Showing posts with label Adversity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adversity. Show all posts

Wednesday 29 July 2020

Here and Now...

The Present

Yes, I'm back. Four months since I last posted and you may have forgotten I exist...

I'm into a routine and writing again; important as the the RNA New Writers' Scheme deadline draws ever nearer...

The last four months have been busy.

The Past

The Covid-19 virus hit my family as the country went into lockdown. Writing stopped and the priority was dealing with the resulting health issues- those were scary days.

Putting up the
mini-greenhouse...
I did read, in fact I read so much that the battery on my Kindle e-reader finally died! As I discovered when I ordered a replacement, there weren't any and I'd have to wait for an unknown time. It took about a month, but it arrived.

There's been lots of research reading, baking and gardening going on too- though that's probably obvious from the pictures...



Making Fruit Scones...






Growing Salad Leaves
from seed...
Reading for Research,,,










The Future?

I've also been thinking about the future of this blog, and my Serena Lake website/ blog. No final decision has been made yet as I need to research further options, and the practicalities may mean compromises.

There's lots of catching up to do...





Tuesday 25 February 2020

Dropping By...

A quick update.

Making progress on the novel draft for now, which explains the lack of posts currently.

Sadly I've had to remove the contact form as it's being used for spam. But I can still be contacted via Twitter or on my writer page on Facebook.

I'll be back here on Sunday...

This is now...



image:pixabay.com




Sunday 9 February 2020

Filler Words... What's Yours?

Ask any group of writers what their filler words are and 'just' is certain to appear. They're those words we write without thinking and don't help the clarity.

Those pesky filler
words...
I'm guilty of using filler words, but I'm picking them up better than last year. Now, even stopping mid-sentence and asking myself, do I need to use that word? The answer, no.

There will be others that need removing in the editing process, but if I can reduce known repeat offenders along the way, it saves time later...

We use many of the filler words in everyday conversation, and according to an expert, in this 2017 article from the Independent newspaper online, those words have a purpose- politeness and processing.  (That explains my use of 'well' in conversations...) :D

Perhaps that also fools our brain into giving filler words a pass card when we're writing drafts?

My top three: so, well, and just. I'm working on negating very.

Which filler words do you have to edit out?



Image created with canva.com






















Thursday 9 January 2020

The Self-Doubt Gremlin...

The decorations came down on Sunday and a normal regime began on Monday- my snoozing creativity woke up, but the rest of me was failing to keep up.

I've been dealing with the self-doubt gremlin for a few weeks now. It nearly derailed the mini workshop I was putting together for the writers' club meeting (last night), but I got through it and the gremlin has scarpered.

Weeks of disturbed sleep haven't helped; caused by strange disjointed dreams that had no clear meaning or any sense. I assume my brain was deleting unwanted junk in the memory...

Amazing how beneficial eight hours' undisturbed slumber can be.

There's still lots to catch up on, besides getting back to the novel rewrite; I need to make notes on new scenes before I forget why they're needed and get on with finishing the book I'm reading for research.
No Self-Doubt Gremlins
Allowed...

Meanwhile, avoid gremlins...












Image: Pixabay.com with additions in canva.com

Monday 14 October 2019

When Amazon's KDP Met East Midlands Writers...

East Midlands writers heard from Darren Hardy, manager of the KDP UK (kindle direct publishing) at an event organised via the Society of Authors last Thursday evening.

They held the event at The Nottingham Mechanics- the regular venue for Nottingham Writers' Club meetings, so this was a local and a great opportunity to attend.

This was only the second time KDP had run this session so they're still refining the event and learning from each one.

Though I'm not sure Mr Hardy was quite prepared for the RNA members attending.

Basically, it was KDP promoting and showing how easy it was to self publish with them and generate up to 70% in digital and up to 60% in print on demand royalties.

They provided a helpful A4 handout with relevant details and URLs and examples of royalty calculations.

For those who had not used KDP there was a run-through of the process, though the images on the screen were not large enough to read the text from a distance, it was explained and key aspects highlighted.

