Final Days of 2011

The end is nigh, well of 2011 anyway. Hope everyone had a nice Christmas. Would have been nice if it had snowed, come to London, expect snow and what do I get? Sunny day!

Finished another story so will start going over the two I have finished and chuck them on Smashwords at some point. Last story I finished was another sci-fi around the 10000 word mark. Next story will be a contemporary one again I think.

Read a great book and saw the film it was based on too recently. 'We Need to Talk About Kevin,' well worth a look. Film complements the book well I thought.

Looking to get a car in the next couple of weeks so will be shopping for that soon, miss having one and after hiring a car over Christmas I found the UK roads weren't too bad really.

Till 2012!

New Update

Still working on my latest story, almost finished but got a bit caught up helping the family over here and some other stuff. Also got really into the new Stephen King book 11/22/63 . Really awesome book, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Christmas is coming which will no doubt bring it's excess of food, drink and family drama. As long as it snows I will be happy. I didn't come to London for clement weather. Snow dammit!

Well that is about all that is going on here. Kindle has released this new lending feature, I enrolled one book in it. Be curious how it goes.

If I don't write again before Christmas, Merry Xmas all!

December plans and a sad day for comedy

Okay first thing, sad to say that Patrice O'Neal died yesterday of a stroke. For those that don't know he was a hilarious American standup comedian who certainly made me laugh my arse off many a day. Check out his stuff online if you haven't seen anything of him. Comedians always seem to go too soon. Rest in peace.

Still writing strong here, back in the swing of it now and easily churning out 2000 words a day. Should have this story wrapped up by next week. I am aiming to put four out in December in total.

Smashwords seems to be quite an effective medium at getting your books out, a fair few downloads seem to be coming from there now. If you are looking to put up some stories I would definitely suggest them, just be patient though as some lists aren't updated for three months or so.

Tried to log into my Scribd account for the first time in months. Didn't seem to like me for some reason as I couldn't get in. Don't think I will bother again.

Anyways that's me for now.

Back in London

Arrived back in London a few days ago, still no snow yet, disappointing :(. Not missing the Aussie whether yet but probably will be once it really starts getting cold.

Wasn't feeling it with the story I started while on holiday so started fresh on a new one and am already a fair way into it so going well. This one is more of a crime story than any other one I have written which is new for me but I am enjoying writing it.

Apart from that, getting over my weekend. They party too hard in England, haven't had a two day hangover since I was a teenager :(

In Munich now after a few days in Berlin

Arrived in Munich yesterday, Berlin was awesome I must admit. Heaps to see and do, will definitely be back. Admittedly I have never been so cold in my life and am now wearing half my wardrobe at once.

Munich is very different to Berlin from what I have seen so far, feels like an older city. Lots of old churches and architecture here. Looks to be an interesting place.

Writing wise I haven't written heaps as I have been pretty busy travelling and seeing the sights, however I have fleshed out my next story and am really looking forward to getting it all down. Back home in a week so will be back into it all soon.

James

Sent from my iPad

In Brussels, Off to Amsterdam Tomorrow

In Brussels at the moment, just had a nice dinner and relaxing in the hotel before I head off to Amsterdam tomorrow. Lots to see in Brussels, the square was awesome, gardens are very nice too and the chocolate is excellent. Much quieter than Paris and easier to navigate I think. Paris did have better sights and museums admittedly but was dirtier and was flooded with beggars, scammers and charity collectors unfortunately.

Looking forward to Amsterdam and Germany after that, still two weeks of my Euro trip to go.

Managed to do some writing while I have been away, started a couple of stories but still deciding which one to continue with. Only got my iPad with me but it is pretty decent to write with a bluetooth keyboard. For some reason it wouldn't work with Blogger though so had to activate email posting.

Anyways I might do a bit of writing before I fall asleep.

Off to Europe for three weeks

Okay here is a link to the latest short story

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/100675

It isn't too long but hey it's free.

Off to Paris Wednesday, few days there then off to some other places in Europe. Should be a good trip, as long as I don't wake up in a bath tub of ice missing a kidney in Amsterdam. That would be a downer.

Probably won't get time to update this blog while away or write too much but you never know.

