Watch this space.
Monday, 20 August 2012
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
The Story a Week Project - Update 4
I've already posted about the problems I've had this week. It was the first time I didn't have a story in my back pocket ready to go and to make matters worse I've really struggled with the latest one, I Know Where the Bodies Are Buried.
Having nearly finished it last night I ended up going back to the drawing board (writing board?) today and stripping the story right back to its bare bones. It's ended up being about 2/3s the length it was and losing one sub-plot entirely but it's much stronger (I think) as a result.
It'll appear on Amazon sometime in the next few hours and will be free tomorrow (9th August).
Having nearly finished it last night I ended up going back to the drawing board (writing board?) today and stripping the story right back to its bare bones. It's ended up being about 2/3s the length it was and losing one sub-plot entirely but it's much stronger (I think) as a result.
It'll appear on Amazon sometime in the next few hours and will be free tomorrow (9th August).
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
The Story a Week project - Update 3
'Guillotine! Detroit Double Cross' was published yesterday. It's the fifth story I've published since starting the Story a Week thing. I actually finished it about two and a half weeks ago but there seemed to be a lot of interest in 'A Cat Called Hope' so that story rather than the second of the Guillotine! tales ended up going out last week.
That interest has carried on. 'A Cat Called Hope' was downloaded far more times than anything else I've done on the day it was free. Since then it has sold steadily and has already sold more copies than any of my other shorts. I guess I have mixed feelings about this. The story was written as an experiment and in reaction to people who wanted me to do something "nice". I'm pleased with the end result but it is very (well, fairly) different from most of my work. Still, the success of it has made
me think about doing a sequel.
This week, for the first time, I'm in the uncomfortable position of not having a story ready for next Wednesday. I have three or four things in various stages of completion but nothing near ready. I also have a stinking cold which is slowing me down. I'm 90% sure that next week's story will be one called 'I know where the bodies are buried', I just need to get the damn thing finished. On which I'll say goodbye and go and get on with it. :)
That interest has carried on. 'A Cat Called Hope' was downloaded far more times than anything else I've done on the day it was free. Since then it has sold steadily and has already sold more copies than any of my other shorts. I guess I have mixed feelings about this. The story was written as an experiment and in reaction to people who wanted me to do something "nice". I'm pleased with the end result but it is very (well, fairly) different from most of my work. Still, the success of it has made
me think about doing a sequel.
This week, for the first time, I'm in the uncomfortable position of not having a story ready for next Wednesday. I have three or four things in various stages of completion but nothing near ready. I also have a stinking cold which is slowing me down. I'm 90% sure that next week's story will be one called 'I know where the bodies are buried', I just need to get the damn thing finished. On which I'll say goodbye and go and get on with it. :)
Monday, 23 July 2012
Thoughts on A Cat Called Hope
A note to readers: This post doesn't contain any massive spoilers but if you haven't yet read A Cat Called Hope and you intend to you might want to do that before continuing.
As noted in the post that contained a preview of it A Cat Called Hope came about in response to a number of people asking me to write a "nice" story. I finished the story yesterday and it's out in the Kindle Store today. Is it "nice"? Not really. Try as I might I just couldn't pull that off. It does however have absolutely no swearing (which should please my mother) and an ending which is hopefully uplifting rather than downbeat like so many of my other short stories.
It was probably the story I've struggled most with in recent months. I was going great guns with it until Marx (the feline protagonist) left the safety of his home but then I quickly got as lost as he did. One version of the story that I played through in my head was just about him trying to get home. That just felt too 'Homeward Bound' to me though and so it went in the bin along with the plot involving a bunch of strays who he teaches to scavenge more effectively.
When I sat down and thought about it I realised that what most interested me about the story was the interplay between Marx and humans. That's where Little One and the woman came in. As soon as I had them set in my head I knew the story would only work if it strayed into the darker side of life. I realised that what I was interested in writing about was Marx's impact on the lives of the humans he met. For that to be powerful those lives had to have something broken about them.
As a writer writing a story from the perspective of a cat was a fun challenge. This is the first story I've written without any dialogue (hence the lack of swearing, if Marx could understand what Loud was saying I think there's be plenty). The other tricky part was building the sense that he has only a vague understanding of what human objects are (televisions, kitchens, etc) without labouring this point to the extent that it became boring and repetitive. I approached in the same way that Hollywood movies tend to treat non-English speaking characters. The first couple of lines of dialogue in their native tongue with subtitles before the seamless shift into English so that the audience doesn't have to work too hard. In my story Marx figures things out in his own terms at first and them simple, human terms slip in - girl, screen and so on. I think it worked. Let me know if you disagree.
As ever, thank you for taking the time to read this post and my stories. I love to hear what people think about them so please do get in touch if you have something to say. You can hit me up on Twitter (@whatmeworry), leave a comment on the blog or (best of all) stick a review on Amazon.
A Cat Called Hope is available now for Kindle.
