Last night, I watched Game of Thrones so no writing happened. I was disappointed by the episode, I won’t spoil for anyone watching but I feel that writers make promises to their fans and they have to deliver on those promises.
When, you read a murder mystery you expect a dead body and clues that lead to discovering the murderer. When you read a romance novel you expect the love interest to get together. In last nights, GOT, I felt we have been following certain characters development and these were all undone. I felt a little like arcs were unravelling in the last episode. It feels like they are rushing to finish the series and aren’t caring about what is true to the character anymore.
Tonight, I started out editing the wrong chapter. I kept getting a de-ja-vu feeling I had noted which chapter to edit next. The familiarity kept coming back so I checked and turns out I hadn’t updated my note with where I was up to. Luckily, there was still enough time to get this chapter edited.
If you would like to see the new chapter on Wattpad, click here.
I’m really impressed with myself for getting another chapter edited and posted on Wattpad tonight and it was another 3.5k chapter! My word count is soaring today.
I have added a note to check it again at a later date as I changed a lot of tenses and I want to make sure my grammar is correct.
If you would like to see the new chapter on Wattpad, click here.
The new chapter has taken a few days to edit. Here are the challenges I faced whilst editing this chapter.
The main delay was due to changing the role of Ana in the story.
In the original version, she goes away to see a specialist doctor in America to get help with her sleep disorder. This resulted in her being away for most of the story.
In my current rewrite I have decided Ana will have a bigger part to play. She doesn’t go away, Mariah confides in her and together they experiment with magic. I’m enjoying writing the new content but it is slowing me down.
In addition, chapter 13 is 3.5k words long. This is long for me as my chapters generally tend to be half that.
The last delay on this chapter is that Aria is going through a nocturnal stage so I’m spending more of my evening settling her than working on my novel.
If you would like to see the new chapter on Wattpad, click here.
I’m really impressed that I managed to get a chapter edited today. Aria has refused to nap all day so I am shattered but I really wanted to get another one done.
I think the next chapter will be tricky because I have changed the role of Ana in the new outline. This will impact the next chapter as I will need to add in some new content to make it work.
I find editing really hard but I will write a post soon covering the methods I use that make it a little easier. But, I would love to hear the methods you use?
If you would like to see the new chapter on Wattpad, click here.
My main time to write is in the evenings. I started working on this chapter on Wednesday but since then there have been a number of personal distractions.
One of my best friends is in hospital with her baby and I wanted to do something to cheer her up. I gave up an evening to work on creating her a special letter and gift. Another evening was lost to looking at my families finances and trying to work out how we will afford everything this month as I am no longer bringing in any money on maternity leave.
Today, I have taken every chance I have had to get some writing done and I have finally finished editing the chapter to post on Wattpad. If you have time to take a look, please do give it a read and let me know what you think.
How are you progressing towards your writing goals?
Day 18 of March’s Instagram photo challenge by #womenwritingfiction #wwfchallenge2019 was “Tell us about your secondary characters.”
Personally, I spend quite a bit of time developing my secondary characters. I like to know what makes them tick so I can ensure they remain true to who they are. Often, I fall in love with a character so much that I want to write them their own story, like Kya – currently writing Diamond in the Sky about her.
I decided to spotlight Denny. One of the stories about this character is below. I hope you enjoy this snipped into her background and I would love to hear about whether you enjoy developing your secondary characters as much as your primary characters.
Image from Unsplash artist Kinga Cichewicz of how I picture grown up Denny https://ift.tt/2DByKkK
View on Instagram https://ift.tt/2Ofw15V
Unpack (Denny)
Gwyn had been a mother and best friend all rolled into one neat package. I picked the sticky tape off another cardboard box. Packing up had been a difficult chore but unpacking was a never ending task.
Revealing the contents, I realised this would be no quick task. At the top was a powder blue photo album with white writing ‘My Baby’. I can’t resist the urge to look at pictures of my son. I clutched it to my chest in the same manner I had when he had been small enough to do so.
The first page was a photo of him only hours old. Gwyneth had been my only visitor at hospital and took the photo for me.
Gosh, I look so young. Too young to be a mum!
I pulled the rigid board of the front cover free from the slip to retrieve a picture I had hidden there. It had been taken in a photo booth, a sketch of us together in black and white. Dean believed pictures looked better like that. Now, it was disappointing as the picture didn’t show the kaleidoscope of golds his hair had shone that hot May.