Apparently the help button on the dashboard connects to a tech team whose only job is to sort out the technical issues or queries writers may have during the process. There are also webinars, which if you can't watch at the time they're running, you can access later via the video library.

Questions were raised during part one and more again with the part two content.

There were insights into Author Central and how the writer could use their profile. Their suggestion that authors should link all their social media accounts to their Amazon author profile was met with scepticism by some audience members; I raised the question of algorithms and writers losing reviews, or being banned from leaving reviews.

Mr H said this was only when there was a financial connection, a gift card or cash had been paid for a review. He said that if an author contacted them about disappearing reviews, they would look at it. A human would look at it...

Sadly, he did not appear to believe that authors were losing reviews when they'd done nothing wrong, but as they would not tell the writer the actual reason for review removal, and consequently not reinstate them (some are); it was not a satisfactory answer.

But the audience were also told to contact the Society of Authors with the details of when and what had been removed, so the Society could feed that back to KDP. He admitted that there had been a glitch last year, and they had reinstated those reviews but was unaware of any recently.

There were complaints of cover colour inconsistency from the print on demand service, but again there was no explanation, just let the Society of Authors know as well to feed it back.

Four RNA members I know of had received damaged books in the last few months because of poor packaging, including one sent back by the carrier, before it got to the author, because of the state it was in. It appeared Mr H was unaware of these type of complaints.

Another attendee asked about the get 50 reviews and visibility improves. That isn't right, we were told. It's the metadata, so using the best categorisation and effective keywords in relation to the book is the important thing.

There are some promotions that authors can be invited to take part in, but, unlike those occasions when Amazon reduces the price but the author still gets their set royalty rate, the invited promotions will be at a reduced royalty rate...

KDP encourage writers to set up their author central profile on each of the Amazon sites, but they have to be done individually, so sign in, apparently using your normal Amazon log-in details, and complete your profile for each one. Cut and paste is the only shortcut for this.

Print & e-book...
There's more but hopefully you'll get the opportunity to attend their future events in other parts of the country, so sign up to the Society of Authors non-members newsletter- if you haven't done so, as this was how I heard the news of this free event and booked.
While I learnt a few useful things, I went away disappointed.

The KDP manager was not as well briefed as he could have been, so when he couldn't really answer the negative issues writers raised, it showed and suggested, right or wrong, that KDP thought everything was rosy.

Hopefully, he'll take back those negatives and get them resolved.

The good news is that one RNA writer who had received damaged books a couple of months ago, received her latest author copies in good condition and better packing. So maybe there's hope for solutions.

If KDP do more of this event, hopefully, they'll be able to answer any difficult questions writers raise.

All that said, any opportunity to hear from KDP direct is to be welcomed...





image:Pixabay.com





Monday 23 September 2019

Disappointment & Determination...

It surprised me to receive an email on Friday telling me the reader's report from the New Writers' Scheme was ready to access. I hadn't expected it so soon.

I considered ignoring it until later in the day, once I was home from meeting up with the Nottingham RNA Chapter, but I gave in and had a quick look through.

It was worse than I'd expected.
Wine...

I went out as planned.

Sharing my angst with the chapter members when we met up, I received sympathetic advice and helpful suggestions. Lunch and a glass of wine later, I had a more positive frame of mind.

Following one of the helpful suggestions I received, to print it out and go through the report with different colour highlighters, I could see the positives not just the negatives.

Many of the major points raised in the report I'd known about, but hadn't left enough time to fix before the August deadline- a lesson in time-management for next year's submission.

And the synopsis, let’s not go there...

There were a handful of positives, which gives me hope that with hard work I can improve the manuscript. But it will take time and thought.

Having learnt from this year's submission and report, I will apply that to another first draft I have waiting.

No, I'm not giving up on this story. I knew there was still plenty of work to do on it, along with the additional research points that popped up as I'd worked on the draft. But for now I need a short break away from it.

Getting it right is never easy...






Image: epicantus at pixabay.com





Sunday 25 August 2019

Almost There...

One week to go to my final deadline.

Today (Sunday) I've done about seven hours at the keyboard- obviously I did get up to make coffee and eat an occasional snack- okay there was a few pieces of dark chocolate involved. The result was the completion of Chapter 23.

