Tag: <span>novel</span>

Anna (Secret Diary Of A Serial Killer)

This month I’m taking part in the A-Z Challenge! Which means I’ll be writing 26 posts (on set days through the month) each one corresponding to a letter of the alphabet. Today is day 1, which means letter A.

My theme for the month is: Secret Diary Of A Serial Killer. Each post will be a new chapter in the story – I’m really excited to finally get this novel idea out of my head and into words. I hope you enjoy it! 🙂

 

Anna

Branches scratched at her face, their inky blackness stealing the moonlight as she tried to move silently through the woods.

Her breath came in plumes, if she could have seen it.

She was so quiet. She had to be. Moving like liquid as she crawled through open spaces before pressing against each tree. Making her way towards the road, she hoped. Her feet were bare, the leaves and moss cushioned her steps but the chill night air was starting to kill the sensation in her toes.

Keep moving. Keep on moving.

She had to get away. She knew nothing else but that one truth. The woods couldn’t last forever, there had to be salvation somewhere. She couldn’t let herself think of the alternative.

The moon was hiding too, now. Furtively peering between the clouds, giving no help to her plight.

She moved slowly and carefully, so as not to make a sound. Not to draw attention to herself.

Then more crawling. Chest pressed to the ground, the thin vest giving no protection from the damp earth. Finally reaching the next tree she turned and sat with her back pressed to the bark, the rough wood slicing at her bare arms and shoulders. She was scared, more scared than she had ever been.

Why was she free? Why had she been able to escape? She knew it was a trap of some kind but couldn’t pass up her only chance of escaping.

Clamping a hand to her mouth she squeezed her eyes shut. Stifling a scream that had been building up with her terror. How could this be the end of her life? Why her? Why choose her? She shook her head gently. This couldn’t be happening. She reached around to touch her hair. Blonde now. She didn’t like it, and didn’t understand why she had been forced to dye it, to cut it.

For a minute she let herself cry. Knees pulled up to her chest smothering the sounds, trying to be invisible as her body shook with each sob. Then, she stopped. Done with crying. Done with feeling sorry for herself. She wiped her tears away with the back of one mud streaked hand and quietly pushed to her feet, crouching to peer around the tree.

No one in sight. Cautiously she crawled forward, inching towards the next tree.

Behind her a branch snapped underfoot.

Was it just an animal? She had no time to think. Without looking back, she bolted from her hiding place, charging through the brush in desperation to get to a road she hoped was there.

I love it when they run.

Next Chapter: Body

April 1, 2017
Writing
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A to Z Challenge

I recently saw people talking about an “April A to Z Challenge” on Twitter, and it sounds like a really fun thing to take part in! The basic idea is that you write something – be it a short story, poem, blog post, chapter, whatever you want – each weekday during April (and a weekend at the end, to make enough days), corresponding to each letter of the alphabet. Then you go on a sort of Blog Party every day to share your work and check out others taking part in the challenge. 🙂

Everyone chooses their own theme for the posts they’re going to make during April. I’ve had a story in mind for a few years – well, the original idea was a collection of short stories which all add up into one large story, but now I’m leaning more towards it being one novel split into chapters. But that might change. Panster woo! 😉  And this challenge sounds like a perfect opportunity to get it out of my head and onto paper, with each chapter/short story fitting each letter of the alphabet.

So my theme reveal (and novel title) for the A to Z Challenge is…

Secret Diary Of A Serial Killer

It feels so good to actually get that title out into the world! And I’m really excited to be writing something that’s so different from what I usually write. For those new to my blog (Hi! Welcome 🙂 ) I usually write urban fantasy, but for this story I’ll be delving into the world of crime writing. Maybe some fantasy will pop up in there, as I’m a pantser that’s always a possibility, but right now I doubt it.

Are you thinking of taking part in the A to Z Challenge? What theme have you chosen?

March 30, 2017
Writing
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April Already?

Typewriter

So it’s been a while since I’ve used this blog. Moving country took a lot more out of me than I realised, and I had to just take a step back from a lot of things because I was getting really overwhelmed. A lot has happened between my last post and this one, not least of all is that we’ve actually moved all the way across the country to Nevada!

It’s a lot different here than Florida, but strangely Nevada is much more similar to what I’m used to in England – being close to stores, variety of restaurants, events and shows to see. Basically, we’re back in civilization lol! And it’s nice.

Since arriving in Nevada about a month ago I’ve definitely felt the writing bug bite me hard. I lost it Florida (which is weird considering how many other bugs there are in Florida), but now I’ve got it back it’s great to feel motivated about writing again.

My novel, which was tentatively titled Broken, is still going to be my focus. It’s a story I really want to get written and share with everyone who loves urban fantasy. The title is still uncertain – I have a couple of ideas bouncing around but I think the title is going to be finalised after the novel is finished.