The Easter fair had been in town, we were down for the holidays. Mum had given my brother Greg and I some money to go ‘treat ourselves’.
“What ride do you want to go on first?” Greg asked as we walked along the closed off road.
It was dark and the rides were lit up by brightly coloured bulbs and painted with images of seductive looking women with large breasts and glossy lips.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “They all look lame to me.”
Image from Unsplash artist Gabriel Matula of how I picture a teenage Denny: https://unsplash.com/@gmat07
There was the familiar crashing of bumper cars and the rotation of horses on the carousel. There were the more dangerous rides for older kids like Rock City where a row of chains rotated up and down getting faster and faster, Metropolis where everyone put their faith in centrifugal force as they stood in the cage of a spinning wheel tipping on its side as they stuck to the wall. There was Niagara Falls which consisted of two carpeted tubes that spun in different direction causing you to fall to the ground. Last time we were here it gave me carpet burn. All of them looked like they would either make me sick or cover me in bruises.
“I’m gonna get some candy floss.” My brother said irritated by my lack of adventure. He had been bored at the caravan and the fair was all that had kept him going.
I begrudgingly followed him whilst he flirted with two young girls in the queue. He allowed them to steal bites of the blue fluffy cloud of sugary sweetness. My brother was terrible with his cheesy lines ‘are all the girls around here as gorgeous as you?’
One of the girls, who had slicked her hair back into a ponytail eyed me with her dark lined eyes, “Your girlfriend?”
“Sister.” My brother quickly corrected her but his grin clearly read ‘I’m in there!’
The girl rubbed her arms to brush off the cold. “Wanna game of pool?”
Obviously my brother said yes. He had lost all interest in the rides now his sole attention was on this girl, who to me looked like a slapper. Sadly, that was probably what he liked about her.
Her friend was chewing gum and seemed to be eyeing everyone up for a fight. Even when she smiled at my brother her eyes were half closed and she almost looked as if she was snarling, so I was surprised when she said, “You want to play?”
I shook my head. “I’ll just watch.”
I felt a little like a gooseberry standing on the side lines watching my brother tickle this girl every time she tried to take a shot. She giggled and blushed, “Stop cheating!”
I saw a pinball machine and decided to give it a go. The popular theme tune to the Adams Family started up. I pulled back the lever and let it go. The spring raced forward, smacking into the round silver ball and spinning it onto the table. The ball bounced off some bells and was heading down towards the bottom. My hands leaned over the edge of the table ready to hit the buttons to cause the flickers to stop the ball from being lost.
“You’ll never beat my score.”
I jumped and hit the button too late. Angrily, I searched for the person responsible for my loss, only to be taken back by the most beautiful eyes and gorgeous smile I had ever had the pleasure of meeting. As if moving in slow motion, I blushed as I watched the ball bounce and roll down the middle bringing the game to a halt.
“Dean.” He said confidently.
All I could see was his cocky grin and cool blue eyes. He had long blond hair that swept across his face in rebellious waves. He looked like he had stepped off the set of some Californian beach surfer movie and I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
“You’ve still got another ball.” He said with a thick Suffolk accent that killed my Mr Muscle Beach fantasy.
My hands shook rapidly to the beat of my heart and it was more difficult to pull the bar back the second time. I let it go and tried again to keep the ball on the table but I was all flustered. I managed to hit it back into the game twice more before it disappeared for good.
“It’s your last ball. Do you want my help?”
My throat was tied up in knots, pretty much like my stomach and I couldn’t speak. I gave a nod. The next thing I knew, he was standing behind me. His hand clasped over mine and we drew back the lever together. “Never go all the way.” His hot breath tickled my neck like a forewarning my body wanted to rebel against. “Otherwise the ball will be too fast to keep up with. You need it to be just enough to put it on the board and get stuck behind those bells. Then you will get the maximum points.” He let go of my hand and I released it. I let it go and as my hands fumbled for the buttons, I felt his fingers guiding me into place, finally resting gently over the top of mine.
That was how my romance for ‘Hugo Boss’ had begun. The scent surrounded me in the same way his arms were. It was intoxicating the way it gripped my senses and spun my world like the little silver ball. From that day forward, it became the smell that I associated with summer, replacing the uplifting fresh salty sea breeze and lashings of sun lotion. I no longer hungered for the tantalising sweetness of a ninety-nine vanilla ice-cream and chocolate flake; I just wanted to taste Dean. That was the start of the holiday romance that broke my heart and changed my life eternally.
