Back writing

Well I ended my mini holiday a little earlier then planned because I couldn't wait to start writing again. I'm not quite up to speed still I'm working at roughly between 600 and 800 words per day which is so tiny compare to some but that will increase each day, especially as deadlines are looming once more.

I say looming because they do tend to hang on the horizon quite a lot and since I don't plan my stories it adds an extra edge to it all, however saying that it does give me inspiration and forces me to sit down and write. So I guess they are definitely more of a good thing, and I am really enthusiastic about these stories I just hope they come out the way I see them.

I was hoping to have something for the Times ghost story competition but in the end just couldn't get anything I really liked down on paper. Perhaps next year!

Promotion vs Writing

I have been thinking recently about the way authors market and promote themselves. Since the majority of money made by the author from e-books is in royalties it's a must to get their name out. Now that the Internet is such a big place there are many facilities available to the authors fingertips from having pens made with your name and book title inscribed, to posters even bookmarks and fridge magnets. It would be easy to go mad and get a little of everything but none of that would mater if your name wasn't out their in the first place.

The best way to get your name out there is to write, the more work that is around with your name on it the more likely you will be seen by readers. Attending chats and general book promotion is also a brilliant way of getting to know your readers, by making yourself seen on reader sites and chats being friendly and being available to the reader changes are you will go a long way.

As a reader I love getting to know the authors behind the books, I love finding out about their day to day lives (not in a stalker way of course - more in seeing the person behind the books if that makes sense). It's easy sometimes to forget that authors are human, what I mean by that is that a good author can leave us in awe and may seem hard to approach so by talking to them online in chats or at book signings it all seems so much more friendly.

As an author I love interacting with readers, and will very often work on suggestions given to me by them. if people show an interest in one particular character the likelihood is that that character will come back for a sequel. For me it's about telling a great story one and sometimes it's important to realise that the best promotion tool is the books themselves.

Well that's my thoughts on the mater, I know they might not work for everyone nor will they ever be totally agreed upon. The best thing that an author can do is try things and see what works for them.

Time off

Since the 70 Days have ended I've taken some time off from writing, a mini holiday of sorts. The thing about not writing however is that I'm now suddenly surrounded in plots. I plan to get back to writing by the end of the week if not sooner and then they will be able to get out of my head! I've now got a small notepad that I rescued slowly filling up with little sentences, opening lines, bullet points of idea. They will be tackled one by on, or which ever stands out as the most interesting at the time.

For my 'holiday' we went and house sat for one of the family members and spent time watching programs we can't normally get. One of them was dedicated to Roald Dahl who I hadn't heard of before (due to the amnesia, it discussed his writing technique when it came to children's writing and I found it interesting to see how the rules he used would still stand for the adult writing. Listening to his works and watching the cartoon version of The BFG I almost feel inspired to have a go at writing children's stories. Not that I am assuming that writing for children is easy I have the up most respect for children's authors and am in awe with how much people can say with so few words. I think it will be a goal for the future - something to work towards.

70 Days of Sweat ends

The 70 Days is now over. I started the time saying that I wanted to write 10k since that was the minimum of what I needed to do. I ended up writing 36611 (approx) words.

It's been a bit of a whirl-wind and I am very happy I took part since it taught me a lot about how I write and also how much I can achieve.

In the end I have written the following:

Fiction 5-10k

RTS -submitted
CF - submitted and contracted
Spy story - a wip currently 5k
Vamp story - a wip currently approx 5k

Fiction 1k-5k
Strength - submitted
Vampire drink - needs editing
Latex Fetish - a wip

Fiction under 1k

Strength - submitted
Train journey - needs editing
Summer House - needs editing
wedding - a wip
Mice - needs editing
The cleansing - needs editing

Now I'm working on some more pieces before the next 70 days begins

Inspiration

Inspiration can come from the strangest of sources. It can also hit at the oddest times. For a while now I have gotten into the habit of sleeping with a notepad/computer next to me in case I wake up with an idea. Although I also find myself once awake not able to do anything until I've plotted that idea out and even written the first few pages.

It happened to me the other night, although i hadn't gone to sleep when the inspiration hit. Since I have a lot of American readers I attend a lot of online chats that take place at 9pm EST (2 in the morning for the UK). What usually happens is that I will stay up until after the chat then flop onto the bed exhausted. However this time it was different, this time at the end of the chat as I was just about to go to bed I had an idea for a story. It's a story I've been trying to write for a while but I wasn't sure of the details, in an instant flash they appeared and wouldn't let me rest until they were all down. Now I've got a large page filled with writing and the workings of a story I'm extremely excited about. I also have large bags under my eyes from not getting any sleep but I have a plot and that always makes up for it.

A few more rejections

Well the days have passed and I've had a couple more rejections for various pieces although they have all been sudden fiction so I will be sending them out very soon.

I've spent the week working on a piece of contemporary erotica based around a female spy. It's not going in the direction I thought it would go but then I don't tend to plan the stories so it's always exciting to see where they go.

Now I'm off to work on some fantasy pieces for tomorrow.

Still not able to talk about the possible good news I'm afraid but watch this space!

Possible good news

However I can't mention anything yet! Once I find out for definite I will post it up on here but until I find out everything about it i can't really say anything (sorry!).

