And so it begins...
And so it begins indeed.
Firstly, welcome to my new blog. Having decided it was probably a good idea to focus my blog down somewhat from it's previous at times shall we say "varied" nature, I've decided that my blog from now on shall focus on my life as a writer and my various writing projects. As such I intend to give much more focus to projects, plans, thoughts, experiences and general other matters arising from my writing and my experiences as a writer in general.
As this is in a way, the first of a new series of blogs (having obviously deleted my previous blogs that didn't fit with my new focus), I think it's probably a good idea to set out what I'm up to at the moment and what my plans are for the coming year.
Partly because my university course requires me to, and partly because it's about time I got round to do it, I am currently in the process of seeking representation for my book A Door to Nowhere.
A Door to Nowhere is a humorous fantasy adventure story written for the 7-10 children's market. Written in a Dahl-esque style and making use of a "larger than life" pantomime villain in the evil Sheriff Stinkbottom, A Door to Nowhere is full of fun and mischievousness and will appeal to boys and girls alike. It would certainly benefit greatly from the inclusion of illustrations (something in the vein of Quentin Blake) to supplement the colourful, exciting world of hairy wizards, evil sheriffs and magical creatures that live in the wizard's house.
Having now written up my synopsis, prepared cover letters, sorted out sample chapters etc, I am now playing the long waiting game of the author, hoping that something might come out my efforts in the coming weeks and months. Unlike my previous half-hearted attempts at seeking representation, this time out I'm taking the whole matter very seriously as not only am I serious about my work (which is strange for me given I'm not usually one to feel so about my own work), I am also serious about getting myself into print this year.
We thus come on to the second major strand of my efforts this year. Given my e-publication ventures of late, I have decided that it's about time I put the PTB trilogy into print. Because they were written between the ages of 18 and 21 (3 books totaling nearly 300k before the age of 21 is pretty impressive), and given I am now 24, I am currently in the process of going through the whole series, tidying up bits and pieces and making the series of a standard I would willingly go out and sell to book sellers. Once the task of re-editing is complete I fully intend on self-publishing as something of an interesting venture if anything else. I am very much up for getting PTB into print this year if nothing else for my own personal sense of accomplishment than anything. Even though some of my old-style writing is a bit clunky in places, the format, plot etc is all actually surprisingly good given when it was written, so I am very keen on getting it out there and read by a wider audience. Fingers crossed I'd like to have it ready for dispatch by summer time if at all possible.
And so to my other plans...
Obviously I intend on running this blog still, and getting round to writing those book reviews I've been promising for a little while now. On top of this when I get some money together I really do need to write my next Nintendo Life review, but for the moment that's on the back burner a bit what with the whole final-year-of-uni thing going on and coursework hitting me left, right and centre. If I find any time on top of all that, I really really want to get down to work on writing "A Student's Life" as a book. I'm hoping to start planning the outline for that this week.
Ok, that's enough for now. Now back to it...