Redesign

Well for regulars of this blog you couldn't help but notice (I hope!) that I've had a bit of a spring clean and redone the blog. I'm hoping that now it's far easier to see everything and yet at the same time clear and easy to read (fingers crossed).

This redesign has been done whilst my internet connection has been so bad I can't actually log into anything else - that includes emails. If I owe anyone an email please don't worry you've not missed it and it will be on its way shortly.

In other news I'm working my way through Valves & Vixens and it'll hopefully be done relatively soon! I'm very excited about this anthology and I've got some awesome authors involved - table of contents will be coming shortly!

 

As you may have also seen my submission guidelines for my erotic science fiction anthology, Cosmic Encounters, is now up (and even has it's own page after my redesign). Pop on over and have a look - even if you've never written science fiction before it might be a good time to give it a go!

The deadline for submissions is June 30th so get writing!

As for me I'm currently working on a few stories that I've been wanting to work on for a while. I'm playing around with a short sexy piece set in the sun and of course I'm still working on all the other anthology calls that are out there!

I've also been working on a few ideas for a few standalone stories more information on those when I get into them.

Till then keep reading & writing and let me know what you think of the new blog design!

A bit of an update

Well I thought it was time for a quick update as I'm aware that I've been quite quiet of late. I have a lot of news to tell but as of yet I can't spill the beans which makes me squirm and have to stay away from the keyboard! (I can keep a secret but I'm not great with keeping exciting things quiet!)

Hours in my day job have totally changed which has meant I've had to spend a few weeks sorting out my new writing times and getting back into a schedule. However this is turning out to be a good thing as it has given me a bit more time to work - so expect even more exciting news soon!

Now on to Valves & Vixens. I am currently working my way through all the great submissions and will be sending out replies to each submission by the end of the week *fingers crossed* however if you haven't heard from me by the end of next week do not panic too much! I will reply to everyone who submitted so you will all definatly hear from me shortly. 

I have loved working with the steampunk stories and I'll almost be sorry to turn the book into the publishers because then I won't be working on it anymore - however I will then be focusing on pushing the book since it'll be out not long after that! There is some awesome stories in this anthology and I can't wait to share the table of contents with the world.

Now I need to dive back into that writing thing having taken a break to write this and also do a bit of spring cleaning - I'm desperately trying to reverse my hoarding techniques (or in other words I'm throwing everything out to make room for all the books I keep buying).

Weekly Round Up

Well this is the second week in a row I'm actually doing a round-up but I'm not yet ready to call this a thing yet! 

This week has been very much of a blur of things. On Tuesday I sat down with my writing head on and actually managed to write over 5000 words during the day which is the best writing day I've had for a long time. I even managed to finish a submission and get well into half way of my pirate story, which is awesome because I'm really having far more fun writing it then I was expecting to. 

So the week has ended up with me submitting one story, finishing off one more and beginning Chapter 5 of a longer piece. Yet that isn't all! This week I was also asked to edit an anthology for Coming Together. They are a charity that creates erotic anthologies for different causes, if you look down the left hand side of this site you will see a few Coming Together titles (With a Twist, Alfresco, With Pride and Under Fire) all of these I have stories within. None of the contributors get any payment apart from a copy of the final pdf and the money of the sales go to the charity's picked. 

The anthology I'll be editing will be going to help Mercy Corps especially with the most recent natural disaster in the Phillipines. 

All submission guidelines can be found by clicking the picture on the left that says Coming Together: Through the Storm. This anthology will have a quick turn around due to the fact that the disaster has already happened and aid is needed now. It reminds me of Coming Together: Under Fire which contains my story Melting Point, the stories in that anthology were written in even less time and all proceeds of that anthology went and still go to helping victims of the California Wildfires. 

Finally the last bit of the news from this week is the latest House of Erotica collections is now out and available to buy. This one is called House of Erotica Winter Warmers Collections and contains my story A Meeting of Seasons which is a male/female fantasy story based around the seasons (as the name may suggest). We will be running a blog tour for this so if there are any authors/readers who would like to have us invade for a day or say please let us know and we'll send you all the information! Otherwise watch this space for information about it all. And whilst you are waiting here is the sexy front cover. 

Well it looks like I've done it again.....

