"Jinx And The Faerie Dragons" is now available in audio - just in case you missed seeing my post about that on Sunday. You can buy it from Audible, Amazon, and iTunes; see the post I just linked to for links, as well as details about where you can buy the book in other formats if you prefer. The narrator is Andrew Pond, who you can learn more about in his recent narrator interview.
Speaking of my audiobooks: I went ahead and listed the poetry book projects on ACX. I was going to hold off a bit on listing them until all the stories were produced, but changed my mind. Anyway, I'm working with narrator Jane Hopkins on one of them, and narrator Carol Weakland on the other seven.
With all the books from my backlist in various stages of production, I have quiet moments between messages and samples from narrators, which I hope to make use of to get some actual writing done, as well as arrange for a cover to be sorted for the pet themed poetry collection I want to publish, which I've now got the final edits and formatting sorted for, so can publish once it has a cover. I know which of my cover artists I want to use for it, but have to check if he's able to do a cover for me right now... I haven't spoken to him about it yet, but plan to do so soon.
If you're dealing with any editing yourself, or are in the revision stage with your current writing project, here's a post that talks about why you should make time to write while editing and revising.
Remember: you will not use your writing time wisely if you do not plan ahead. Now, it might seem strange for someone like me who can't stick to a schedule for long to be agreeing with this. I mean, the routine I had when I did the post about my writing routine at the end of November no longer applies, as I warned in the post would probably be the case. But bear with me here. The thing is, the article makes a good point, and some kind of planning for writing time is required if you want to actually get any writing done. Whether that be planning a longterm routine that you stick to at all times, or doing what I usually end up doing and planning my writing time for each day on the day in question (based on what I want/need to get done each day, whether any of it is time sensative and what times those things need to be done at or by, and what my current sleeping schedule is). Either way, it all comes down to having some kind of plan for your writing. My longterm "plan" is pretty vague, and my schedule is unpredictable, but I still have a plan of sorts, and you should too.
So, you have your plan. Now it's time to work on that story! Come on. What are you afraid of?
Now you've established what the cause of your fear is, and hopefully managed to move past it, here are some things to consider when choosing the perfect setting for your novel (or short story, or whatever).
Regardless of setting: do your characters talk too much? The postI just linked to gives some tips on ways to avoid your book looking like a screenplay without stage directions, and will help you avoid the talking head syndrome that irritates so many readers.
Speaking of your characters, here's a post about the hero's journey and the real world. Also, don't forget that your villain needs a heart, because everyone has one, even if it's not always obvious.
Next, here are some tips to being dramatic in fiction, because most stories could benifit from at least a little drama, and sometimes a lot of it.
By the way, if you publish paperbacks via CreateSpace, and are interested in moving your books to KDP Print, here's how to do it.
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