My antagonist gets punched in the nose by my hero- with justifiable cause...

I'm at the stage of tying the various strands together in these last chapters.

I know some of the strands are still vague in the first half (I'll have to sort those out in the next draft) and they'll definitely need a lot of attention. I might have to try working backwards...

The downside of getting my submission in so close to the deadline for the RNA's New Writers' Scheme is I'll have a longer wait for the reader's comments to come back, but it gives me time to develop a couple of future stories.

#writing-romance

My first draft had 17 chapters; by the time the second draft is finished it will be at least 25 chapters and approximately 50,000 words.

 Normal blogging about a variety of subjects, annual book related events and topics will resume as soon as I have my partial submitted- and I decompress.

Almost there...



image: pixabay.com








Saturday 17 August 2019

Cake and Lots of Words...

Two weeks to go and lots still to do.

I've had a couple of days break, rewarding myself for all the words I've achieved by attending the Nottingham RNA Chapter meeting. I was late arriving due to public transport hold-ups and the very heavy rain, but the food was worth waiting for...

Plus I need to sort the next scene out in my brain as there's new snippets as well as the part from the first draft for this upcoming scene.

My week three word was peril...

My hard work
reward...
The scene of peril was written- my heroine was lured to the big house and- sorry you'll have to wait for the book to come out to discover the rest.

Of course she survived, but for a moment there it did actually make me shiver, which should be a good sign, but maybe that's because I could see it in my mind.

I need that effect on the reader too.

This week I'll be trying to put in even more writing time as other demands on my time are put on hold or scaled back.

By next weekend I'll know whether I will have the draft complete or almost completed, so I can get the submission formatted ready for sending in.

I do have an old synopsis for this novel saved so that will need updating but it means some time will be saved.

My word for week two is determination- mine and my hero's...


Tuesday 16 July 2019

I'm Back!

It's been a long time since I was last able to post to the blog, so apologies for the silence.

As friends on Facebook and Twitter will know, I changed broadband provider and upgraded to fibre, but sadly my 4th June changeover didn't go to plan- basically everything that could go wrong did...

It's only when you don't have broadband you realise how much you depend on it for both major and seemingly inconsequential items. That's when you discover how even those little things are so much easier and quicker with it.

Need to quickly check whether a word was being used around 1800? And did it mean then what it means now? It's so much quicker with a few clicks of the keyboard to check https://www.etymonline.com/ -do have a look at it.

My bookshelf reference library got heavy use...

Fortunately after two weeks offline we were introduced to a little Vodaphone mobile wifi device (I'm not being paid to promote it) when the OH and I were out looking for a replacement tumble-drier (that finally died on us after twenty years, around the same time).

It did mean all the family could access the Internet while we were waiting, but we needed to be careful to keep enough data for the month, just in case the fibre broadband took longer- it did.

Across my various email accounts I deleted nearly 2,000 emails unread, only keeping a few in each account that needed action. I really must cull some of those mailing lists and newsletters.

Eventually the only option was for the new provider to completely start again, which meant we temporarily lost our home phone number for about five days until our supplier reclaimed it. (I had visions of my number ending up somewhere else and the poor recipient being rung up about the writers' club, if they couldn't get our number back.) Fortunately that went okay and the broadband order could then go through.

Last Tuesday- five weeks after we should have originally changed over- we finally had fibre broadband live.



With only a few days before I was off to the RNA Conference in Lancaster I started on all those items that would have been a heavy data drain- still have a few to catch up with.

It certainly makes you realise how much of everyday life now revolves around having a broadband connection...

Next post it's my RNA Conference experience...


Image from Pixabay.com


Sunday 28 April 2019

To Prologue or Not...

After taking a break over Easter to start sowing vegetable and herb seeds in pots and tubs, I'm getting back to the novel.

Moving to Scrivener was definitely a good move, I can concentrate much better using it.

I'm working my way through writing the new scenes (missing from draft one) and am now finding a few of those original scenes in draft one have changed, moved or are no longer needed.

I even have a scene that I thought I'd put in the first draft but hadn't!