More Writing

Finished another short story, didn't take me too long considering I only put the last one up a few days ago. Only around 2500 words or so, I'll chuck it up on Smashwords and Kindle once I read through it tomorrow. Got to think of a title and make a cover too come to think of it. Might do that before sleep. Enjoyed writing this one though, easy one to write. Going to write a longer tale with the next story though. Might do a followup to Rising Fears.

Might not get a chance to write another complete story before I leave for Europe next week. Never know though.

Finished a New Fantasy Story

Been pretty busy since I got to London so haven't had too much time to write fiction. Headed to Europe next week too so might be a while between stories.

That said I have put a new one up on Kindle, it is another fantasy story with Durban and Foggle that is around the 5000 word mark. I'll put it on Smashwords after it has finished publishing, would be there already but I can't for the life of me remember what I put in for the blurb so will wait till Kindle has finished its process so I can use that one.

Going to start a new story tonight. Still deciding what to write it on but it will come to me I am on shore.

Been reading Peter Hamilton's new book of short stories, Manhattan in Reverse. Really good so far, some unique takes on the sci fi genre here as well as some stories that add to his Commonwealth Universe series of books.

Anyways that is me for now.

Moved to London and a New Story

Finally made the move to London from Australia, not sure how long I will stay but will be good to see some of Europe and explore some of London's opportunities. Feet are so sore from sightseeing I will need a rest but at least might get some writing done.

Finished a new short story yesterday, will read over it today then put it up on Smashwords. Not a huge story this one but I liked it. Wrote most of it on the plane and the rest on the tube.

That's all for now

Finished a New Short

Finished a new short story yesterday, just read through it this morning and made a few odd changes. Only around the 2500 word mark so didn't take long. This one is a near future story on how a child might deal with a situation where a parent dies but is brought back in a new cloned body with the same memories as before.

I will put it up on Smashwords later on today, just want to let it settle for a bit in case I want to make any more changes.

I'll go back to my fantasy story next and knock that off, I did a bit last night and will do some more today. Should finish it this week I reckon.

Anyways that's all for me today

Trying to pick a story

Had an idea for a story yesterday that can't get out of my head so going to knock that one off before I finish my fantasy story. Been busy of late so haven't written much since putting up Rising Fears. Moving to London in a week, but will try and still get these two shorts finished before I go.

Got an iPad yesterday, thought it would be handy to write/play with while travelling. Seems good so far, got one of those bluetooth keyboard cases for it so it is half a laptop too.

Had a fair few downloads for Rising Fears so far which is good, I'll continue that story line once I am settled in London.

New Free Story Up

Rising Fears is up on Smashwords at last for free at this link

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/90441

Hopefully people like it, I am going to work on another sequel after I have finished my current story.

Rising Fears finished new story in mind

Been a couple of weeks since my last update but I have been a bit busy. Finally finished Rising Fears and read through it for the first time. It is currently around 15000 words but I will go over it once more before I put it up on Smashwords.

This story is the next step in the series, I'll write another in a month or so. I enjoyed writing it, hopefully someone will enjoy reading it.

Already decided on my next story, will think about it a bit before I start though.

Anyways thats all for now

Amazon Author Pages and Good Reads

Well apparently there is a separate Amazon author page for the UK and the US. Both look exactly the same and do the same thing but for some reason you have to make a separate account for both. I made one for my Amazon ebooks, whether it will do much good I don't know. Personally I prefer the Smashwords author pages, more options there.

Signed up to Good Reads, good site this, seems to be a social networking site for people that read which is ideal for me. Haven't spent too much time on it but looks like a good place to show what genre's and authors you like to read. Will try and list my books on there at some point, looks like all I need is an ISBN which I have.

Ten thousand words into my next story, reckon it will be around 20-30 thousand all up. Enjoying the story and have a rough idea how it will turn out although these things can change as I write.

Anyways, back to it.

Amazon Author page, Scribd update and more

New update. I am about 6000 words into my next story, Rising Fears. Going well so far, although this will be longer than Stolen Fears so might take a month to finish. Going well so far, I know how some of the story will go, still figuring out some details.

I set up an author page on my Amazon store page, I had no idea that that was there, next time I will read the emails they send me.

