Well, it's almost Christmas.  A welcome break from the rat race of work and for me, a time for reflection. Christmas has often been the part of the year where I decide what I'm going to do for the next few months and wrestle with big decisions without the distractions of the working year.

The more persistent of you who have been checking the blog will notice that it's been a good long while since I updated it. There's good reason for that. At first because I felt there was nothing to tell, the...
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In the time that I've been writing, I've had lots of friends, family, co-workers and acquaintances who know I'm writing a book ask me how I'm getting on. I'm always happy to talk about it - probably more happy than they bargain for, usually - once I get started on my favourite hobby horse, I can go on a bit!.  I really like their interest - it keeps me keen and it is appreciated, but I always feel the answers I give are a little disappointing:-

Frequently Asked Questions:-

When will you quit wo...
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When I last blogged about it, I’d made the decision to send off my book to a professional editor after being advised that it needed a “final polish” by a literary agent whose judgement I trust and who has been very open and free with their advice to me since I first submitted to them.

Paying for an edit isn’t a cheap business, so I did my research.  As a generally quite sceptical person, I’d read a number of articles on unscrupulous “agents” or “editing services” which were r...

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While waiting for the results of my latest efforts to try to get signed with an agent, I decided not to waste time lingering and re-started work on the sequel.  One thing I found straight away was that I had kind of "lost my thread" and needed to get back into the story in order to continue it, so I decided to perform a line by line edit on the 20,000 words I'd already written in order to refresh my memory and make sure I didnt forget any important minor details.

Reaching the end of the proces...
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What a difference speaking to someone with knowledge of the industry can make:-

One of the main problems I’ve had since writing the Chronomancer’s Daughter was that I never knew which age category it fitted into;  Middle Grade (9-12 or MG) or Young Adult (Teen or YA).   Now, after speaking to three literary agents I’m sure that it’s Middle Grade.

This presents a small problem as Young Adult books (especially fantasy) can run to over 100,000 words, but Middle Grade books are never ov...

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While thankfully not one of the two agents I'm waiting to hear back from about their requests to read my whole manuscript, I did recieve a reply from an agent I'd almost forgotten that I'd written to.  Her rejection was so nice, I've decided to share it.

Dear Russell,

Thank you for sending me PANDORA WOLFE: THE CHRONOMANCER'S DAUGHTER.

While I enjoyed reading your work, which stood out from the many we receive,
I’m afraid I didn’t feel strongly enough about the story to take it
further, althou...
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Looks like all my eggs are back in one basket again. The second agent who asked for the manuscript last week came back to me on Friday to say that while she'd hugely enjoyed it, she didn't feel the 100% commitment that she'd need to represent me.  I had originally been hoping for more feedback but I'd read during the week that a lot of agents give fairly general feedback as they don't want to steer writers in the wrong direction. In all honesty I'd already been looking at the other writers sh...
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Well a second agent has got in touch and has told me that she's really enjoyed the first three chapters and wants to read the rest. I sent her the manuscript tonight and she replied immediately saying that she was looking forward to reading it.

Sounds promising!  TTFN



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A chance reading of an article in a writing magazine has led me to do something I've never done before and entered the book into a competition.  The Northern Writer's Awards is for new (i.e. unpublished) authors living in the North of England and winners will be rewarded with prizes ranging from cash to editorial support and contacts in the publishing industry.  The closing date is 31st but I won't hear anything until the summer. I've only really had the confidence to try since letting people...

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Despite a potentially fatal bout of Man Flu (or as my wife cruelly refers to it "a mild cold" - she'll feel ever so guilty when I'm gone) I've heroically continued to plan this weekend and have reached chapter 41.  The story is hotting up now and I've added the first bit about Lord Morland's (the leader of the bad guys) magic powers.  Not long now before what's really going on becomes apparent to the main characters.

Only maybe 15 or so chapters to go to the end of the plan but I already know ...
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