tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72835046676011003542024-03-16T07:07:51.618+00:00WITCHWAYA WRITER'S JOURNEY TO PUBLICATION ... AND BEYONDRebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.comBlogger599125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-73539445626452493042023-04-04T20:16:00.000+00:002023-04-04T20:16:28.773+00:00Books 4, 5 and 6<p><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Well, a three book deal was signed so I'd better get on with it! Book 4 did, eventually, end up in a primitive first draft in ten weeks but only with about fifty extraneous characters and few descriptions, mostly because they would normally go in the next edits. It was painful sending a poorly finished draft off, especially as the editor (naturally) noticed all the flaws and nonsense that had crept in. I just hope it gets sorted out in the structural edit, although I have less time to turn that in as well. They wanted book 4 to come out on 18 July, which seems unnecessarily quick to me. I'm used to waiting a year for my favourite authors to throw out the next book! </span></p><p><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">So at the moment (4 April) book 3 (<i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreams-Cottage-Sea-emotional-page-turner-ebook/dp/B0BRQKDZCZ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1L0YPA175VUIH&keywords=rebecca+alexander&qid=1680639148&s=digital-text&sprefix=Rebecca+Alexander%2Cdigital-text%2C80&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Dreams of the Cottage by the Sea</a></i>) has just come out, Book 4 (<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0C15CK847?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_3&storeType=ebooks" target="_blank"><i>Coming Home to the Cottage by the Sea</i></a>) is up for preorders and book 5 is in outline stage ready to start writing it. It feels like there's an awful lot going on in my head! </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1F57OXTVnx0d9WxcvZ85obLPuw-RrCRYZ6xdA2Xd04QPaSIxEShLl5_IWCgqvhCGssMDbKbMOCjk1FDvh4KQQA3w9A-GwNe5h8jtzkE9Z0THSrxvweLLrpCnoFbtAX3UyLfzIIA2-wp0Qp7o-CloniqI-Wmo6Zp88qQeqofkcYy4_fAkE2iWkJprh" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="328" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1F57OXTVnx0d9WxcvZ85obLPuw-RrCRYZ6xdA2Xd04QPaSIxEShLl5_IWCgqvhCGssMDbKbMOCjk1FDvh4KQQA3w9A-GwNe5h8jtzkE9Z0THSrxvweLLrpCnoFbtAX3UyLfzIIA2-wp0Qp7o-CloniqI-Wmo6Zp88qQeqofkcYy4_fAkE2iWkJprh=w262-h400" width="262" /></a></div><p><br /></p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">They do look like a proper series, even if all the stories are independent.</span> </span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNG25y0oezlt9nJIykjiCo5HMGri_0Lyg9Loo2Nu3KjifhbtOtetNsDO1inRxvtpjbwFQOJzhV9pSTXXY7BqamxBpuAV3WGoPMpNvnWP3wMWDiENIIFuGJWX6Zs5JB3U5nNqckRaQxTv8qyRGpgwGPQMolh8KIWNmy6kDLW7cS1_l6tNib5Zq2u65J" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="362" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNG25y0oezlt9nJIykjiCo5HMGri_0Lyg9Loo2Nu3KjifhbtOtetNsDO1inRxvtpjbwFQOJzhV9pSTXXY7BqamxBpuAV3WGoPMpNvnWP3wMWDiENIIFuGJWX6Zs5JB3U5nNqckRaQxTv8qyRGpgwGPQMolh8KIWNmy6kDLW7cS1_l6tNib5Zq2u65J" width="290" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I'm enjoying the process and I'm starting to see some financial benefits, especially as books 2 and 3 have been commissioned in audiobook as well. But it's very hard to make a living from writing, as everyone who has ever tried knows, so I'm still working to keep the series going. I am getting fretful about my crime book which is so nearly finished, and hopefully I can get into the last few chapters at some point in May and send it off to an editor to spruce it up. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">Meanwhile, I have computer woes. i hate using the Mini Mac I bought last year, Word doesn't work the same and I'm an unsophisticated creature of habit. So I'm looking out for a new PC, which my son might build for me. The last one he did (only overwhelmed by all the new software that it had to take on) lasted for ages and loads of books. But it's too old for Windows 10 really, and can't cope with all the track changes in the new version of Word so needs a reboot. </span><br /></span><br /></p>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-34033878224319384012023-02-25T13:40:00.001+00:002023-02-25T13:40:26.366+00:00New book deal, just trying to keep up<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I was thrilled to be offered a new three book deal in January. I wasn't so thrilled to find out I had to write all three in 2023, hand in dates 31 March, 31 July and 30 November. Ouch. Especially since I didn't start the first book until 16 January so I only had ten weeks to write what will be book 4 for Bookouture. </span><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">At least I don't have any edits to do for the other books as <i>Dreams of the Cottage by the Sea</i> (and no, I don't make up the titles) comes out on 4th April and is all done. It's so lovely to come to it all polished and I even was able to enjoy a story I know inside out. Sometimes you're just sick of a book, to be honest!</span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Book 4, which doesn't have a name yet, is coming along nicely (up to 55k words) but I never know if they are any good until I've had a proper edit and hard prune, before I hand it in. I made the mistake of trying to write alternate chapters (two separate timelines) but I think the characters work better if you invest in the 100% and write two separate stories, linking them up through editing. Deep down I'm a novella writer, I just link two stories together.</span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Interestingly, book 1 has received all the publicity and has sold really well. It's also come out in audiobook and I was thrilled to find out yesterday that <i>Memories of the Cottage by the Sea</i> and <i>Dreams of the Cottage by the Sea</i> will both get the same treatment, and I get a lovely advance as well. Hooray! It's available on Audible too. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgUVARAvC6Lm8IsoSgfeeOX6twewqrPC90DZ7uHIyVcgzWloYYNBnbQ-IDYS7YW8kBxY9kurW68Lul8WppfeRcP6wdgz_x_tl3U_IsJMlhaorES4ozLb2Qzh1Do4f6HxyGogTa_szH9lrSgCh_C5zfwAYCA1jbJWsQnqceQRwF8skJ01V6Cm4UP6Ug/s1200/audiobook%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgUVARAvC6Lm8IsoSgfeeOX6twewqrPC90DZ7uHIyVcgzWloYYNBnbQ-IDYS7YW8kBxY9kurW68Lul8WppfeRcP6wdgz_x_tl3U_IsJMlhaorES4ozLb2Qzh1Do4f6HxyGogTa_szH9lrSgCh_C5zfwAYCA1jbJWsQnqceQRwF8skJ01V6Cm4UP6Ug/s320/audiobook%201.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">For those of you who have asked recently, Bookouture now has a SFF imprint and had taken on its first writers. I'm looking forward to seeing if there's a place for </span><i style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Finding Noah</i><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">, my unpublished contemporary</span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"> fantasy. Who knows what will happen after book 5 and 6 are done?</span></div><div><br /></div>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-81582422190775280562023-02-04T15:56:00.003+00:002023-02-04T15:58:17.599+00:00New book, new year<p><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Well, where has the time gone? I'm loving how book 2 is finding its own way in the world and book 1 has sold well. It seems like it's sold well to me, anyway! </span></p><p><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I'm working on a new one, while putting the final polish to <i><a href="https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Dreams-Cottage-Sea-emotional-page-turner-ebook/dp/B0BRQKDZCZ/ref=sr_1_3?crid=22ZBPDKAP1XSO&keywords=rebecca+alexander&qid=1675526022&sprefix=rebecca+Alexander%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-3">Dreams of the Cottage by the Sea</a></i>. I'm still not in love with the titles, to be honest, but i can't come up with good titles so bow to their greater knowledge. It's selling in pre-order very well, so I'm pleased that readers who liked book 1 have followed up. </span></p><p><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> Marketing is still a mystery to me. I thought they would launch book 2, M<i>emories of the Cottage by the Sea</i>, but instead they gave a boost to book 1. And it worked, they used Bookbub to bump book 1 into the 31 on Kindle in the UK and 32 in the US. I actually have no idea what Bookbub is but - yay! Great. </span></p><p><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Meanwhile, back at the desk... I am trying to get my head around a new computer. Worse, it's a Mini Mac (why, why?) that has MS Word on it. It's been a challenge just trying to find everything, but i think I'm there. My old one hasn't handled the many upgrades to new versions of Windows and Word very well, it no longer copes well with track changes and sometimes just stops working. I can't remember why I thought going for an Apple computer seemed like a good idea. I don't have an I-phone or I-pad or anything. But the new book is rolling off onto that and the old computer is finishing off book 3. </span></p><p><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I now feel like a proper commercial writer, writing stories (sort of) to order but being able to come up with stories, shape the characters and largely not stick to any sort of formula. I finally got paid - not very much, just one month's money - so I can donate all my pre-order money to the Children's Hospice SW. As