After using Scribd for a month I have to say that Smashwords is far better for distributing works, at least in my experience anyway. I have had well over a hundred downloads of my last free book over the last couple of days. Far better than anything on Scribd. Kindle is good too but you can't put free stuff there.

Saw some good movies recently. Bronson was really good it's a British movie from 2008 with Tom Hardy. Worth a look. I am still reading Anvil of Stars, hasn't grabbed me as much as the first book but it isn't bad.

That's it for now.

Begun new story and about to start reading a new book

Okay I have started my nest story and already have the first few chapters planned out. Started writing the first one today. Will be a sequel to Stolen Fears, and will probably be called Rising Fears. I will keep the characters of Greg, Saul and Michelle and will give Kylie some more space and flesh her out more. I will probably introduce at least one more major character, still deciding some of the details but he will be a rich corporate guy who is influencing certain things in the background. Still working that out but it will come to me as I write.

Finished reading Forge of God, really liked the ideas in that story and for a 1987 book it is still very relevant. There is a sequel to it called Anvil of Stars which I will start reading soon.

Fall of the Lich is doing decently on Smashwords, at the bargain price of free it should do decently. I would be interested to hear what people thought of it so hope to get some reviews, good or bad. Good to see I have had a couple on my other stories, they are always very much appreciated.

New story up and new story started

Okay well made a quick cover and finally decided on a title for my finished fantasy tale. Since it ends very open to a sequel I made it a book 1. Will likely take me a couple of months to write some other stories before I go back to it though. Story is here and it is free:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/83715

Decided what I will write next, I will write a follow up to Stolen Fears, beginning 6 months after the end of that story. I have been reading Forge of God by Greg Bear and it got me in the mood to keep going with that one. Greg Bear is a fantastic sci fi writer, particularly if you like sci fi that is set around our time. Some of his stuff may be 10-20 years old but you really would be surprised how relevant it still is and he really does write some compelling stories, certainly someone I aspire to write like.

I have also just finished reading 'The Walking Dead' comic series, well up to the latest one anyway. Great series, one of the best comic series I have read in a while. I don't read that many comics, Y the last man was the last series I have read, but this one might have gotten me into reading more. Storytelling is great and full of surprises, it isn't for the squeamish. The twists and turns are not quite as dramatic as George R.R. Martin but they come close.

Story Finished at Last, Now to Make a Cover

Okay well my next story is done, just need to make a cover for it which I will work on tonight. I also need to think of a title come to think of it. This story is more of a classic fantasy one, I used to read those kind of books a lot when I was younger, not so much anymore admittedly. Still it was fun to write a story of that genre.

Now to think about my next story. Thinking of doing a follow up to Stolen Fears or maybe another sci fi. I liked the setting I used for Bleak Rock and Lonely Child, a lot of options there. I don't know, might take tomorrow off writing to think about it.

Anyways, on to the next tale.

Finished rough draft of new story

Okay well finished the rough draft of my fantasy story. Sitting at 36000 words roughly so after rewrites it should end up around the 40000 mark. Probably be up on Smashwords and Kindle in a couple of days. Still have to make a cover for it but that shouldn't take too long.

Enjoyed writing this one, plenty of room for a sequel to this story, will see if people like it first though.

MMAGoss.com is going well, had it's best day ever yesterday, starting to get noticed a bit now. Learning how to work wordpress has been interesting, spent 2 hours figuring something out that a plugin did in 3 minutes but it's all a learning experience.

Anyways, off to bed, another day awaits tomorrow.

Here is the latest MMAGoss article

http://www.mmagoss.com/2011/08/22/dana-white-looking-at-holding-australian-%E2%80%98the-ultimate-fighter%E2%80%99/

Update on Issuu, Scribd, Smashwords and Kindle

Thought I would give a quick update on what I thought of Issuu, Scribd, Smashwords and Kindle. I have fiction stories on all four sites and they have been there for a few weeks now.

Firstly Kindle, for a self publishing site it is excellent, returns are poor for a 99c book but it has a wide audience. I have sold a decent amount of stories there. The site is easy to use and very quick.

Smashwords is another good site, haven't made anywhere near as many sales there but my free stories have done very well so it is a great site to get some exposure.

