It’s the final week of January and I’ve accomplished the following:
- Written 1003 words across three of my bigger projects.
- Finished two drabbles
Bring on February, where I hope to up my word count.
Here’s to another week!
Happy writing!
Category: publishing
Week Three | 2020
It’s the third week in January and I’m slowly getting into the swing of things.
So, what have I accomplished in the past seven days?
Let’s list it shall we and find out!
- Written 1029 words across three projects.
- Finished two short stories.
- Edited one story.
I’m hoping to push the words in February when the kids go back to school. So, for now I’m happy averaging 1000 a week.
Here’s to another week!
Happy writing!
Week Two | 2020
It’s a new year and a new challenge.
So, what have I accomplished in the past seven days?
Let’s list it shall we and find out!
- Received an ACCEPTANCE for a previously published story into Stories of Hope anthology.
- Written 1100 words across two projects.
- Written and submitted a poem.
- Edited 3 short stories.
I realized after I posted last week that I was a long way off my target of 3,500 words but as a friend reminded me tonight… it’s better than no words at all. And you know what? It really is!
Here’s to another week!
Happy writing!
Week One | 2020
It’s a new year and a new challenge.
So, what have I accomplished in the past seven days?
Let’s list it shall we and find out!
- Received an ACCEPTANCE for my story White As Snow into Twisted Fate vol 1.
- Written 1506 words across four projects.
- Submitted a story to the Stories of Hope anthology.
It feels like a slow start to January but given the amount of words written it’s definitely not.
I wonder what next week will bring?
Until then… Happy writing!
It’s Done!
It’s done! Omg! I finished writing Le Fay early this morning. At ten past one this morning to be precise. And, wow! I think you’re all going to love it, I really do!
This journey has been incredible. I wasn’t sure for a while there if I could even write a prequel to Morrighan because the words just weren’t flowing and I didn’t want to force them, but then a spark of inspiration came and I got it done.
So, it’s done and I still need to edit it and properly format it and make sure the cover is right for the paperback… basically make it shine… so that I can release it into the world. Which means no release date yet, but soon, I swear. I just had to update you all on my progress and let you know that I hadn’t forgotten.
At just over 6,200 words it will be priced similarly to Morrighan… be sure to keep your eyes on my blog for future updates!
I can’t wait!
Summer’s Splash
So, I ended yesterday on a bit of a high, having received an acceptance for my short story, Summer Storm to be published in Fantasia Divinity‘s Summer’s Splash anthology.
The contract has been signed and returned. Now I await edits.
The story itself is just over 500 words and picks up after the events of The Dawning of Spring, so if you haven’t picked up a copy of Spring’s Blessing: A Spring Fantasy Anthology, you may want to.
A little about the story appearing in Summer’s Splash…
Mercy, the newly crowned Queen of the Seelie Court, broods over her deal made with the Goddess of Spring, Ostara as the Midsummer festivities begin.
Week Sixteen
Today is the end of the sixteenth week of the 365 Writing Challenge and I failed dismally this week in way of words added to pieces of fiction and poetry. However, I did write an impressive 2,114 words on my blog. So, that’s a win in my book.
So, what have I accomplished in the past seven days?
Let’s list it shall we and find out!
- Added 100 words to an Iron Faerie Publishing submission piece.
- Added 100 words to Le Fay.
- Submitted one drabble to Black Hare Press.
- Wrote one poem.
- Edited a couple of short stories.
And of course, the wait for contest scores continues, as does waiting to hear back on a few – 5 – submissions I’ve sent to publishers in the last month.
Of course, that list doesn’t include my work with The Horror Tree which can often be overwhelming or my work with Iron Faerie Publishing.
Until next week (or the week after that). Happy writing.
Week Fifteen
Today is the end of the fifteenth week of the 365 Writing Challenge and I’ve managed to write 1156 words across seven days.
So, what have I accomplished over the past week?
Let’s list it shall we and find out!
- Wrote a further 644 words and completed Of Blood and Fire. It comes in at 5,044 words and was submitted in the early hours of Thursday, 11th April.
