Don't want another dad!

 Lame Crow Press is offering a discounted deal on Bk 2 in the Daniela Hoffman series. It's The Third Father.

DON'T WANT ANOTHER DAD!

I thought about this and it applies to me - not the story in The Third Father - but to my life. The dad who brought me up was the one who adopted me. He was my real father. I knew there would be a biological father somewhere but I never did want another dad. When I was little, my dad cycled as fast as he could to bring me ice creams before they melted. He worked hard his whole life to look after me and never asked for anything in return.

Daughter has a secret

  

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in case you missed previous offerrs for this book.

THIS IS BOOK 1 IN THE DANIELA HOFFMAN SERIES.

WATCH OUT FOR DISCOUNTED DOWNLOADS ON BOOKS 2 AND 3 COMING VERY SOON.

What is purity? Read about Pure Dani.

You can read Pure Dani: love in another country for free on KU or just £1.99 for the ebbok, £6.99 paperback . This is book 3 in the Daniela Hoffman series set in Papua New Guinea. It's a coming of age story.

Another day

Will it ever finish? I suppose what I mean is - will I ever finish proof-reading this first novel?

Thoughts on a Sunday night (inc update)

My thoughts at this time of night are of my son who is in Australia. He is the sort of person who always has animals in his life (which bring complications as well as blessings). It used to be a horse but now it's a goat. I think they got the goat as a sort of lawn mower but I might be wrong. Anyhow, the goat has gone walkabout so he might be mowing somebody else's garden now....

I've spent most of today drafting Tuesday's bookchat post for Hastings Online Times. It's about marketing and even now, I don't like thinking about it (the marketing I mean, not the post).

I think it's because marketing means advertising and although it feels fine to advertise other people's books, it doesn't feel quite right to advertise your own.

Like every other writer in the world, I want to spend my time writing, not thinking about marketing but never mind. 

Photo by Edgar Chaparro on Unsplash (Sorry I haven't got a pic of Goatee in Oz, but the goat in this pic looks like a splendid old goat so he'll have to do as a stand-in.)

Red like fire or blood

Back to editing now.

Sleepless

I've made the decision so now I have to get it done - get the first novel published. 

I spent the whole of last night trying to go to sleep between titles. I'd just be dozing off when I'd think of another one. Got to write it down or I might forget it. This process repeats until it's almost morning and I'm exhausted.

top image - Pixabay at pexels.com

Overcoming fear

One, two three, go!

'I'm too old to even worry about it' - now who said that? It might have been Jimmy Reed.

I realise that I've been putting off getting my first series of novels published because I've been worried about this, nervous about that. Not sure that they are good enough. Not wanting to be judged.

The truth of it will likely be that nobody will notice my books. It's like playing a gig and you make a mess of a song. Surprisingly, people don't seem to notice, but it burns a hole inside your head so you want to disappear, wear dark glasses never to be recognised again, stay indoors for the rest of time. My fiddle teacher used to cheer me up by saying, 'Don't worry - forget about it. It happens to everybody. It won't be on the news.'

So I've made a decision to publish my first novel before Christmas. I was going to put it off until March. And once I've done the first one, I shall hopefully, follow it with the others 

Breakthrough

It came suddenly, the idea that made finishing the first Dani novel both harder and easier. More interesting. More exciting. And more meaningful.

Photo by Chris Flexen on Unsplash

Playing with sea and sky

Yesterday I had a whole day of playing around - not writing - just messing about with email and pics.

All day I played with sea and sky.

Warning signals?

I feel like this cat.

When I was about eleven, I got the chance to earn some money from potato picking. I was excited and rushed off to work the first day dreaming of the money I'd earn. By tea time, I couldn't stand up and hobbled home in a bent position. This was repeated day after day until I could eventually do it without pain, but then the boredom kicked in.

That's what my writing feels like at the moment - or rather the rewriting. I've lost count of how many times I've rewritten it all.

Are spurts of boredom warning signals? 
Photo of cat (at top of page) by Juan Gomez on Unsplash

Writing Competitions

Have you ever entered a writing competition?

I entered one some time ago and didn't win but I'm going to try again. Until I compiled a list of useful competitions for my Bookchat post in the Hastings Online Times, I had no idea that there were so many exciting ones.

Instead of copying them all out again, I'm going to give you a link to the post Why not enter a writing competition where there is a list with details and deadlines for each competition and links to more information.

I chose the pic above (not mine - see credit below) because the berries remind me of happy times when I lived in Oxford and a Japanese friend called Noriko came and took a picture of the red berries we used to pick from the prickly bush outside and put in a small grey vase (almost like a mug). I've got that pic somewhere but can't find it at the moment.

Hope that you are writing away and looking at flowers and berries every so often to keep you going. Thinking of you. Do send me a message sometime.

image thanks to Kaboompics at pexels.com

Two main characters?

After trying in various ways, I've come to the conclusion that it is not possible to have two equal main characters - or at least not for me. Dani has won. I've tried over and over again to balance the viewpoints of Dani (the daughter) and Esme (the mother) in my series of books about the two of them. Maybe it would be possible if I rewrote the stories using the 3rd person for both of them (that's how they started off) but I'm not going back to attempt again what failed the first time.

What I have tried this time is to balance the viewpoints by giving both Dani and Esme 1st person voices but it hasn't worked. All that has happened is confusion.

I'm not sure why I've decided that Dani has won and that it is she who has to have the 1st person voice, but I am sure. Maybe it's because when the two of them argue, it's Dani who wins my heart. Perhaps that's it. I'm not sure. It feels as though the two characters have fought for the special place and Dani has won. It doesn't feel as though I have made the choice. Do you know what I mean?

So now I'm back to the beginning of the first book Talking. I had completed 19 chapters of giving Esme 1st person voice but now I'm going to rewrite (one last time?!!!) to put Esme into the 3rd person.

It's all hard work, but I'm learning, hopefully I'm learning and I needed to do it because I had been gradually coming to a halt because the writing didn't feel satisfying. Now I'm enthused again (and I'll be even more enthused after I've been to the dentist tomorrow and got my teeth sorted out.... life keeps intruding on the writing and I expect it always will).

I'm now going to have a cup of green tea (that I used to drink in Papua New Guinea long before it became fashionable) while thinking of you all to send greetings.

By the way, did you know that it is NaNoWriMo month starting soon (in November)? Have a look - it's a great way to get encouragement and communicate with other writers.

How are all of you getting on with yours? Send me a message and let me know.