UK: http://t.co/w59F0B6h
US: http://t.co/7IByEzUz
As noted in the post that contained a preview of it A Cat Called Hope came about in response to a number of people asking me to write a "nice" story. I finished the story yesterday and it's out in the Kindle Store today. Is it "nice"? Not really. Try as I might I just couldn't pull that off. It does however have absolutely no swearing (which should please my mother) and an ending which is hopefully uplifting rather than downbeat like so many of my other short stories.
It was probably the story I've struggled most with in recent months. I was going great guns with it until Marx (the feline protagonist) left the safety of his home but then I quickly got as lost as he did. One version of the story that I played through in my head was just about him trying to get home. That just felt too 'Homeward Bound' to me though and so it went in the bin along with the plot involving a bunch of strays who he teaches to scavenge more effectively.
When I sat down and thought about it I realised that what most interested me about the story was the interplay between Marx and humans. That's where Little One and the woman came in. As soon as I had them set in my head I knew the story would only work if it strayed into the darker side of life. I realised that what I was interested in writing about was Marx's impact on the lives of the humans he met. For that to be powerful those lives had to have something broken about them.
As a writer writing a story from the perspective of a cat was a fun challenge. This is the first story I've written without any dialogue (hence the lack of swearing, if Marx could understand what Loud was saying I think there's be plenty). The other tricky part was building the sense that he has only a vague understanding of what human objects are (televisions, kitchens, etc) without labouring this point to the extent that it became boring and repetitive. I approached in the same way that Hollywood movies tend to treat non-English speaking characters. The first couple of lines of dialogue in their native tongue with subtitles before the seamless shift into English so that the audience doesn't have to work too hard. In my story Marx figures things out in his own terms at first and them simple, human terms slip in - girl, screen and so on. I think it worked. Let me know if you disagree.
As ever, thank you for taking the time to read this post and my stories. I love to hear what people think about them so please do get in touch if you have something to say. You can hit me up on Twitter (@whatmeworry), leave a comment on the blog or (best of all) stick a review on Amazon.
A Cat Called Hope is available now for Kindle.
UK: http://t.co/w59F0B6h
US: http://t.co/7IByEzUz
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
The Story a Week project - update 2
Things have slowed down on the writing front this week which is a bit of a worry and I'm nowhere near hitting my personal 1000 word a day target. That said I've still got a story waiting to be published and another 3 in various states of completion so I'm confident I'll be okay for the next 2-3 weeks at least.
Today's story went out as planned and is free until 9am ish on 19th July.
It's called 'A Guy Walks Out Of A Bar' and is a straight crime short that I'm really pleased with. Grab it free for your Kindle.
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Today's story went out as planned and is free until 9am ish on 19th July.
It's called 'A Guy Walks Out Of A Bar' and is a straight crime short that I'm really pleased with. Grab it free for your Kindle.
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Thursday, 12 July 2012
The Story a Week project - update 1
I thought it was probably worth doing an update 2 weeks in. For anyone who hasn't seen it here is the original post: The Story a Week project
I published the first story, 'Camera/Phone v2', as planned on 4th July and the second 'Gullotine! Hot Blood, Cold Heart' yesterday. The next 2 stories are pretty much ready to go: 'Guillotine! Detroit Double Cross' is all done, 'I Guy Walks Out of a Bar' is written and just needs proof reading. I also have three other stories in a part written state, 'Camera/Phone v3', another Guillotine! story and an untitled story about a cat (my attempt to write something nice).
So far I'm enjoying it. Hopefully you are too.
Camera/Phone v2 On Amazon UK
Camera/Phone v2 on Amazon US
Guillotine! Hot Blood, Cold Heart on Amazon UK
Guillotine! Hot Blood, Cold-Heart on Amazon US
I published the first story, 'Camera/Phone v2', as planned on 4th July and the second 'Gullotine! Hot Blood, Cold Heart' yesterday. The next 2 stories are pretty much ready to go: 'Guillotine! Detroit Double Cross' is all done, 'I Guy Walks Out of a Bar' is written and just needs proof reading. I also have three other stories in a part written state, 'Camera/Phone v3', another Guillotine! story and an untitled story about a cat (my attempt to write something nice).
So far I'm enjoying it. Hopefully you are too.
Camera/Phone v2 On Amazon UK
Camera/Phone v2 on Amazon US
Guillotine! Hot Blood, Cold Heart on Amazon UK
Guillotine! Hot Blood, Cold-Heart on Amazon US
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Can't you write something nice...maybe with cats...
Is a question I get asked quite a lot. Well maybe not the cats bit, although I have been asked that too. I thought I'd try anyway. It might not be totally 100% nice but I promise it won't be utterly horrible. And its got cats in it. Well one cat anyway, more may join him, we'll just have to see how it goes. Incidentally, if anyone has any pictures of a cat they think looks like Marx I'd be very happy to see them*
*steal them to use on the cover.