And not posted for an absolute age. I have a valid excuse however in that I've been working! So much so in all honesty I didn't realise quite how much time had passed between me writing the last blog and this one. 

However during that time I've also been submitting stories and have just this week signed three contracts (although I can't quite let you in on who they are with just yet!) - so watch this space for more news.

Currently I've got two more short stories in the works and I've just started plotting a few nice ice cool ones (a nice contrast from the weather we've been having recently) so I will keep you posted on these  if (when!) I get them to completion.

I'm also pondering over more training and trying to decide what routes I want to focus on over the next year. I have magpie syndrome (I'm not sure it's a real syndrome but it acuratly explains my obsession of finding new shiny things and focusing on them for a while) so it's quite hard to stay focused on a limited number of things, but I am trying.

In other news my art exhibition is now done and has already been taken down (a month just flew by) so it's all eyes on the October one. (It really never stops here)

Next week I'll hopefully be able to give you more information on the contracted stories so watch this space.

Going over old words

Recently when I've had chance rather then continuing my present writing I've been spending time going over older writing that I've never managed to complete due to time restraints or because I wasn't happy with the story. This has meant that I have been going through work that in some cases is almost seven years old!

I have been happily surprised to realise that although I still had a voice back then my more recent work has a stronger voice which I am now more able to bring to the old works. Quite often when you're writing you can become to close to the scenes you are working on and way to close to the characters, so the advantage of going back to older work means that enough time has gone past and I am no longer close to them. This has lead to some interesting surprises where I am reading the work and not knowing what's about to happen...it's certainly led to some interesting conversations with my other half. Not all of the stories I have written can be saved, in fact looking back over some I read them with confusion and no understanding of where I was planning on going with it all, however I have found a few pieces that I think I could polish and turn into something much better then they are now - so watch this space!

Winter Holidays!

Well in a blink of an eye the winter holidays seem to be upon us. I'm sure last time I looked at a calendar it said January 2012 but oh well!

I thought I would use this time to update everyone and do an overview of the year. I don't get that many days off for the Christmas holidays so the two days that I do get off are very special to me and my other half. So for those days I likely won't be writing for the first time in a while but we shall see!

This year has been a bit of a roller-coaster. For the first half of the year I was finishing my re-training which having had various connversations once I had completed I decided to not take it further. Instead focusing my time on my writing whilst also working in retail to bring in a little money.

So! From July I have offically been focusing on my writing. This time has allowed me to focus on bigger projects and so in recent months I've been working on larger stories and hope to have some good news about that early next year!

Things haven't been quiet however on the publishing front I've had a couple of short stories in various places and also an ebook out with a brand new publisher a short upstairs/downstairs story called Made to Mistress, there is an anthology in the works and is just sat with them now waiting for a cover and so news of that will also be up soon! *fingers crossed!*

I'm excited to find out what the new year will bring and will be putting up a lot more posts with some regular slots so watch this space and all have a great winter holiday!

Focusing

I will readily admit that I have an issue focusing on one topic for any length of time. I have more projects and ideas on the go then I have hours in the day now and it has got to a point where they are just left around the place like remains of a battle. 

After coming downstairs this morning full of yet another idea my better half pointed out that I have this issue and although it pains me to say it I know I must focus and try and cut down the problem. So! From this point on I've decided, at least where my writing is concerned, that I am going to concentrate on only two projects at a time (yes I know that's not completely focusing but I am cutting this down from almost ten!).  From this point on I'll have one erotica piece that I'm working on and one non-erotica piece on the go only. Once they are done I'll be able to move on to the next load of ideas and stories but until then I am going to make a focused effort to work on just two things. 

We'll see how it goes! For this first  experiment I'm staying with my chocolate story because I would like to get that done soon, and for my non-erotica I'm going to continue to focus on my mongolian story since it's almost a year since I started it and I really owe it to the story to get it out there.

I will let you all know how it goes! I'm trying to see this as a write 1000 words a day for 70 days again since the Seventy Days of Sweat which I was a part of many years ago really helped me get those words down and caused me to complete a lot of projects.

Fingers Crossed......

Chocolate

So my current wip focuses on a slightly unusual way of using chocolate and how it surprising things can be seen as erotic. It's a story that I've been thinking about writing for a while and have now finally got to writing it which a relief!

