A weekend of mixed emotions.

Going into this long weekend I was absolutely exhausted from the months efforts across many fronts. I so desperately wanted to catch up on sleep, but I was just as desperate to focus on some serious writing. The latest WiP (Elementals) is constantly playing on my mind, it's like I've assigned a brain cell or two (and some people said I only had one!) to act as a random thought processor that just ticks away in the back ground. 
When I planned 'Elementals' it was always going to be another short story, a novella maybe, but that has been completely blown out of the water. I've had to force myself to step away from the laptop, it's at 18,000 words and not even scratched the surface of where this story apparently wants to go.

But I needed sleep. Unfortunately nobody told the neighbours so there I was at midnight last night pen deep in rewriting Fated Encounters to the thud thud thud of some modern group screaming out of the surround sound speakers of my neighbours daughters party - no invite for us then.

My family are very supportive; the son went away for the weekend and the wife did well to keep our youngest daughter occupied as much as possible to give me the writing time I craved. 

The biggest problem I have right now is, me! This 'Elementals' is proving such a buzz, it's like the imagination has been given an adrenalin injection and let loose in a toy store. How I can sit there and 'live' these pages is just beyond me, it is an awesome feeling, truly amazing I just wish I knew how I did it!

Fated Encounters was a very personal story for me, it was one I wasn't comfortable writing but felt that it had to be written. It wasn't a case of bearing my soul or trying to rekindle anything, for me it was more about reminding myself that I used to have an emotional side. As I sit writing 'Elementals' I understand the benefits of doing that, I have quite amazed myself. Writing a few specific paragraphs this afternoon I had real tears streaming down my face, honestly, people that have got to know me since 1984 would never believe I could be like that, even I was stunned (after the initial embarrassment of course). So, there was a reason for Fated Encounters, it gave me access to a part of myself that had been long banished to the darkest depths of oblivion, I think you have to be a 'complete' person in order to write the better story's.

Those that have read INVICTUS Prt 1: Introducing Richard  have all agreed that it is my best writing to date, having read what I've written today I think there is a challenger for that title.

Now, about that sleep........

Good times, great fun and totally absorbing recreation. Who wouldn't want to write?

Damn - what a week that was.

A request that I have heard many times over in my life is "I just wish there were more hours in day", and that has never been more true than this week.

It has been a particularly hectic/frantic/manic month at my day job and to be honest I could of done with extra hours in the day just to deal with that, but with the writing as well - pheww. Still, it ends on a real high - work targets achieved and new book cover - achieved! INVICTUS Part 1: Introducing Richard is alive! 

It currently sits with Judi, my trusted editor, who, I have to be honest, has expressed a modicum of delight at the apparent progress of my writing, and of course the cover. Now I just have to assemble the funds to allow the story to reach the publication stage: such is the life of an Indie Author. There are quicker ways, much cheaper ways, but I would actively discourage any would-be Author to travel this route - if you want to be fair to your story, to your book, to yourself and to your readers you do HAVE to invest. There are ways to save money - for example I have family, friends and work colleagues that read my material as it progresses, Beta readers sort of. These have proven to be invaluable, some from a grammar & spelling perspective and some from a story line perspective, and some do both. But they ALL help me to produce the best I can, and they're FREE - except for the occasional cup of coffee or cake!  Only then will it go to Judi, my editor.

In amongst all of this activity I've also managed to progress the latest WiP to the point where I think it will continue on to become my next novel. Temporarily given the title of 'Elementals', this one is way off any genre I have written in before - it's a older childrens/YA adventure - and with 10,000+ words so far the first few Beta's have been given the manuscript to cast their critical eye over.

Here's the thing, because everything about this writing lark is still so very new to me I use the Beta's at this stage to check that I'm on the right track. The way I see it is that normal people are the ones that will buy or not buy my books, so it makes perfect sense to me to use 'normal' people as Beta's. The fact that some of these have other skills or knowledge around spelling, grammar etc is just a bonus: real eyes from real people is my way. There are two other WiP's that I have written that will probably never see the light of day because in discussion with some of the Beta's they have voiced concerns, conceptually they're just not good enough. 

So now it's the weekend - a glorious cloudless blue sky heralds the start of 'Labour Weekend', a three day weekend here in New Zealand. It's time to get out into the fresh air, take the dog for a walk along the beach and generally unplug myself from the real world for a bit. But the most exciting thing? I have hours and hours of writing opportunity ahead!  

