Tag: books

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New Year, New Writing Me…?

mjmarsauthor

Welcome to a new year, my writing friends. A new decade, to be exact. I already feel as though this will be a year of change. A change in practice. A change of habits. Renewed motivation and drive. I took a couple of months out to re-charge my batteries and shake off the technological burn-out I’d been experiencing. A hectic and challenging few months at my day-job had left me unable to enjoy time at the computer at home, and fighting to summon up the enthusiasm to post cheerful insta pics and remotely positive blog posts.

A break has done me good, I’m happy to report. I have something of a plan going into 2020. I am determined to organise my time and to ensure productivity no longer goes hand-in-hand with burn out. I have identified my problem – I’m an ‘all or nothing’ kind of person. In the past I have had no problem writing thousands of words, zoning out and immersing myself in my imaginary worlds, fingers flying over the keyboard and my brain working overtime to catch up to the images being acted out by the characters in my mind. But then comes the edit. Picking apart the plot holes and rectifying lazy setting descriptions. And then, inevitably, comes the loss of confidence. The spark dries up. The project gets shelved for a shiny new idea and off I go again, hurtling towards exhaustion but ultimately getting no closer to my goal of becoming a novelist.

2020 will be different. I’m determined to get a grip on my writing practice to ensure I move steadily towards my goals. I’ve bought a diary and have entered upcoming short story submission opportunities that I might like to try. This will hopefully allow me to manage my spare time more effectively and give me plenty of opportunities to build my short story portfolio while simultaneously completing my novel. I’ve set time aside in January to carefully plot my chapters and I’m ditching word-count focus until I know exactly what I need to write.

And one final vow going into 2020: To take it easy on myself. As writers we demand so much of ourselves. Of our time. Of our energy. Of our lifestyles and headspace. We aren’t superhuman, at the end of the day. The year has begun with nothing but negativity in the news of the world around us, and it can be disheartening. It’s hard to focus on our goals when the lives we live sometimes feel so perilously out of our control.

So, this year, take a breath. Allow yourself the time you need to be brilliant. Enjoy the small steps that you can take in order to achieve your goals. No matter what is happening around us, our writing is the one thing we do have control over. If you’ve been struggling to motivate yourself, just as I have, think of a plan that will take some of the pressure off your shoulders. Get back to doing what you love. And look after yourselves this year, my writing friends.

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Who’s afraid of the big bad edits?

mjmarsauthor

A few weeks ago I received a rejection email with a twist. On this occasion I was fortunate enough to have the editor come back to me with my story marked, suggesting that if I make some changes he would reconsider the submission. I was blown away by this opportunity, as I know how rare it is to get a second chance when it comes to submissions!

I went back to him asking for a latest date that he would expect me to return the altered manuscript, stating that I knew that this was no guarantee that I would make it into the anthology even after the edits, and thanking him for the opportunity to try again. He then wrote back to me thanking me for my response to his suggestions, stating that not all writers take the offer of edits quite so well.

This struck me as crazy! Here was a professional, who whilst considering my story had made edits in track changes, without me paying him a thing, and had offered me a second chance at publication if only I follow his advice. For a story that I wrote for his anthology. Who in their right mind wouldn’t snap his hand off, I wondered?! I mean, I know that your own writing is precious, and that having someone turn around asking for changes is like someone saying your baby would be cute if only it had brown eyes and curly hair. But I know I would have had to have paid a fortune sending it off to an editing company for the same pleasure. And his suggestions were completely valid: There was too much description before the action began. There were too many characters for a short story, and some of them had to go. I did need to ramp up the connection between the two main characters, and – damnit – the ending would be better if the narrator actually made it to safety!!

So I sat down to work through the changes, taking each point and scrutinising how to make the edits successful without losing my voice and my original intentions. Sometimes it’s difficult to take criticism, but thankfully this editor made both positive and negative comments with a considered, encouraging tone. I’ve received other edits by more brutal readers in the past, and this was a cake-walk in terms of bruised ego aftereffects! I was dreading making the edits, because I do hate editing. But this was kind of a fun experience, much to my surprise. I learned more from his suggestions that I ever have from courses or classes. I am grateful to him, and glad I learned a while ago to keep an open mind and listen to the experts (probably the most difficult but most important step in my writing career).

