Writing

I Have A Dream…

0 Comments 10 May 2012

…in which I write to an outline. Seriously, that’s what I dreamed about the other night. Honestly, I take geekery to a new level.

I had a bad bout of insomnia on Monday night, caused by running out of my amitryptiline prescription on a bank holiday and only realizing said fact after the pharmacies (drugstores) had all shut.

Fibromyalgia patients tend to have sleep problems, and mine are so bad that I can’t sleep without my prescription. I don’t mean that I sleep badly without my meds, I mean I literally don’t sleep. I managed to doze for an hour, in which I dreamed about highlighter pens, pages of notes and subplots, before waking up at 1am. And that, my friends, was that.

I can see why my subconscious is telling me to get more organised. I tend to write with a rough plan in my head, and I work out what happens as I go along. I like this method, ideas occur to me as I type and it all feels very organic. Unfortunately, changing direction half-way through a novel, or trying to weave a sub-plot in during the second draft means that the editing process is a nightmare.

Maybe the dream was a sign that my brain can’t take this anymore. A detailed chapter by chapter outline would make for much cleaner first drafts, meaning quicker and less painful editing. Except whenever I’ve tried to write an outline my ideas have dried up. I end up looking at a blank word document.

Then I hit Ebay.

Still, am determined to give writing a detailed outline for Ravensborough #2 a go. Maybe this is the writer version of maturity?

Creativity, Writing

Researching – So Much Fun It Doesn’t Feel Like Work

2 Comments 08 May 2012

I haven’t exactly been on top of this blog in the past couple of weeks. But I have my reasons. One of those reasons is that I’ve been spending a lot of my time researching. Those of you who read my blog regularly may think that I mean my PhD research which I’ve waxed lyrical about. That would be good, and I probably should get a bit of a move on on that. Actually, a lot of a move on on that. But no, I mean research for new writing projects.

While research is fundamental in a lot of genres, and necessary even if you’re building a world from scratch, it feels dangerously close to procrastination. When you write full time you’re used to seeing anytime in front of your computer without a word document open in front of you as a giant waste of time. Reading about the characteristics of ravens in the wild doesn’t fit into stereotypical productive behaviour for me. It’s also so interesting that it doesn’t feel like work.

I can almost feel your disbelief. I think this is one of those moments where I think you’ll just have to take my word for it.

I’ve also been researching New York for my new adult urban fantasy series. This doesn’t feel like work because I had my honeymoon in New York, and stayed in the Waldorf Astoria a few blocks away from where my main character works. Going over maps and looking at pictures to bring back a feel for the city is helpful, but also brings back lots of nice memories.

Aside from all the research though, I am managing to keep on top of my word count. So it’s not all bad.

Writing

Finally Feeling Like A Professional Writer

4 Comments 30 April 2012

There are a lot of benchmarks that you set for yourself when you start writing, markers that you think will infer writerhood status and stop you feeling like you’re playing an elaborate game and are waiting for someone to find you out.

There are a couple of things that do make you think that you’ve reached the professional ranks. People you don’t know sending you tweets and emails about how much they enjoyed your book, getting onto bestseller lists, and unsolicited reviews all help. But nothing is as good as actually getting paid.

That might seem a bit crass to some people. After all, writing is about more than remuneration. And yes, it is. I love writing more than I love anything else. If I wasn’t self-publishing or being traditionally published, I’d like to think that I would still be writing as a hobby. But I have a husband who works long hours. He’s a journalist who’s set up a content company and I’m so proud of him. When we first got married he was freelancing, and the Irish economy had gone into free-fall. Money was tight, extremely tight. But he still wanted me to work on fiction writing because it’s all I’ve ever really wanted to do.

Thing is, I gave myself a year to sell either of my books. If I couldn’t sell them then I’d have to take up something that pays. Fact is, if I wasn’t making money writing I’d have to do something else. You can’t have one partner in a relationship working crazy hours, and the other working on a hobby for ten years. That’s not sustainable.

My writing has paid for a new laptop, a new desk, and our family holiday. It’s so nice to be able to pay for tangible things with my writing. I now finally feel that I can say that I am a professional writer, it’s how I make my living.