A busy week - definitely. A productive week - Absolutely - but I don't think I want to do too many like it.

WiP N0 6 V:4 has a face and a title!

INVICTUS: Prt 1 - Introducing Richard 

It's a great feeling to press the 'send' button on that email that carries the final draft copy of a manuscript, delivered safe into the hands of Judi - there is a massive sense of achievement, of satisfaction, of, well, excitement! That day has come, it has arrived and all of the above feels bloody marvelous, even if I do say so myself.

BUT, it gets better; Working with a cover designer for the last two weeks or so I finally have the penultimate cover - and I love it. I say 'penultimate' because there are likely to be some miniscule alterations around lighting or final font. This cover represents a big step for me, the first cover we've had professionally designed, it's an investment and everything feels so positive it's awesome.

So now the whole journey of this particular book is coming to a close, or at least this stage of it's life is. Sometime in November/December INVICTUS: Prt 1 - Introducing Richard will be published as an e-book and then it starts a new phase, released into the big bad world of books.

There are always two sides to any story.

If you were to look over the fence of 38 Bassildon Street on the outskirts of Gloucester you would witness an idyllic scene: children playing in and around the inflatable pool, the smell of the chicken and sausages smoking on the bar-B-Q hung invitingly in the air, the parents sipping iced Pimms and chatting with their visitors. It was July 1991, a glorious summers day and, to the onlooker, the scene could not be more perfect.

Julia had the same view of her marriage to Richard, well almost. Apart from his work related overseas travel their lives were pretty good; very much in love, two wonderful daughters and financially stable. They were a perfectly ‘normal’ inconspicuous middle class family.

AND then there is the truth.

Richard has kept a secret for a very long time, as with all such secrets, once it is revealed those lives effected can never be the same again; there was no going back.

Discovering his secret propels Julia in to an unfamiliar world, one that she is ill prepared for. The more she discovers, the more her ‘normality’ disintegrates. The realisation that their marriage has been built on this one hidden truth causes Julia to question her own future, and who should be part of it. Her husband meanwhile, has his own battles to fight, not least of all his battle for actual survival, a battle for his life.

Secrets are dangerous, and seldom without consequence.

Given the opportunity to meet his nemesis for a second time, Richard longs for a chance to silence his demons. In his mind it is this one person that has been solely responsible for the dismantling of his double life. One way or another the haunting screams would have to stop.

The question is, who else is keeping secrets? 

www.ajwilsonbooks.net

https://www.facebook.com/andrewj.wilson.3

Which Genre?

Just over a year ago I had my very first book published - Russian Redemption. It is a very dark and disturbing story set to the back drop of WW2 Russia. Some say it borders on 'horror', some see the suspense/thriller story and some..... well some just couldn't finish it.

Then along came Fated Encounters; a story best described as a romance/tragedy. 

I've recently finished INVICTUS: Part 1 - Introducing Richard. 
This is a bit of a mixed bag really, probably best suited to the generic Adult Fiction genre.

Now, from nowhere, I find myself writing what started as a childrens book, rapidly becoming a YA with the huge potential of stepping into Fantasy. I started this one last weekend, spent an entire afternoon on the story board designed for a short story, and sat and wrote the first couple of thousand words. Yesterday was a writing day, and the story board has gone out of the window, it is so awesome when a story takes on a life of its own.

A while back I went on about the 'tap', the 'somewhere' that seems to provide the inspiration for my stories. Personal circumstances forced me to unplug myself from this supply and it's taken a wee while to plug back into it - But I can honestly say, it appears that I am now fully irrigating or irrigated?!. Almost 9000 words written, this is not going to be a short story, definitely not. I wanted to do a kiddies type book because I wanted to really test myself, to push the boundaries, but I never for one minute thought that a 'fantasy' story would be the way to go; it seems someone somewhere has other ideas.

My point is that I now have three books written, two published and one its way. There are also two or three others that are sitting on the back burner. Including the most recent 'childs fantasy', that's four books in four different genres. The more adult ones are published under Andrew J. Wilson, the other's under A J Wilson. However, I'm thinking that the childrens one is going to need a different name, I do not want children (or parents of children) buying an unsuitable story based on the Authors name. Food for thought.

