AK Dawson

New Cover Blues

2012-02-21T03:20:00.001-08:00

The next novel I'm going to publish on Kindle is coming along nicely. I'm about three-quarters of the way through proofreading the pages and have formatted it properly. I've made the decision to split the book into three because it's a long one and I've settled, once and for all, on the title.

So far, so good.

What I can't decide on is the cover. It's probably my own fault because I've made the decision to design the thing myself. Why? Well, I see the whole project as an artistic endeavor (even though I'd love it to be popular) and believe that if I'm going to be an 'indie' author, I may as well do everything independently. And that means handling the arty bits too.

With MiG-23 Broke my Heart, my other book, I was looking for free fonts that would really stand out and was lucky enough to stumble on the work of the talented Vic Fieger. After combining two of his typefaces, I had a logo that I was happy with in no time. I then asked a friend (an actual designer) to handle to background image and, voila, my cover was born.

This time, the process is a bit more fraught, and I think I've identified what the problem is: I'm enjoying myself too much. But it's a masochistic kind of pleasure. So far, I've spent hours agonising over the background image and fiddling with my logo. An entire afternoon flew by while I deliberated over subtle variations in the colour scheme. It's all time that I could have used to write new stuff and I haven't even finished yet. What's makes things worse is that I've been staring at the same basic cover design for so long that I'm not even sure if I like it anymore.

In short, I've got the new cover blues.

The only cure that I can think of is to step away from the job for a few days. It's what works with writing - getting a bit of distance - and I'm sure it'll work with this. If it doesn't, I'll have to scrap the cover and start again. Like I say, I kind of enjoy design, even if it is a painful process.

Abandoning a Novel

2011-11-29T04:16:00.001-08:00

When should you give up on a novel that you're writing? I'd love to know the answer to this one. I've just spent the last couple of months working on something that I thought was brilliant, only to have another idea come along that I'd much rather develop. So, I'll be placing the first novel on hiatus.

Somewhere in my head there's a warning siren blaring and a little voice saying: if you don't finish what you're working on, you'll never finish anything. But I have done this before, and I did finish the story in question, making me feel a little more confident about leaving characters stranded mid-scene, their lives dangling on the edge of a void. And I'm not abandoning the novel completely - only for a little while. I'll get back to it soon, I hope.

The benefits of taking a holiday from the first novel are that when I do dive into it again, I'll have fresh eyes for any problems and more enthusiasm for the rest of the story. On the flip side of the argument, I may not be able to tap into the inspiration that sparked the story in the first place. It's a gamble. And one that I hope pays off or at least allows me to break even, with two finished stories that I'm proud of, regardless of whether they're published.

When it comes to abandoning a novel completely, we're in murkier territory. My instinct is to say that this should never be done. Even if your novel isn't working at all, you shouldn't think 'I'm cutting bait here and throwing this file into the hungry sea of my recycle bin' (or whatever metaphor you'd prefer to use). I know that that there are plenty of successful novelists who have done this - Michael Chabon springs to mind - but it just strikes me as sad and a waste of time and creative energy. Of course, you could argue that no work is ever wasted, and certain characters and techniques might find their way into later stories - even if the plot doesn't - but I still think it's a waste.

My own answer to the question of when to give up on a novel? Whenever you feel like it. Just make sure that you don't give up completely.

How to Publish on Smashwords in Three Easy Steps

2011-11-12T12:03:00.001-08:00

1) Write a book
2) Format it, following the Smashwords Style Guide
3) Upload it

Part 1 gave me some trouble, but otherwise it's a fairly painless and writer-friendly process.

99c Kindle Novel

2011-11-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

After a grand total of four days of pricing my book above $2.99, I've decided to follow the market (you know what happens to sheep who don't follow the herd? They get lost) and drop under a dollar. So the US Kindle version of MiG-23 Broke my Heart is only 99c. The UK Kindle version of MiG-23 Broke my Heart is only 86p. That's cheaper than chips. I don't know if it devalues the time I spent researching and writing the novel, but I'm sure that the decision for a reader to actually read it will be made easier.

Writers' Retreat

2011-11-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

If you're a writer, you probably think constantly about getting away from it all. In solitude you could craft the Great American/British/African/Asian/Wherever-you're-from Novel, but as it stands you have too much washing up to do, too many groceries on your list, too many kids to look after, too much work, not enough time, no space, no peace and no bloody quiet - aaaargh!

That's where Fin-Duck could come chugging to the rescue. The owners describe her (because every ocean going vessel, no matter how ungainly, is always a 'her') as 'a boat, a sauna, a duck, a summer cottage powered by an outboard motor'. Just think what incredible literature you could compose in her belly, tucked away from the world and drifting in bliss with the current. You could take shorts breaks from your work by popping into the sauna.

