Writing

I’ve just finished the first draft of the fourth book in The Mirrordom Legends. At present, the series is now planned to be five books long. Each book is a standalone story, but the series will make more sense if read in order.

The fourth book

I’m currently letting it marinate for a while (in other words, I do absolutely nothing with it and let my brain reset.) Once the fallow period is up, I’ll take another look as I need to flesh out the storyline a little more. In other words, there’s plenty of editing to be done!

In case you’re wondering what the image above has to do with the fourth book in the series… well, let’s just say one of the characters has a pet panther. Because why not? The beauty about writing fiction is getting to explore the impossible – and if I could tame any animal and keep it as a pet, it would absolutely be a jaguar or a panther. As this is never going to happen, I may as well live vicariously.

Pre-order Venom and Blaze!

Venom and Blaze, the first book in The Mirrordom Legends, is currently available to pre-order. You can read more about it over on the Bookshelf page. I’ll be hosting a giveaway for a signed copy on Instagram, so do make your way over to my page and follow it so you don’t miss an update.

Thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered and who has already reviewed their ARC copy or given it a shoutout on social media – it does make such a huge difference.

ARC reading

Aside from writing, I’m also reading and review a couple of amazing ARCs. One I’m particularly enjoying is In The Days Before by Renée Shantel. I’m about 70% of the way through it and utterly hooked. In The Days Before is out in October so make sure you pre-order it. I’ll be writing a detailed review on it as soon as I’m finished.

Anything else?

There is some exciting news coming soon, so watch this space! In the meantime, I’m working on my standalone book a thousand years in the future. It’s currently with my second beta reader. Both my beta readers are invaluable – it’s extremely helpful to have someone say “Hey Roz, this makes absolutely no sense” or “Hey Roz, you need to fix this glaring plot hole”. All of this helps ensure the finished product is as perfect as I can make it.

When I was about five, my mother bought The Railway Children on VHS (yes, I’m that old). During the scene where the children’s mother made a (albeit meagre) income from writing stories and poems, my ears pricked up. This was my first inkling that you could potentially make a career from writing. And that was my plan when I was a child. Of course I would be a novelist. Of course I would write children’s books. Of course people would want to read them.

I would painstakingly print off manuscripts and send them to publishing houses (always the Big Five, because I didn’t have the Internet and the only way I could figure out where to send a manuscript was to get a book and look at the address in it. Hodder & Stoughton, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry for all the novels I subjected you to.) These companies would always very sweetly write back and tell me to keep going and to purchase a copy of the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook. (I couldn’t afford one on £3 a week pocket money, nor did I know where to get one, as this was before I knew about Amazon.)

My logic was based on knowledge that writers get a ton of rejections and if I got those rejections out the way now, I’d have more chance of success later. Rather than, you know, actually writing a decent manuscript and putting thought into a submission. (I was only eight or so.)

At the age of seventeen, I went into journalism and my novelist career took a back seat. In fact, although I continued to write novels for my own enjoyment, I never tried to get any of them published.

It wasn’t until watching a TV show where the main character would get to know other people’s hopes and dreams (mainly in order to manipulate the people, but okay) that I thought: “I wonder what I really want?” After a few days of careful pondering, I worked it out. “I want to get a book traditionally published.” Okay then. How do I make that happen?

Write something worth reading

Or, perhaps, I should say “Write something you would want to read.” Either way, my first step was to write the book. I’d had an idea lurking in my phone notes for many years about a girl called City. I thought the name was pretty. In fact, the note literally was: “City could be a good name for a character.” I combined this note with another one about “mirrors” and then proceeded to write City and Shadow. I like books with dark twists and have a strong appreciation for psychological thrillers. Even with a YA audience in mind, City and Shadow is quite a dark book. But that was what I liked about it.

I’m not sure if the timing was just very coincidental, but when City and Shadow was completed, I had a feeling I’d never had before about anything else I’d done. The feeling was strongly that this book needed to go out into the world, this was The One.

Choose your target

Unlike eight-year-old me, with my somewhat misguided belief that every rejection made an acceptance closer, I submitted City and Shadow to a select group of publishers. I also finally bought a copy of the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook. I was very determined that I didn’t want this to be either vanity published or hybrid published. (Note: I don’t necessarily think there’s anything wrong with hybrid publishing – as long as the publisher is up-front about everything and continues to provide the author with support after they’ve taken their money. In fact, there was actually an article in the copy of the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook about hybrid publishing’s merits. It sounds like a good way for small presses to work with new authors. Please research carefully if you are looking into hybrid publishers.) I was determined that if my work was good enough, somebody would want to take a risk on it. In hindsight, this was probably a really rubbish way to think – because there are so many awesome books that don’t get published through no fault of their own. But it was my benchmark and I had a point to prove to myself.

I submitted City and Shadow to 36 publishers, keeping meticulous notes so I could look back on it. Five of them turned out to be vanity or gave me slightly concerned vibes. I walked away. 24 said nothing at all. Six sent back polite rejections. But one of them, and this was the one I really wanted, said “YES!” (Okay, they didn’t send back an all-caps email with just the word “Yes.” That would be a little unsettling.) And, best of all, they were a traditional publisher with a catalogue of books that I thought City and Shadow would be right at home amongst.

They were also supremely understanding when I told them “Hey, I know I said quite categorically this was a standalone novel… but I’ve written a bunch more in the series now.” Venom and Blaze ended up becoming the first book in the series and is due out next month. My publishers couldn’t have been sweeter or more patient when I said “Look, I’m really sorry, I think there needs to be another book in between Venom and Blaze and City and Shadow. As it happens, I’ve written it and it’s called Fable and Legend.” I also solemnly promised this would be the last time I’d muck the order up! So far, I’ve managed to keep to this promise.