I have read on many forums and sites that an Author should find their niche genre and stick to it, and I suppose I can see a degree of logic in that. But isn't that also a case of putting all of ones eggs in the same basket?  

And secondly, I don't actually seem to have a lot of control over what stories I write - I sit down at the computer and the story (whatever it might be) just falls out of my fingers. Go back to the very first posts where I mention the cinema inside my head, it is what it is. Yes, if you look at some of the most successful authors around they have a strong presence in one genre, but isn't that a bit like only selling one type of car - A Ford retailer. There are a number of people globally that will only buy a Ford, tap into that market and it could well be happy days. However, many more millions of people drive cars, not just Fords, so why ignore them?

Ultimately, if an Author has found a niche that ticks all of their own personal boxes then I am happy for them. We go back to the definition of 'successful' I suppose. I get my pleasure from actually writing the stories. I also get a great deal of satisfaction from hearing from people that have enjoyed reading my stories. Earning money? Nah, doesn't enter into my thought processes. Whilst I write as an Indie Author I am free to write whatever stories come into my head, there are no boundaries. It is a marvelous freedom! I believe I owe it to myself and any readers to produce the best quality work as far as grammar, spelling, structure and so on (Thanks Judi!) And I owe it to myself to continually improve on the technical aspects of story telling, anything to better the experience. But I owe nothing to the labels of genre: The rules do not apply to me because I don't fit into the model. I'm sure it would be very different if I restricted myself to the 'normal' and chased 'success' through books deals, or film rights and all that ingrained institutional thinking but it doesn't. The fact that over 5000 people have visited this blogsite, 2000 have visited my website, I have two books published on the global stage with plenty more to follow and I am loving every minute of writing - by my definition I'm already successful. One of my work colleagues stopped me in the office last week and said "You're the one that writes the really good books aren't you" - It was such a lovely and unexpected compliment, and that's successful enough for me :-)

Writing isn't work - it's everything else that goes with it!

Movers & Shakers - The Wishing Shelf Book Awards - Billy Bob Buttons

Aspiring Self Published Authors be warned: You will read lots of articles about how the Self Publishing world is changing, evolving, and it is, the thing is it is only changing because some people have taken it by the scruff and physically dragged it forward. Make no mistake, it still has a long way to travel before it can realistically be classed as anywhere near an equal to the well established publishing houses, and old school Editor/Publisher network - but the journey is underway.

Momentum has been built upon the initiatives. efforts and sacrifice of those that have gone before.

One such person that has taken the industry by the proverbial horns is Edward Trayer - Who? I hear you ask, and this comes as no surprise. Edward Trayer is Billy Bob Buttons, an author of  Childrens and YA books such as The Gullfoss Legends, (A Rubery Award finalist), Felicity Brady and the Wizard's Bookshop, (UK People Book Prize runner-up), TOR Assassin Hunter and TOR Wolf Rising. 

Married to Theresa, they have twin girls, and by the look of this picture it is easy to see why he is so motivated to write such great childrens books..

But writing great stories wasn't enough for Ed - as part of the Indie Revolution he decided to do something about the status quo, to step up and pioneer a whole new concept in the world of Authordom - fairness.

Here, in his own words, is what happened:-

My Book Awards

Fun to Run? Or a Total and Utter Nightmare?

Four years ago I set up The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. Why? Well, I was upset with all the other book awards open to self-published and independently published authors. I felt they were a rip-off. I remember, I was a finalist in one award and they didn’t even bother to tell me. Then, in another award I did very, VERY well and all they were interested in was selling me dodgy winner stickers at a crazy, inflated price. Then there was the feedback I got from the Writer’s Digest Award. It was a joke. It was 19 (yes, 19!) words long and congratulated me on writing a wonderful adult book set in France. IT WAS A CHILDREN’S BOOK SET IN A MAGIC BOOKSHOP!!!

So I went for a walk…

I went for a walk and decided in amongst the tall chestnut trees to set up my own book award. And that, my fellow authors, is what I did.

But it had to be different. Much, much different to what was on offer at present. So I thought to myself, what do I want from a book award? Well, I want the organisers to see me, actually see me – and my book. I don’t just want to be a ‘$’ sign or a ‘£’ sign to them. Also, I want to get ‘value for money’ so, even if I don’t win, I want to get feedback from the judging. And, finally, I don’t want to pay lots of money to enter.

