Well it has been a while. Not since I wrote a blog, I did that yesterday, but since I wrote a blog that focused on why Writing in Shadows was created in the first place. I started this blog several years ago to write about the process of writing. Back then, as a young whipper-snapper of 40, I had dreams of writing a novel. Maybe a movie. Perhaps a series. Definitely more than a shopping list.
Yesterday I wrote about my “practice novel”, the next piece of writing I’m going to undertake to give myself something to practice on. To learn new techniques, to write only for the joy of telling the story and not worrying about publishing deals or publishing at all. To just write and learn and have some fun.
When you make the decision to write, whether it’s a: story, novel, novella, or short fiction piece, staying with the idea long enough to actually accomplish something can be easier said than done.
In February this year I began a 6 month novel writing course held at the Australian Writers’ Centre. The course facilitator is Award Winning Australian novelist Pamela Freeman. When I first signed up, I entertained myself by imaging that finished novel sitting in my hands in August, the entirety of the Australian publishing industry bashing down my door to sign me up.
Over the past two weeks I’ve been battling the flu. Now, personally I’m not a believer in the often derived “Man-Flu.” It’s derogatory, and insulting. That said, this flu is by far the worst one I’ve ever had. I’ve barely been awake for the past week and a half and when I have I’ve had the energy of a newborn kitten. It’s been annoying.
Over the years I’ve attempted write countless novels. My problem has always been though that I get “bored.” Well not so much bored, as I lose track where the plot is going or can’t for the life of me figure out how to get my characters from point A to point B, so instead I claim “alack and alas tis all crap.”
Everything in my life has been going so well lately. I’ve been healthier than I have felt in a long time. Work is good. My writing is taking me to places I’d never before dreamt were a possibility. My confidence in myself has been sky high.
When I was little, one of my favourite stories was The Shoemaker’s Elves. The image of all those helpful little elves popping over to make a shoe or two as the Shoemaker slept. Industrious little critters really.
Back in mid 2013 I read an article about the discovery of an abandoned Temple complex in the far north of Scotland. The article queried how a temple had come to be located in such a desolate and unforgiving landscape. Not only that, but how based on archeological evidence a thriving town had grown to support the temple complex.
For regular followers of Writing in Shadows – if I still have any after such a long hiatus – you will know I’m currently working on my first Epic Fantasy novel Darkened North. Darkened North is the first in a planned 3 book series set in a medieval hybrid world, bringing together various mythologies and myths to tell the story of a Gifted Princess, a slave and the son of a fertiliser inventor and their battles and adventures in a war of the Gods.
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Author of MM romance novels for all ages
Australian Horror and Suspense Author
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Writing in Shadows 