Tag: writing a book

That’s right, I write.

by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

Reading last week’s post back a few days later I was struck with a sense of pomposity and over blown self-image, but hey, I is a writer now, so I guess that is how I roll!

Still, outing myself in that way was a good thing. It has made me write, and as I type I am up to just short of 12,000 words. That sounds like a lot, but I need to get about 80,000 which of course isn’t daunting at all.

There is nothing like completely winging something to get the juices flowing.

I did call upon two kind folks to read the first few chapters last week, (after Louise had read it) just to get some honest feedback as to whether I’d be better spending my time power washing the yard in my spare time. The content was very raw of course but their feedback was encouraging enough to get me to continue.

So if and when you do read this thing, I shall tell you who that was and you can send them hate mail!

I am enjoying it too. I do have frequent attacks of the “this is a heap of shite” but I shall carry on regardless, taking pleasure in the process as much as I can. The story is developing on the page and in my head, so I just hope it is good enough to hold someone’s attention.

Outside of writing stuff, the week has been filled with work of course and another stay in Marlow. M’colleague and I were delighted to discover that the heating was broken in our “hotel” upon our arrival, and so after consuming huge amounts of Chicken Saag and Naan bread we returned to the hotel where I slept in every item of clothing I had brought with me. Well, I say slept. I lay horizontal for a few hours until about 6am.

In a vague attempt at revenge I emptied the hotel room of anything that wasn’t nailed down and my laptop bag is still full of complimentary shortbread. Had I a bigger car, I’d have had the fridge and TV away too.

I don’t do cold very well.

Emily is working most days at our local Debenhams. She has a Christmas job in the cafe there and is quickly becoming a black belt at Lattes and operating a dishwasher. By the time she finishes at the start of January she will have about 80% burns and a bank balance she has no idea how to spend. I am calculating the due rent as we speak.

Rebecca continues on her course at college (Media Make Up and Hair), and is enjoying it very much. Her small ambition is to finish the course and then immediately start work doing the hair and make up on a major Hollywood movie. I see no reason why not.

Tonight, Louise and I are going on a date night. If memory serves that will involve finding a deserted car park and fiddling with her knockers for a few hours. Either that or we will go to the cinema. We haven’t decided yet.

If we do the latter I don’t know what we’ll see yet, but as long as it involves £20 of Pick N Mix it will be a date night of which dreams are made.

Come to Daddy

I only have to sell a few more books and that will be the Pick n Mix paid for, so thank you.

Oh yeh, BUY MY BOOK!!

Till the next time…..

The Hangover from the Hullabaloo

by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

Right then, I expect the exact same number of visitors and comments on every blog post from now on, or I will be demanding written explanations!!

Safe to say, my last post drew a few more readers and commenters, which I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised by. Everyone likes a bit of a kerfuffle from time to time. I could see a fair few referrals from new and different sources too, which you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out.

If you are a new reader, welcome along, and don’t get used to every post being so arsey and popular. I can slip right back into mediocre banality with great ease. Just watch.

When I wrote that last post I did have an undeniable feeling that I would regret doing so, and part of me does. To make such a fuss over something which is so trivial really isn’t my style, but, being frank I was really pissed off, albeit with a small majority.

On balance, I’m glad I got it off my chest though. If a few were brave enough to post those thoughts then maybe a lot more had similar feelings and I’m pleased to have a platform and a chance to have said my piece. Let’s not get into it again though.

The amount of feedback and support I received was incredible, amazing and totally unexpected. I thank every single person who left comments.

If you have enjoyed Going Limp and left a review on Amazon, that is very much appreciated too.

With nothing to write now, I start to get twitchy when I’m sat doing nothing, with a weird sensation that I should be doing something more productive. Yes, those six minutes every day when I have my free time are a real curse!

That is a problem for me in general to be honest. I am task and completion driven, and can find it hard to relax at times. I suppose this is part of why I love these holidays so much, as they are a hobby in themselves with all the planning and research that needs to go into them. Of course, most of the actual holiday involves doing rather than doing nothing so that suits me too. I like the idea of sitting on my arse and doing nothing but when it comes to it, I feel the need to be doing something. Clearly I need help.

This is not, I’m afraid to say, a prelude to me announcing our next trip. It couldn’t look further away to be honest. There’s more chance of Paul Gambacinni being booked for a children’s birthday party as far as I can see now, but as I always say there are many lottery draws between now and next summer. Never say never.

Innocent until it hits the papers

So with that task driven personality in mind, along with a gap where I used to sit and write something most days, plus the prospect of not planning a trip any further than Asda, I have decided to do something I keep saying I should.

The nonsense of last week also contributed to this, as I realised that rather than keep meaning to do it, and threatening to make time I should just start. If I am ever to justify the reasons why I said I was putting these reports in an eBook, then I need to just get on with it, and stop messing about. The flood of supportive comments also gave me a timely shove in what I hope is the right direction.

So what on earth am I doing? Starting a diet? God knows I should, but no I’m writing something. An idea came to me on Thursday, that for the first time felt solid enough to be a story worth reading. It was an extension of a theme or idea I’d had for years to be honest, but all of sudden out of nowhere some more layers to the story appeared, and I quickly threw down a plan on a piece of paper, and I’ve started.

In fact I’m 3,000 words in. Now of course 2,999 of them may be rubbish, but I’m going to try to be disciplined and do 1,000 words a day whenever I can. In those 3,000 words, at different stages I have already declared it everything from the best thing ever written to a shambolic illiterate mess, and I’ve only done three chapters. This could be an interesting exercise. Expect future posts to say I have thrown it in the bin, given it up as a hopeless exercise and maybe one or two claiming they will be building a Land themed on my book in Universal.  Maybe not so much of the latter.

Anyway, it feels good to be doing something, and the whole reason for declaring it here, which is not something I would normally do, is to make sure that I keep doing it, and don’t let it fester on my computer as I did the last attempt several years ago. By outing myself as someone who has such delusions of grandeur as to actually write a work of fiction then I will hopefully feel the required pressure to get it done, and see what it turns out like.

Should it be OK, and I decide to publish it, I just hope that there won’t be a public outrage over me selling it for actual money!!  Oh, no I said we wouldn’t go there again! Sorry.

Right, I’m off now to try and relax….again.

Till the next time…..