Since I have limited time with my other job recently taking majority of my time up I have to be careful with what I write focusing on the most important pieces unfortunately I don't have the luxury of playing around with new ideas until they are already well thought out and plotted either in my head or written down. 

The chocolate story is something that I am really enjoying writing and it allows me to indulge in two of my favourite things chocolate and sex.  Anyway back to the writing! 

I'm taking part in the Smutters Advent calendar next month (can't believe it's only a few weeks before Christmas already!) so watch this space for more information and links.

A day at home!

So after a week and a half I finally have a day at home which means I can actually update this, and of course get some writing done! 

I've got a number of works in progress and so I have a selection that I can get on with although for the moment I think I'm going to focus on a short piece of writing I've started for a anthology based around sex outdoors. It's being written in a way I don't often write but the way it's coming together I'm enjoying what's been going on so far.

My other piece work is a longer story based on a fantasy world linked to ours. This started out as a short story but at already 9000 words hasn't even scratched the surface of where I want to go with it so I think it will likely end up as a novella instead or maybe even longer we'll see!

However I'm also working on stories that aren't erotica, including a book with a Mongolian based history. I love Mongolia and really want to spend time there sometime in the future until then I have only research and make believe to use when working on the story. It's not set in Mongolia but it is inspired by it.

Now with my one day at home moving on I should go and make the most of it so if you'll all excuse me!

Thinking Big

When I'm not writing I work in another job which recently has become so very hectic its unbelievable. For a long time we've been in a very small shop and now in a matter of weeks we're moving into one that is ten times bigger, leaving us with such a large space that we're not sure what to do with it.

We have schedules to make and with a bigger premises our mantra has become think bigger. This has got me thinking however that in my writing I should be thinking big and not confine myself to what I do presently. I need to look at the bigger picture and lay down some goals that may not be achievable straight away but are things that I can work towards. 

And I need to think bigger where promotion is concerned which will be starting soon so keep an eye out for more promotions and guest blogs occuring over the next few months. 

So now my mantra will continue to be Think Bigger and not restrain my thinking based on what has gone before.

Rainy days

As I write this it's been raining non-stop for three days two of those days I've had to go out and today it seems that I've run out of bread so I will when I get too hungry to sit still have to brave the rains and go shopping! (the horror) 

Before all that happens however I wanted to let you all know that my anthology is all polished and has been sent in to the publisher! I'm rather excited about this one since its the culmination of a number of years. All the stories within the book have been written over time and take place in a huge variety of different places. I hope I'll have some good news on this for you all shortly!

However I'm not sitting waiting for news I'm busy writing, presently working on a new story set in a fantasy land which I'm rather enjoying working on. I'm also finishing the edits of three novella's on a variety of subjects. 

So busy busy busy, but now to suit up and go out in the rain!

Manic few months

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Reworking old work

I've had an editor contact me with regards to a new exciting piece of writing. It's an extension of something that I wrote now a very long time ago (I worked out this morning I've been published for over five years - it really doesn't seem that long!) but which I'm excited to get back into.

As with all submission calls I start by looking through work I have already written or partly written that I have never done anything with. I look to see how the story might fit the call and how I can change it to do so. A lot of the time if I've abandoned the story it's not because it's bad but it's because it hasn't fitted what I was writing at the time and the style I was trying to hit. So the story will be dusted off and reworked, sometimes I strip it down completely leaving only the general plot and characters whilst other times I leave it pretty much as it is and just add some more flesh. 

For this submission call I'm reworking a story and completely shifting the PoV I have used and to my surprise the story seems to be a lot stronger, as if it should have been written in the new PoV in the first place.  So we shall see how it goes but for the moment I'm rather excited to watch it unfold in front of me.

I'll give an update soon!

Time

As readers of this blog will know time isn't something I have a lot of at the moment. Those that know me personally will know even more how much this is true. Today however is special, I'm ahead of my retraining coursework and I don't have to be in job no.2 today so today I have time.

I am using the day to get on with some writing and blitz through some edits. Hopefully by the end of the day I will have progressed on a number of stories and a book that I've been contracted for (not a Nicole book however so I won't go into details on here). 