You might ask why this makes a better writers' (or just writer's if you can afford to rent it on your own) retreat than a 50-foot luxury yacht which might, the price of airfare to Finland factored in, set you back about as much. Well, a 50-foot luxury yacht isn't a giant floating duck, complete with its own sauna, is it? You're not just retreating from distractions, but you're floating away from sanity and sense. You're doing something a little bit crazy and the spurt of self-congratulatory excitement caused by this might just inspire you to write and write and write.

Of course, you could just get onboard the duck and think, what the hell am I doing? I'm not used to working on a floating duck and now I can't write at all. I'm stuck. I want to go home. I have washing to do, kids to feed, other jobs to get out of the way. Oh, if only I was tucked into my special desk/shed/cupboard/pub/cafe where I feel safe, but instead I'm trapped on a floating duck with a sauna, and I don't even like saunas.

I suppose what I'm saying, in the most roundabout way imaginable, is that I think the best place to write is the place that you're used to. But the floating duck does look cool and I wouldn't mind renting it for a bit. And, no, I haven't been paid by the Fin-Duck company of Finland to promote their product.

MiG-23 Broke my Heart

2011-10-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

Self-publishing?

Indie publishing?

Call it what you will, but I've decided to put one of my novels on Kindle. With so many others doing the same, I don't expect to make thousands - or even hundreds - of sales. What I do expect, however, is a sense of (and I know this sounds cringe-inducing) artistic satisfaction. It's just good to know that one of my books is out there, living, breathing, doing whatever it is that aggregations of words do when you leave them to get on with it.

Set in Southern Africa in 1988, MiG-23 Broke my Heart is a war novel, a road story and a certain kind of romance. Thomas Green, eighteen years old and full of ambition to do nothing but smoke weed and draw pictures, has been called up by the South African Defence Force. It's his job to watch the hot, sandy border of South-West Africa (now Namibia) for signs of communist infiltrators from the north. To him, his two-year conscription is as good as a prison sentence. Life gets worse when a man approaches on foot from Angola, the place where the terrorists are said to come from.

Nemesis Publishing

2011-10-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

I don't know much about the Isle of Man, but a recent email from that part of the world led me to do some research. After the obligatory Wikipedia trawl and blast through Google Images, I landed on the manx cat and fell in love.

They don't have tails.

That's it.

That's the only thing, physically speaking, that makes them special. And it's enough for me.

But there's more to be found when digging into the manx cat's mind. According to www.manx-cats.co.uk they're popular with dog lovers (I'm paraphrasing here) because of their warm, affectionate temperament. They even respond when you call them by name. If that isn't the perfect pet, I don't know what is. The only thing stopping me from rushing out and adopting one is a small physical irregularity of my own.

I'm allergic to cats.

The other thing to interest me on the Isle of Man is Nemesis Publishing, who sent me the email that started my mini-investigation. They're a new publisher with a nifty-looking website and one title already on their list. I entered their Debut Novel Competition and it turns out that I've been long-listed. My fingers are crossed, but I can't help feeling disappointed that I'll never (at least not without the help of constant doses of antihistamines) be able to have my own tailless, gregarious feline companion.

Yeovil Literary Prize 2011

2011-07-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

I came in from work last night to find a letter waiting for me. Nothing unusual about that. Junk mail and bills multiply on my doorstep like grey hairs as I grow older. Except the envelope was hand-addressed, in a script I didn't recognise. Someone - not a machine - had taken the time to write to me. It was either something interesting or something awful (a letter from a neighbour asking me to attend their Stop the Mast meeting, a chain begging letter, another death threat, etc).

It was something interesting.

One of my novels has been short-listed for the Yeovil Literary Prize.

Elation.

I haven't been writing for a few weeks, because I jacked my back (that's a technical term), so it was as good as having a nice little pat on the head and someone saying to me, 'You see, you're still a writer, even if what you do now is mainly jot down story ideas on your phone.'

To celebrate, I awarded myself a slap-up stir-fry dinner. I was all out of gold stars.

Novel Magazine: Issue Two

2011-05-16T11:48:00.000-07:00

Novel Magazine is a showcase for writers and artists of all kinds in the Newcastle-Gateshead area. This issue sees interviews, photography, cut-up poetry, an article on Hunter S. Thompson, a noir remake of a nursery rhyme, reviews of art exhibitions, illustrations, and more, all wrapped up in one strikingly-designed package. The magazine is available for free throughout the city and their website is also well worth a visit or three. Oh, and did I mention that they feature one of my stories on page 20? It's called Dad & Me and consists of two columns of synchronous narrative. Don't worry, it's not as complicated as it sounds. At least, I hope it isn't.