the sudden breadwinner, I can see that over time, I'll have enough revenue to replace my husband's unexpectedly whisked away income. </span></p><p><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I still yearn to write crime books though. I'm going to have to pay(!) for a structural edit of the crime book I have almost finished. I like the idea of developing my main characters, they seem so real now after several years of working with them. Anyway, back to checking the final files of book 3 then - whoosh! off it goes. It's released on 4th April 2023, and it's £1.99 on Kindle. </span></p><p><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Dreams-Cottage-Sea-emotional-page-turner-ebook/dp/B0BRQKDZCZ/ref=sr_1_3?crid=22ZBPDKAP1XSO&keywords=rebecca+alexander&qid=1675526022&sprefix=rebecca+Alexander%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-3/img/a/AVvXsEjeWJj4Ht1rJPhPYzSxUZ7Mqg-GGohVa3ufG_sjwgKd8GnTnc5rjBRDFdskWXy_YFBv6v7CDAxMKg0krlAmeuRE2e_bBIbdDM9KA0yb__-EttTPHQKXn9U9MPCs6zXDG8uB1yporTHhRiCH6t-nndGqzSyZqnoQO_yxpdrGsemZlgIgwPXlDjzCuN6z" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="329" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjeWJj4Ht1rJPhPYzSxUZ7Mqg-GGohVa3ufG_sjwgKd8GnTnc5rjBRDFdskWXy_YFBv6v7CDAxMKg0krlAmeuRE2e_bBIbdDM9KA0yb__-EttTPHQKXn9U9MPCs6zXDG8uB1yporTHhRiCH6t-nndGqzSyZqnoQO_yxpdrGsemZlgIgwPXlDjzCuN6z=w264-h400" width="264" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;"><br /> </span><p></p>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-15232920816055065052022-12-13T21:17:00.001+00:002022-12-13T21:17:42.969+00:00Total change of gear!<p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">For once, I'm loving the freedom of writing for myself! Having done three women's fictions (and rather enjoyed them, although I don't read much in the genre) I'm writing a new crime series. I'm about three quarters there which means, if I finish by the end of the year, I will have finished four books in a year. Blimy.</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I've known other writers who can knock out a book - a good book - in eight to ten weeks but I didn't think I'd be one of them. I did write <i>Finding Noah</i> in ten weeks but then, I never sold it. Three of this years books have sold. I'm not sure about this one.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I'm going to show it to my present editor, partly because I genuinely want to know if she likes it and need feedback, but there is a line in my contract that says I have to offer them my next book first. I don't have to sell it to them, if they like it, but I'm curious to see what they would do with it. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I'm also curious if an agent would like to represent it. Part of me still needs that validation of peer review. January will be interesting! </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Crime, like women's fiction, has expectations attached. Five suspects and two red herrings is the normal formula, and I'm very suspicious about fomulaic books. I've just read Diana Setterfield's the Thirteenth Tale (again) and followed it up with the beautifully cast but slightly disappointing film. The luxury of being able to write like that, as twisty and turny as the story needs, complicated characters that don't make sense but are so powerfully written, you just go with it. I don't even think it's a perfect book, I just couldn't put it down. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get away with all the coincidences (how many motherless children? A toddler surviving in the wild?). I still enjoyed it enormously, and put it back on the shelf to enjoy another time. Seriously, it reminds me I'm just an amateur learning my craft.</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjm0qg1NYRhE56_HTR3UsjKS4PlLGwyQmjo6O1AJ9f8hS96TwAQmFu_y1ypyRtTdd8pl1n66lwQ11hTdn13HG0jJJDE1OajvDMn03YhCeXkGKGW95gKaG40JfoHMflBw5Xx4d4oyAdwNgTgCP9B0_GuUP1V-rVVtE6sPFZZbZSGlWvyKMtIg8cuSSq6" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="323" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjm0qg1NYRhE56_HTR3UsjKS4PlLGwyQmjo6O1AJ9f8hS96TwAQmFu_y1ypyRtTdd8pl1n66lwQ11hTdn13HG0jJJDE1OajvDMn03YhCeXkGKGW95gKaG40JfoHMflBw5Xx4d4oyAdwNgTgCP9B0_GuUP1V-rVVtE6sPFZZbZSGlWvyKMtIg8cuSSq6=w258-h400" width="258" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span><p></p>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-81412531152735235252022-12-02T23:13:00.004+00:002022-12-02T23:18:59.418+00:00First two months of new book<p><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Wow, interesting times! Instead of lamenting spending most of my advance many months ago, I'm getting advance warning of royalties to come. The downside is, I haven't seen a penny for the <i>one million</i> Kindle Unlimited pages that have been read. One million? OK, that translates into a very small payment of which I get - 45%, but still. Proper money at some point. The book has sold a few hundred paperbacks and about 4k ebooks, mostly at 99p. I don't put these numbers up casually to boast (well, maybe a bit) but because aspiring writers don't see enough transparency from other writers. Writing does not pay brilliantly but the advance system is a crap shoot. You either get offered too much, never pay it back and get dumped by your publisher, or you get offered too little but won't see royalties potentially for <i>years</i>. Because my previous publishers bundled my books together, I'll never pay out the advances even with good sales on the first books because the second and third sold less well. </span></p><p><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Publishers like Bookouture work differently. You write the book upfront. They work on the book, offering multiple</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> rounds of edits and marketing and design work upfront. You all get a percentage of the final sales, which vary depending on their sales strategies. At the moment they are using Kindle Unlimited, a system I don't entirely understand but which pushed my book up to no. 51 in Kindle sales for a heady week. Before that they had a 99p countdown which generated lots of e-book sales. Because we share the costs (because I'm writing fast the editor has to do a lot of work and she has to be paid) we also share the profits.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">It's not perfect for me, the main problem being I have only just received half of the royalties for the audio rights we sold back in the summer, and I haven't got a penny of royalties at all and won't until book 2 is already out. But if I was offered another deal, I could see how you would be able to predict your income to some extent and even (gulp) receive a regular income. Of whatever scale. If I hadn't become the sole breadwinner this year, it would have been easier...</span></p><p><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Talking of book 2, it's already made reasonable preorders and has a very pretty cover. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRkXVrABlo07Yvw7XAAWj3iZFR_7LGnTbwCAVDUWQdKRR6fhOoou77-7YBDNM5drbc-o6IGpx0t24JtJgL6-ofZEVLrZdvrPjYqopsT7nMCeAPB-eAtP8eanapUEvaX4UGZ4eLLE8Y53NBvAaL4M0lZ4VvEQWYdU38IoTd69O7MOHdkMvc7Q_3A_4S/s1080/Lifestyle-Graphic---Memories-of-the-Cottage-by-the-sea.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRkXVrABlo07Yvw7XAAWj3iZFR_7LGnTbwCAVDUWQdKRR6fhOoou77-7YBDNM5drbc-o6IGpx0t24JtJgL6-ofZEVLrZdvrPjYqopsT7nMCeAPB-eAtP8eanapUEvaX4UGZ4eLLE8Y53NBvAaL4M0lZ4VvEQWYdU38IoTd69O7MOHdkMvc7Q_3A_4S/s320/Lifestyle-Graphic---Memories-of-the-Cottage-by-the-sea.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /> </span><p></p><p><br /></p>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-73240562559759563542022-10-12T20:23:00.000+00:002022-10-12T20:23:11.404+00:00First two weeks of new book<p><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I had some doubts about trying Bookouture, mostly because I would work all year and not receive any money - hardly helpful when you are living on your savings and have unexpectedly become the breadwinner! But I can see it unfolding. Book 1 came out and flew off, especially on a 99p promotion, reaching #51 on the Kindle charts. Very pleasant surprise. So was Monday, when my editor sent me the list of how many books I had sold in paperback, Kindle and Kindle Unlimited, where I get paid for the page views. There will be some money, and I'll get it at the end of March, just over a year after I signed. It's not megabucks, and given the circumstances I would have preferred an advance. But nowadays, debut authors (which I am in this genre) would hope to get paid £3-8k for their first book, and I'm sure I'll be in that range. Not least because they sold the audio rights for book 1, too. </span></p><p><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">So, why wouldn't I just self publish? Easy (for me) as I really need the wonderful, and free services of their editors. I'm building a working relationship with mine, Jess, and getting a feel for what she thinks will sell - and make me money as well as them.</span></p><p><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I do have one complication though. I'm halfway through a new book. It's psychological crime, and I'm loving it. But I don't know if it would fit with the Bookouture model or if they would even like it. I would need an agent again to sell it outside, and advances are not what they used to be. I would get less editing but potentially more money up front. I'm wrestling with this one! Getting an agent actually seems one degree harder than selling a book anyway. I shall ponder while I rewrite the book with my new knowledge of my publisher's style of working... </span></p><p><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Meanwhile, I'm reading The Other Bennett Sister by Janice Hadlow, which I have read before. Still love it. It's about the plain and awkward sister of Lizzie and Mary Bennett.