Hi Guys,
So my first book of the year is out – Manx – and I'm feeling good.
(Apart from my back of course which is absolutely killing me! Too
much sitting, staring at a computer and snacking – way too much
snacking!) But anyway, I feel like I'm finally making progress
instead of simply sitting in my chair, staring off into the distance
and typing random thoughts, and that's a good thing.
One of the problems writers face (I say confidently as if I have any
idea what other writers go through!) is motivation. Not necessarily
to write, but instead to write to a program. I write because I love
to tell the stories in my head. But it's a very different thing to
going to work every day and working. There you have goals. Set things
you have to achieve every day. On your own the only goal you have is
whatever you set for yourself. I may actually work harder and for a
great many more hours at my keyboard than I did when I worked nine to
five, but I tend to write less productively. My daily word count is
much greater than before, but for every book I write I probably have
ten others which I start but then let go nowhere. Some of them are
nearly complete novels. So when I complete one, it's always an
achievement. This book is a definite achievement. And Manx was also
one I loved writing.
I love the cover too. It fits the book because the main character in
it – Maxwell Smythe (Manx) – is a librarian in a Victorian /
steam-punk era library who adopts a green eyed cat – despite the
fact that he can speak with cats and knows they have nothing good to
say!
The cat in question – She With The Sharp Claws Who Must Be Adored –
is based loosely on my own cat Tab (yes Tabby the Tabby – I never
claimed to be good with names!) Tab passed away late last year after
a long battle with hyper-thyroidism and then renal failure, and I
have to admit the loss hit me quite hard. It's amazing how much the
little fur-balls can worm their way under your skin and into your
heart. But I'd like to think that a little of her seeped its way into
the work. Particularly the complete lack of guilt or shame she knew
when she destroyed pieces of my home! In fact she used to stare at me
with bits of fluff and furniture in her mouth, and wonder what I was
upset about! Purring by the way, is simply a cat's way of lying!
The next book on the line is Adrift – which has absolutely no cats
in it! It's a space opera about a man abducted by aliens trying to
get home. I'm hoping to get that out in the next couple of months –
but sadly I often have such hopes, so we'll have to see! Still the
first draft is complete, and I'll start on the edit after I've
completed the paperback version of Manx.
And maybe for once, I'll finally achieve my target of four books
published in a year! Who knows – it's a new decade. Anything could
happen!
Cheers, Greg
