Showing Tag: "apprentice" (Show all posts)

Plans and the Unexpected

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Tuesday, December 19, 2023, In : Coming Soon

Was it John Lennon who said that life is what happens while you're making plans for something else? Whoever said it, they were right. This has been brought home to me particularly strongly in the past weeks, in both my personal and my writing life.
For the past month or so I've been working on a few long-held projects. The first is to design business cards, bookmarks and postcards to help promote my books, provide something interesting for readers to collect and to make me look more professio...
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Where Did It Go?

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, July 2, 2023, In : Coming Soon

How did that happen? One minute I'm posting a blog here about the Smashwords Read an Ebook Week sale and the next it's the start of the Smashwords Summer-Winter Sale and three months have passed.
Did I prick my finger and fall asleep throughout spring? If so, I'd like to know what the prince who was supposed to wake me with a kiss was up to in the meanwhile. Maybe I was sucked into a black hole and have only just been spat back out, in which case I shall blame Einstein for the delay. More li...
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Resolutions

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Saturday, January 8, 2022, In : Inspiration

I don't believe in 'em–New Year resolutions that is, mainly because I know I'll have fallen short before the end of January. However, I do have a long writing to-do list.
While I was writing the Exiles of Ondd novels, I gathered a big folder of ideas for everything from novels to essays, micro-fiction to monologues, and I want to dive into these. I'm not daft enough to think I can write them all in a year, even if I did think they were all worth it, but I should at least be able to finish s...
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Getting Away from It All

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Saturday, December 18, 2021, In : Coming Soon

I don't have a secret door to a fantasy world in the back of my wardrobe, nor can I flip open my phone and ask Scotty to beam me up, but I shall be running away for Christmas. There will be no last minute rush to the shops, nor any family arguments about which old film to watch on TV. I shall be in my own world, or more likely, a someone else's world.
If I'm not scribbling notes and ideas for my own writing, I shall have my nose in a book or two. There will be no shortage of choice as the Sma...
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The Time Has Come

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, July 19, 2021, In : Coming Soon

At last I can announce that Discord's Shadow is available to pre-order at Smashwords. This means that it now has a firm publication date of 6th November 2021. I was going to make it a week earlier, but the Smashwords site recommends releasing books at the weekend after a holiday, and as 1st November will be a Monday, I decided on Saturday 6th instead. (Never let it be said that I don't pay attention to advice!) This date will not change, barring floods, fires, hurricanes, earthquakes or the i...
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From Fault to Advantage

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Saturday, July 4, 2020, In : Inspiration

Last year, I would no doubt have been watching tennis on TV and feeling a little guilty about not writing. From the French Open to the end of Wimbledon, I find it hard to tear myself away. I tell myself the season is short, and it'll have to last me all year, but I still get twinges unless I get a morning's writing in before the matches start. Of course, in England I can usually rely on plenty of rain breaks to catch up with the things I should be doing.
Binge-watching tennis isn't all bunkin...
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Worth the Wait

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, March 1, 2020, In : Coming Soon

The long wait for Wingbeats to be broadcast is over. At 11pm CST it went out on http://www.wcbe.org as one of Midnight Audio Theatre's three winning plays of 2019. If you missed it, it will be available at http://www.midnightaudiotheatre.com in a few days.
The first of the trio, The Wild Hunt by Jim McDoniel is on the website now. I recommend listening to it. The play concerns a soldier's search for a man, thought to be the victim of a supernatural hunt. It's a chilling way to spend 20 minut...
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Presents Galore!