- Continued work on Le Fay, writing a further 300 words. It’s now sitting at 4,000/6,000 words. I had to push the deadline back two weeks.
- Wrote two short poems.
- I’ve sat staring at my untitled story for the Summer Splash anthology more than I would like but I’ve managed to get 156 words down.
Of course, that list doesn’t include my work with The Horror Tree which can often be overwhelming or my work with Iron Faerie Publishing. Or any of the blogs I’ve written over the last week.
Until next week (or the week after that). Happy writing.
Week Thirteen and Fourteen
Today is the end of the fourteenth week of the 365 Writing Challenge and I’ve managed to write 5008 words across fourteen days. Hard to believe, I know. This of course, doesn’t count the words that go into my blog posts, if it did, I can guarantee you the word count would be higher.
So, what have I accomplished in the past two weeks?
Let’s list it shall we and find out!
- Started work on Of Blood and Fire – I’m 4,408 words into the short story which is centred around King Arthur and Camelot. Complete with dragons and… vampires. Yep! You heard correctly. Vampires!
- Submitted a poem, Raven Queen to Dragon Soul Press.
- Edited two short stories.
- Edited 9,000 words worth of articles for a client.
- Submitted my short story, The Drowning Pool to Pixie Forest Publishing’s anthology At Death’s Door.
- Wrote a 600 word scene that will eventually be included in the WIP Eldritch.
- Wrote two more poems
- Wrote two drabbles
Of course, that list doesn’t include my work with The Horror Tree which can often be overwhelming or my work with Iron Faerie Publishing.
All up it’s lead to a very busy, but productive two weeks.
Until next week (or the week after that). Happy writing.
Week Twelve
It’s goodbye to yet another week of the 365 Writing Challenge and I’ve written a grand total of 2,200 words… which is slightly up from last week.
So much has happened this week, most of which I have already blogged about. So, I won’t go into it again. Suffice to say, I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the poetry anthology from Dragon Soul Press that has my two little poems in it, when it releases in June.
I also received my copy of Spring’s Blessing in the mail, which featured my short story, The Dawning of Spring. If you haven’t gotten your hands on a copy you can do so here.
Well that’s about it for this week.
Happy Writing.
Le Fay is Coming!
For all those who may be wondering, the second installment of my novelette series, Le Fay is in the works. I’m about two thirds of the way into it and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’ll be ready for release mid April.
It is the prequel to Morrighan and tells the story of Morgan and how she met Prince Arthur and the domino effect that befalls her which follows in the wake of her father’s death and propels her mother, Igraine, into the arms of Uther Pendragon.
For those that are familiar with the Arthurian Legends of old, my version is a little different in that there is a paranormal undertone to this story, but to tell you more would be giving too much away. I do however hope you’ll enjoy it.
For now though, I’ll leave you with a teensy excerpt and a look into Le Fay.
Enjoy!
He was standing right in front of her; Morgan couldn’t move. She licked her lips that had all of a sudden gone dry and remembered to breathe, and blink, least she be accused of staring at his all too beautiful face.
“Hello Morgan.”
Morgan shook her head, momentarily breaking the daze. He was too pretty to be real. Too pretty by far to be a boy. None of the boys Morgan knew had hair down to their shoulders.
“H-how do you know my name?” Morgan stammered, taking one step backwards. She shouldn’t have been out on the sidewalk. She should have been inside, but the apartment was dark and cramped.
“I know a great deal about you, Morgan,” he said.
Morgan swallowed hard, as fear bubbled up inside. She felt as if she’d throw up any second.
“Who are you?” Morgan sucked air into her half-starved lungs.
It tasted like roses. The garden behind him was full of them. All white to match the fence that ran all the way along the street.
Morgan shouldn’t have been talking to him, she should have turned away and walked inside, but hopscotch was way more fun than playing inside by herself.
“Now, now Morgan, there’s no need to be hostile,” he said. “I thought you could do with somebody to keep you company. It must get awfully lonely playing by yourself all the time.”
“Who are you?” she shrieked, so loud, that he reached out to put a hand over her mouth to shush her.
“If you promise to be quiet, I will tell you,” he said. “Do you promise, Morgan?”