I got three rejections in two days recently, one sudden fiction piece and two erotic pieces. The sudden fiction is now back out and I'm currently researching where to send one of the erotic pieces. The main problem is that it is short as far as my other pieces go but it's longer then the sudden fiction pieces so it doesn't really fit anywhere - however I do have an idea for an anthology so perhaps that's the best way to go!

All of the rejections were very polite and explained why it was that they couldn't take the piece in question so I didn't feel so bad about them. I've now only got 9 pieces out so I really should get cracking on more pieces. I'm currently writing a paranormal piece that seems to have come out of no where and I saw a great Hammer Horror film last night which has set my mind thinking.

I've not got any big deadlines coming up so I'm more or less free to work on just some general ideas that I've had.

I'm on just under 30K for the 70 Days of Sweat which I'm very pleased about and with only a couple more weeks to go I might even get to 40K (I said might!). I am very happy that I signed up for the challenge and will be signing up for the next one as it's made me accountable for the amount of words I'm writing. Once the 70 Days is up I'll make a post talking about all the different things that I have written over the time.

Changing your routine

Following on from the last post I have spent the past few days trying to follow my own advice and ignore all those pieces out there. Now it might have worked however I have had a number of things occur over the past few days that has put my writing of kilter. However i now think I have solved the problem!

When I started to write I used to write everything onto a computer. I found that if I didn't the words just simply didn't flow as well as I liked and I wasn't able to change things almost instantly like you can do on a computer. That was my routine for a long time and it did work, but then I started to get more into hand writing everything (mainly after my handwriting got better and I could actually read what I had written!) summer of fire was the first story I wrote totally on paper before transcribing it onto the computer. I felt a sort of freedom writing by hand and that's how I've been working for a good while. Now over the weekend I wrote a few pieces not massive amounts and only a small number of words, whenever I looked at the page although their were words in my head i just couldn't get them down on paper. In the end and more out of a sense of desperation I decided to go back to the computer and start writing using that. It worked! In a few hours the words happily left my fingers and I've even get two brand new plot lines as well as an idea where each story is going to take me. Ones a paranormal story and the other one I've not quite pin-pointed yet.

Now I'm one of the first people who would admit that I really like routine. I plan all the possibilities out before making a decision and then panic even whilst I'm making that decision. However I've realised that sometimes it's good to shake up the routine in fact sometimes it's the best thing you can do. So if anyone is stuck or things aren't quite working out the way you hoped them to do try changing what your doing try something new and go against the routine. You just never know where it might lead!

Now I'm going to go back to my writing whilst I really really want to put the words down.

The waiting game

Sometimes it can feel as if you are being slightly ignored (although there is something in the old saying no news is good news). Since reading submissions takes time it can seem from the writers point of view that their submission has just been forgotten especially when it takes a few months to get any sort of response.

Currently I've got twelve pieces out and since I'm presently working on sending a piece of sudden fiction out every week that number will very quickly increase I'm sure. I know how long it can take to review a piece of work so for all those writers out there that are holding their breaths waiting to see if they get accepted.

The best advice is to just breath and move on to the next piece of work. If you are always just waiting for the acceptance/rejection before sending out something else you will worry yourself out. By ignoring the one you have just sent out and working on a new piece (maybe that brilliant idea you had whilst writing the piece you have just sent out) you may find you are actually able to relax and that your productivity goes up.

I'll let you all know when I hear anything from any of the pieces, and I will now stop rambling and actually go and get some sleep!

First Summer of Fire review

This review has been up quite a while now but it's only now I've decided to put it up here (it's in many other places but now also here). I would like to thank Lettetia for writing such a great review.


Here is the first review written about Summer of Fire (available from here: http://www.king-cart.com/Phaze/product=Summer+of+Fire+by+Nicole+Gestalt )

You can find the original review here.

Summer of Fire by Nicole Gestalt

Genre: contemporary
ISBN: 9781594264771
Page Count: 21
Price: $2.00
Reviewer: Lettetia
Sensuality Rating: Sizzling
Star Rating: 4 Stars
Author's Website: http://www.phaze.com/authors-nicolegestalt.html
Four alarm passion is the basis for Summer of Fire, part of the Phaze Force line. Nicole Gestalt sets a quick pace right away as an arsonist preys on the city.


Policewoman, Helen Montoya has had the hots for a sexy firefighter for a while now. At the latest arson fire, she is saved when he throws himself over her as explosions rip through the complex. When she notices the wedding band on his left hand, she is filled with despair. But Helen is not one to give up easily, she goes to the firehouse to invite him for coffee as thanks for saving her life; it’s the least she can do, right

Firefighter, Mark, widowed when his wife Jenna was killed in a house fire five years previously; became a firefighter for that reason. He still talks to her picture sometimes, but with Helen pushing her way into his life, he feels it is time to move forward with his life, perhaps with Helen

From the opening scene, it is apparent the sexual chemistry between Mark and Helen is sizzling. Both are intelligent and brave individuals who are not afraid to pursue what they want. A strong sense of duty is Mark’s most attractive feature, while the devotion to his wife is an emotional one. Helen is a self-possessed woman, passionate and loving. Her desire for Mark and the disappointment over his married state is palpable. The struggle to leave him alone is realistic and admirable. The culmination of their mutual desire is explosive, dramatically written, yet romantic as well. This is a fine story to spend an hour with; this reader’s only complaint is that it is so short; I would have liked to have more pages to devour.


Written by Lettetia Elsasser - Visit Website