Jury is still out on Scribd for me, all my stuff is free there but I think it gets swamped by everything else. I will give it some time but not getting anywhere near the downloads I do on Smashwords.

Issuu seems to be a waste of time. I won't be using the site again, nowhere near the views of anyone else.

Others may have had different results but this has been my experience.

Another writing update

Okay well my current story is approaching novel length, sitting around 17000 words now and still plenty to come. Still really enjoying it which is good, although still thinking of new ideas for future stories.

Had an overload of mma events over the weekend, be nice to take a break this week from that although I will still post updates on my site.

Trying to write 2000 fiction words a day and achieving it relatively easily. At this rate should finish this story in a couple of weeks I reckon. Then comes the laborious process of rereading and correcting. Amazing what silly errors you type out without even realising.

Writing, Reading and Watched The Fountain

Watched The Fountain today, yes five years too late but I finally got around to it. I must admit it was a very good film. I have listened to the soundtrack for years as it has always caught me, the movie really does it justice.

Still writing my story, over 12,000 words now and aim to do another 2000 tonight. This could be my first novel. Already looking ahead though. Might do a continuation to Stolen Fears or one of my earlier stories.

MMAGoss.com seems to be going well. Site had it's biggest day yet yesterday and I really enjoy writing about MMA. Striking a balance between that, fiction and learning German is the hardest part.

Story Update and MMAGoss Progress

Hit 7500 words and should get over 9000 tonight, really enjoying writing this one. Might have an interview lined up for MMAGoss.com, will see how that pans out. Also had a couple of my Smashwords stories reviewed and positively too, so it has been a good day.

Had laser eye surgery today so my eyes are still a bit sore but it didn't stop me writing. An uncomfortably operation but worth it in the end.

Latest MMAGoss article http://www.mmagoss.com/2011/08/11/bamma-to-introduce-british-mma-titles/

Writing update, story still coming along

Latest story is coming along well, not sure how long it will end up but I am enjoying it so far. Finished reading A Dance with Dragons last night, yet another cliffhanger ending, hopefully George R.R. Martin won't take so long to write the next one.

MMAGoss.com is still coming along well, starting to make the odd contact and getting some Twitter followers. Putting up 2-5 articles a day depending on news. Latest article here http://www.mmagoss.com/2011/08/10/proelite-rumors-and-future-heavyweight-tournament/

Stolen Fears Free on Smashwords

Well I put Stolen Fears up a couple of days ago for free on Smashwords and Scribd and it has done very well on Smashwords. Currently sitting on a 105 downloads in 3 days which is my best yet by far. I wasn't sure whether to continue that story but if people like it I might look at it after my next story.

Current story is going well, 4000 words I think so far, will get out a thousand or 2 today. MMAGoss.com is going pretty well, normally putting up 2-3 articles a day there too. Just put up one on the new ProElite event http://www.mmagoss.com/2011/08/09/proelite-returns-august-27-arlovski-grove-and-penn-on-the-card/

Anyways back to it.

Finished One Story, Started Another and Writing for MMAGoss.com

Well I have been writing more than ever of late, finished my latest novella or novellete, whatever 12000 words is called these days. Started a new story too, already 3000 words in, this one is a high fantasy story, enjoying it so far. Also started my own MMA website. http://www.mmagoss.com/ it seems to be doing okay so far, but then it has only been a couple of days. Lots to learn there.

Here is an article I did recently for it http://www.mmagoss.com/2011/08/06/how-and-why-mma-fighters-cut-weight/

It isn't fiction but I do enjoy writing these articles.

Anyways bed time for me.

Been Busy but Still Writing

Haven't written much fiction the past two days, been busy setting up me new website. I have been an avid viewer and fan of MMA for years now so set up a site for it at MMAGoss.com

Now it is working I can get stuck into finishing this latest story.

Yet another short up

I put up a short story I completed a couple of weeks ago that was rejected by magazines on Smashwords and Scribd for free. I liked this story, bit different to my others. Tried to explore how a child stuck living in space would feel looking down on Earth. Haven't done much other writing yet today but will get on it soon. Don't feel up to it but will try and crank out a few hundred words.