On Friday I got together with a couple of fellow romance writers and shared my concerns over how I deal with a particular piece of important information, currently in the second chapter, that still comes over as an info-dump.

Working it out...
While a small part can be slipped in naturally in conversation (where it is now) I need to remove the rest but find some way to show the really important part. As the rewriting has progressed it still can't be worked in elsewhere.

(It has to be dealt with in the third draft...)

So I decided the only way to overcome the problem was to create a short prologue.

Prologues are like Marmite, love them or hate them.

I don't mind them if they are used for a valid reason, but did wonder if my decision for it was reason enough.

So I did some Googling and came across two articles that discuss the do's and don'ts of prologues. First there's a post from the Writers Digest and the Writers & Artists website...

Having had a couple more days to consider the possibilities, I'm sure it's right for the story, as the consequences of that moment will lead to incidents that bring my hero and heroine into contact and eventually together...

By the time I'm ready to go back and finalise the first couple of chapters (I'm not totally happy with them yet) I'll be ready to write that prologue.

Now over to you; what's your view on prologues?





Image by Geralt from Pixabay.com

Thursday 31 January 2019

The All Rights Issue is Spreading...

Just want to point everyone in the direction of the Womagwriter blog where further bad news on all rights fiction contracts have now spread to monthly magazine Spirit & Destiny.

The magazine was seen as a new market for short story writers even though it was only one story a month and obviously needed stories that would fit the magazine's profile.

I usually read the magazine on Readly and it's always good to see a story by writers I know. I doubt I will continue to read it now they're requiring all rights for their fiction.

More worrying for writers is that the magazine is a Bauer publication. They also produce Take A Break Fiction Feast; although that is a closed list so writers who aren't on the list can't submit anyway, but the implications, for those writers who are, is worrying.

When I wrote my article for Writing Magazine last summer (around the all rights situation at Woman's Weekly) I mentioned the potential for the other magazines to also move to an all rights contract.

Last year's
All Rights issue
I hoped I was wrong.

People's Friend have not gone the all rights route and are consequently receiving even more submissions, with writers waiting longer than before to hear the outcome for their stories.

So many newer writers cut their teeth on the womag fiction market and years later move on to writing novels for mainstream publishers.

If Bauer extend the all rights contract to their TAB Fiction Feast magazine I think a number of womag writers will stop submitting.

If that happens it won't just be the writers losing out...




Monday 21 January 2019

Scrivener, Word or Open Office?

I decided I'd try out Scrivener to see if it would help me get my manuscript done.

There's a 30 day free trial and the days only count down every day you use it, so if you only open it a couple of days a week the free trial will last longer than a month.

When the trial is up you either purchase it or remove it.

Friends do say it is a learning curve but there's lots of helpful info available: YouTube videos, a user manual within the programme and instructional videos. Then there's Anne Rainbow's ScrivenerVirgin site.

At the moment it's all making my head spin...

Which programme?


I can import a Word document, but apparently Tabs are not good and muck up the formatting later.

Since Word 2007 no longer has technical support- no updates- I've found it creating glitches in my formatting of documents and I've had to use the tab key more.

I'd considered Office 365, but apart from having to pay monthly or annually, the version of Word would not read my much earlier documents; as I understood the info it would remove my 2007 version during the download.

I bought the Office 2007 disc when I purchased my previous computer and then had to reinstall Office 2007 when a Microsoft update created major issues with my current desktop (resulting in it having to be wiped) I am now on my third and final use of 2007.

I've downloaded Open Office and found it useful for a number of things, but I wasn't comfortable with it for the novel. So I've persevered with Word.

Now I'm trialing Scrivener.

As I'm mid-rewrite of Chapter 9 in Word 2007 I've decided to start Chapter 10 in Scrivener and see how it goes. If it works for me and I buy it, I can sort out the earlier chapters in Word and then import them in.

I like the ability to make your own templates so you can use them with every novel or use the pre-existing templates.

Like any new programme it's as much about learning where things are and how to use it.

The biggest advantage is being able to prepare the finished novel for being an e-book, in ePub for example. (Of course you still need an editor.)

