A while back, I got the chance to talk to Karen Mooney at Northern Visions Television about my #OldDogNewTricks project. As well as talking about my adventures, we also talk about The Faerie Thorn‘s journey to the stage, The Wonder Tales, my theatre-training with Tinderbox Theatre Company, and Women Aloud NI (an organisation I set up in 2015 to raise the profile of women writers in Northern Ireland).
You can watch the programme in full here:
I am just going outside and may be some time. (By the way, if you’re new to my blog, you can find more out about my #OldDogNewTricks project here.)
Today’s adventure feels exciting! The full manuscript of The Faerie Thorn is now with the publisher, and I’m awaiting a decision. The fact that the publisher liked my work is brilliant : up until this point, the only people who had read my story, or listened to it, were friends and family (my cheer-leaders 🙂 ).
The landscape suddenly changed when I read that the publisher liked the story. I somehow felt more like a “proper” writer.
The thing is, proper writers have proper critics and proper reviews. And so for today’s adventure, I am asking a young reader whom I have never met , who doesn’t know me at all, to review my story.
The reader is a 13 year-old girl. She’s an avid reader and up for the job of casting a critical eye over my work. I requested a “no-holds-barred” review.
Here’s the thing : I’ve only got 85 days of adventuring left. Time’s flying and there’s still stuff I want to get done, stuff I want to complete. I’ve realised that I like completing things, and I’m beginning to realise exactly how much I’ve actually completed this year!
Whilst I’ve really enjoyed the smaller one-off adventures, the adventures that have taught me the most have been those that have become larger projects : my composing adventure (The Call, a choral piece for 3 voices), my writing adventure (The Faerie Thorn) and my poetic adventure (my haiku collection).
So now I’m shifting my focus a little, Why? Because I want to finish these projects. Because I want to share the outcomes of my adventurous undertakings. Because I want to break new personal ground. This means that over the next couple of weeks, whilst I will respond to the daily adventure impulse if the call is strong enough, I’m going to pay attention to the deeper impulse, the core impulse, the primitive, insistent impulse that has been emerging throughout my 365 Days Of Adventure project.
Actually, as I write these words, I’m not sure if I know exactly what I mean by “core impulse”, but I can feel a deeper, wordless call. I recognise it. It’s been calling more insistently for the last couple of weeks, and it’s getting stronger by the day. I am listening. I am calling back. I am beginning to hear the resonant echo.
For today’s adventure, I took another step towards completing my writing adventure : I spoke with my friend Damian Hamill (the guy in the picture) who is originally from Northern Ireland (the setting for The Faerie Thorn) and who does voice-over work. I’ve sent him the manuscript and he’s going to turn my manuscript into an audiobook. Damian also talked me through all the options I have in terms of making my audiobook available for purchase and I’ve researched those options (and made a decision!).
I like the idea of collaborating, and I’m looking forward to hearing Damian’s interpretation of the characters in my story.
Today I thought I’d have a bit of fun learning how to insert an opinion poll into my blog! So, I’ve created 4 images that are in the running for being the cover for the audio download of my original Irish faerie story, The Faerie Thorn. All you have to do is to tell me which of the images works best for you (or if none of them works for you, that’s okay too!). If you have any additional comments or thoughts that may help me to craft an image that is attractive to you, just drop me a note in the comments box!
Click on each of the images to enlarge them 🙂 and then check the appropriate “button” in the poll box below.
Well, I am considering going to the local trolls and asking to be turned into a bone-ghost … anything to escape the synopsis! I’ve dedicated a further 5 hours to refining my synopsis and it still doesn’t feel right to me!
Well, what can I tell you? Writing a one-page synopsis of a story I know inside-out is not something that I’ve found easy at all. Turns out though that the “Synopsis Struggle” is very common amongst the writing population – and just knowing that makes me feel better (and like a proper writer …. a REALLY proper writer because it was a REALLY big struggle.)
It took me four hours and (as you will see in today’s video) I am now “all worded out”. There’s not a single letter, let alone word, left on my tongue. I need a lie down 😛 . (And. Yeah. It’s just the first draft. *SIGH* )
I have completed the fourth (and final) round of editing of my short story, The Faerie Thorn. Now I’m ready to move on to the next part of my writing adventure : preparing my bio and a synopsis to send off to agents and publishers!
Gosh. Editing is a tougher than I thought 😛 . Today’s adventure has been all about editing my book and this round of editing has been completely grammar-focused. I am actually surprised that I got out alive. Grammar and bone-ghosts seem to have a lot in common 😛 .
The editing is still not complete and I’m heading into my fourth and (fingers crossed) final cycle tomorrow. What makes me giggle (well, okay , I’ll admit it. I’m too grammar-garotted to giggle just now) is that the Faerie Thorn story actually took me fourteen hours to write. Guess how long the editing has taken?……….
Well, let me just start by saying that art is not necessarily one of my top talents! In spite of this, I did have an impulse today to attempt to bring the Faerie Thorn King himself to life on paper. I think my short story would benefit from an illustration or two but I’m not sure that I’m the artist that I should employ for that task 😛
I think I have managed to capture the sense of him but I’ve not managed to portray his raw masculinity at all! (And as for the glamrock outfit – I just don’t know where that came from 😛 )
In today’s video, I talk you through his full outfit.
It’s all getting a bit exciting now! Having completed a first full editorial run- through of my long-short story [The Faerie Thorn], today I start to find out a little bit more about how to go about getting my story published.
You can find the book I mention in today’s video here.
A while back, I got the chance to talk to Karen Mooney at Northern Visions Television about my #OldDogNewTricks project. As well as talking about my adventures, we also talk about The Faerie Thorn‘s journey to the stage, The Wonder Tales, my theatre-training with Tinderbox Theatre Company, and Women Aloud NI (an organisation I set up in 2015 to raise the profile of women writers in Northern Ireland).
Humans Resourced 