Are Science-Fiction and Fantasy Book Covers Important?

As I ease myself back into creative writing mode after a busy few months editing, reviewing, beta reading and moving house (yes, again), I thought I'd offer up another flashback piece for today: this one appeared on Fantasy Faction a while ago.

Now THAT'S what I'm talking about

I've been thinking a lot lately about great cover art, mainly because I've seen a resurgence of fantastic book covers in recent months.

When the Editor became the Editee and other marvellous tales.

And so the great adventure of revision comes to an end, leaving me to think upon what has come and gone. And, I guess, write about it. Seeing as I'm one of those people who supposedly writes things and this is a blog and it's supposed to have written things in it.

My manuscript, yesterday.

Editors, prologues and revisions, oh my...

It's been a crazy few months. In the last post I mentioned that 'The Silver City' (yes, the game of name pong is finally over with) was with the delightful Bothersome Words/editorial wonder Abigail Nathan for a long-overdue clean up via a professional manuscript assessment. I also commented that I foresaw plenty of work being required when it came back. Because despite being a writer who knows what he's doing, I'm also a writer who has no idea what he's doing.

Flashback (Clearly Not) Friday: Get Writing, Damn It!

Seriously, who decides to create a blog and then never write in it? Because, that's just stupid.

I have to write MORE words...?!

Okay, clearly I'm not on here as much as I'd like. But there are a few reasons for this:

"Toy Everlasting"

Through the bars I see his face.

Innocence. Beauty. Though it changes every day, it seems. His jaw a little stronger than before, his hair darkening and his eyes sharper. All the while his lips move in every direction as they ceaselessly explore new and unusual sounds.

Nudging words into the light

This week a writer I greatly admire gave me a pretty magnificent shout-out in an interview with theshake.

It was completely unexpected, and in the context of her talking about other really talented (and published) authors, absolutely batshit insane given that I have nothing fictional out there in the universe for people to see.

Writers Write, Right?

"Everyone has time to be a writer. Stop making excuses!"

Excuses, I haz them.

You'll notice I'm a little slack at getting these posts out. I originally wondered if starting a blog might be a bad idea, given that I don't get that much time to write anything these days. But screw it, I thought, let's do it anyway. There are words writing themselves in my head. Even if it takes me a while to get fingers to keyboard, it's worth having a place to put them down.

...all part of the writing process.

I've done the same with my other writing projects recently. The articles, the novel, the screenplays - they're all up there, bubbling away. Occasionally a little idea will rise to the surface and explode in a loud 'pop' of THAT WOULD BE AWESOME... at which point I try to write it down the next time I have an opportunity.

It might be written with pen. It might get saved on the mobile. It might go straight onto the laptop...

Disney and Star Wars: A New Hope?

Star Wars has been in the news a lot recently.

The sale of Lucasfilm to Disney provided the first shock, to the tune of $4 billion and the idea that George Lucas was relinquishing control of the company he had worked so hard to build.

But when this announcement was followed up by the revelation that we'd finally get to see the fabled third Star Wars trilogy, Episodes VII to IX... well, the internet went into meltdown.

You can let the Phantom Menace go now R2. It's going to be okay...

Except it didn't. Well, not as much as it once might have. 

Mainly because of those films that shall not be named. You know the ones. Begins with 'P', rhymes with 'equals'.

I'll admit that when they first came out, I was at the midnight shows for all three. And I enjoyed each one at the time. Perhaps it was the music, the opening scroll, or the stunning visuals. I don't know. But the chance to see Star Wars on the big screen again was an opportunity not to be missed and I thoroughly enjoyed treating the 7-year old me, with all grown-up criticism set aside for later.

Of course, each time I've watched them since that criticism has grown stronger. Not because they are utterly irredeemable movies (they're actually more fun than most of the dross served up these days), but because of what could have been.

Why writers need rejection (and how it could get you published)

If you’re anything like me, you won’t be a stranger to this word. In fact, if you don’t know it intimately then you’re doing something wrong and are probably floating through life without actually living.

Rejection and I have actually become quite close over the years. Not best friends, certainly, but we know each other well enough to share a beer or two, having grown up together from those days where I was your average teenager with a spectacularly bad dating record, to that time I finally got a date with a real-life girl only to be dumped at the end because the cinema playing Four Weddings & a Funeral happened to be full and I took her to see Beverly Hills Cop III instead.

Could have been worse...

Thankfully these days the turn-downs are slightly more impressive. In the past couple of weeks alone I’ve taken some pretty high-level hits from everyone, including potential employers, a potential literary agent, a couple of well-regarded fanzines, and even a powerhouse publisher.

And while the rejections keep on coming, I actually don’t mind. In fact, I’ve learned to love them. Because they are ABSOLUTELY necessary.

In the shadow of the Dark Peak...

So. Blogs.

I've been toying with the idea for a while. Watching others work their literary magic, wondering if I could, or should, do the same. Life suggested that 'no, I couldn't' and threw a whole heap of other crap at me for a couple of years.

The Peak District: this writer's new base. (NOTE: Not crap.)

Not the kids of course, although they have their moments. But real must-be-karma-for-putting-all-my-protagonists-through-hell type insanity that you could only make up if you were a writer. Which I guess makes me the protagonist of this story. It's an action-packed one too, involving love, loss, ghosts, writing, property developing, property undeveloping, and a move halfway around the world from steamy Australian su-bleurgh-bia to the wintry magic of northern England.

Also giant robots, although they are entirely fictional.

Anyway, I'll share the breadcrumbs of these tales along the way. In the meantime consider this post zero. It only gets better from here.*

(*I make no promises)