Today I set up the title and the chapters, then tomorrow I'll try the cork-board bit...

I must admit that the last time I looked at Scrivener (about four years ago) I didn't like it, it confused me, but now I'm at a stage with my writing where it makes sense and I can see how helpful it could be.

Are you a Scrivener convert or a Word or Open Office user?








Sunday 16 December 2018

Review of 2018 - January to June...

Toward the end of the year I review the past twelve months to see what I've achieved- or not in some cases- and set a few targets for the coming year.

Starting with the targets I set for this year, back in December 2017:
  • Get that second draft completed. (I'm working on it.)
  • Continue to be open to writing opportunities and experiences. (Certainly did that a few times!)
  • Rewrite/revise a few of those short stories I found on my floppy disks. (Not yet.)
  • More reading and much more writing. (Definitely did this one.)
January to June
2018

January

This was a stressful start to the year with the rewiring and re-plumbing of the house starting. There were holes in the wall and ceiling, as well as floorboards up in bedrooms and on the landing. I still think Lights and Pipes would be a good book title.

February

Despite the router and keyboard failure, as well as getting the house warmed up after the new boiler, radiators and pipes went in on the weekend it snowed- thank goodness we were in a local hotel- the rest of the month was better.

I did a workshop with another Nottingham Writers' Club member, Jill Walmsley, on Competitions: Do's and Don'ts; then at the end of the month there was a Saturday afternoon workshop with local author Claire Harvey.

March

This month started with snow on the 1st of March. I live in one of those regions where snow either misses us and hits everyone else in the country, or we get lots and it stays for days.

I was reading the entries to the 2018 NWC National Short Story Competition and giving feedback on each entry; both rounds this year had short deadlines.

Finally I started back onto the second draft of my WIP. While also looking ahead to GDPR and Podcasts (that would eventually become part of a page on the blog).

The podcast
list...
April

The redecorating started at home (it's taken months) and this blog began it's facelift. I took on the role of Chairman at NWC again, after a three year gap.

Enjoyed a trip to a vintage fair in Nottingham city centre and inspiration for a 1920's story idea.

May

An exciting month with the new flooring going down and the wallpaper finished in the living room.

At NWC I'd arranged guest speaker C.J Tudor, author of  The Chalk Man
(recently included in the Guardian's books of 2018 list).

I also booked a place for the Romantic Novelists Association Conference in July near Leeds.

June

That was a mixed month. I had the sad news that my short story 'The Wishful Spirit' would no longer be available after July, due to the publisher, Alfie Dog Fiction, ceasing the short story download side of the site.

The future of the One Word Anthology (with short fiction by me and Serena, from some years ago, in it) was also under consideration, but thankfully continued to be available.

The One Word
Anthology...
At the end of the month the contract changes at Woman's Weekly became news and led to a new writing opportunity.

Find out what happened in part two of my 2018 review on Thursday...



Monday 10 December 2018

Awards and Parties...

Only fifteen days until Christmas and I've still got cards and letters to write and presents to buy.

Last week I was partying; minimal alcohol and lots of happy times with writer friends.

Wednesday was Awards Night followed by the Christmas Party with Nottingham Writers' Club.

It's lovely seeing members receive their certificates for placings in the quarterly prose and poetry competitions; and then it's the trophy presentations for the annuals.

This year, among the trophies, was the bi-annual presentation of the Mary Street Memorial Shield for a Romance Novel - though it's not the complete novel, just the synopsis and first three chapters.

The Mary Street Memorial
Trophy winner 2018...
(image courtesy of
Dennis Apple)
This year's competition was close; there were only two entries and knowing the ability of the other entrant I didn't think my entry would win.

What a shock. It did!

I have to say my entry was not as good as it will be sometime in the future- when I've worked out how to tie up the various strands in the latter half...

The comments I received from the judge (a published romance writer and member of the RNA) were very encouraging:

"The judgement call for this competition was very close, as there were excellent qualities overall, but the winning entry was the one I felt had more shape, confidence of writing style, and clarity of direction, with an intriguing opening.  It is a historical mystery romance set in the late 1920s and the writer has created the appropriate period style and ambience well, and worked on making it convincing."

