Happy New Year!!!
After many moons I ‘m finally making progress on the second in my YA Fantasy series The Curse of Time Book 2 Golden Healer.
It has been a long haul BUT I can begin to see encouraging flickers of light at the end of a very long, arduous tunnel.
Writing a sequel is so hard! No, scratch that, it’s TORTURE.
Why?
- My memory isn’t as good as it used to be. I realised that I’d forgotten some of the minutiae of book one. Sequential aspects, patterns of speech and the like.
- Writing a novel isn’t for the faint-hearted. It’s around 80,000 and that’s a lot of words.
- Structuring the bloody thing… ugh… when will I ever learn to plot?
- Working full-time whilst trying to wrangle it into shape. Masochist.
- My imagined final copy is never the final version. Betas read it and you realise you must do more work. The slog is real. It seems interminable. And then SCBWI (Society of Children’s Writers and Book Illustrators) conference goers read parts of it too and have more suggestions for you too.
- Then there’s the dreaded B word: Boredom. Yes, it gets to the point were you are so fed up looking at your once treasured words.
- Followed by the dreaded D word: Doubt. Who wants to read the bloody thing anyway? It’s such a crock of… miserable… you get the picture.
- And the dreaded E word: Experience. I will no longer be a debut. This will be my second novel. Perhaps people will expect more from me? EEK.
Help…
That’s when point 9 comes trotting along before no. 10 to restore my sanity.
9. Stop beating myself with my notebook, pen, keyboard whatever. Take a break. BREAK? What do writers do when they long for a break? Rest… NO. OF COURSE NOT. In my case, I decided to write a poetry and prose book.
I told you I’m a masochist!
10. So, now I have a poetry collection to finish and edit too. Double TORTURE. Only joking, this poetry collection seems easy in comparison to the novel. OR IS IT?
It’s called Mr. Sagitarrius – Poetry, and Prose. It includes various short form poetry, short fiction and my photography images of the natural world: trees, a robin, a dragonfly, plus a couple of images via a young photographer Alex Murdoch – son of Sam Murdoch – who has a lovely blog about cats and crystals: https://samanthamurdochblog.wordpress.com/
Hope you like the title. Please let me know your thoughts…
Titles are interesting, aren’t they? I nearly called it The Magic Golden Willow Tree – Poetry and Prose but decided that was too wordy.
I don’t have a cover yet so…. Image via pixabay – Monfocus.
Here’s the blurb… or what might become the blurb….
Two twin brothers Harold and William love the magic of the natural world.
When Harold dies he leaves a simple memorial request.
Will his brother William and his sister Annette honour it?
Or, will the garden work its magic to ensure that they do.
A magical story expressed via an original compilation of poetry and prose
with photographic images.
Now, it is possible that this usurper poetry book might come out before The Curse of Time Book 2.
Oh. A race is on, which one will win?
In the meantime, if you haven’t read the first in the series, now’s the time… HURRY! And if you do I’d love some more reviews. I’m creeping up to 20 on Amazon UK. Can you get me from 18 to 20?
Buy Book: myBook.to/TheCurseofTime
Unique Selling Point: Unique, Imaginative, ‘Charming, enchanting and richly layered this is purely delightful.’
“This delightful book will appeal to teens and young adults who love stories filled with magical crystals, dark family curses, and mysteries waiting to be solved around every corner. Each chapter leads you on a journey of discovery where Amelina earns the right to use three wizard stones to reset the balance of time and finally break the curse that holds her family hostage. A captivating tale!” – Colleen M. Chesebro (Editor)
M J Mallon YA Author and Poet 