Dogzplot Flash Fiction

2011-03-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

I've just had a short piece posted on Dogzplot Flash Fiction, a site I've admired for some time. It's hard to categorise the type of writing that they showcase, and I don't want to use any terms they wouldn't feel comfortable with, so I'll just steal their words from The Literary Underground Wiki:

We publish erratic, playful, honest, original, disgraceful, hopelessly optimistic, dirty, beautiful, ugly, over the top writing from a wide variety of authors representing all types of literary backgrounds. We like description. We like voice. We are more interested in good storytelling than precision, than fancy words and metaphors and concepts that sound real pretty but don’t necessarily inform the reader. We like subtle, seemingly simplistic writing that blows your head apart when you take the time to excavate below the surface. We like to dig in and get dirty.

My story is about a man living alone in a forest and is called Interesting Fact.

Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind

2011-03-21T03:06:00.000-07:00

What would really happen if an alien landed on our planet? Caught up in the spirit of scientific enquiry (50% abv) I wrote a story describing one likely scenario. It's called A Message from Arcon and it has been very kindly published by the The Flash Fiction Offensive. If you're looking for great stories in a gritty style, their site is well worth checking out.

Five-Word Fiction

2011-03-05T09:06:00.000-08:00

Just how short can a story be? Ernest Hemingway famously (or apocryphally, depending on who you ask) proved that you can pack plenty of emotion into six words, with a tale that goes something like this:

For sale: baby shoes, never worn.

But I wondered if it was possible to create a meaningful story with tighter constraints. I thought initially of trying one-word stories, but that didn't leave much room for character development, let alone things like nouns and verbs. Doubling my word count didn't help either: try it yourself and you'll see that two words on their own just look sad and lonely on the page, as if they're waiting for Godot or at least a conjunction. Three and four word stories started to get interesting. When I reached five words, I had my 'just right' moment. Because I like setting projects for myself, I thought I'd start a blog to post my efforts and you can find them here:

Five-Word Fiction

I realise that five-word fiction doesn't really lend itself to the Aristotelian ideal of a beginning, middle and end, but I'm going try as much as possible to write these as plotted stories. The whole idea came about through writing flash fiction and finding that I enjoy the process of distilling stories into strong, easy-to-swallow doses. Also, I'm lazy and I like the idea of being able to write something quickly. There probably already is an official name for five-word fiction (pentanano fiction?), but I don't know of it, so on I go.

To make sure I'm not stepping on anyone's storytelling toes, I'd like to credit a couple of similar projects that are already out there:

Six Word Stories
5 Word Story

Both of these sites (the second one is Twitter-only) take submissions. So if you're interested in writing your own very, very, very, very short stories, but don't want to shackle yourself with a blog, they might be a good place to send your work. If you know of any more, please give me a shout.

Oh, and the baby? That's Hemingway before he grew his beard.

NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge

2011-02-21T06:29:00.000-08:00

The challenge was to write a short story in eight days based on an assigned theme. I was drawn in Heat 5, which meant that my theme was 'Delivery in 30 minutes or less' in the genre of horror. At first I thought that I may as well give up, because I'd never be able to squeeze a good tale out of that, but then I looked at a couple of the other heats. A sci-fi story about wedding planning anyone? How about historical fiction based on a valedictorian? I don't think it was easy for anyone, and that's why they called it a 'challenge'.

In the end, I was really happy with my story, and now all I have to do is wait and see if I made the final.

Good luck to everyone who entered. And thanks to NYC Midnight for coming up with an interesting idea for a competition.

Writing Your Blog Description

2011-02-10T07:37:00.000-08:00

Did you struggle when it came to choosing your blog description?

As if it wasn't difficult enough having to explain yourself in your blog name, you then have to agonize over how to explain that explanation. A simple way of escaping the problem is by pasting a picture over the whole thing and pretending it doesn't exist. This way, you can let your readers figure out what you're all about from your posts. It might sound like a good idea, but what if someone stumbles upon your blog by accident? They'll need a blog description as a kind of road sign to let then know where they are. So, even if they don't have time to read any of your posts, they can make a snap decision to bookmark or not to bookmark - that, after all, is the question.

The intention of my blog is to showcase myself as a writer of fiction. These are names that I considered and (in brackets) the reasons I rejected them:

Writing fiction. (On point, but a bit dull.)

Reading and writing. (Might sound like it’s for kids.)

What I talk about when I talk about writing. (I can dream, but I'm no Raymond Carver or Haruki Murakami.)

Exposed internet outpost. (Too weird.)

Writer. (Too stark.)
Fictioneer. (Too clever.)

Stories and things. (Too cute.)

Genre: fiction. (I quite like that, but I'll keep thinking.)

If you've been through a similar crisis, I’d love to hear how you solved it.