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGs-nNkXUWBjPLk5Wur-ObK8JbypEexifRg3WE2r7Y-R1BEaxU9AJoW_7McbsoqLYSJdr5uTSD6JnPmu4xebFjar0xoONlNHYR3v5Vp3QzAUt48zB-Yvjdg0nT_4ITCAorur113rEKQUoqaK4r48yeycEiqrU-THmK0h4k2kPg0XXHnU93_z0GEOLZ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="330" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGs-nNkXUWBjPLk5Wur-ObK8JbypEexifRg3WE2r7Y-R1BEaxU9AJoW_7McbsoqLYSJdr5uTSD6JnPmu4xebFjar0xoONlNHYR3v5Vp3QzAUt48zB-Yvjdg0nT_4ITCAorur113rEKQUoqaK4r48yeycEiqrU-THmK0h4k2kPg0XXHnU93_z0GEOLZ=w263-h400" width="263" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-26768456816865842892022-09-27T18:50:00.003+00:002022-09-27T18:50:26.514+00:00All Change at Bookouture!<p><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Well, you get all your ducks in a row... and then everything changes a week before publication. My new publisher has a very active marketing strategy. If sales appear low, they test the titles and covers and make changes. So my new title - and cover - are below.</span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECbDrumCp6Dl1hxhUbLYlYD_Ii39WN_kctBbzcYEe3gn7c7sLfYDL-nCZM7uB-0fTTPzFDDchcjAFZ1clAxnsWhdYeQMi3zzuuYgm78a-U_DRDA-zLlOgIsiX8ynUZKOlWeqzxn4HQ0KCG32Uy5q7omxYqE99AyjVHoJ8PAo009WET5smVesw7CJc/s2338/Secrets%20of%20the%20Cottage%20by%20the%20Sea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2338" data-original-width="1538" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECbDrumCp6Dl1hxhUbLYlYD_Ii39WN_kctBbzcYEe3gn7c7sLfYDL-nCZM7uB-0fTTPzFDDchcjAFZ1clAxnsWhdYeQMi3zzuuYgm78a-U_DRDA-zLlOgIsiX8ynUZKOlWeqzxn4HQ0KCG32Uy5q7omxYqE99AyjVHoJ8PAo009WET5smVesw7CJc/w264-h400/Secrets%20of%20the%20Cottage%20by%20the%20Sea.jpg" width="264" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I am a bit befuddled, but I am assured that whatever title a reader selects, they will get the new cover and name, so that's OK - and exactly the same book. But I have garnered a few good reviews, prominently displayed on Amazon, so that's encouraging!</span></p><p><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The whole relationship with Bookouture is different from a normal publisher. They specialise in publicity and marketing, and everyone, debut or previous bestseller starts out with the same approach. They package the book, promote it and pay good royalties. On the downside there is no advance, but they are increasing their profits (and mine) by marketing strongly. There's less reason for them to give up on a book and write off the advance, as sometimes happens in traditional publishing. I've always felt that trad. publishers produce a big launch, like firing the book into the air, hopng it will burst into magnificent fireworks. Of course, very often, the book ends up in the trees. They have already moved on. Bookouture seems to take a longer view, seeing book 1 as a platform from which to promote book 2 and creating an author 'brand'. </span></p><p><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">They aren't publishing hundreds of celebrity cookbooks, bios or novels. They are focused on fiction, and the selling of books. Wish me luck, it gets fired into the air on Friday 30 September, but I have confidence that they will go and find it if it gets stuck in a branch somewhere. I am doing a book launch at the Market Street Kitchen, Appledore, 6.30. Thursday, as a fundraiser for the Children's Hospice. Free tea and cake!</span></p>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-64193980291633915752022-09-17T13:38:00.004+00:002022-09-17T13:43:37.943+00:00Nine Months on - Three books later<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #741b47;">Well,
what a massive change. Having almost given up writing and instead, playing
around with self publishing or just going over to art, this year has been about
a three book deal. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #741b47;">Three
book deal, to be delivered in ONE YEAR! </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #741b47;">I
pretty well thought it was impossible (although the publisher assured me it
wasn't) but decided to give it a try. What was there to lose.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #741b47;">My sanity, for one</span></i><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #741b47;">. I had no idea how much hard
work it was going to be to accelerate my leisurely writing pace (and I'm not a
slow writer) by about five times. I signed the deal in March. I was to have
structural edits, line edits, copy edits, proofreads and final polishes of book
1 done to publish on 30 September. Then (presumably in my spare time) was to
write book 2, hand it in June 30th, repeat the above edits and start book 3
(presumably in the wee small hours of the night). I couldn't really see
how it was to be done but got on with it, and apart from the emotional trauma
of having to write three synopses, which I cannot do, it went quite smoothly. I
have just finished book 3 in first draft!</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #741b47;">That
means I have done about a thousand words a day for 207 days, excluding rewrites
and edits (which were huge for book 1). Every single day, birthday, Covid, sad
days, happy days, babysitting granddaughter days. I wasn't sure I could keep up
the pace but actually, the books are better for it, just very untidy in first
draft. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #741b47;">Secondly, I was working for free</span></i><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #741b47;">. 'How
silly is that?' you might suggest. I sold the books to <a href="https://www.bookouture.com/" target="_blank">Bookouture</a>,
a largely e-book imprint of Hachette. They sell e-books and paperbacks but
primarily online. They pay out after publication and with healthy royalties,
but for the first year you're writing for free and hoping they sell. The large
and welcoming stable of Bookouture authors was very reasuuring, many have come
from mainstream publishers too. I was pleasantly surprised when they told me
they had already sold book 1 for audio and they basically act as my agent, so I
should get 80% of the audio advance. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #741b47;">Thirdly, I was going to get fantastic editorial support</span></i><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #741b47;">. This
is not always the case. I might be writing tatty first drafts, but an expert
editor is doing far more work than I've ever experienced before, making broad
suggestions, adding smaller ideas and even suggesting word changes. Then two
more people faff about with language and punctuation (and they're also very
good). </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;">I
don't like the titles (<i><a href="https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Island-Lost-Secrets-absolutely-page-turner-ebook/dp/B0B527SN3Q/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3C25P2RUELF08&keywords=the+island+of+lost+secrets&qid=1663422040&sprefix=the+island+of+lost+secrets%2Caps%2C69&sr=8-1" target="_blank">The Island of Lost Secrets</a></i> and <i>The
Island of Lost Memories</i>, at the moment) and I wasn't consulted. But the
covers are lovely, if unfamiliar in style because the commercial women's
fiction genre is a bit new to me. To celebrate, I'm donating all my royalties
for Kindle pre-orders to our local children's hospice in memory of my eight
year old daughter, Léonie. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Island-Lost-Secrets-absolutely-page-turner-ebook/dp/B0B527SN3Q/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3C25P2RUELF08&keywords=the+island+of+lost+secrets&qid=1663422040&sprefix=the+island+of+lost+secrets%2Caps%2C69&sr=8-1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2338" data-original-width="1538" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRZ3lq35UvX29_R9XzJoqlyH4JYvD8XT1gUNx6m_Mh8VXsVFY6kxgYnY4jjsOn3U4j_TBN4Zg9QYYOrwnw4Gy7bZGiQ7y0mBLmnS6u4o4kRKBmUbfziKLtfrcarEPQu0690vAHA0L4HETyvJpnbpkXWd43XrBecJ9X2VVRrv28o-EZXb9HMNGdVa9q/w264-h400/cover.jpg" width="264" /></span></a></div><br /><p></p>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-52893810879217989002021-12-17T09:31:00.005+00:002021-12-17T11:59:44.330+00:00Back to Writing after a Year of Art<p><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">After a couple of years of exhaustion and disenchantment with the whole publishing journey, I decided to relax and find the creativity and joy again. Of course I did - basically anything creative I do circles back to story and writing and novels. My lockdown novel, <i>Northern Penguins</i> has been on a journey. It started out as a heap of barely related scenes written compulsively and sorted itself into a book by May this year. I sent it off to a few agents and one gave me some invaluable advice - write the backstory as a historical strand about a baby in a carpet bag. I wrote and wrote all through the summer and completed and edited the book by September. I mocked up this cover so I could print off a few draft copies for the Appledore Book Festival. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiCTiHIlePUJPaQAFoWBrVG_HLvtunpOg8Zw3n4if3SL_2FkqFw-mi-G45cKJweOGT4m8UER0Z2M4E9Rl_wpR4btdzKQnagh2RW_gTdq1wM-OeUccW6jGoO8FQzRnkI8ckuRczxXRsO7AoKJGnDGISSwrZEkYu1jYA8yJtKlzGtJQ8FIrt7Z6bmtf2s=s2501" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2501" data-original-width="1771" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiCTiHIlePUJPaQAFoWBrVG_HLvtunpOg8Zw3n4if3SL_2FkqFw-mi-G45cKJweOGT4m8UER0Z2M4E9Rl_wpR4btdzKQnagh2RW_gTdq1wM-OeUccW6jGoO8FQzRnkI8ckuRczxXRsO7AoKJGnDGISSwrZEkYu1jYA8yJtKlzGtJQ8FIrt7Z6bmtf2s=s320" width="227" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Feedback from readers was encouraging so I sent it out to Bookouture, which had been recommended by my last agent. They liked it and now it's travelling on its journey. I'm waiting to see if the book (and a couple of sequels) are needed. It's women's fiction (I think, I'm never really sure where to put a book in a genre) but has a male protagonist trying to rediscover his mother's history through doing up the house she grew up in. The historical strand tells the story of her mother Patience, and how she tried to have her cake and eat it, bringing home an 'orphan' baby and adopting it, keeping her job as a teacher. The whole book is set on an island (a lot like the Scillies) because my village felt like an island during lockdown! It feels like going back to writing is fun again, and I know better than to put my head in a creative head collar again. Ideas for books 2 and 3 are piling up in my journal, and I have basic outlines. If Bookouture don't want the books, I'm going to have a go at sending to big publishers, then some smaller ones. Ready to go!</span></p>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-62266227306961670802021-03-08T11:47:00.002+00:002021-03-08T11:48:25.787+00:00Writing and Painting<p><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;">So, I'm still writing but I'm now spending time on art! It feels very self-indulgent, and given my depressed state of mind, very therapeutic. What do I like? <i>Why</i>? I'm one of those people that could make a good guess at what all the family would choose in a restaurant but then have no idea when it comes to me. It turns out I love words in paintings and loads of turquoise. </span></p><p><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;">I started out with some new brushes, a box of elderly acrylic paints and paper and about a thousand YouTube videos watched over Christmas. With many thanks to all the generous artists who create tutorials online, like <a href="https://www.louisefletcherart.com/" target="_blank">Louise Fletcher</a>, <a href="https://www.nicholaswilton.com/" target="_blank">Nicholas Wilton</a>, <a href="https://alicesheridan.com/" target="_blank">Alice Sheridan</a>, <a href="https://www.lewisnoble.co.uk/" target="_blank">Lewis Noble</a> and <a href="https://paulinejansart.com/" target="_blank">Pauline Jans</a>. I signed up for a free workshop by Art2Life and was hooked. I'm now doing a 12 week course with Art2Life and it's a massive challenge, but hugely enjoyable. When it's all too stressful I remind myself that a) I teach creative writing and everyone who comes to the workshops has the same fears and b) I wander off and do some writing. My paintings are shit, but I think of them as early drafts since I work over them anyway. </span></p><p><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;">Northern Penguins is almost finished, slowed down by a general depression and lockdown but now coming to a lovely finale. I've really enjoyed being the with characters, many of whom (with their consent) are based on my actual friends. No wonder I like them. I'm going to have to find a new agent though - it's nothing like the genres I've written before. No murders, no supernatural, just a man discovering his own past in renovating a house in a friendly and small community. There's a proper love story and everything. But I'm able to write at my own pace before worrying about what someone else thinks.</span></p><p><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;">Now I'm balancing writing with painting and my imagination is getting a proper run out. I hope my mental health will improve in the better weather, longer days and time taken for myself. This was my first week's homework, a collage of things that inspires me (it's not supposed to be art, just to remind me). It was terrifying to do and I kept adding to it. Roll on week 2's tutorials and homework, I loved week 1! PS I intend to blog a lot more!</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqCoGGUQH1uIxr3ld4l6wE3AgExZaXHyAzVWq79sP63YJMqPWfvyOeak2WtigXrJ9oaEKd7KZBiBHS29GB8Sx7sdyKN6po-q23sRqmzevxqDtc5738AiDbI31yxfFDl4XByELQEa5Og3s/s2048/inspiration+board+%25283%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1423" data-original-width="2048" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqCoGGUQH1uIxr3ld4l6wE3AgExZaXHyAzVWq79sP63YJMqPWfvyOeak2WtigXrJ9oaEKd7KZBiBHS29GB8Sx7sdyKN6po-q23sRqmzevxqDtc5738AiDbI31yxfFDl4XByELQEa5Og3s/w400-h278/inspiration+board+%25283%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-58483153155235818182020-12-16T01:20:00.001+00:002020-12-16T01:20:19.867+00:00Evaluating the value of a blog<p><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;">Years and years ago, when I started this blog (<a href="http://witchwayblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2009/07/beginning-a215.html" target="_blank">July 2009</a>!) I had a clear intention. I was going to systematically work on my writing until I got up to a publishable standard - or at least, as far as I could take it. With the Open University's excellent courses and an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Winchester, I found an outlet for my imagination. I've loved it, I've honed my craft and am still enjoying writing and still learning. I've done well in competitions, got an agent, got books published. I wouldn't change that, it's been a great journey. I made all <br />these!</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt5yefc0qwjsMaZceKhvuteQEeP0tmz5dwvTjcitCUt9s8G_Gg124t73xAedy9VMSiqBLkyxwR0LTUo02LzX_5QEjOdjVHDoLXf5TeU3DgGeyR3_zNHleqV0gjfTI6qXvRNGIfDK9V8VE/s706/all+books+sept+2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="706" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt5yefc0qwjsMaZceKhvuteQEeP0tmz5dwvTjcitCUt9s8G_Gg124t73xAedy9VMSiqBLkyxwR0LTUo02LzX_5QEjOdjVHDoLXf5TeU3DgGeyR3_zNHleqV0gjfTI6qXvRNGIfDK9V8VE/w549-h117/all+books+sept+2015.jpg" width="549" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3P5QHM0yfYBF_CLGc0_joBWB9mOIDb3I932RcD0B5MDy8pgyMu7Y-acOSR7kLGNDD9MlbL65nc4PHUDp0Wp2qmWxzUjeeT5DkrEx-fPydKx1fHR5H2NctXDezLSU1XDyWZKQCfzdpLDs/s750/A+Babys+Bones+cover.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="493" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3P5QHM0yfYBF_CLGc0_joBWB9mOIDb3I932RcD0B5MDy8pgyMu7Y-acOSR7kLGNDD9MlbL65nc4PHUDp0Wp2qmWxzUjeeT5DkrEx-fPydKx1fHR5H2NctXDezLSU1XDyWZKQCfzdpLDs/w116-h177/A+Babys+Bones+cover.PNG" width="116" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz9IQr_p0eLyGIRhy5fZLCcCHdz3zkTQTXweKZ3EHU7moixhFg-XWiz4F8sLyJHiE_aNVkZYWBvZaOox01MG5VRIcedW8-79_uWN_Os3D-dk2oGnQuTlXuKeJY59ZlxXT67xzKhfISZ7Q/s2048/Shroud+of+Leaves_cv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1312" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz9IQr_p0eLyGIRhy5fZLCcCHdz3zkTQTXweKZ3EHU7moixhFg-XWiz4F8sLyJHiE_aNVkZYWBvZaOox01MG5VRIcedW8-79_uWN_Os3D-dk2oGnQuTlXuKeJY59ZlxXT67xzKhfISZ7Q/w116-h182/Shroud+of+Leaves_cv.jpg" width="116" /></a></div></div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>And it was fun, and hard work, and frustrating at times. Because publishing is slow and I work fast. Most of my books are done, in first draft, in about 8-10 weeks. Which means I now have a backlog of books that haven't found a home, mostly because they are sat on my hard drive in second draft. I miss the guidance that a good agent can give you, a few pointers in the right direction that can make or break a book. So, January/February will come with more approache</span><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;">s to agents, with the new book: <i>Northern Penguins</i>. I never thought I would write anything like it, it's about a new person in a settled community with all its traditions and tensions and secrets. As I can't come up with thirty distinct characters, I have broadly based some of them on people in the village (with their consent, of course). This is going to be interesting. I might be thrown out of the village next year, if they a) don't like the book or b) don't like the character they think is based on them.</span><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;">In the meantime, I have taken up art again, which is hilarious. There is something very challenging about not knowing enough, being bad at something, making mistakes. I always learn as much as I can <i>before </i>I go on a course. I'm one of those people who hates the idea of being the idiot in the room. So I think this will be very good for me.</span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;">So why continue to blog (especially as i haven't been very reliable at it)? I think a creative journey, with all that learning is always valuable to record, so I will continue to witter into the universe alone about all my artistic and creative endeavours, no matter how badly they turn out. </span></div>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-28453252183556669192020-03-10T14:56:00.005+00:002021-03-08T11:48:53.083+00:00Depression and writing<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">It's hard to say you have depression when you're very peripherally related to an industry like publishing. I have always felt that you, as a writer, have to be ready to say, brightly and enthusiastically, 'Of course I can do that line edit in six days! Complete rewrite, sure, two weeks? No problem.'</span><br />