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Saturday, December 28, 2019, In : Coming Soon

For a writer, one of the best Christmas presents of all is hearing their work read by a professional voice-over artist. I was thrilled on Christmas Day to open my emails and find that the podcast of my prizewinning story in the Remastered Words contest is now available at http://www.remasteredwords.com. For a limited time, you can listen to it FREE. There's also an interview with me about the story and my writing. I have to say that Sam Burns @Wysiwyg88 has really done the story proud
If poet...
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Play Time

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Tuesday, December 24, 2019, In : Coming Soon

How did it get to be Christmas time? So many things still undone and the days so short! Never mind, they are going to get longer again now–time to look ahead to what 2020 might bring.
It seems a lot of theatre companies agree with me, because there are some excellent opportunities coming up for playwrights. In addition to the BBC's annual call-out for dramas, which can be for stage, radio, film or television, which ends on 6th January (https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/send-a-script), there...
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Happy Accidents

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Saturday, July 27, 2019, In : Inspiration

I have to say thank you to all the people who listened to my attempts to speak Spanish with such patience and good humour while I as in Bilbao. As always, while I was away I jotted down a diary of what we did. It wasn't intended for publication, only to jog my memory, but the friend I was with said ominously that she would like to see it. I'm not sure about that, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to put an extract on here, so be warned. What follows is the written equivalent of being invited to a sl...
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Optimistic Predictions

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, June 30, 2019, In : Coming Soon

Grr... technology and I just aren't getting along these days. I'd get a divorce from it if I could, but then I'd have to say goodbye to most of my readers, so I'll have to stay joined. The current irritation is that after a break of two months from this blog, I try to add a new post and get a notice to say that Firefox no longer supports the text edit and I need to go on Google Chrome instead. Now, I'm not a fan of Google Chrome, I think it has secret plans to take over the world. Recently, I...
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Count to Ten

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, September 30, 2018, In : Coming Soon

I've had a few little irritations in the past week or two, so I wasn't best pleased when I received an email from Amazon announcing that they are amalgamating with their print company, CreateSpace.
All paperbacks with the latter will be transferred to Amazon. Authors will find a few differences, especially if anyone has books in the process of being published. Some covers may need to be tweaked, if not replaced, if they were made with CreateSpace's cover creator. Royalties will be paid af...
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Brief Opportunities

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, July 29, 2018,

There isn't much time left before the Smashwords Summer-Winter sale ends. Wait until Wednesday to make your choice and you'll be too late. No time for novels? There are plenty of books of short stories to download either at big discounts or completely free, as well.
Take Artists and Liars, for instance. It's a collection of short stories, flash fiction and poetry–11 works in all–linked by an art theme. Do you know the difference between a collector and a connoisseur? What goes through ...
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Whoopee!

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, April 15, 2018, In : Coming Soon

In fact, triple whoopee! I can at last put an end to Ro going around in circles, and get her on the road again in The Exiles of Ondd III. I know, I've said this before–more than once–but this time she's actually broken free. That won't mean a lot to anyone who hasn't read Discord's Child or Discord's Apprentice, but for anyone who has, and is beginning to get tired of waiting to find out what happens next, this is good news. I'm so relieved I could dance around the room, but I won't–pro...
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Hairy Heroes

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Tuesday, February 20, 2018,

Dogs have always played an important role in literature, and as the Chinese Year of the Dog has just begun, what better time to look at canine characters?
Without his faithful hound, Argos, to recognise him, who would have believed that Odysseus had finally returned in Homer's The Odyssey? The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, without a big black dog, wouldn't have left Sherlock Holmes with much to investigate. Every age group and genre of literature from See Spot Run by...
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Think Before You Click

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Thursday, February 8, 2018,

Those who were born before the millennium might remember a time before computers adorned every desk, even word processors were a rarity, and electric typewriters were the serious writer's best friend. Actually, that's wrong–Tippex was a writer's best friend. More than three mistakes on a page–tippexed or not–and you were advised to start again. Worse still, because you couldn't save your files in umpteen different places or print off a pristine copy whenever you needed it, you had to ma...
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Sorry, Sorry, Sorry

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Thursday, February 1, 2018,

My apologies to everyone who downloaded Discord's Child from Smashwords since the Christmas sale, expecting to find a code at the end for a free copy of Discord's Apprentice. I stuffed up! I wondered why it hadn't been used, despite my banging on about it for the past month. I was beginning to think that no-one loved me. Now, I know why, and I wouldn't blame anyone for being angry–I'm angry with myself. It was only when I reopened the file for the novel to remove the code, as it was no long...
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On Your Marks...

