JoZebwrites

Some of the most welcome feedback I've had on Abendau's Heir is that people like how much detail I go into about my characters. That was really good to hear because it was something I worried about when I was writing Abendau - that my minutiae of the people I wrote about wouldn't be as engaging to others as me. Having had that feedback, I thought I'd share one of the tools I find really useful for character writing and, particularly, character interactions. It's called the Johari window, and it sounds all mystical and new age-y. It's actually not - it's named after the two designers of the model and is pragmatic and easy to apply. It's used a lot in coaching, counselling and anywhere empathy of another person is needed. The model shows four key windows of interaction and concerns itself about own and shared knowledge of the person: Arena - known to self and others Blind spot - not known to self but is to others Facade - known to self, but not t...

My current wip has had several beta readers of the very good variety. It's had a professional edit by an experienced SFF editor, and an agent with an editorial approach who put it through its paces again. Recent feedback from further editors has been good. In short, here's a book I'm confident about - so much so it's gone out to a few people for a pre-copy-edit review. One hated everything about the book. The critique was thoughtful, with clear identification of what the critter didn't like and why. There are some things I may strengthen on the back of it. But it's not a critique I'll be applying in full, and here's why: Critiques aren't to be considered in a vacuum. A reader may not be a good match for your work. They may like a different style of writing, or a different sort of plot. I write dark stuff - fluffy bunny lovers aren't always the critters for me. So here's my Top 5 things you should consider when you receive a critique . ...

Post-alien invasion Belfast, and humanity has been defeated. Pity no one told the locals. I'm starting to get Inish Carraig close to release. Covers are being worked on and copyediting is underway. Now, I'm thinking it might be a good time to chat about it. Inish Carraig is my quiet project. It's been out there, in various guises, for a long time, but I didn't talk about it. It was, at one point, agented and, generally, agents prefer it if there isn't a lot of chit-chat and what not online. So, I kept quiet and only referred to it obliquely. It's been a crossover book, a Young adult book, and now is back to that murky line of crossover territory. I have the project back with me, and I'm delighted because, finally, I can bring it out and let the world see my vision of Belfast after an alien invasion. (The concensus from the locals seems to be that we won't notice much difference.) As ever, the characters came to me. There was no deliberate decisi...

Occasionally, I put up depressing, and sometimes not depressing, reports on what it's like trying to become an author, the hurdles and the straight, long sections. This one - I'm not sure which it is. On the non-depressing note. I am absolutely not complaining here. I am aware how many writing friends I have who would love to be in my position. I was that writing friend a year or so ago. I am lucky - my book is out, I have another two coming out this year (one self published after a long saga regarding agents and markets and wanting it to come out however it does it). I am getting good reviews (and waiting nervously for the first to say they hated, hated, hated my book), my sales are pretty good for a debut, I've had all sorts of online exposure. I'm lucky, lucky, lucky. But! The downside. I'm also busy, busy, busy. Whether I make it as a writer or not remains to be seen: regardless, I have enough writing work on to keep a full time writer busy. I have, over the...

So, here's how it happened. My aunt and uncle took a signed book over to my uncle'a sister who had ordered one. And they photographed her reading it under a Welsh roadsign. And then, on their joint holiday, they took another, this time in a library in Italy. Meanwhile, in the land down under an online friend was patiently waiting for her copy and I joked we should have followed it on its journey. So when it reached her, she posted an upside down photo. At which point a friend in Canada received his and photographed it. And suddenly a world tour was happening. And that's where we're at. We've had the book at Tower Bridge in London today. It'a going to Portugal later. There are rumours of America and Geordie land. And so, it begins. And if I sell a million copies I'll follow it around the world. :)

Promoting your book - part three: Social Media I took part in an online discusssion around about the time I was starting to seriously seek agents about whether an aspiring author should have an online presence, or could that wait until a book had come out. The perceived wisdom was that a website and at least one strong social media platform was the least someone should set up. Up until then, I had an aversion to all things social media. I'm a reasonably private person, I don't do lots of exciting whizzy-bang things - I had little to write about. But I held my nose, did some research and decided to dive into the whirl of Twitter. I held out on Facebook a little longer but bit that bullet a year or so ago, and I joined Goodreads when Abendau's Heir came out. I don't have a shared platform - I tweet and facebook differently and think it's more effective to do so, but many would disagree with that. So, the pros and cons: TWITTER I find Twitter great for links ...

I'm taking part in an authors' roundtable on the fantastic www.sffworld.com and one of the questions I was asked was, if I was dreaming, what I'd love to see happen to my novel. I suppose best seller lists come to mind, or TV adaptations, or movies. Not for me. My dream is of a rock-opera by Muse. I even have the playlist, which I'm going to share in a moment. But first, here's the whys and wherefores: I've had Abendau in my head for 25 years. I've also quite liked music with good bass for much of that time (I blame having my first crush on a bass player for that). When I came to write my novel, I was listening a lot to the likes of Muse and, being a space loving girl with a conflicted hero who thinks pretty deeply (and isn't that conventional for a space hero) the lyrics and flavour of the music, touched on what I was trying to capture in the book. So much so, that certain scenes in the book play in my mind when I'm listening to the song (especi...