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">To an outsider, it might seem that the writer is CENTRAL to the publishing process, but that's not how it feels. So much work goes into turning an idea (a well written 100k book is still essentially just an idea) into a product. Experts are considering how your book will read, how it will affect the reader throughout the read, what comparisons can be made and how to position your book in a busy market. Sending the book to an agent is step one - they have to sell it to editors. They know what they want, what they have bought or read before (I've had a book turned down because it was too similar to something that was coming out). All this is invisible to most writers. </span><br />
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Well, I do suffer from depression and unfortunately, I haven't had much benefit from modern antidepressants. So, it's a long slog back to the light each time. It doesn't stop me being imaginative or creative, it makes concentration harder, the words flow slowly and worst of all, it undercuts my confidence. I look at today's words and all the old fears come flooding back. Is it all a pile of steaming crap? </span><br />
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Well, obviously it IS, it's first draft, from which I will grow better drafts, whole chapters and books and series. But it's hard to see that while you're just wishing you could sleep (without nightmares), walk into the village (without panic attacks) and look forward to a brighter day. Good days and hours are coming, but the bad days are hard. I just fantasise about those lovely safe asylums, where you can sit in the corner in your pyjamas and rock... In the real world, I'm gathering the happy days to me to keep warm. The weekend with both grandchildren and the birthday my husband was told he would never see, the research for future books coming together, the art course and camping trips ahead, all happy moments. But writing has definitely lost its ability to heal me. </span><br />
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">If I have to pretend I'm not depressed, I don't care if I don't sell another book to a big commercial publisher. I think I would need to be in a better place than I am now, certainly, to cope with the pressure. I feel like I'm transitioning to seeing writing books in a completely different way...</span><br />
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Meanwhile, I've been reading a book a day. <i>The Binding</i> by Bridget Collins was great, <i>unashamedly fantasy</i> but completely accessible to people who won't read fantasy. A historical story with lovers torn apart, trying to find each other. Heartwarming story, real tension, great writing. I thought it was a bit like <i>The Night Circus</i> and maybe a bit better ending.</span></span><br />
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<img alt="The Binding Bridget Collins" src="https://digitalcontent.api.tesco.com/v2/media/ghs/4a714c87-0b5d-4ebb-afb5-a211a2a638c2/snapshotimagehandler_1127485103.jpeg?h=540&w=540" />Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-82195034655604907582019-12-06T16:05:00.001+00:002020-12-16T01:21:46.486+00:00At the mercy of unknown agents<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #274e13;">I know I was lucky. I got placed in a big writing competition and found an agent all without having to query one. But six years on, I need a new agent and a chance to get the other books I have written in the last five years that haven't been published, out there. So I did what was recommended and sent out to a whole batch of very professional agents - and one asked for the whole MS. Three more said thanks, but no thanks. One asked for anything else I had for consideration. I knew <i>The Asylum Sisters</i> would be a challenge, but I wanted to give it one more chance. I'll go out with <i>Finding Noah</i> next month. I've still got other books so I can keep going BUT... As my books have changed, have I moved from saleable to more niche and less commercial? Who knows? That's why a writer needs an agent. The hardest thing is the rejection. They look at what you wrote and - no thanks. It's hard on the confidence. Meanwhile, I have FOUR books to sell and more stories to finish. </span><br />
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #274e13;">Anyway, the new book rolls on. It's so hard to get into the head of someone who doesn't think like non-psychopaths. My character enjoys the challenge of taking on the establishment, he doesn't actually like hurting people. He doesn't care that much though... I'm rationing the time I spend with him and concentrating on my grandchildren (plural - how lovely is that?). One is a month old, one is just three years old today. Fantastic. </span><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #274e13;">We're doing our pre-Christmas get together, just the kids and their people, to celebrate Lily's birthday, get a bit of Solstice cheer going on. Another excuse not to write this weekend.</span><br />
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</span><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We're also loving being settled in our new house. I haven't felt at home since we left Pinehurst with its hot and cold running badgers and precipitous drive. I don't miss being so isolated, though, Appledore is a wonderfully welcoming community. And when my neighbour's security light went off in the middle of the night, waking me, it turned out to be a fat, grey badger. </span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuEQe4au-McdQ6NtnQilm61eFdndaavSAjZ4zlileUDuL1BObhW9Eq2R9koeKX9GUMN1f8J6Y3Mz5_wuoBRdw8vIZLK-0_kC0D2GM8N3_qJJ5LqM7MBxZMiBxwZNB2zc34mb7vy1sfo-o/s1600/house+small.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1475" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuEQe4au-McdQ6NtnQilm61eFdndaavSAjZ4zlileUDuL1BObhW9Eq2R9koeKX9GUMN1f8J6Y3Mz5_wuoBRdw8vIZLK-0_kC0D2GM8N3_qJJ5LqM7MBxZMiBxwZNB2zc34mb7vy1sfo-o/s320/house+small.JPG" width="295" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old house</td></tr>
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</span>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-26860055764305648882019-11-12T16:48:00.001+00:002020-12-16T01:22:17.988+00:00A Fresh Start<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: purple;">Things change, things move on. My publishing career seemed to be wandering off on a direction of its own, so I committed the possibly insane act of parting ways with my agent. <i>A Shroud of Leaves</i> came out in July and I'm well into my new book as well as sitting on several projects that have been waiting for their turn in the sun. I realised I need to get my focus back. One of the problems with having an agent is they don't have much time and they have lots of different authors and books to represent. A remark made in an email might get me rewriting the whole book - just to find for them it was just a passing idea. They are the experts but - here's the heresy - they don't know if anyone will buy the book either. But they know a lot more than I do, so I've been guided by them for years and they have been wonderfully supportive and helpful. But I need someone who has the time and energy to nudge me in the right direction.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: purple;">It's my own fault in a way. They are trying to make books commercially successful and my priority has been to write a better book (rather than a saleable one) in the first place. Of course it would be lovely if it found loads of happy readers and maybe some money for me and my agents too. But my priority is to write the books. There is a pressure from publishers to create another book just like the last one, only more saleable and more dramatic.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: purple;">I think I write too fast. <i>A Baby's Bones</i> and <i>A Shroud of Leaves</i> came out 15 months apart, during which time I wrote a whole different book and started another one. I also have two earlier books just sitting there, not able to do anything with them while we wait for the publishing process to run its course. It's driving me nuts, I'm a creative, I need to be working.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: purple;">So I'm writing query letters and submissions for agents. But I need to chat to them face to face to see if they are up for the challenge. I'm very biddable, I will happily work on a book and edit it to fit a publisher's vision, I'm just rubbish at sitting on my hands. </span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So, the Writers and Artists yearbook is out and the website for the Association of Authors' Agents is very helpful: </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.agentsassoc.co.uk/members-directory/">http://www.agentsassoc.co.uk/members-directory/</a><span style="background-color: white;">. Back to rejections and being ignored (why do we do this to ourselves?). And writing synopses and emails and counting 10, 30 and 50 pages and making them compelling and not end in a stupid place. Putting some in envelopes with stamped addressed envelopes and some in emails with or without attachments etc... Sigh. But the new book is over 40k words and flying down, wants to be written. New house is lovely and we have a new grandson, Wren.