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, January 22, 2018, In : Competitions

Wow! We're already three weeks into 2018. Time for a round-up of a few free contests.
Playwrights can enter the Drip Action Theatre Trail 2018 for plays of 30-40 minutes. There's £250 first prize, plus £150 for another seven plays chosen for performance. The closing date is 31st January with entry by post. Check http://www.dripaction.co.uk for details. Papatango is looking for full length plays for its contest, closing on 28th February. In addition to production and a share of the box o...
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BOGOF!

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, January 7, 2018,

I know it sounds rude, but all my readers can BOGOF this month! If you buy Discord's Child from https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ksdearsley you'll find a code number to get Discord's Apprentice FREE, valid until 31st January. In other words, you can Buy One and Get One Free.
Actually, there's a growing trend that makes me feel like adding an 'F' and telling some publishers to bog off. I find it very disturbing that more and more publications are charging writers to submit work to th...
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New Bginnings

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, January 1, 2018,

Happy 2018! This is a time when many of us try to say 'good-bye' to our old selves, and make ourselves all kinds of promises about who we're going to be in future. From now on we're going to be non-smokers and/or vegan, exercise daily, go on a diet, learn a new language etc. etc. A fair few of us will already have broken at least one New Year's resolution–ah well, a bank holiday after a night of celebration probably isn't the best time for fresh starts, especially if it's cold and dark outs...
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Christmas Dilemma Solved

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Thursday, December 21, 2017, In : Coming Soon

You might think that my middle initial, 'S', stands for Scrooge, as I don't generally give Christmas presents (note: that's 'give', not 'gift'). I like going around the shops looking for ideas, I'm happy to wrap even awkward-shaped items, and I love to see a heap of presents under the tree, but the problem with presents is that they're often bought out of desperation to find something–anything! Even when the recipients like them, they often have no use for them. Instead of giving people thi...
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Short but Sweet

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, July 30, 2017, In : Coming Soon

Third Word Press has accepted my 80-word story, 'Turning to Stone', for its anthology A House of Music and Other Stories, which is being sold to help the homeless. The 80 stories of 80 words each were selected from entries to its fortnightly competitions, and I'm looking forward to reading them.
When I told a friend about it, she couldn't understand what I meant by 80-word stories. How could a story have a beginning, middle and end when it was so short? Surely it must be an extract from so...
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Fair's Fair!

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Tuesday, July 11, 2017,

One of the joy's of self-publishing is that you're free to do what you want with your work. No one might read it, but at least the decisions are yours and no one can insist on a different cover or cutting out your favourite scene. All the responsibility and the rewards are yours–as well as all the chores.
It's easy to see publicity and marketing as 'housework'–jobs that need to be done, that take up far too much time when you could be actually producing something, and whose benefits ca...
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Happy Holidays–Happy Reading

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Saturday, July 1, 2017, In : Coming Soon

Do writers ever really take a holiday? I recently spend a week on Rhodes. It's a beautiful island with something for everyone whether they prefer the beach or mountains, wild forests or orderly olive groves and vineyards, ancient ruins or nightclubs. While I had a wonderful time, there was a part of my brain that never switched off. Whatever I saw or did, I wanted a better record of it than a photo. That's why I always carry a notebook with me on holiday. A snapshot can give you a flat visual...
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Keep On Keeping On

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, April 10, 2017, In : Inspiration

It took a couple of days longer than I'd planned, but Discord's Child and Discord's Apprentice were finally unleashed as paperbacks from CreateSpace and Amazon last Monday (3rd April). There was a last minute hitch–the discovery that moving one little hyphen had had a knock-on effect throughout a whole chapter. I could have left it, I've seen other novels with words hyphenated across pages, but once I'd spotted it, I would never have been happy knowing it was there. Anyway, the paperbacks a...
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Discord's Child FREE for a week

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, March 5, 2017, In : Coming Soon

It's Smashword's Read an Ebook week again until 11th March. I've enrolled Discord's Child in it, so all you need to do is visit http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ksdearsley, click on the novel and use the code SFREE to download a copy for free. This is a really good opportunity to 'try before you buy' if you're unsure whether to get the next in the series, Discord's Apprentice, or to treat yourself to the paperback versions, which should be available from CreateSpace and Amazon from 1st ...
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Running Late