Now I just have to prevent myself buying books from Amazon with my pay cheques…

PS: Yep, I kind of gave up at the end of the whole A-Z blogging for the month of April. Truth is, I didn’t feel like my posts were interesting enough under the letters – maybe I just didn’t have enough time to dedicate to it. So I’m back to writing about any passing whim that comes into my head.

PPS: I’m hopelessly behind in getting around to everyone’s blogs. Will get around to it as soon as I can

Writing

U Is For…Urban Fantasy

1 Comment 24 April 2012

I’ve talked before about genre envy, and how although I love writing chick lit I also love reading and writing other types of books. Chief among those other genres is urban fantasy.

When I started writing initially I started with a young adult novel called Ravensborough. I entered it into ABNA last year where it made it into the quarter finals. Through the process I met a lot of cool people, discovered blogging and learned about self-publishing.

When I decided to self-publish my chick lit novel last year, I did it because I was told that the number of new authors being signed in the current economic climate was much smaller than it was previously.

I didn’t want to keep trying for years with no hope of ever being published. I wanted to write for a living more than I wanted a traditional publishing contract. So I decided to release my book myself.

Surprisingly, I’ve really enjoyed the process. The amount of control that you have over your own career is immense, and I love that aspect of it.

That’s not to say that traditional publishing is dead. I think every writer should be wary of people who insist that there’s only one way to go about publishing. While it’s true that authors have more options open to them than ever before, I know of a lot of authors who are happy and doing well in the trad publishing sphere.

TL;DR I’ve decided to release Ravensborough myself and continue it on as a young adult series. I’m really excited about it, and a little bit nervous because it’s a whole new audience.

Self-Employment

T is for…Tax

3 Comments 23 April 2012

I am self-employed which means I have to make my own tax returns, rather than having them deducted from my payslip before I’m given my pay cheque.

My husband has been self-employed for years, so I know the drill. I’ve only started getting money for my books in 2012, so my tax return for this year isn’t due until next year.

This means I’ve loads of time to think about it, which is good because I’ve got to apply for an exemption. In Ireland all money earned from ‘artistic endeavour’ up to a cap of €40,000 is free from tax. Theoretically self-published books aren’t excluded, but I have to send in copies of my books to be examined first of all. I’m unorganised and I hate bureaucracy – I’m dreading it.

But first I have to deal with my American tax status. As I’m Irish and essentially trading in America, I’m doing business without a social security number. So when I get my first royalty cheque it will have a standard deduction of 30% withheld. In order to get this back, I have to go to the American Embassy and go through the extremely finicky process of getting an ITIN (Individual Tax Identification Number) which can take months.

Or I can get an Employer Identification number instantly. But in order to do this I need to ring the IRS.

Readers of my blog will know I have a fear of calling the hairdresser let alone the IRS. My only encounter with American bureaucracy so far has been a scary run in with a decidedly unfriendly homeland security officer in JFK airport.

This shouldn’t have been such a big deal for me, after all I visited Belarus where we were ordered off a wall with guns by the Belarussian police force (we were just sitting on the wall) and the airport officers were very menacing in a ‘we have vays of making you talk’ kind of way. So a gruff unwelcoming man should have been an absolute cakewalk.

Other than that one security guy, everyone we met in New York was lovely. We thought our accents would mark us out instantly as Irish, but apparently not. Most people we met thought we were from Queens, Pittsburgh or, strangely enough, Australia. As both myself and my husband are pale enough to be members of the Cullen family, this was truly odd.

Other than that, everything I know about American bureaucracy I’ve learned from CIA movies. Which is the equivalent of thinking all Irish people are leprechauns who get drunk all the time, I know.

I’m posting this so I have some form of ‘accountability to the blogosphere’ and I will actually ring the IRS tonight (time difference).

I’ve been putting it off for over a month. I seriously need to do this tonight.

What kind of jobs/obligations do you guys dread?

Life

R is for…Reading, S is for…Sunglasses

3 Comments 22 April 2012

A couple of weeks ago I talked (OK, I moaned) about not being able to find time to read because I was so busy writing books, looking after my 7yo & starting Mermaiden. Happily, I’ve managed to rectify the situation and have got back to my usual two books per week. Everyone in my house is therefore much happier. Or maybe they’re not, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Now onto sunglasses. I wear these everyday, despite living in a part of the world that is not generally known for its balmy sunshine. Part of my condition is photo-sensitivity, which means that if I’m exposed to too much sunshine I get splitting headaches, even when out under the frequently overcast skies of the British Isles.