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></span>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-30603293686574811592019-06-19T15:50:00.002+00:002019-06-19T15:50:25.480+00:00It's been a busy year<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've been terrible at blogging, mostly because I've been so busy. <i>A Shroud of Leaves</i> has been edited (several times) and many, many thanks to Cath Trechman at Titan for never saying 'do the whole thing again!'. Definitely a lot of work but I'm thrilled with the way it's turned out. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It comes out on the 9th July 2019, which amazingly is just around the corner, and you can <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shroud-Leaves-Sage-Westfield/dp/1785656244/ref=sr_1_1?crid=EPH75CGLT21X&keywords=rebecca+alexander&qid=1560958535&s=gateway&sprefix=rebecca+alexander%2Caps%2C138&sr=8-1" target="_blank">pre-order it here if you're so inclined</a>. Where did spring go? </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oh, yes, in a frenzy of packing and moving. We have sold the house in Northam and are now in the middle of selling the cottage in Appledore to buy (don't want to jinx it so I'll say it quietly) <span style="font-size: xx-small;">a lovely Georgian double fronted house up the road</span>. With a proper study and spare room to park the youngest child when she's not having adventures at university and a 60ft walled garden which is literally my fantasy garden. It even has my most wishes for feature of enough room in the kitchen for a table and chairs.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our two year old granddaughter will have something to say about the garden, no doubt, although the play house isn't safe to use. It may need to be replaced, Grandy... or Mangee as she calls him.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As a writer, things have changed quite subtly. After the sadness of Christmas with the loss of my father-in-law, I parted company with my lovely, kind agent. I think I felt too stretched and stressed to even care about writing at the time. Of course, when you take the pressure off the creativity flows back, I haven't stopped writing, but have had time to think what do I actually want to write? I love crime, I read loads of crime, but I'm not sure I want to stick to the formula of traditional crime books with red herrings and suspects. I'm more interested in solving the psychological mysteries around people's lives. I also write the historical stories in a quarter of the time so I think I might stretch into purely historical at some point. Meanwhile I have a stack of books ready to edit to hopefully find a publisher. <i>Finding Noah</i> is nearly complete, <i>Sage 3 </i>needs a better ending but is nearly there and <i>The Asylum Sisters</i> is finished and looking for a home. Meanwhile we're living in a cottage 8 feet wide with one bookcase. Hopefully, not for long! </span>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-79801948273068750952019-01-24T15:39:00.001+00:002019-01-24T15:39:23.746+00:00Fresh start, new book<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's been a difficult couple of months. My father-in-law died in December and we organised his funeral. It was a privilege to arrange another creative's funeral, his coffin was decorated with some of his favourite cartoon characters. He drew some of them for a dozen years for children's comics in this country. I left a pile of pens on top of the coffin, people wrote messages of love and farewell, coloured in the drawings, even drew their own. A strange but lovely moment of remembrance and celebration. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, I've been working on <i>A Shroud of Leaves</i>, trying to get the new edit to the same standard as <i>A Baby's Bones </i>and keep it in the same style. Not easy, I think writing evolves and moves on, it makes writing a series more complicated. It's getting there, but it;s been much harder work than I expected. My editor has had to work very hard too! I hope the next book I have to edit won't be so much work (for either me or an editor). </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It feels like a proper book now. I like the cover, it's got a similar creepiness to the other one without giving too much away. I imagined a brick house in the book though so I've changed it to stone in the text!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After running a novel in a year course, I'm now working on an course looking at editing (very timely), at Barnstaple library. It should be fun, and great to be working on a few books that were written in that year. </span>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-9508722338642539762018-11-29T10:19:00.000+00:002019-01-24T15:28:21.495+00:00A regular blogger - no, wait<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I used to be a regular blogger. I always had something to say about writing, the books I was reading and writing, the struggle I was going through to write better stores and better prose. But this year especially, one big real life story has got in the way. I'm watching my father in law die very slowly. He's a creative himself, he used to draw for children's comics as well as draw cartoons for publications like newspapers and magazines like the Radio Times. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is the cover of the book he wrote (with my help) about his life in cartooning. He drew it off the cuff at the age of 80 something. He drew for Whizzer and Chips (my favourite), Dandy, Beano, Pow! and Buster amongst many others for forty years.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">His life is drawing to a close so slowly you can see all the different phases. He started with losing his appetite for food and especially drink, and has progressed though to now, when he just sleep, wakes for a few minutes, drops off again. He's not in pain, thanks to the doctor, but he's not comfortable either. He's not accepting of death, but he wants this stage over. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What keeps running through my mind is how much nicer it would have been to have these last six weeks ten years ago, when he came to stay at our house with his wife, and we had so much fun. Or five years before that when he bought a box of toy guns that fired foam disks and had running battles with all the kids around his bungalow,or when he played badminton with them in the garden. It has made me quite anxious about our own deaths, and has raised issues around the level of care that most cancer patients are offered compared to non-cancer patients. I'm not in favour of euthanasia as such although I understand the case for assisted suicide and think it might help some families. I am in favour of palliative care being much more used in the community. Having an 'end of life' care pack in a residential home is useless if the staff can't touch the contents without calling the doctor. If we were looking after him at home we would have access to powerful pain relief, the district nurses and syringe drivers. But it's all down to funding and allocating scarce resources, it makes me so sad that one old man was left in pain over the weekend.because care staff didn't know what to do, we didn't know who to turn to.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So I am writing and thinking about books and getting published but this is what's happening in our lives. A small, expected but painful emotional bomb is about to go off and it's been hissing and fizzing for six weeks.</span></div>
Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-21236351060547503412018-10-24T10:29:00.001+00:002018-10-25T09:38:35.409+00:00It seems like a very long year.<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It has been a very busy year. <i>A Baby's Bones </i>came out to a good reception, which was great. I wrote <i>Finding Noah</i>, which I am editing right now, and completely rewrote <i>A Shroud of Leaves</i> (the sequel to <i>A Baby's Bones</i>). Which all sound very productive except the whole year has been taken up with other things, with writing side-lined to odd moments and days when I could sneak off to the computer. There have been a lot of promotion events from library talks to festival events, all of them different and interesting. I've taught workshops, read manuscripts for people and worked on next year's book idea. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But it's felt like it was all too much, too complicated and difficult because real life was so emotional and complex. My father-in-law from my first marriage reached his mid eighties, had a heart attack and died, bang, there in the bathroom. His son, my husband, suffered a haemorrhage caused by unsuspected leukaemia, and died. Light out, gone, and much missed at the age of 33. My second husband's parents haven't been so lucky. They are wrestling with dementia, struggling to remember who they are and understand what's happening around them. My father-in-law has been devastated by Parkinson's, the disease which he shrugged off for many years but has suddenly combined with three strokes to limit his mobility, even his speaking and drinking. This year they had to give up their home and their independence. They are living through the moment of dying in slow motion, and it's cruel to see. It's a sadness at the back of every moment of our days. I visited my mother in law yesterday and she genuinely didn't know who I was or even if she knew me, that was hard. It took her a few minutes to download the file that is me, now relegated to 'that lovely girl's mother'. She clings to fragments of memory of the grandchildren and the baby, she remembers men better than women. But a woman who can't physically care for herself is fighting to remember who she is now even the distant memories are out of reach. Her main concern is 'Can I stay here?' and 'Where's my husband?'