Spring is coming! (now that I’ve said that it will snow, right?)
The first week of school holidays is almost over – too bad the gorgeous girl and I have spent much of it housebound, struck down again by the bug that just won’t go away. However, modern medicine and good old-fashioned rest seem to be doing the trick, as we are both feeling better and actually ventured out today, for brunch and a movie with one of her schoolfriends and his mother. (We saw Zootropolis, which was actually really well done.)
I’ve also been writing. Silver and Black is flying along (so far), the story taking an intriguing shape, and I’m toying with the idea of serialising it on my blog once it’s ready to go. There are a couple of reasons for this: one is that the idea came to me via a series of blog challenges, so perhaps this is the right venue in which to share it, and two, I don’t usually write vampire stories, so it will be interesting to see what sort of feedback it gets.
I’m also looking at joining the Authors Lending and Copyright Society, a not-for-profit organisation based in the UK, run for and by writers. The ALCS is, in their own words, ‘dedicated to protecting and promoting authors’ rights’ and one of the ways they do so is by collecting secondary use royalties. These types of royalties can be levied when someone photocopies or digitally reproduces your work, or whenever your books are borrowed from a library. However, I will do a little more research before signing on, and will dedicate a blog post to exploring it more in depth.
Today I read this excellent interview with Hugh Howey via The Story Reading Ape. Hugh is an independent author extraordinaire and, I think I might love him a little. He’s such a passionate advocate for independent publishing, and has so much to say about the current state of the industry – it is well worth a read.
I’ve also been watching the latest Star Wars trailer, for Rogue One. I’ve been a Star Wars fangirl since the very beginning, ever since I was taken to see the first film in the cinema. This newest episode looks fantastic, and I have it down as one of my must-see movies for this year.
Next week the gorgeous girl and I have a few things planned, so hopefully we’ll both be back to full health and ready to go. I’ll still be writing away in Camp NaNo as and when I can, plus looking ahead to marketing and promotional opportunities for Oak and Mist. Hills and Valleys, the third Ambeth book, is now in the final editing stage, so I’m hoping to be able to publish by the end of this month – watch this space for cover reveals and more info.
Wishing you all a good weekend!
Helen Glynn Jones 
Thanks for the shout out and GET WELL SOOOOON Helen & GG 🐵
Thanks Chris! Fingers crossed we’re on the mend. Hope you have a great weekend 🙂 xx
You too Helen 👍😃
If it snows, I’m coming for you… 😉
Glad you are both feeling a bit better x
Ha ha 😀 Fingers crossed it doesn’t, then!
Thanks, Sue x
😀
I love diego luna and for this I’m excited for rogue one 🙂 hope your bug goes away.
Thanks Kristin! It’s a great cast, isn’t it? They’ve done so well with these new movies 🙂
And thanks, I’m sure we’ll be better soon x
Busy lady! And we do have snow forecast for tomorrow! Really, we do. Hope it’s not the settling kind. Hope you’re better soon.
Ps. How come you a have school hols starting now, 2 weeks after Easter?
Oh no! Have I jinxed the weather? Here we have rain and thunderstorms forecast for the next week, though it is getting warmer.
And the early Easter has thrown holidays into a bit of havoc down here – some schools started their holidays on the Easter weekend, while others, including ours, had the Easter long weekend then went back to school for three days, then started the holidays the following Friday. So it’s been a bit of a shemozzle. Something to do with the length of term times, I guess.
Yes it really does make the last term looooong for the kids. Well I hope you get some good weather to enjoy yours, and hope you’re both feeling much better.
Thanks, Ali – are your lot back at school yet, or are you back this Monday? It would make for a long term, that’s for sure. Hope it doesn’t snow for you 🙂
Went back last Monday here. Cai is in senior school, they finish up at end of May, so it’s a long summer hol for him. Mal finishes mid June. He gets an extra week off as it’s his final year in junior school. But still a long term for him. Carys doesn’t seem to have any concept of time, she just loves going to school every day.
Wow, that’s not too bad. We go through until the third week of July here, so the summer holiday is quite short. I remember when I lived in Canada we would finish in May or June, which seemed much more like a summer break – six weeks is over pretty quickly, I find.
And that’s so sweet how Carys loves going to school 🙂
She gets an extra 4 weeks due to her special needs, so she won’t finish up till end of July, or thereabouts. I agree, 6 weeks is over too quick. 3 months on the other hand seems to last forever!!! 😣😢😭😄
Yes, there needs to be a happy medium, doesn’t there? I think two months would be quite nice 🙂
You have been busy! I’m glad you found the chance to write, and the projects sound exciting. I’ll look forward to hearing more about your decision on serialising the vampire story. Have a great weekend 🙂
Thanks, Mel, and the same to you! 🙂
You’re ill and yet you write loads; let me know what the secret is please? Coffee? Chocolate? Some ingestible hallucinogen? Anyhoo, get better soon.
Thanks Geoff 🙂
Not sure if I’m writing anything good, you understand – it could just be delirium nonsense. Chocolate does help, and a strong cuppa. Nothing stronger than that though, unless you count antibiotics.
Who knows what’s in them
Indeed. Still, they seem to be doing the trick 🙂
Hope you both feel better… Serialise… Interesting.
Thanks Sacha – we’re both feeling a lot better.
And yes, serialise. Doesn’t mean I won’t publish it as a book as well, but it’s just something I thought might be worth trying. I can give you the full MS, of course ;-D
It’s been so cold here *brrrrrr* I really hope spring is on its way. This is April, afterall! 🙂
Hope you’re both feeling well.
You have me curious about ALCS. I’ve never heard of it before, but the idea of it I like.
We are feeling much better, thank you 🙂 Hope the weather improves over your way!
And the ALCS intrigued me as well – there is a fee to join, but it’s deducted from the first payment they send you, so you don’t have to pay anything unless they actually find some royalties for you 🙂
I hope you and the gorgeous girl recovered and are up and about again and able to enjoy this past week. Good luck with the final editing for Book Three, and best of luck with your new novel—you put me to shame with your productivity! x
Thanks Louise 🙂 To be honest, I’m starting to wonder whether I have some new form of the plague, as I am still not well, though I’m much better than before, thank you.
And I don’t know how productive I am – I do seem to write a lot at the moment but am fortunate to have time to do so. The new novel will be a while off yet, just banging out the bones of it as part of NaNoWriMo. I’m actually feeling quite keen to get back to Ambeth, so may have to take a break from vampires for a day or two.