Day: July 25, 2012

Sneak Peek: Tangent by Mike Pomery

Tangent by Mike PomeryToday, we feature a sneak peek of Mike Pomery’s science fiction novel, Tangent.

Tangent is a story of Alan; a man who travels back into our present era from the not-too-distant future. More than most time-travel stories; Tangent has a strong literary flavor and lovingly explores the strange rituals of modern life. Alan encounters many interesting characters who all serve, in one way or another, to unlock the mystery of his fate. Tangent also explores our perception of reality and the struggle to gain solidarity and peace in a world governed by quiet subversion and unchecked greed. The reader is left to ponder the possibilities that Alan discovers through the course of the novel.

Tangent is available from Amazon.com and Amazon UK.

Here is an excerpt from Tangent: Continue reading “Sneak Peek: Tangent by Mike Pomery”

The Blurb Doctor Is In

The Doctor Is In.
Don’t worry, this won’t hurt a bit.

In my last post, I grumbled about mistakes commonly made in book descriptions/synopses. If you missed that phenomenal piece of curmudgeonly brilliance, you can read it here. This week, I pony up and come through as promised – the Blurb Doctor is in. Trust me, this is going to hurt me a lot more than it hurts you.

Writing a book description or “book blurb” can be the most difficult part of the process for some authors. I don’t know why I have a knack for it. I also don’t know how some people have figured that out (before I came out of the closet with it just now) and have approached me to help them with theirs.

If you’re just getting started, you should check out our Book Description Basics article.

I tried to devise a formula that could be used by anyone for any book of any subject. Would you like to know how that went? Well, it looked something like this:  Continue reading “The Blurb Doctor Is In”

The Weekly Flash Fiction Poll

The time has arrived for Indies Unlimited readers to begin voting in this week’s Flash Fiction Competition. On behalf of the IU staff, we want to thank the entrants for doing such a great job with the writing prompt and the merciless constraints of the exercise.

You may review the entries here. Please spread the word and encourage your friends to vote by using the share buttons at the bottom of the post!

The poll will be open until 5:00 PM (Pacific Daylight Time) Thursday

Pick the author of your favorite flash fiction entry for this week:

  • Dick Waters (55%, 12 Votes)
  • Brian Beam (23%, 5 Votes)
  • Amy Kaplan (23%, 5 Votes)

Total Voters: 22

Loading ... Loading ...

What Kind of Writer Are You?

I never realized it before, but I am suddenly becoming ultra aware of how I function as a writer. Because I wrote my trilogy over such a long time (3 years), it feels like an age since I’ve started a manuscript from scratch. I am learning a lot about myself this time around. It’s made me wonder what other people are like.

How do you function as a writer?

Me? I’m a planner. I plan my little tooshie off until I know the story inside out. It’s start in my head – a spark of an idea – and mulls around in there for a few months. I jot down notes as I go along and the story twists and turns until I keep coming back to the same scenes over and over… these are obviously the ones that work.

I then move into planning mode. I tend to start by revising a good “how to write well” kind of book to get my head in the game, then I get stuck in. I plan every scene, I write chunks of dialogue, I character profile, I research the area. I really take my time here. I find it works best for me.

Then I get to my favourite part… the first draft! Whoop! Bring it on. I jump into this new world and swim around in there for weeks. I love it. I love seeing a story go from bullet point life into paragraphs of emotion, tension, angst, action… I could go on forever here.

Now – this is the part that I have suddenly noticed about myself. I always just thought I wrote the first draft like everybody else, but I don’t. I edit as I go. I am a layer writer.

I write my first chapter or two, depending on how the writing juices are flowing and my time constraints. When I’m away from my computer I mull it over in my head… thinking about what I’ve written, how I’ve made my character’s behave, questioning if it’s true to who they are and how it will effect the rest of the story. I jot down notes, new ideas that will make the story better.

In my next writing session, I start by going back and adding a second layer to those first few chapters, then I move onto the next scene. Next time I write, I do the same thing, add another layer – tweak, refine, adjust – then move on. Continue reading “What Kind of Writer Are You?”