. He's on another floor, fighting off a chest infection. It feels like just writing their year down would be the most awful drama. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Other transitions had to be weathered too - our youngest child went off to university. That left us looking at each other with nothing to talk about except selling the in-laws' bungalow, getting the care home right, transitioning their medical and social care to a new town. At first we couldn't even get their tablets transferred, let alone the funding they were entitled to. The house is empty and quiet or filled with talk of illness and work, and my husband has taken every opportunity to get out of it to play music. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So, I haven't blogged because it would all seem so sad. Now, it's out there, I've vented, and can get back to writing about writing. Because there's a lot to say, it's a steep learning curve even now, with five books written and more to work on. Each editor teaches me a new focus to work on, highlights a new skill. I feel like my editing has come on more than my writing, which comes easier with each book. The gap between my first draft and anything publishable, however, gapes ever wider... My next blog will be more hopeful.</span>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-52212016776030043042018-08-10T19:54:00.001+00:002018-08-10T19:54:32.941+00:00Hacking the book apart and putting it back together<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's been a really interesting week. I've been waiting for feedback from my new editor on the sequel to A Baby's Bones. I was very nervous. It's the first time I've tried to write from a detailed plan and it was incredibly uphill for me. The book felt muddled and overly complicated but I just didn't know where to start with structural edits. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fortunately, she did. She was kind but honest - using lots of words like 'it's difficult to see' and 'I wonder if' she basically reworked the whole thing, turned it gently upside down until all the complications and distractions fell out and <i>voila</i>! What looks like a proper crime story just needing to be substantially rewritten. Which is easily done, because most of the strands don't rely one each other (red flag right there) and pulling one out doesn't unravel the whole. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She also liked the historical strand from the get go and it doesn't need as much work so, just 60k words to sort out. I knew it wasn't right, it seemed overlong for an early draft. I have pages of helpful notes to work through.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It occurs to me that as a writer, one of the things we need to learn is to take criticism in the spirit it was given. I used to find it so hard, I nearly ducked out of my first writing course because the honest (and amazingly helpful!) feedback was so painful. I've just helped someone self publish their book. It's a good read but honestly, it would be ten times better with a structural edit, a good copy edit and some proofreading. But they can't cope with even the smallest suggestion of a change word let alone a big chunk of story. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My editor suggested taking out two characters, two subplots and about 15k words and I was very happy to hear it. I'm quite proud of myself, really, I've come a long way from crying over a few adjectives and a moderate mark! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;">T<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">he other thing some writers struggle with is positive feedback. She liked the historical strand and I'm taking that at face value. It works. No doubt it will work even better with a thorough rewrite. I'm learning not to go all bashful and self critical when someone likes something. I think it's a skill we don't learn early enough. </span></span>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-74643697231920659672018-07-30T16:00:00.000+00:002018-07-30T16:05:03.189+00:00Meeting new writers<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I've been very happy and very impressed to spend the last couple of months enjoying other people's writing. I met someone in Penzance whose poetry is lyrically beautiful, a fellow writer in Barnstaple has just self published her first book which is well worth a read (when she goes public). I've heard first draft writing in workshops that show so much promise, I feel drunk on good words. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm looking forward to running a workshop in <a href="https://www.thebrewhouse.net/event/creative-writing-workshop-with-rebecca-alexander/" target="_blank">Taunton (21st September at the Brewhouse</a>) and after that settling into a year's course at Barnstaple Library (Write a Better Book). I meet so many authors who write a book (kudos to them, it's quite a slog!) but then rush to self publish before they consider traditional routes. I hear a lot of 'Oh, the agent turned me down' but not many stay the course, take a professional approach to it. Your book has to attract an agent, it has to be so engaging they fall in love with it enough to work with you (unpaid) and then put it into the world to earn some money for you.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you can't get an agent or publisher, I would ask:</span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Is the book as brilliant and polished as you can make it?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Is it right for the genre/audience?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Are you really trying every avenue i.e. all relevant agents, all publishers who take submissions?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Is your work of prize-worthy quality? (Even getting on a longlist says it's getting there).</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Primarily, though, is it actually good enough?</span></li>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm not dissing self publishing, sometimes it's the best option, especially if you have a professional approach to selling your own work and are prepared to do the promotion yourself. I presently have a novella that I think will need to be self published just because of the length. But getting commercially published confirms that you're on the right track.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Of course, that doesn't guarantee the elusive best seller... Back to those intoxicating words. There's some bloody brilliant writers in the West Country... </span><br />
<br />Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-89996984687829935702018-07-21T15:11:00.003+00:002018-07-21T15:11:38.327+00:00All over the place<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That's where I've been. Last year we bought a tatty little caravan for a few hundred to, as much as anything, help salvage our relationship (cancer is a bitch, don't let anyone tell you it isn't). In a way, fighting the thing was easier (for my husband) than dealing with the uncertainty, the consequences of treatment, the whole 'I'm going to die/I'm going to be widowed' thing. So, we bought this elderly caravan (1985 Rapido). </span><br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As you can see it's not glamorous and is a fraction of the size of the tent in front of it. You either sort your issues out or one of you sleeps on the grass. We sorted a lot of stuff out, including accepting that he might die/I might be widowed (again) but what the hell? Hasn't happened yet and the best research suggests if it comes back there are treatment options to give us some time to deal with it. If we have to. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An unexpected bonus was that we reconnected with our inner campers and loved living in a field, just the two of us. We used to take half a dozen assorted kids (and often camped with other families) but there's something very companionable about stretching out on our bunks and reading our books while the sun goes down.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We've been exploring our own backyard: St. Ives, Marazion and Penzance, Totnes, Paignton, Goodrington, and Torquay. We're off to South Devon again in September - getting a week's accommodation for little more than a night in a B&B. In the meantime, we're going to the Green Gathering with two daughters, one boyfriend (Rosie's) and the grandchild, who is now eighteen months. Being away from home has focused my mind on plots and characters, my head is buzzing. I've visited National Trust and English Heritage properties from my era (sixteenth century) and wandered around museums (I recommend the one in Totnes, an <a href="https://www.devonmuseums.net/Totnes-Elizabethan-House-and-Museum/Devon-Museums" target="_blank">Elizabethan merchant's house</a>). </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We spent last week having a proper holiday rather than snatching a weekend around a book event - it was heaven. Swimming in glassy turquoise water on hot days, wandering around cool walls and along beaches to catch the wind and (fortunately) the caravan was at the top of the hill, got loads of breezes coming through. We also indulged my passion for public transport, with a river cruise to Dartmouth, an open topped bus and a steam train. We saw spoonbills on the river, new to me but apparently they are occasionally breeding here after going extinct around 1650. There's a theme here, as I research the Elizabethan era. </span> </span>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-11588282758010826342018-05-12T09:24:00.002+00:002021-03-08T11:50:00.690+00:00Wow. What a month.<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">OK. Deep breath. It's been a busy few weeks. I finished the Noah book that I started in January. <i>A Baby's Bones</i> came out on May 1st. Older relatives came to the end of their independent lives and had to move into a care home. It was horribly stressful, especially for them, they were devastated at the initial idea and fought against it for a long time. Then they had to accept it. It made me think, how do I envisage old age? How long do I really have, how long do any of us have? It's been painful.</span><br />