The story was one of those ideas that interfere in what you're working on and has to be written down to get it out of the way (to carry on with the work in progress). I only needed to tidy up the first three chapters and write a synopsis for it.

It's a reassuring way to end a year that has had a lot of disruptions and unexpected demands on my time (that have now set back my intentions for next year).

For now the 1920's story can carry on brewing in the depths of my sub-conscious, while I get back to Serena's 1802 setting and the rewriting; I still have a target to get it out next year, but it won't be June...
















Sunday 18 November 2018

Eye Health and Updating Computer Monitors...

You may be like me, put off updating equipment until you absolutely need to, but then you get to the stage where it has to be done. Well that was me a couple of weeks ago.

When we got our first computer at home, back in the early 2000's, monitor screens were a bit boxier and generally smaller than those you can get today. Ours was only 15 inches and included speakers- which is great if space is limited.

(Plus it had a much lower screen resolution that would mean display issues on some newer computer programmes.)

Moving on to the next decade when technology was improving and web pages could now fill a wider screen, I was having to use the bottom scroll to see what was on the right hand side of the page.

After my eye test last year revealed vision issues I made adjustments: increased font size on my screen and had the lighting in my office area customised to my needs. My glasses now tint to protect me from bright lights indoors or sunlight outside.

I finally admitted I needed a bigger screen to make everything easier and for display requirements.

Blue light...
 
Wow, the monitor sizes and options, as well as the cost of some of them! You can get a good monitor without paying huge prices.

I did some online comparisons; measured the space available for the monitor sizes and pinned down a few of my must haves: speakers integrated; plus a non-reflective screen- when you turn it off you can't see your face in it.

I was impressed with how many manufacturers are producing screens with eye-health in mind.

(I had tried the Windows 10 option to set the night light display so the blue brightness was lowered, but on the smaller screen it was problematic.)

Although I've only had my new monitor (just under 22 inch size) a few weeks I can feel the difference at the end of the day with the low blue light effect; my eyes are not as tired and I can read a paperback book before bed without difficulty.

Whether the blue light on my old monitor contributed to the start of my macular degeneration, I can't say as age does play a part.

If you're not sure about the pros and cons of blue light there's some interesting information from Zeiss about it and eye care.

When I had my Optician's appointment last week I was relieved that the macular degeneration was stable and all the changes I've made over the year, including vegetable choices, have been helping.

Eye health is very important whether you're a writer and/or a reader.

Are you still working with an old monitor or have you updated?


Monday 30 July 2018

Appearing in Writing Magazine this Month...

It's been a very exciting Monday and a much better way to start a week than usual.

My article 'Womag Rights' has been published in the September issue of Writing Magazine; subscribers began receiving their copies today, but for newsagents it's Thursday (2nd August).

My article in
Writing Magazine
While the 'all rights' issue at Woman's Weekly (the focus of my article) still remains unresolved for writers, this ongoing situation is like an Octopus uncurling its tentacles in different directions with potential damage from each one...

I'll be guest posting on the Womag Writers blog on Thursday so if you have to wait until then to read the article you'll have an opportunity to join in the ongoing discussions.

September issue
in newsagents
Thursday

Meanwhile shares and tweets on this all rights topic are spreading the word and appreciated...




Sunday 29 July 2018

Arriving Shortly...

No, the book is not done yet!

Instead there's a non-fiction article due out any day- if you're a Writing Magazine subscriber; otherwise you'll have to wait until Thursday when the September issue is in newsagents, or you prefer digital...

As soon as I have a copy in my hands and have read it- to see what was edited- then I'll be blogging and tweeting about it, as well as posting on Facebook.

It's an important topic for many writers I know...

Magazine topics...



Image from Pixabay.



Thursday 28 June 2018

Authors Earnings & Contracts in the News...

Authors earnings have been in the news this week with the initial results of the 2017 ALCS Authors Earnings Survey.

There's more detail to come in the autumn when the details will be revealed in more depth, but meanwhile you can read how the news and ALCS have reacted.

Richard Combes, Head of Rights and Licensing at the ALCS on the Bookseller.com website.