All I can say is, no matter how much it hurts, if someone offers you the chance to make edits to improve your story to their publishing standard, don’t let your pride get in the way. You’ll become a better writer from it. Fast-forward a month and I’ve made it into the publication! I am over the moon about it and can’t wait to see the book published. So, here’s to second chances, and expert advice.

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Summer Submissions

mjmarsauthor

I am loving the variety of submission call themes that have been released this summer! As usual, signing up to the Author’s Publish newsletter has been invaluable, and I’ve got a few publications on my list that I’m hoping to sway!

Cohesion Press/SNAFU are looking for military or mercenary stories on the theme of The Last Stand. This publication is a huge draw for me as the introduction will be written by Tim Miller, director of Deadpool, new Terminator & Love, Death & Robots. Now, I am coming from a Marvel obsessed household. As I write, there are about twenty Pop Vinyl’s staring back at me, and I have a giant X-Men print on the wall behind my head. My husband rocks around in a Deadpool dressing gown every night, so you can imagine what a huge deal it would be to make it to final selection. Needless to say, I am working hard on this submission!

I have enjoyed writing a story for Michael A. Ventrella & Randee Dawn’s Across the Universe alternative Beatles fiction compilation. They are looking for Beatles ‘What If…’ submissions, and judging by the information they have offered up already, it should be set to be an extremely fun read. I went through a mad Beatles phase when I was a child, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that my What If tale is good enough to make the final cut. I am slightly concerned that my laptop seems to despise converting to rtf. and it alters all of the layout formatting upon sending, which may hinder my efforts. But, fingers crossed! All we can do is try, sheepishly explain, and try again…(welcome to my morning).

Another upcoming submission is for the Jolly Horror Accursed object anthology. This is right up my street, and I’m just putting the finishing touches to a nasty little tale featuring a bunch of pranksters. I am a sucker for gruesome horror, so giving this one a try has made me smile this week!

I also have a new mantra, with my upcoming WIP amendments and huge edits in mind. It’s Not Everest! We’ve got this, you guys.

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A Publication Surprise

mjmarsauthor

This week has been full of enjoyable surprises. The main surprise was the delivery of a book of poetry I had contributed to back in 2017. Not only was it an amazing feeling to finally have the book in my hands after such a long wait (a wait which, in publishing terms, was not long at all, really!). But I hadn’t cottoned on to the fact that the publication was going to be hardback.

I know that might sound a little strange, but opening the box and finding four beautiful, hefty, shiny hard backed tomes just made my day. I am proud of each of my short story anthology publications, but seeing something of mine in hardback just gave me an extra sensation of joy. A “Wow, this is something completely new!” feeling that gave me an incredible boost.

It’s been a tough couple of weeks, really. I am struggling with my job at the moment and torn about what to do next. I just had a birthday that reminded me of how the years are ticking by without that life-changing multi-novel publishing deal arriving just yet! And I suppose the news here in the UK is pretty bleak on a daily basis. Nobody is too sure how things are going to pan out come March, and financially I think we’re all a little concerned, which is adding to our daily stresses. It was a welcome bit of joy that arrived this week. I started this blog in the first week of January saying I wanted to rediscover that wonderful spark of magic I felt when I began to submit my writing way back when. And it came, thanks to Lycan Valley.

Oh, added to that, on that evening I met up with my two best friends. We went for a couple of drinks and a meal to celebrate my birthday, and they had bought me the most incredible pressies. Then we went to the cinema to see Glass, my choice (I am a total geek), but I’m thrilled to say they both loved it, too.

I think reflecting on January I’ve realised that I’m going to carry on submitting existing works and editing my WIP this month, with the idea of really overhauling it in spring. There’s something about the blue skies and sunshine of March and April that really put fire in my writing belly! Until then, I think pedalling existing stories may be the right course of action while I figure out what to do with my ‘real’ job. Sometimes real life sucks the heart and soul out of your words, and you can only give so much. I’m just starting to learn that acknowledging that is as important as your physical output and word count. As writers, we can only do so much. And we do a damn fine job, whenever we can. January was a little rocky, but February has started off bright. Let’s see what you’ve got!

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Submission Lessons

mjmarsauthor

Well, it’s been a bit of a stop-start month, after pledging to get straight into the swing of 2019! But now, after a fantastic birthday weekend away watching Britain’s Strongest Man live, I can happily report that I am back in the writing game.