If you’re interested in what goes on behind the scenes during the writing, editing and getting-ready-for-publication process, I’ve published a blog series called What’s Involved In Writing A Book and updating it at various stages in the journey. Part of my aim with this website was always to document what was happening so I could look back later – and maybe an aspiring author will find it useful.

It doesn’t end

That sounds more ominous than I meant, but the whole business of writing is quite constant. Not only do you need to write the books (a process which, for me, includes daydreaming, snacking, walking around, dreaming, napping, thinking and a little bit of putting pen to paper or fingers to laptop keys), you need to craft your submission carefully (I really haven’t gone into detail about this above and I probably won’t because I’m absolutely not an expert and there’s a wealth of other blog posts about how to create an amazing submission if you’re interested) and, once you go through all the editing process, choosing cover art, more editing and more editing again, you need to promote the book somehow. I’m still figuring that one out, but trying to grow my socials, write this blog and get the word out about my upcoming debut novel.

Conclusion

In life, I’ve found there are a few moments where you feel utterly compelled to do something. Getting The Mirrordom Legends out there and published was one of those feelings. Maybe you’ve felt something similar in your life or maybe you’re reading this and thinking “What fresh drivel is she on about now?” but when I get those feelings (and it doesn’t happen often), I have to do my best to follow through. If you have a book inside you, bursting to get out, maybe it’s time you wrote it. And maybe, one day, I’ll get to read it.

I am so grateful to my publisher, for taking a chance on a brand-new baby author; for all my beta readers; for everyone who’s taken time out of their day to read something I wrote or like a post I made or just show some support.

If you are a recently published author, how did you find the journey? What steps did you take to ensure your book got the attention it deserves?

As authors, we sometimes write about things that we don’t necessarily agree with. So our search history can range from bloodthirsty to bizarre (it’s just research, we swear!)

I thought it would be fun to share some of the more weird questions I’ve asked Google in the name of writerly research.

What do you call the chairs they use in nursing homes?

I wanted to know if those special covered, urine-repellent chairs had a name. I still don’t know. I tend to make the mistake of asking Google direct questions, rather than just chucking keywords at it. As a result, I’m so specific it doesn’t understand me.

Another word for… insert whatever word we need a synonym for rather than just reaching for a thesaurus…

Honestly, I’ve lost count of all the times I’ve asked Google for synonyms. I do have a thesaurus as well. I just never use it.

How to throw a javelin.

One of the characters in my latest novel is a highly-proficient thrower of the javelin. Thanks to Google, I now have a basic knowledge of how to stand and how to best throw the spear.

If you’re a writer, what’s the most obscure thing you’ve ever Googled?

My first draft of my latest WIP has just been completed!

This story has been simmering away for several months, having been started (and then unceremoniously dumped as Mirrordom demanded attention) and then re-ignited again over the month of May. I then decided to meticulously map out what was going to happen in the story so I could have a plan in mind. And then, at the end, it didn’t matter because a twist happened that even took me by surprise.

Most brilliant writers say their process involves having a basic plan and then writing what comes. I wish I could do that, but unfortunately being a careful planner, I need to write down, chapter by chapter, what is going to happen next. In spite of this, however, I still get taken by surprise by things that happen.

Completing the first draft

Now the first draft is done, I’m going to…

…do absolutely nothing with it.

The fallow period, where I let the work sit for several weeks or months, is an important part of the process. It allows my brain to change gear and then come back to the manuscript afresh. Invariably, this means I pick up a ton of faults that I have to change.

Once the fallow period is over, I’ll go back in and edit it to within an inch of its life. I already know I need to do a lot of character developing and flesh out some of the villains to make them more threatening.

As always, I will format the book for print (which is another good way of encouraging my brain to look at it in a different light, rather than just reading a Word document.) I’ll be looking out for typing errors and inconsistencies, as well as a healthy chunk of developmental editing – which basically means ensuring the writing itself is as tight and gripping as it can and should be.

Will it ever get published?

Who knows? At this stage, it’s not on the radar in the immediate future because there’s far too much work to do to get the manuscript up to scratch. After that’s done, I do have a few publishers I’d like to send it to but nothing is ever guaranteed.

What’s the point of mentioning it then?

This blog has always been about documenting my journey to getting published – and that includes mentioning all the ones that may not get there. I have loads of WIPs at any given time – this is just one of them and it may or may not see the light of day. What I can say is that this is one of my current favourite stories and I’d be really proud to see it on shelves at some point in the future. Until then, there’s a lot of work to do.

(But first, a nap. I have just finished the first draft of a novel, after all!)

A very exciting email landed in my inbox this week. I opened it with trepidation and trembling fingers.

Because this email was from the very talented lady who is designing the cover for Venom and Blaze. The cover is so important to me – I really wanted it to look dark, engaging and professional.

When Venom and Blaze got accepted by the publisher, I had to fill in a form. This form ultimately went to the designer and the information was used to shape what the final cover would look like. I wrote down how I envisaged the cover, how I pictured the main characters and what the important themes were in the book.

I’ve just had my first look at the cover and I was absolutely blown away. I had high demands – and it far exceeds them. I have a few tiny tweaks to ask for but, in the main, I couldn’t be happier and I can’t wait to show it to you all. I could hardly stop staring at it and grinning like a twit for an entire day.

I am so appreciative of the time and effort that went in to understanding the brief I gave and translating it into stunning imagery and concepts. When I compare this to what I might have tried to come up with if I’d gone down the self-publishing route, it really makes me appreciate talented, skilled designers.

So the big question is: when can I show it off?

Watch this space, but it won’t be long. And it’ll be worth the wait.