So, from this, I set up The Wishing Shelf Book Awards (www.thewsa.co.uk).

Over the last four years, it has grown. Wow! How it’s grown. In the first year we had 42 authors and publishers enter. This year it will be closer to 200! Now we have a very interactive Facebook page where the authors and publishers can discuss the award and how best to run it. Now we provide ALL the authors who enter a catchy quote to help them to market their books. Now we post reviews – based on the feedback – on Amazon and Goodreads. Now we actively support Blind Children UK, helping them to produce books for children with sight problems. Now we have over twenty schools and two adult reading groups (1 in London, 1 in Stockholm) helping us to judge the books. Now we send every author who enters feedback of between 400 – 1,500 words based on the readers’ comments. They look at the cover, the content, the editing and the style. We even provide the authors with statistics e.g. How many of the readers would read another book by this author etc, etc.

So now, my tiny award is a bit of a monster and is taking more and more of my time. Is it fun? Yes, most of the time. I only upset the odd author! In fact, most of the time it is very rewarding and our reputation on and off the web is ‘glowing’. Don’t get me wrong. We do mess up. This year, for example, it is taking too long to get all the feedback to the authors. So, next year, I’m employing help. The Wishing Shelf Awards will actually have a member of staff! An ex-primary school head teacher who will help me to correlate all the feedbacks. It’s all very exciting.

But do you know what the best bit is? The very, VERY best bit. Twice now, one of the US-based awards I hate has attempted to buy my small awards. And I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed telling them to go to…well, you know where. Now THAT was fun!

Edward Trayer

Edward Trayer, writing under the pen name Billy Bob Buttons is the author of Rubery Book Award finalist 'Felicity Brady and the Wizard's Bookshop' the much-loved 'The Gullfoss Legends' and People's Book Prize runner-up 'TOR Assassin Hunter' and 'TOR Wolf Rising'. His latest book, 'I Think I Murdered Miss, won the 2014 UK People's Book Prize. He is also the organiser of The Wishing Shelf Book Awards.

www.thewsa.co.uk
www.bbbuttons.co.uk

My thanks to Ed for agreeing to 'guest blog' here on Wilsons Way! But also for all of his efforts in bringing the WSA to us. Personally, long may you remain custodian of the WSA.

Nearly 5000 visitors in less than six months!

Wooo HOOO! Wilsons Way - the Blog site (here!) has nearly hit the five thousand mark, that's FIVE THOUSAND people that have visited here. Wow, I'm impressed. 

Hopefully this means that there are a number of people that have found reason to revisit Wilsons Way, and therefore something of interest or use. 

From the beginning the Wilsons Way blogspot was about open and honest visibility of my writing experience, the mistakes, the good bits and the lessons. It's brilliant that so many people seem to enjoy reading it.

INVICTUS Prt 1: Introducing Richard - A glimpse of things to come.

Introduction:

There are always two sides to any story.

If you were to look over the fence of 38 Bassildon Street on the outskirts of Gloucester you would witness an idyllic scene: children playing in and around the inflatable pool, the smell of the chicken and sausages smoking on the bar-b-que hung invitingly in the air, the parents sipping iced Pimms and chatting with their visitors. It was July 1991, a glorious summers day and, to the onlooker, the scene could not be more perfect.

Julia had the same view of her marriage to Richard, well almost. Apart from his work related overseas travel their lives were pretty good; very much in love, two wonderful daughters and financially stable. They were a perfectly ‘normal’ inconspicuous middle class family.

AND then there is the truth.

Richard has kept a secret for a very long time, as with all such secrets, once it is revealed those lives effected can never be the same again; there was no going back.

Discovering his secret propels Julia in to an unfamiliar world, one that she is ill prepared for. The more she discovers, the more her ‘normality’ disintegrates. The realisation that their marriage has been built on this one hidden truth causes Julia to question her own future, and who should be part of it. Her husband meanwhile, has his own battles to fight, not least of all his battle for actual survival, a battle for his life.

Secrets are dangerous, and seldom without consequence.

Given the opportunity to meet his nemesis for a second time, Richard longs for a chance to silence his demons. In his mind it is this one person that has been solely responsible for the dismantling of his double life. One way or another the haunting screams would have to stop.

The question is, who else is keeping secrets?

AJWilsonbooks.net 

AJWilsonbooks facebook page