Happy New Year!

So, that was 2017. And it was… interesting.

I learned a lot. Mostly about what it takes to publish your own book. And what does it take? A lot more than I first imagined! I was under no illusions that it would be easy, but nothing quite prepared me for exactly how much work it would take, and if I'm being honest, I'm actually not finished. It will be a matter of 'when' and not 'if' my debut novel is available in epub format for you non-Kindle ereader owners. I just beg for your continued patience in this matter. Thanks!

For all the stress, it was definitely worth it. There's nothing quite like seeing your finished book in print, and looking at your bookshelf and seeing it stand side by side with the works and authors that inspired it. At some point I'll be sharing what it takes to go from idea to book and the writing process, because it would be nice to share what I've learned along the way and it's great knowing that somebody else could benefit from it.

If you bought the book (and enjoyed it!) you'd be doing me a huge favour by rating and reviewing it on Amazon. These recommendations make a massive difference and will lead to more people getting their hands on my book!

So in terms of 2017 all that remains for me to do is to thank the beautiful people who follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ for their overwhelming support. I love you!
So what about 2018?

BOOKS

It will take something just short of an absolute disaster for me not to release two more books this year. Three is a reasonable estimation. Last year I made the mistake of setting my goals a tad too ambitious, and stressing myself out* when I couldn't achieve them.

*see paragraph about 'learning a lot'.

So I'll be aiming for three new books, I could miss, but that's where I'll be aiming. That might sound mental, but one is one draft away from being ready and the other, two drafts, which means I'll be writing book 3 from the remains of half a first draft I've got. So basically, if I don't get those two almost-done books out, I'll be massively disappointed. Stay-tuned for updates on the progress of those!

SCREENPLAYS

Boy, do I miss screenwriting. There's just something about the format of a screenplay that I just love to look at. And the writing process for an impatient sod like me is much quicker. My personal best for regular writing currently stands at 4.5k words in a day (the second half of my short story Infinity). Not loads by any means, but more way more than my 1.6k per day for the first draft of Laszlo Breyer. For screenwriting I once did 35 pages in a night. At a rate of one page of screenplay per one minute of film, that's a third of a comedy or horror film, or a quarter of an action film. In one go. Much faster.

I've got tentative-but-exciting plans for my Zombie/Western script Rush of the Dead this year, that I hope to be able to reveal in due course, and I would ideally like to get another film idea on paper this year too. It's been floating around in the old noggin for ages now. So it'll be good to get that sucker on paper! No more zombies, but a controversial story idea that I think would work better on screen than on paper, though I will possibly (probably?!) novelise it at some point just because it's a great story.

BLOG

The blog! Blogging is great. You get to write, and then get an instant response to it. And there's no need to write an insane number of drafts, then format for multiple platforms, and worry about things like pricing and pretty covers. I repeat. Blogging is great. But, it takes time. Any writing takes time. Time away from Facebook (good), time away from friends, family and loved ones (bad), and time away from Netflix (fucking awful*).

*Just kidding, friends, family and loved ones!

It also takes time away from writing books and screenplays. The time invested in creating those is equal to the satisfaction from seeing the end product. So finding time to write a blog amongst all of those other things is tough. That said, this year I'll be posting 2 new blog series. One similar to the Unexplained Files which I love researching (i.e. watching weird YouTube videos), and one that I wanted to do last year but couldn't find time. I'm really excited to see how the second one goes, but of course, I need to ask for your patience. My priority for now is book #2 and I'll be writing the new blog series between drafts.

So, that's my 2018! A lot to take on (just reading back what I've written I need a White Russian or three), but achievable. As long as I give myself time.

What are your plans and goals for 2018? Let me know in the comments below!