Bleak Rock now up on Kindle

My novella Bleak Rock was published on Kindle today. I wrote this one a month and a bit ago and is around the 10,000 word mark. I was pretty happy with this story in the end, took me a while for me to get a feel for it and it took a few twists and turns before I was satisfied with the story line but I think it worked in the end.

I am still working on my latest story, up to 11,000 words now. Need to start thinking about how long exactly I want this one to go as at the rate it is moving it could get very long. Enjoying writing it though. Was amusing to read an article in New Scientist today relating to the research I did for the story.

Issuu

Saw a new publishing site, well not so much new as I hadn't heard of it, called Issuu. Seems to be primarily magazine oriented but thought I might give it a go.
Scribd seems okay, will give it some time before I upload anything else though.
Sent one of my short stories off to a magazine, will wait and see how that goes.
Also put a new story up on Kindle, still publishing at the moment so will put the link up when it has finished.

Story I am currently writing is going well, over 9000 words now, looking like it will be a long one.

False Impression uploaded and Scribd

Stumbled across Scribd today, looks like a youtube for reading. Not sure how popular it is but it was very easy to use and to upload stuff. I put a couple of my short stories up there, My Own Universe, and My Last Train Ride. Will be interesting to see how they go.

Also put up a new short story on Smashwords, False Impression. This was a little fantasy tale I did of a pair of mercenaries who come across more than they bargained for when clearing out a forest of some orcs.

Anyways better try and knock off some more of my latest story.

Well it has been a while but I have kept writing, I have put a number of stories up on Smashwords and Kindle. I am going to focus on releasing more free ebooks over the next few months, try and get my stuff read more.

I am currently working on a new ebook that will probably be novella to novelette length. Up to 5000 words so far, will probably get out another 1500 today. Also have a short story I haven't read over yet to publish.

Latest free ebook here

My Own Universe is around 12000 words and set in the near future. The book explores the life of a young man who becomes addicted to a new video game that feels completely real while allowing you to do whatever you wish. He is able load cities and people into the program creating a near real world experience without the consequences that go with reality. He becomes addicted to the game, so much so that he eventually has trouble distinguishing the game from reality until his life slowly crumbles to pieces.

Published A Gnomish Solution

A Gnomish Solution is published on the US and UK Kindle store

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00512EWLK

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00512EWLK

Be interesting to see how it goes compared to the two I published last month. Hopefully someone enjoys it. Going over my latest short story at the moment, should be ready to publish on the weekend.

New Short Story up on Kindle

Well I am happy with my short story I finished last week so I let it rest and went over an older one and rewrote that made a cover and published it on Kindle. A Gnomish Solution should be up soon, my attempt at writing a light hearted fantasy story.

Might have to start looking at how to market self published novels and shorts as I will have three up now and should try and promote myself a bit now.

First draft of my short is finished. Need to fix a fair few continuity errors in it as I changed my mind a bit as I wrote but I am happy with the overall story. Came in just under 3000 words so about a mid length short. Will try and start revising it tonight but still have a uni essay to finish up and just finished a 9 hour shift and had a swim. Need longer days to fit everything in.

Still going

Halfway now and going strong, story is changing in details slowly as I write so keeping a list of modifications I need to make as I go. Enjoying the process and the research as I am writing.

Starting My Short Story

Well I started it! Haven't written it all yet about a quarter through but I have the idea and the main story all set out which is the main part. Now to finish it over the weekend :)

Will start a new short story tomorrow I think. I have the morning free before work and am all caught up study wise so will try to crank out a 1000 words. No idea what I'll write about but no doubt something will come to me.

Signed up for Writer's Market

Well after writing several short stories and putting them up on sites like Helium, Kindle and Smashwords I thought I'd take the plunge at getting published proper in the future. This Blog will be a record of my efforts at writing, how my work progresses and the process of attempting to get published. It is a daunting process and that's without even finishing a new manuscript!

The story I am currently working on is a sci-fi. An apocalyptic event on Earth occurs in the near future, some governments learn of the impending disaster a couple of years in advance, the richest people in the world finance escape craft which they largely populate while the poor are left to die on Earth. That's the idea at the moment anyway, will see how it progresses. Will have more time to work on writing once uni finishes up in five weeks.

Got a few ideas for short stories, a lot of ideas, will see how it all pans out.