The blog itself is going through a few changes – I’ve completely changed the theme (this one is much more sleek, I think), and will be making the menu and whole site easier to navigate. I’m also debating about starting a serial story on the site too. I have a novel I started a long time ago, it’s about half way finished and something I do plan to finish, but it could work really well for a serialised novel on the site. I’m just not sure if I’m trying to take too much on before I’ve got into any kind of routine, or if it would be worth the extra time/editing.

What do you think? Do you enjoy serialised novels on blogs?

April 28, 2016
Natalie Natterings
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NaNoWriMo 2014

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It’s that time of year again – National Novel Writing Month, better known as NaNoWriMo.  Some of you might remember I didn’t get very far with it last year. I hated the words I wrote, and didn’t like where the plot was going either.  So much so that I haven’t actually looked at the novel again until last month…and it wasn’t any better than I remembered!

So this year I’m starting fresh.

Normally in NaNoWriMo you have to write 50k words of a new novel/novella, and if you decide to work on an already existing project (even if it’s a complete re-write) you’d be a rebel.  Woo rebellion! But this year that isn’t the case. This year you can work on whatever you want, with the same goal of 50k words.  But even with my rebellion ripped away from me, I’m re-writing Broken – with a possibly new title to come later – because I really do believe in this novel.  I know it can be good, I just have to get it there.

It can be disheartening to start a project with such enthusiasm and end up hating the way it’s coming out.  I know a lot of people try editing (I did!) and re-editing (that  too!) and sometimes that can help. But what happens when it doesn’t help?  What happens when you’re still left with words that make your face crinkle up in disgust every time you think about them?  Well, most of the time what happens is the document is filed away and never looked at again, because we don’t know how to fix the problem.  And I’m here to say, don’t do that!  There’s an important lesson I learned in university:

Don’t treat your work as precious.

If you don’t take anything else away from my blog, take that one thing.  It’s an invaluable lesson to learn!  I didn’t study writing at university, but it’s something that spans across all creative works and I’ve been trying to bring it to my writing a lot.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a hard lesson to learn and even harder to do!  You have 9000 words of a novel.  They suck and you hate them, but it’s 9000 words and deleting them is a HUGE obstacle to get around!

But there is a way.

I couldn’t get over the “don’t delete all of those horrid sentences!” mindset, so what I’ve done is just move it to a different folder, and started a new document in a new folder.  Fresh start, old sucky words out of the way, clear mind to focus on the re-write 🙂  If you do this, don’t go back into that other folder! It is now quarantined!  It’s tempting to think “Well there was that one sentence that wasn’t too bad…” but no, don’t do it!  Work on your fresh start and let the words come naturally, not forced to fit around a sentence from something which had sucked away your motivation.

So that’s what I’m doing for this year’s NaNoWriMo, re-writing Broken.  As soon as you can get your mind to accept that your work isn’t precious – and that it can be edited, deleted, shifted around and crossed out many times – you’ll be amazed at how freeing it is 🙂

November 9, 2014
Writing
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What’s In A Name?

I think names are one of the most important choices that a writer can make.  It’s the first thing that tells us something about the character, and the first opportunity for a writer to influence the reader before getting down to the rest of the character development – you wouldn’t imagine the same situation or personality for a Chantelle as you would for a Maud, for example.  For my main characters, especially in short stories, I usually try to pick a name that gives a clue about the overall plot and not just that character.  Sort of like an easter egg in my stories for the readers to find 🙂

The protagonist in Pink Mist is giving me a lot of problems, name wise.  Nothing I think of really fits her.  So it got me thinking, have there been any books where we never knew the name of the protagonist?  After a bit of a google I discovered that yes, there are quite a few!  So now I’m wondering if I can write the whole book – and series – without ever giving her a name.  As an assassin I think she could very easily operate without anyone knowing her real name, but would it matter to the story as a whole if she was that anonymous?  Would it matter to you, as readers, if you read a book where you had no idea of the protagonist’s name?

One of the most famous books that has a certain anonymity to it is Moby Dick.  Now I must admit, this is a book that I haven’t read but I do know the story and in particular, the opening sentence.  It’s this line, just three words, that gives the anonymity to the character: Call me Ishmael.  In these three words so much is given away.  He didn’t say “my name is…”, but instead chose to be vague telling the reader they are to call him Ishmael, which many could take to mean that’s his name. But he never actually says that it is.  From this we know right out that we should question everything else that he tells us, as he has manipulated the tale from the very first words.

So, in that instance the name itself didn’t alter the character or the reader’s view of his story, but the way the name was introduced.  If we don’t ever introduce a name for a character, how then would that change a reader’s view of them and what they say or do? Perhaps that’s just the thing to add more aloofness to a sassy assassin 🙂

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July 12, 2013
Writing
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