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Honestly, the book's been well reviewed and is on its way in the world. I'm doing various book events including CrimeFest next week. I'm organised, I'm ready. But I'm sad, we're grieving for the past family life that we had when the kids were younger, when we would all meet up for days or meals or to play cricket or badminton in their garden. To help them settle in, I made a photo album of happier days for her, because her Alzheimer's gets in the way of her remembering good days. It was a sad process, and I find myself pushing my husband to be more involved, help him adjust, while trying to remember these are his parents, this is agony for him. So sad. </span><br />
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">So, yes, the book came out and I'm happy and I'm pleased about it. But it will keep travelling and family will not be the same. Today, two of the boys come home for their birthdays and we'll celebrate, and they will visit their grandparents, but it won't be the same without them. </span><br />
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Sorry about the sad post. Writing is great but this is real life, you can't just change the ending.</span></span><br />
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<br />Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-57766825068941193172018-03-29T12:34:00.001+00:002018-03-29T12:38:49.665+00:00A Baby's Bones, out May 1 2018<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There is this magical moment when the last rumbling of rounds of editing die down and you wait. And then the email comes in. 'We've put your copies of the books in the post...' along with some very kind words of congratulation. And two days later, these babies arrive!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Baby's Bones, out May 1</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The thing is, for me this book has been around for years. I wrote it before <i>The Secrets of Life</i> <i>and Death </i>even came out. I could even say, the book kind of wrote itself, I was filled with nervous energy and waiting to sell the Secrets books and tapped away to keep busy. the Del Rey bought the books and they wanted<i> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Babys-Bones-Sage-Westfield/dp/178565621X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1518714095&sr=1-1&keywords=a+baby%27s+bones" target="_blank">A Baby's Bones</a>.</i>.. But after I wrote <i>The Secrets of Blood and Bone</i>, I realised that ABB was very different in tone and we amicably swapped it out for <i>The Secrets of Time and Fate</i>, allowing me to finish the series, for which I am very grateful. So, A Baby's Bones just sort of sat there, waiting for a home, and I got on with writing other books. When we came back to it a couple of years ago, my then agent suggested it might translate into a crime novel, and there we were. I read crime so it wasn't a huge leap, but editing meant I had to rewrite almost every line. It's been a lot easier writing the sequel, crime from scratch. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There's a lesson there for prospective writers, though. Listen to feedback. If you're in love with your sci-fi/romance/spy thriller (and who wouldn't be) that's fine. But if an agent or editor or your readers suggest you need to take it down a notch and focus on just one audience, then I would listen. Your own perfect version will always be on your hard drive (my fantasy version of <i>A Baby's Bones</i> sits there) but I know this new version will reach a wider audience.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Incidentally, Titan Books (Miranda Jewess, Jo Harcourt et al.) have done a lovely job in little time to smooth the edges and tidy the story up. It looks lovely. I almost want to read it myself, but the ending won't come as much of a surprise. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So if you like archaeological mysteries in the present day and to see what really went on in 1580, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Babys-Bones-Sage-Westfield/dp/178565621X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1518714095&sr=1-1&keywords=a+baby%27s+bones" target="_blank">this might be for you</a>. </span>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-64511527554123526542018-03-18T19:05:00.001+00:002018-03-18T19:05:07.578+00:00Fiction and faction<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm busy writing while watching the snow fall thickly outside. I don't fancy skating down the path so I'm happy indoors while my husband builds new (and necessary) bookcases for the front room. I have a lot of hardbacks that need a proper home as well as a lot of research books. Having three books on the go is space consuming. I have written 80k words in two months which is astonishing for me and honestly, is because I'm so enjoying the characters and story. It feels so self-indulgent to be back writing fantasy for joy. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The thing is, as I make stuff up I'm colliding with actual facts. I invented a drug that was rejected because it gave people serious (even life threatening) nightmares and guess what? An anti psychotic was withdrawn late in testing for that reason. I found studies that showed that extreme physiological stress could kill people who were suspected of having the worst nightmares. I invent a shared dream and it turns out there's quite a lot of empirical evidence for people connecting in dreams. New research leads me down some very funky paths, and that leads to new ideas in the book.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It almost makes me want to write a 'stranger than fiction' chapter at the end of each book. Or maybe a non-fiction book about some of this amazing stuff (well, I find it amazing). I am cursed with frequent and dramatic nightmares so perhaps I have an unusual level of interest. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In far more important news, my granddaughter (16 months) had her first experience of snow today! The most uncomplicated joy and curiosity that reminds me not to overthink everything. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283504667601100354.post-29154221063007061762018-02-15T12:03:00.003+00:002018-02-15T12:04:52.127+00:00Dreaming of a new book<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm loving writing the new book. This is the way I like to write, incubate an idea for a year or so, while I'm writing something else, then sit down with a clear direction in mind. In common with several of my books, the character at the centre of my world is a teenager. The adults rotate around her but she is strongly the heroic figure, sorting out the adult world around her. Her story is pouring onto the page, while her father tries to find her and one of her carers starts to wonder if she's been told everything about this comatose, lost child. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My focus is on dreaming, which by itself is a fascinating area. I remember my dreams (mostly) and some of them are very odd. It turns out some people have way weirder dream experiences that I do, from waking dreams to lucid dreams (when you know you're dreaming and can 'direct' the dream somewhat. Over Christmas I fell asleep in front of the news (bad idea), the stories fed into my dreams. This idea that your dreams can be changed by what's going on around you is fascinating. It mostly happens in non-REM dreaming (non rapid eye movement), which leaves our muscles working and our senses on alert. the dreams are more snappy and bitty, and less colourful BUT they form particular movements of energy and activation in the brain that is in the area of the brain that produces consciousness. It's possible people in 'comas' (although most have moved into disorders of consciousness if they don't wake up) may experience NREM dreaming before their brain learns new pathways to wake up. Now all I have to do is turn that into 100k words of story and characters to make it interesting. Which will be easier when family life stops getting in the way.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Meanwhile, I'm exchanging books with my fellow panellists at my first CrimeFest - exciting stuff! These are two of my fellow panellists - their books, anyway. Bedtime reading when family stuff calms down again...</span></span><br />
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Rebecca Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00474010455394752000noreply@blogger.com0