The Writing Process Blog Tour

Being a writer can be exhilarating, fulfilling, freeing, frustrating and isolating in varying combinations. Every writer has their own rituals, processes and habits.

It's fascinating to hear what works for other writers and how they view their work and methods. 

What keeps us motivated and drives us to disappear into our our minds and pour our souls out through a keyboard for little or no financial gain?

When Gill Hamer, asked me to participate in this blog tour I was delighted to do it. Like any geek, writers love talking about what we do. We learn from and support each other but also want to open ourselves up to our readers, to help them to understand what makes us tick.

Discover some writers to inspire and entertain by touring their blogs and getting to know them and their creative process.

Here's Gill's response to the blog tour: http://gillianhamer.wordpress.com/2014/03/23/the-writing-process/

This week it's my turn:

1) What am I working on?

I have just finished the first draft of the second book in the Sheridan and Blake Adventure series. The next book is called 'Solomon's Secrets' (blurb and preview: http://bit.ly/P79mZE) and I've just sent it off to the printers so I can get copies to my test readers and editors.

The book is a follow up to 'The Bronze Box', published last year and available in eBook and paperback from Amazon: http://amzn.to/1jd0sDE. 

Set a year after the end of the first book, it's not a sequel but throws my hero; Tom Sheridan, and heroine; Sasha Blake, back together into an increasingly tangled web of conspiracy, rivalled only by the increasingly complex nature of their relationship.

2) How does my work differ from others in the genre?

The best known writer of thriller fiction such as mine is Dan Brown, and in the genre generally there are few female writers. 

There is a tendency for these types of books to be 'men's books written by men'. 

Granted, I have been told I'm more bloke than lady (I drink pints and been known to have public flatulence!) but, I like a good edge of the seat thriller.  I also like thrillers to be multilayered and intelligent with a historic context. 

Kate Mosse is perhaps the best known female writer in the genre. I'd wouldn't mind being compared to her one day!

3) Why do I write what I do?

Like most writers, I write what I like to read. My favourite author is the late Paul Sussman. 

Few people seem to have heard of him, which is a tragedy because his writing is brilliant. His characters are vivid and complex, his stories are full of historic references, so it feels like you are learning something. There are complex webs of conspiracy and satisfying relationships, intricacies and metaphors.

I want to be able to write like that. It's going to take a lot of practice!

I also choose historic references and subject matter that fascinate me, which gives me a great excuse to do lots of research.

4)  How does my writing process work?

It usually starts with a spark of an idea, very often with a 'what if'. The idea will marinate, sometimes for days, weeks, months, even years.

Then I'll have other ideas that will brew away in their own little crock pots. The starting point is usually when I mix a couple of things together that feel like they'll fit. 

I day dream a lot, playing out scenes in my head until I find them satisfying enough to commit to words.

I'll start forming a basic plot structure in my head and draw some initial flow charts on big bits of paper with scenes on post it notes.

When I finally feel like I have something solid I write the first chapter and the last chapter. I then write the scenes that I've been day dreaming and jotting in notebooks and juggle them about to slot them in. This starts to give me a solid story arc. 

I think of it like a map; There's a starting point, a destination and various places I'd like to visit along the route. Next I plan how I'll get there.

I always have a wider strategic view of where the story needs to go and will steer it in that direction, but I keep it pretty fluid as I write. Often a character will start talking to me and showing me where they need to go. I like to prod them, make them uncomfortable and connect them to each other in ways they may or may not appreciate!

I'm constantly reviewing the overall structure and the plan for the story and it will slowly start to tighten up as I settle into it's rhythm.

I then go through rewrites. Involve beta readers.Take chapters along to a writers crit group for scrutinising. More test readers and editors until eventually it becomes a proper book.

*

The next three writers on this Writing Process Blog Tour on Monday 7th April, are a mix of bloggers, novelists, non-fiction and short story writers. They represent a great cross section of different writing disciplines:    
  
A brilliant writer I have recently discovered who writes in the same genre as I do.  Laurence O'Bryan is a tireless supporter of other writers.

Laurence O'Bryan is the author of a series of mystery novels published in 11 languages. The series starts with The Istanbul Puzzle, continues with The Jerusalem Puzzle and then there is, The Manhattan Puzzle, the current novel.

Laurence is working on the fourth novel in the series, The Nuremberg Puzzle. In it the puzzles revealed in the first three novels will be answered. That answer is a shocking revelation regarding why so many people died in the Second World War.

Laurence lives in Dublin. He teaches digital marketing and helps other writers get discovered through his site booksgosocial.com. Laurence lived in London for ten years until his daughter was born.

See lpobryan.com for more

Sandy Bird  - has a blog/journal about her experiences as a Canadian wintering in Florida and exploring the area on her motorcycle.

Sandy is a creative soul who naturally has a talent to create designs and work with colour. As the outside world inspired her, destiny led her to use the creativity that resided within her to design visually appealing messages through print and the web. All the while a hidden writer was yearning to escape. The passion for writing grew over the years in the form of poems and musings until she found her niche as a blogger. 

http://www.thefrozencanuck.blogspot.com

Mirjam Penning ('Penning' is such a perfect name for a writer!) - Is a non-fiction writer and blogger.

Mirjam says:

Slowly I shifted one career for another.

I became an author of non fiction articles about true crime cases. My writing can be defined as 'based on the truth', in the languages English and Dutch. Ive kept a blog since 2006. Currently working on a more professional looking website. An ongoing process.
I got into web content by creating 'simple' websites and editing (web)texts for entrepreneurs. My big project is expanding skills, writing e books and becoming a web content manager.

http://mirjampenning.wordpress.com

Lynne Cobine - Writes fiction and non-fiction and has so far had short stories published. She is a blogger and keen supporter of other writers

Lynne says:
I have a website to help writers to publish their short stories and to raise money for charity.  I am a writer too, and have had articles published online and in printed magazines, but really love creating fiction for people to enjoy.