I’ve spent this week getting my short horror stories organised and finding potential publishers for those that don’t have homes at the moment. I found a helpful list here: https://publishedtodeath.blogspot.com/2018/05/mega-list-of-paying-markets-for-horror.html , that tells you all of the current magazine calls for horror/speculative fiction. Little warning – they’re not all 100% up to date. That’s no comment on the website – it is excellent, and it would be impossible to keep up with all of the sites they showcase! But just be aware that some of the publications are no longer seeking unsolicited submissions, and some of the windows have closed. But it gave me a great starting point. First of all I made a list of my stories and word-counts, making it easier to match them to suitable magazines.

Does anyone else find the term ‘speculative fiction’ a little unnerving? Definitions vary, as do preferences from the editors themselves. I’m sure some of my stories would fit the bill, but the idea of avoiding realism is a strange one. I am never quite sure to what degree they are referring to. This is something I am definitely going to explore further this year! Anyway, that aside, I learned an interesting tip that I had never noticed before. I was making a submission to Red Sun magazine, and noted the often-seen request to anonymise the story. However, Red Sun didn’t just request that the actual story document be made anonymous. They specified the need to right-click on the file, enter the document properties, and delete your name from the creator and PC owner data. I had never actively recognised the need to go to such depths for anonymisation before, and now I’m wondering if this is something I should have done on previous submissions that came to naught. But, live and learn! From now on, I will be taking that extra step when publications ask for the story to be anonymised, just in case.

I am cautiously optimistic about one of the stories that I sent. I originally wrote it for the San Cicaro submission call, and received a fantastic response back from the editor. He disclosed that they considered the story until the eleventh hour, but ultimately refused it because the anthology is due to come out the week that the second part of the new IT movies comes out. Now, I just want to make it clear, there are no killer clowns in the story! But it is about a group of kids going on an adventure to try and discover the origin of strange events occurring in their hometown. I respected their decision, and am grateful for them taking the time to give such strong feedback. If they hadn’t, I may have shelved the story as ‘rubbish – unpublishable’, which I realised I had been doing when a story had been rejected by publications in the past. It taught me that this reaction is crazy – the story may not suit one editor for one reason or another, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good story. I looked a little further into this and found a comment from a writer who stated that it takes an average of ten submission attempts before a story is snapped up. Ten! So, never give up on your story. Keep submitting with a positive attitude. You never know the reasons that may have caused the editors to turn it down (after all – I would never have thought the local cinema listings would have had an impact before that rejection!)

Oh, one last tip – some of the magazine websites I viewed had a submission page that did not state they were closed for submissions. It was only after painstakingly formatting the work to their specs that I went to another area to submit and discovered that the submission window had passed. So, before amending your story formatting to fit a specific request, always check both the home page, submission page, and contact area to make sure they are ready for your work!   

Happy submissions, everyone!

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Oddballs and writers

mjmarsauthor

This year will be the year. I just know it. Never mind the fact that I’ve said this every year for as long as I can remember. This year, 2019, big things are going to happen. And, even if they don’t, it’s going to be fun sharing it all with you.

Writing can be an isolating occupation. We spend most of our time with our fictional characters, dreaming up worlds that don’t exist and having conversations with people we have imagined. We are odd. We have to be, let’s face it. So I’m reaching out to all the other oddball writers out there who also see big things happening this year. Let’s be odd together. I want to share every step of my progress this year with people who understand just how strange the writing life can be. Let’s motivate each other, commiserate when things don’t go to plan, and talk about what writing really means to us. It’s difficult to explain it to someone who doesn’t write. But I know you get it.

A little bit about me, just so you know who you’re reading! I live in Lancaster, UK, a small city that has a castle, a quayside, and a very bleak history that gives me endless sources of horror-related inspiration. I have always loved writing, ever since I was a toddler. I don’t remember ever wanting to do anything else. I have had a few short stories published, and last year one of my horror works featured in the compilation Secret Stairs, which was number one in the Amazon horror chart for six weeks. My dream goal is, of course, to publish a novel. At the moment, I have a very rough draft of a young adult fantasy WIP on the go, which I am hoping to polish up and edit to within an inch of its life over the coming weeks. I’ll let you know how it goes.

There are so many wonderful blogs out there, I am not expecting to compete. But please stop by and let me know how you’re getting on with your own goals for 2019. We can do this together. Hopefully we can motivate and inspire each other, and make each other feel a little less alone on those frustrating days when editing is going terribly or the rejection slips are coming in thick and fast.

2019 is ours, oddballs and writers. We’ve got this.