Here's the opening:
Marx was his name. Not his real name obviously, just the name the humans used. He lived with two of them. Two female humans who brought him food and stroked him when he let them. They had their own names for each other but he called them the Walking and Sleeping. He called them that quite simply because one of them slept much of the time and the other ran around a lot. He wasn't sure why Sleeping did as much sleeping as she did. If it was because she was ill or if she just appreciated the benefit of sleep. Maybe she was part feline.
Marx had observed with interest the little humans who appeared on the moving picture screen that Walking and Sleeping had. The little ones didn't seem to sleep nearly as much as the one or walk quite as enthusiastically as the other so Marx suspected that the ladies he lived with might represent the extremes of human behavior. It didn't really matter. They just were what they were.
The screen intrigued him, although not as much as it seemed to fascinate them. It was a little like a pool of water that he could see himself in only he saw the little humans instead. Sometimes there were no little humans and the screen was just black. At those times Marx could see himself and in many ways he preferred that.
So the three of them lived together. Sleeping did a lot of sleeping and Walking did a lot of walking and Marx did a bit of both. Walking was the only one who ever went outside. Marx and Sleeping would both sit by the window, sometimes together and sometimes not, and watch the world go by. Neither of them ever ventured out though. Marx would have quite liked to but they kept the doors and windows shut so he couldn't. As for Sleeping, he suspected it just wasn't really her thing.
And then one day it all changed.
Marx smelled it first. He was dozing on the window sill in the front room, watching the birds in the garden through one half opened eye. The scent reached his sensitive nostrils and brought him fully alert. It wasn't a smell he knew, although it was like the smell that Walking sometimes made when she was preparing food. His ears pricked up and he heard a crackling sound. It seemed to be coming from the same direction as the smell.
Marx got up and lazily stretched and decided to investigate. He padded across the room to the hallway and poked his head out into it. It was all coming from the room at the end, the one with the cold floor where he went to eat. As he walked towards it he felt the heat. Not warmth. Heat. He stopped. The smell was stronger now. Overpowering, blotting out everything else. The noise was louder too and increasing in volume by the second. Marx didn't know why but something inside him told him to run. Much of the time he lived happily enough with the humans but every so often something clicked inside him. Something that reminded him that he wasn't supposed to live like this. Sometimes it happened when he was watching the birds in the garden, lazily watching them for want of anything better to do and then suddenly wondering what it would be like to feel their hot blood pumping into his mouth. This was different though, because now he wasn't feeling excited. He was feeling scared.
*steal them to use on the cover.
Here's the opening:
Marx was his name. Not his real name obviously, just the name the humans used. He lived with two of them. Two female humans who brought him food and stroked him when he let them. They had their own names for each other but he called them the Walking and Sleeping. He called them that quite simply because one of them slept much of the time and the other ran around a lot. He wasn't sure why Sleeping did as much sleeping as she did. If it was because she was ill or if she just appreciated the benefit of sleep. Maybe she was part feline.
Marx had observed with interest the little humans who appeared on the moving picture screen that Walking and Sleeping had. The little ones didn't seem to sleep nearly as much as the one or walk quite as enthusiastically as the other so Marx suspected that the ladies he lived with might represent the extremes of human behavior. It didn't really matter. They just were what they were.
The screen intrigued him, although not as much as it seemed to fascinate them. It was a little like a pool of water that he could see himself in only he saw the little humans instead. Sometimes there were no little humans and the screen was just black. At those times Marx could see himself and in many ways he preferred that.
So the three of them lived together. Sleeping did a lot of sleeping and Walking did a lot of walking and Marx did a bit of both. Walking was the only one who ever went outside. Marx and Sleeping would both sit by the window, sometimes together and sometimes not, and watch the world go by. Neither of them ever ventured out though. Marx would have quite liked to but they kept the doors and windows shut so he couldn't. As for Sleeping, he suspected it just wasn't really her thing.
And then one day it all changed.
Marx smelled it first. He was dozing on the window sill in the front room, watching the birds in the garden through one half opened eye. The scent reached his sensitive nostrils and brought him fully alert. It wasn't a smell he knew, although it was like the smell that Walking sometimes made when she was preparing food. His ears pricked up and he heard a crackling sound. It seemed to be coming from the same direction as the smell.
Marx got up and lazily stretched and decided to investigate. He padded across the room to the hallway and poked his head out into it. It was all coming from the room at the end, the one with the cold floor where he went to eat. As he walked towards it he felt the heat. Not warmth. Heat. He stopped. The smell was stronger now. Overpowering, blotting out everything else. The noise was louder too and increasing in volume by the second. Marx didn't know why but something inside him told him to run. Much of the time he lived happily enough with the humans but every so often something clicked inside him. Something that reminded him that he wasn't supposed to live like this. Sometimes it happened when he was watching the birds in the garden, lazily watching them for want of anything better to do and then suddenly wondering what it would be like to feel their hot blood pumping into his mouth. This was different though, because now he wasn't feeling excited. He was feeling scared.
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