Last night I made a list of all the stories that I have available to be sent out so today I might end up focusing on some of them trying to get them sorted. Whichever I end up doing I'm going to enjoy the time I have, I know how precious it is.

I have to admit I am lucky in that I like all the things I do as work, sometimes so much so I can't beleive I actually get to do them. Yet whatever happens I must keep in mind that at the end of the day it is a job and I need to put the hours in to make it worthwhile otherwise it just becomes a hobby. 

So here's to time and using it in the best possible way - writing.

Finding my feet

Ever so slowly I'm settling in not at all helped by the weather we've been having in the past week. In the last two weeks we've had blazing sun, freezing rain, snow and then back to rain with sleet in it from time to time. If that's not enough to make you dizzy I don't know what is.

The writing room is almost done, though we still have boxes absolutely everywhere. I will get it all sorted eventually but for the time being I'm focusing on a couple of writing jobs and also college work (as I've said before I'm retraining and unfortunately with that retraining comes a tonne of coursework).

I'm presently working on a rewrite of a vampire story I wrote a long time ago which hardly has any vampires in. The one that is mentioned hardly has any viewing time so I'm not sure I can even call this story a vampire story any more but we shall see what comes from it.

I've also discovered having gone through my notes I have a tonne of very short stories just hanging around waiting for someone to look at them so whenever I have time I'll be polishing them up and sending them out.

I've just recently discovered on-line food shopping! The wonders of ordering all your food and having it delivered without the hassle of having to travel around to push through all the shoppers and get food. Instead I can have it delivered when I want and at home so I can remain in comfort and get more work done. Speaking of which back to it!

Moving

For the moment there will be no updates as I focus on moving house (again). With no internet access in the house I'm moving to I'm going to focus on getting moved before I update here - but will update once I'm done I promise!

Another week

and more writing, though not as much as I would like.

The weather here has been freezing and so I seem to have spent most of the time tucked up in covers warming myself up. It looks like it's going to be another cold week coming up too but I'm determined to get some work finished.

Presently I'm working on a short BDSM piece once again focused upon wax play something that I have enjoyed writing about on a number of occasions (and as can be seen in stories such as Melting Point) so it has been rather enjoyable to get back into writing it.

This week I seem to have spent a lot of time (when I haven't been hidden under covers) collecting submission deadlines. Something that often has to be done, but since I'd not been keeping up with it till now there was a lot of deadlines to get down - I've got something meant to be going out at least once a month but we'll see how that goes!

A new year a new start

Once again I find another year has passed and although the last year I have been busy with work that has meant my writing has had to take a bit of a back seat. This year however that will change as I will be finishing the work in the next few months and now have the opportunity to write full time. So expect a lot more work from me soon enough.

I don't make new years resolutions - I don't really believe that one day can change an attitude or behaviour but small steps taken over a long period of time can. However this year I do plan on making changes, just small ones but hopefully things that will aid in my focusing and concentration regarding writing. And so this is a declaration that I will focus on updating this blog at least once a week - on hopefully the same day (but lets not get too hopeful) with an update of what I have been up to regarding writing.

As I write this the weather outside is freezing, in fact I'm sat wearing gloves as I'm typing this its so cold inside even with the heating on! So now I'm going to get another cup of coffee from the coffee machine and get on with some writing - presently I've got two things on the go, one a short story based around gifts and wish-lists and the other is the start of a book that I'm rather excited to be working on but isn't quite working right now.

Wish me luck!

Almost 2011 already?

Time seems to have just flown this year, and I've completely failed to manage to keep up regularly with this blog - for which I apologise!

Currently I'm working out my stats for this year and will be posting them up as the first post of the new year (really can't believe how close it is now.).

Watch out for news also about things occurring in conjunction with Coffee Time Romance. Details will be up soon so keep an eye out!

Hope everyone is having a good winter season and aren't being too buffeted by the weather we've all been having.

Where I've been!

Just to let you all know I'm still here!

I've just been very busy editing Touch of Silver and also slightly ill. Neither of which are very good for keeping up with blog posts. However the edits are going well after intensive talks with people and although my head is spinning from most of it it is getting there.

I will keep trying to update this as much as I can but until the ebook has been published I think I'm going to be a little scarce around here.