Sometimes even when it’s raining I wear sunglasses. This is because the glare can affect me even when it’s cloudy. Because I live in a suburb of Dublin where, let’s just say people don’t like their neighbours to get notions above their station in life, sometimes people shout things out their car window at me such as ‘Do you think you’re in LA?’ and ‘Are you running from the paparazzi?’. Also things much more expletive heavy which I won’t get into here.

I’ve got to the point where it doesn’t bother me because a) I’m ill people, get over it and b) these people are just bored. Unemployment in my country is at 14%, youth unemployment is much higher. What else are they going to do to amuse themselves?

Ireland is using austerity to deal with her problems which means the poor get poorer and we fall back on our natural fail safe method of dealing with our problems – exporting them.

Feeling very powerless and angry, and am also veering wildly off topic. So I’ll stop talking now and go off and read some more. And be thankful that both my husband and I are employed.

Randomosity

Q Is For…Quizzes

1 Comment 19 April 2012

I don’t watch all that much television, but when I do I love to watch quiz shows.

My grandparents used to watch them all the time, and I discovered that I was actually quite good at them. The thing about reading fiction is that you tend to come by all manner of random facts by osmosis.

One of my favourite quiz shows is a British show called The Chase. On it four professional ‘quizzers’ play against members of the public in a series of general knowledge questions. It’s addictive. Seriously. It would have been better for my word count if I’d never discovered its existence.

Before I saw it I’d never heard of quizzing as a profession. But how cool would that be? Getting paid to  research loads of different topics would me by personal idea of heaven.

Except you’d have to list your profession as ‘quizzer’, which sounds more some class of sexual perversion than an actual job.

What jobs would you have in your dream world?

If you’re looking to be really nice…

You know. Maybe you’re on a random act of kindness kick or something. But if someone, anyone, would go to my other blog and comment I would be eternally in their debt. While I’m seeing a very nice amount of traffic, my readers seem to have a fear of commenting. I’d love if someone would start the ball rolling. This post has a grammar theme, writer friends: http://mermaiden.ie/?p=1337

Internet, Life

P Is For…Post Boxes

8 Comments 18 April 2012

Some of our post boxes still have British crowns and things on them, but we painted them green when we got our independence.

I love the internet. I have more friends online than I do in real life, my business is conducted via the internet and for someone who hates phoning people (a hangover from my call centre days) being able to find out information without talking to another living person can be a joy.

Can you tell I’m an introvert?

But I’m still a little old school: I love post (mail for my North American friends). Not the post I usually get, bills, pizza leaflets and advertisements for double-glazing, oh no. I hope for proper handwritten letters and parcels from abroad.

I manage to get around the parcel thing by buying items off the internet. For some reason, because it arrives by post I forget that I paid for it. So it feels like a present.

I draw the line at writing myself handwritten letters, though. It just seems a little too tragic. Though even if I did write myself one I’d forget to buy stamps and it would just end up in one of the piles of paper we keep littered around the place.

What about you? Any anachronistic loves that you’d like to confess?

Randomosity

O Is For…The Outernet

1 Comment 17 April 2012

Life, self-publishing

M Is For…Margaritas. N Is For…Not Enough Hours.

1 Comment 16 April 2012

This is the margarita that my husband made for me over the weekend when I hit a sales milestone for Storms. It was yummy. I hadn’t had enjoyed a margarita for a while. Two years ago I had a few too many and tried to book myself and my husband flights to Iceland. Luckily for my credit card, and my marriage, I was foiled by the qwerty keyboard. In my tequila-induced state I couldn’t understand why the keyboard didn’t run alphabetically A-Z instead of Q-M.

So you can understand why I gave them a miss for a while. Because obviously it was the drink itself that was the problem, and not the volume I consumed. Obviously.

But I just had one this weekend, and it was beautiful. Being married to an amateur mixologist definitely has its upsides.

Also, I’m coming up to the deadline for my second book. And, as is the way when you need to focus on just one  thing, the rest of my life seems to be expanding to encompass all the available hours in my day. Bureaucratic  tangles, lost paperwork, cooking, school runs, everything is taking an eternity and a half to complete.

I see a lot of late nights in my future.