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, February 27, 2017, In : Coming Soon

My blogging schedule has gone out of the window once again. My apologies. I have a really bad habit of seriously underestimating how long it takes me to do things, especially if they involve a computer. A big tip to anyone involved in writing or publishing is to work out how long you think you'll need to do something, double it and then add at least a fortnight! I'm hoping I'm back on track now, but as soon as I finish keying this in, I'm going to recross my fingers. It hasn't helped that I'v...
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To Have and to Hold

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, February 5, 2017, In : Coming Soon

Wow! The proofs of Discords' Child and Discord's Apprentice have arrived early. They're looking good, although I do say it myself. I've yet to go through them with my nit-picking comb, but all being well, they should be on sale from Amazon and Create Space by Easter, so you'll have something to read while you're scoffing your Easter eggs. Once I know everything's okay and I have a firm date, the details will be on here straight away. I want to offer some introductory deals, so watch this spac...
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One Step Closer

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, January 30, 2017, In : Coming Soon

I've finally done it–I've clicked on 'order proof' and am now nervously awaiting the arrival of print copies of Discord's Child and Discord's Apprentice.
The process so far has been relatively painless. I used my files for the Kindle copies and pasted them onto Create Space's template. With print there are extra things to think about concerning the layout, fonts and sizes etc., but at least the manuscript should be free of typos and grammatical errors (I hope!). I also adapted the digita...
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All Systems Go

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, January 16, 2017, In : Coming Soon

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted a blog, but I haven't been slacking. In fact, the past fortnight's been rather productive, if a little tedious in places.
After the end of the year hiatus, there have been quite a few mid-month deadlines and submission periods to prepare for across drama, short story and poetry competitions, Then there are the themed hashtag Twitter accounts I've discovered including #MuseMon, #2bitTues, #1lineWed, #Thurds, #SciFiFri, #SchemingSaturday and #6WordS...
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Proms Poetry Contest

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Friday, August 12, 2016, In : Competitions

There's still just time to enter the BBC's contest for a poem of up to 25 lines inspired by your response to a piece of music included in this year's Proms concerts. The closing date is 14th August. There's no cash prize, but the winning poem will be read on air and the winner will be invited to one of the concerts. Details are on the BBC's website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/features/poetry-competition.
There should be plenty of food for ideas in the concerts. Music calms or excites, com...
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As One Door Opens...

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, March 6, 2016, In : Coming Soon

Would you rather have the good news or the bad news first? The good news. Right, here it is. Smashwords is holding its seventh annual Read an Ebook Week from today until 12th March 2016, and my books are all enrolled in it. That means you can get Discord's Child FREE (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/410566) and Discord's Apprentice (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/542490) and Artists and Liars (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/322872) for half price. All you have to do is go to ...
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Now, I'm Not So Sure

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Friday, October 16, 2015, In : Inspiration

I couldn't decide what to blog about. It's been that sort of week. I haven't been blocked exactly, I've just had so many odds and ends of things to do (such as emails to respond to, like the one from Bruce Harris letting me know that Writing Short Fiction appears to have found a new editor) that I feel as if I haven't really done anything.
Indecision is a real killer for any sort of writing. Sometimes it might be choosing between two words that apparently are equally apt that brings you to...
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Singing Again

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Friday, September 11, 2015, In : Coming Soon

It's okay, you can put your earplugs away, it isn't me who's singing but the Iyessi. I'm happy to say that I've now completed a new series of Iyessi songs to go with Discord's Apprentice. As with the lyrics for Discord's Child, there's one for the prologue and each chapter. Some are happy, some are serious, some you could dance to and others are gentle. Not that Ro would experience them that way. Hopefully, readers will enjoy them.
Of course, the songs are an optional extra, which is why ...
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Almost Zero Hour

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, May 31, 2015, In : Coming Soon

I hesitate to mention it, but today is the last chance to pre-order Discord's Apprentice. Tomorrow is not only the first day of summer and my mother's birthday, it's publication day for the second novel in The Exiles of Ondd series. The reason I hesitate to mention it is that it makes me feel as if I'm being pushy or boasting, two things that were definite no-nos when I was brought up. However, the fact is that even when they have a traditional publisher, these days writers are expected to do...
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Short and Not So Short