Morgan nodded, and he took his hand away from her mouth. “Yes… I promise. Now tell me who you are!” her voice, while practically inaudible, was pitched.
“I’m Arthur. Arthur Pendragon,” he said, his blue eyes shining like sapphires.
“Arthur Pendragon,” Morgan repeated.
Despite the presence of a lisp when she said his name, Arthur forced a smile. “Yes.”
“Are you real?” she asked.
“Of course, I am!” he said with an air of indignation. “Aren’t all faeries real?”
Week Eleven
Today is the end of the eleventh week of the 365 Writing Challenge and I’ve managed to write 2,100 words and get some editing done on a few of my short stories I wrote last month. I’m still waiting on my scores for Phase 4 of Fantasia Divinity’s Interpretations Contest, but I’m hopeful they’ll hit my inbox very soon.
In other writing news, I have four short stories awaiting completion so that I can submit them to various anthologies, plus close to a dozen drabbles to write for another submission opportunity.
March is beginning to feel just a little overwhelming of late, but I’m trudging through and I’ll make it through to the other end, hopefully unscathed. And who knows, maybe by the end of the month, I’ll have a couple of acceptances to add to my pile of ever growing acceptances.
Until next week. Happy writing.
Week Seven to Ten
And, I dropped the ball. I find it ironic that the last post I made to this series was on February 11th. Today marks the tenth week of the 365 Writing Challenge.
These last four weeks I’ve written roughly 8,796 new words, finished my Phase 5 short story for Fantasia Divinity Magazine‘s competition and started work on Le Fay, the prequel to Morrighan.
Lost, my collection of short stories, was published on March 28th on kindle and paperback.
If you haven’t purchased a copy, I’d love it if you would consider doing so.
Here’s the LINK!
Until next week.
I hope.
Fingers crossed.
Pre-order Your Copy of Lost TODAY!
Lost, my collection of short stories is available to pre-order digitally across select retailers HERE. They’ll continue to roll out, culminating with the release of the Amazon kindle and paperback versions, available on the 28th.
The collection brings together all my previously published short stories in one volume, and includes a few new, never before seen stories as well.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed writing them.
For those of you who would like a taste of the stories within, here is an excerpt from the story, Owl Eyes.
The owl screeched again. The sense of urgency drew Lleu’s eyes back to the sky. There above, a trail of white flowers blossomed before stopping short.
His breath hitched as the bird fell from the sky and landed at his feet. A small cry escaped from his lips. Looking down upon the tiny mass of white feathers, he saw an even tinier heart-shaped crimson stain spring from the bird’s chest.
The owl – Blodeuwedd – was dead.
The crimson stain had barely begun to dry upon the bird’s downy feathers when the creature transformed back into the shapely form of a woman.
Llew sighed and bent to caress the soft – though now cold – cheek of his once beloved and cherished wife.
“Blodeuwedd,” he whispered.
Bite Sized
As I’ve stated in a previous post, several of my drabbles are being published in Blood Song Books anthology, Curses & Cauldrons. And, now that I’ve signed the contract, I decided to share a little update with you all, because I not only have the four drabbles previously mentioned, but four others as well. Bringing the total up to eight. They are listed below, in order of acceptance. They are:
- Down the Rabbit Hole – is a story about a girl who takes poison from a witch.
- The Keeper – is a retelling of the story of Cerridwen.
- Mark of the Witch (previously titled, The Witch’s Mark) – is a story about a family of witches.
- Undersea – is a story about a sea witch.
- Excalibur – is a story about Morgan le Faye and the magic of Excalibur.
- Harm None – is the story of a modern day witch performing a binding spell.
- Red As Blood – is a retelling of the story of Snow White with a twist.
- Bad Girls – is a story of three modern day witches about to be burned at the stake.
In case you haven’t already guessed the theme of the anthology is witches, and I’m immensely proud of these eight little stories. Writing drabbles and keeping to the strict, 100 word only caveat, is not always easy, especially when you have to tell a story and have it make sense. I’ll be sure to keep you posted once this anthology hits shelves, I’m sure it’s going to be epic.