Looking at the photo, I was surprised to discover how similar Dean looked to Jace. I shouldn’t have been surprised, after all Dean was his dad. The last time he had come to mind had been when I met Dave, my fiancé. The first thing that caught my attention was the heart capturing scent of Hugo.
Now Jace was wearing it thanks to Dave trying to bond with him “Wear this, the women love it.” I never told Dave why this woman loved it.
This song has beautiful imagary that I feel captures the intoxicating feeling of first love and the magic of the whirlwind, followed by the crushing destruction when all is not as it was and all you have left is sweet memories that are painful to carry. I think it captures the emotions of the scene above well.
It is set in the Middle East, in the desert. There is a western feel to it with the guns but a fantasy element with the magic and mythical creatures.
This is my review.
What is the book about?
The story is set in the desert in a time when women are oppressed. Amani lives in a small town with her aunt and uncle as her parents are dead. It isn’t a happy home, they are poor and she is coming to an age where she must be married but doesn’t get to chose who. Her uncle thinks she should marry him and she can’t think of anything worse. So, she plans to escape.
Fortunately she is a good gun slinger and decides to dress up as a man and enter a shooting contest. She plans to runaway with her winnings.
Skip to ”What did I think” to avoid spoilers.
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How it starts
At the contest she earns the nickname Blue Eyed Bandit (her eye colour is unusual) and although she makes it to the final and is clearly the best shooter it turns out the contest is fixed and she is lucky to make it out alive.
The soldiers are looking for a criminal which turns out to be Jin, the guy she met at the contest and helped her escape. Amani helps him hide although Jin doesn’t recognise her without her disguise.
Later, when she captures a magical horse, worth a lot of money, she thinks her luck has changed. But, her uncle decides they must marry so he can take the money. The mine explodes and in the chaos, Jin helps her escape with the horse.
The middle
At first Amani and Jin are not travelling companions but as their paths keep crossing they end up helping each other. There are also a few almost kisses.
To avoid getting captured Jin suggests they join some travellers as hired help. Amani has to pretend to be a boy and is hired as a shooter as the route is dangerous.
During their travels they see some of what the army are doing and discover they have created some type of bomb and will use it on civilians and blame the rebels.
Whilst travelling, Jin is attacked by a creature that creates nightmare. The party want to leave him behind as he will slow them down and die but Amani stays with him. She is determined to get him across the desert in his fragile state. A creature is tracking them so Amani has to find somewhere safe, she finds a wall and says the secret phrase from the fairy tale Jin has been telling her and the hidden entrance opens.
This trip was a little tiresome for me and Amani didn’t have much purpose. Her family were long gone and she was running to a city where she thought her life would be better.
How it ends
Amani finds the rebels secret hideout. Whilst at the camp she meets Dijinnis and learns about how they all have a unique characteristic. She discovers her blue eyes are because she is a Dijinni. She also discovers Jin is the rebel prince. At first she is angry he hid this from her but later forgives him.
She joins the rebel’s and helps them to stop the bomb by figuring out her power in the nick of time. She also gets with Jin and they kiss.
What did I think
I like the magic and world building I’m just not a massive fan of travelling within stories. I also wanted the magic sooner but I guess that was the tease to hook me until the end. Amani is a strong fierce character which I enjoyed. The chemistry between Jin and Amani was subtle although it was obvious that he would be the love interest. I get the feeling the passion is being saved for a book later in the series.
I’ve got the next book to read but decided to read Red Queen instead. Rebel of the Sands is a good book and worth a read. There is a movie coming and I think the magic will look very exciting on the screen.
So, I entered Jewel of the Sea into a competition. I am in Group One for SciFi, Fantasy Paranormal, Werewolf and Vampire stories.
The competition has six rounds. Each round, the stories will be judged for different things. Each round the contestants will be halved so that by the final (sixth) round there are only two contestants competing to win. The criteria for each round is:
Title, Cover, Blurb
First Chapter
Characters
Plot
Overall Story
Judges’ Review
Round One for Group One Starts On: 27 March 2019 to 5 April 2019
I have ten days to spread the word and encourage my followers to visit the competition and comment on why they like my novel’s title, cover and blurb.
Jewel of the Sea
Blurb:
One kiss is all it took to wake Mariah’s weather manipulation powers.
Mariah is crushing on her best friend, rivalling with the swim team star and Gwyn in meddling in her life using spells. With no idea what she is, this mermaid could lose control and kill!
When your deadly powers are connected to your emotions, it gives a new meaning to “It’s complicated.”