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, May 18, 2015, In : Coming Soon

I've been indulging myself over the past few days by dipping into the latest issue of Illumen, a magazine of speculative poetry. I'm thrilled to say that one of my poems, 'Plundering the Moon', is in it. The contents cover all shades of the speculative spectrum and are worth taking your time over and savouring. They're striking, beautiful and thoughtful.
Going from one extreme to another, during the pre-order period before the launch of Discord's Apprentice on 1st June, I'm tweeting a shor...
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Three Good Things

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Thursday, May 14, 2015, In : Coming Soon

I was beginning to think this day wouldn't arrive, but I've finally managed to get Discord's Apprentice on Amazon and Smashwords for pre-order. Order a copy before the launch date (1st June 2015) and you can take advantage of a special low price. To celebrate having got this far, I've also reduced the price of Discord's Child and included the first chapter of Discord's Apprentice at the end. Now all I have to do is make sure everyone hears the news, so tell all your friends and come back ofte...
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Found It!

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Tuesday, May 5, 2015, In : Coming Soon

It took thirty-plus websites (some twice or more), several thousand thumbnail images, at least two days, half a dozen cups of coffee, one bar of chocolate and two false starts, but I've done it–I've found the perfect cover for Discord's Apprentice.
The second novel in The Exiles of Ondd series isn't quite ready for pre-order yet, but you can see a preview of the cover here. The designer is Laura Gordon, and I can thoroughly recommend her work. She was quick and gave me exactly what I ask...
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Another 'F'

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, April 20, 2015, In : Coming Soon

More news about Alfie Dog Fiction. Not only am I its latest featured author from today (20th April), but I shall have two more stories on the site from 26th April. They are:
'Follow that Car', a feelgood story that follows what happens when a taxi-driver wishes for a passenger. He gets more than he bargained for. Is his fare a mobster, or is his imagination simply running wild?
'Patterns in the Sand' in which Julia hopes a stay by the sea will help her forget her ex-boyfriend, but does ...
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Pope Buys Book!

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, March 30, 2015, In : FantasyFiction

I had a really strange dream a couple of nights ago. I don't know how it began, like most dreams the action seemed to have started some time before I became aware of it. I was evidently involved in a promotional event for Discord's Apprentice resembling a village fête or town show. However, I was not giving a talk or being interviewed. I scrambled into a barrel mounted on a stand like a cannon or a cement mixer next to a stall, which could have been a tombola. (I put it down to watching a t...
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The Countdown Begins

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Tuesday, March 24, 2015, In : Coming Soon

I have an announcement to make (shoulders back, deep breath)–Discord's Apprentice, Book II of The Exiles of Ondd, will be launched in June on Kindle and Smashwords. At least that's the plan. June seems ages away at the moment, all of nine weeks, but I know it will go by in a flash.
I'm planning a series of 'activities' and 'events' in the run up to publication day. These will be announced on my website, which I shall be revamping shortly, this blog and other sites such as Goodreads, Smas...
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Back to the Beginning

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, November 24, 2014, In : Coming Soon

How many times can you rewrite a first chapter? I think I'm heading for a record. The first few pages of a novel are crucial in hooking readers' interest and persuading them to keep going beyond the free sample. It's always going to be hard to get it right, but with a sequel it's even harder. How much of the previous novel's events should I fill in? Do I need to describe the characters again? There's a real danger that I'll end up info dumping–having characters tell each other things they a...
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The Clock is Ticking

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, October 19, 2014,

Woohoo! At last I've started the next stage of the rewrites of Discord's Apprentice. This novel's turning into a real marathon. I thought it would take six months at most, but fate has a way of making your plans look silly. Setting myself unrealistic goals doesn't help. I inevitably think I can get more done than I can. The result is, I miss the targets I've set myself and if I'm not careful, I feel a failure. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
Before I go further, I'd like to say that I ...
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Showing Tag: "apprentice" (Show all posts)

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