If you want to discover new writing, and enjoy short stories, this website is a must: http://boxofwords.weebly.com/about-us.html 

Lynne also explains that - Box of Words: is a play on words from the New Zealand expression Box of Birds, meaning very happy.

Enjoy the next leg of the tour!

Bleary eyed Meerkats and the cute to cantankerous tabby...

It's been a fraught week, but finally we have at least got some answers about the future of our jobs, at last I can start making plans!

I'm a day late with my Operation Author: 365 Actions to Succeed as an Author seven actions update because yesterday I spent the day with family in Somerset for Mothers Day and with such lovely weather today I've been pottering around in the garden.

My seven actions this week started with putting a call out to writers to join a blog tour.

I was invited to join by Gill Hamer - http://gillianhamer.wordpress.com/2014/03/23/the-writing-process/

My goal was to get 3 and I got 4, including the brilliant Laurence O'Bryan who has very kindly written a guest post for me previously.

 

Writers might spend much of our lives locked to a screen, pulling stories out of our souls and breathing them to life, but when we do stick our heads up and look around, like bleary eyed meerkats, we're a supportive bunch, and that's really heartening. 

 

So thanks to:

Sandy, Mirjam, Laurence and Lynn for participating. 

 

My leg of the tour starts on Monday 31st so look out for that tomorrow...

 

Other actions:

I've finished the first draft of Solomon's Secrets. Here's the first proof of the cover art:

 

After an initial edit have ordered some proof copies print on demand. 

 

I'm taking a bit of a risk because I really haven't cut much out of the first draft and I am keen to get the opinions of my test readers on the aspects of the story I'm less certain about. 

 

Here's the start of one of the scenes that I've struggled with, as it involves an assault and I can't decide whether to include the scene, or rely on it being referred to later in the story?

 

As a reader, how explicit do you think traumatic or violent scenes should be?

 

 

 

 Another action: 

 

Is there anyone who would be interested in being a test reader/editor? - the more the merrier!

 

While I'm interested in the views of readers my next action is to conduct a straw poll:

 

How many novels in a year is too many to publish?

 

1 - 2

2 - 3

4 - 5

6 +

Other amount?

Comments? 

 

I'd like to hear your views. Some authors are more prolific than others.

 

I had an email back from Your Cat magazine about a proposal for an article I sent out a while ago, 'Cute to cantankerous, the perils of owning an elderly cat' - I'd all but forgotten about it! One of my actions is to respond and send over my piece.

 

My final action will be to join the blog tour tomorrow. See you there

 

 

 

 

 

Guest post by best selling author Laurence O'Bryan - Marketing for writers

I am delighted to showcase a guest blog from the best selling author Laurence O'Bryan for:

 

Operation Author - 

365 Actions to Succeed as an Author

Some of my actions this week have been to follow up my shout out for guest blogs and to share the work of fellow writers.

I write in the same genre as Laurence and am a big fan of his work, so I feel really privileged that he agreed to do this post for me on marketing for writers - Hand Selling Books with Social Media.  

Enjoy...

Hand Selling Books with Social Media

by Laurence O'Bryan #1 Best Selling Author on Amazon, translated into 10 languages.

Have you noticed how fast the publishing industry is changing? The signs, lower advances, the rise of independent publishing (please don't call it self publishing) and the pressure on all authors to promote themselves are just some of the signs of seismic change the industry is experiencing.

This is also a new age of hand selling books online. 

I have heard it said that one of the main benefits of a good bookstore is that you can have good books recommended to you. You can also meet authors when they come to the shop to sign their books.

But social media allows me to meet and greet individual buyers and answer their questions too, at a lower cost than running a bookstore. I get about 1000 hits a day between my social media for writers site and my book site  http://www.lpobryan.com. That is mainly because I have 200,000 followers on my social media accounts.

It's taken me three years to build up that total, but I am determined to use the resource to sell books, and not just my own either.

The main benefits of hand selling online are, in my opinion:

• That you can meet people from all over the world and communicate with them individually. Google Translate means you can even talk to people in languages you don't understand.

• You can engage long term with readers, answering different questions over time and building up relationships.

• You can keep a track of people’s names or identities so you can tell them when your new book comes out or a book from someone you recommend.

• You don’t have to waste time and money travelling around and you won’t get wet if it’s raining.

The downsides are:

• You mightn’t make make strong connections with people, as you don’t get to meet people personally. However I believe it takes more than one physical meeting to make friends with people. How well do book shop owners know most of their customers anyway? Multiple meetings and shared interests are just the start. Long term social media friendships can be as meaningful as relationships with people you meet in a retail environment.

• You don’t get to see people smile. But sometimes people will be more honest with you online, which sort of makes up for this.

And that’s it. There are downsides, for sure, but the upsides, the ability to sell 24/7 x 365 days of the year, with limited cost, are too great to ignore this way of selling books.

So, here’s your challenge.

Can you tell me your experience of hand selling books with social media? Is it better or worse to get a recommendation online? What do you think about the way book selling is going?

Laurence O'Bryan is the author of three mystery noevels published by Harper Collins and is available in 11 languages. His latest title, The Manhattan Puzzle will be in US book stores August 26 2014.

He sells his own books and recommends other writer's novels at his site BooksGoSocial.com. Come along and look at what's available. 

 
 The Istanbul Puzzle





The Jerusalem Puzzle

The Manhattan Puzzle

If you like Laurence's books, you should like this:

The Bronze Box, by Amy C Fitzjohn