How you can help:
Please can you visit the Cliche Press Competition and comment on what you like about my novel’s title, cover and blurb. Click here to visit the competition.
Also, if you have time to give me feedback on my project it is always welcomed. I’m constantly looking for ways to improve so please don’t hesitate to let me know what is working and what is not.
Please let me know if you are on Wattpad as I would love to follow you.
Happily Ever Author is a group run by Pagan on Facebook. She posts prompts to get authors to socialise and share what they are working on and to set goals. She sometimes gives prizes (I got a YouTube guide) and sometimes she promotes her books and other group (Paperback Kingdom).
Paperback Kingdom is a Facebook group linked to services she offers such a course, 1:1 coaching, etc. I can’t tell you much more as I’ve not paid for the additional content.
About #NewYearNewNovel
Pagan set her Happily Ever Author group members a challenge in December to start doing the prep work for a new novel in 2019. This was supported with videos where she shared her tips and techniques for doing this, from how to come up with a story idea, outling, character development, etc. These were really useful and I would like to watch them again.
Although, all I have written is the opening to my story (Scarlet House), I do feel more prepared and clearer about what I will be writing. I can’t wait to finish my current editing project so I can start on a brand new novel for 2019.
Have you discovered any awesome writer groups online?
The little one had me up bright and early but thankfully has breast fed. I probably should have tried making a start on NaNo even if it was just writing on my phone, instead I played Dragon Mania. There is still plenty more time today after the school run and house work… We’ll see…
10:22pm
Day one and I typed 939 words (daily goal is 834 words). I didn’t get to work on my manuscript until the kids were in bed. Plus, the hubby was out tonight so it was first time since Aria was born that I’ve I done it without help.
As I never found time to prepare, I also crammed in some character development and outlined the first three chapters. I wish I had a full novel outline but something is better than nothing.
I’m pretty impressed with myself. Today has been a good day.
Friday, 2nd November 2018
11:00pm
My husband was put this evening so I bathed and got the little ones ready for bed before I could make a start on my writing at 9:30pm. I’m pleased with the progress I made as I beat my daily goal of 830, with 1,326 words.
I am really enjoying writing it and could keep going if I didn’t have responsibilities. I need my sleep so I can keep up with the little ones tomorrow so that’s me done for today but I’m looking forward to writing more tomorrow.
Saturday, 3rd November 2018
10:00pm
Today has been a busy day. We visited family in the morning. Then, in the afternoon I got Aria to sleep and was able to support Noah with his homework (researching India and the Festival of Light). Then we visited more family and returned home late.
Aria has only just gone to sleep and I can barely keep my eyes open. I’m frustrated I did not get to write today but we did a lot of family stuff today which is good for the soul.
Sunday, 4th November 2018
10:00pm
Today has been a great day. Not only did I get some time to write this afternoon but I also got to write more this evening. I managed to add 2,276 words to my manuscript.
Not only that, but we also watched the fireworks together as a family. It’s been a great day!
Monday, 5th November 2018
11:57am
I’ve had a busy morning with Aria. We went to a group and I got her weighed. She is now nodding off so I can get some lunch. I’m hoping to beat my word count from yesterday so if I get a chance to write before the school run, I will.
9:00pm
Famous last words… After, I typed the above, Aria woke up and went on a mad feeding frenzy where she kept emptying her bottles and crying for more. How could I say no when I’ve been desperate for her to get an appetite.
Now, she has finally fallen asleep, I can barely keep my eyes open. It’s an early night for me – sorry NaNo.
Tuesday, 6th November 2018
10:08pm
Today, has been nonstop but since my husband returned from work I have managed to have a bath and add 1,141 words to my project.
Wednesday, 7th November 2018 (My birthday)
1:00pm
It’s my birthday, although I’m not really celebrating it. This morning, I managed to hit my daily word count before lunch.
9:40pm
After my husband cooking me one of my favourite meals, eating cake and opening presents, we got the kids to bed and now I am back to writing and what a great way to end week one with 2,003 words.
Reflecting on week 1
7 days in and I’ve already written a total of 7,790 words. I am really pleased with the start I have made towards my target of 25,000. If I continue like this, I can easily achieve my goal.
In fact, I am only 3,876 words behind in achieving the NaNo goal of 50,000 words. To achieve that I need to write 1,759 words per day which I’ve proven I can do…
If you like this post, then you might like this one about the project I am working on for NaNoWriMo November 2018 or my NaNoWriMo diary post for Week Two.