In the Guardian Philip Pullman is quoted "The word exploitation comes to mind..."


Meanwhile The All Party Parliamentary Group for Writers has launched an enquiry on author's earnings (UK) "and seeks to identify what environment writers need to enable them to flourish in the future".

The deadline for written evidence is 5 pm on the 2nd August.

I will be submitting written evidence.


As to contracts, the latest news is that Woman's Weekly magazine now want all rights- including a moral rights waver and the pay-cut.

This will severely damage the earning potential of writers who have already seen markets closed, submission lists restricted, and contract changes eating into rights.

For those who may not know, these fiction writers rely on being able to reuse their stories in overseas markets, and as part of a self-published collection of short stories, and then most importantly qualifying for ALCS (Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society).

It's an ongoing situation so keep an eye on the Womagwriter's Blog for more news. You can find out what's been happening so far here and also here.

If you're on Twitter and see a tweet with the hashtag #WomagWritersNeedRights please give it a retweet...


Saving the pennies...

image from Pixabay.com

Sunday 10 June 2018

The Writer's Seesaw...

It's been a bit of a seesaw week so far.

I've made progress on the novel; rewritten another chapter today (as the noisier family members were out enjoying an event some distance away) and reviewing the changes on the next chapter for this week coming...

Sadly I had the bad news on my existing published writing a couple of days ago.

My short story, 'The Wishful Spirit', currently on the Alfie Dog Fiction download site will no longer be available after July 20th.

Leaving port
soon...
So if you want to read it you'll need to buy a copy before then...

It's also likely that the One Word Anthology that both I and Serena have stories in will also go, but I'm waiting for definite confirmation of that.

Of course it does mean those stories are available for re-use at some time in the future. But for the moment I'm concentrating on the work in progress and not allowing these downs to distract me.

Trying to do a little tidying up I had a shredding session yesterday, and of course the container quickly filled up and needed emptying.

No problem, there's a bin bag half full of shredded paperwork, I'll use that and it will be full ready for going to the recycling centre.

Sadly the paper had other ideas and stopped half way out of the container on the way into the bag, so of course when I checked, the non-bagged contents made a break for it and spread far and wide...

A few
escapees...
Next time I'll call someone to hold the bag for me, or better yet I'll hold the bag and they can tip!



Sunday 18 March 2018

Writers and Data Protection...

Many places in the UK have had another fall of snow; not as heavy as it was at the start of March, but still snow, very cold and windy.

I'm at my desk in the warm, thankfully.

Data, it's everywhere: mailing lists, buying from online stores, and subscribing to newsletters.

Coming soon...
On the 25th May 2018 new data protection laws apply, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) apply to EU countries. These replace existing UK Data Protection laws...

The Society of Authors were aware these new regulations could effect authors (and writing related organisations) but all the information seemed to be geared to businesses.

A couple of days ago the latest SoA Supporters Newsletter arrived, and it included an update. and a link to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to read the guidance.

The link small organisations section is useful.

You need to look at the information for how it applies to your individual circumstances. If you have any doubts get appropriate legal advice.

Lots of authors have mailing lists, and some may sell their books themselves; writers' groups have membership details, so these data regulations may apply.

The ICO have lots of pdf links within their pages, and you will need to take a little time to find which bits you need to read.

If you look at the Guide to GDPR you'll find links to basic sections. And yes, you'll find useful links within links.

If you're using a mailing list service such as MailChimp, or similar, you aren't going to have the personal data of those who sign up to your mailing list*, but if you're doing your own mailing list and have the details then you need to know what rules apply to you, and how to store data correctly.

So if you also run a small business outside of your writing life, that needs looking into as well to ensure you're complying.

As consumers it's likely we'll all be receiving emails from businesses we might have shopped with online to confirm we still want them to send us information, receive newsletters and such. I know I've received half a dozen in the past couple of months, and likely even more will be getting in touch before the 25th May if their existing permissions need updating...

The ICO will be continuing to expand the information, so more may be added before May.

(* see this MailChimp article as there may be circumstances where you need to take action.)




Image from Pixabay.