WELSHCAKE

My lack of posting does mean I haven't been writing. But that's a good thing. I always have to force myself to stop after completeing a novel. When I first started writing I'd churn out novel after novel without even a day's break in-between. As you can imagine, I exhausted my inner-muse (Tajar) and ended up experiencing writer's block. A scary thing which I never ever want to know again. So now when I complete a book I stop and take a breath and don't write a single piece of fiction for at least three or four weeks.

I got to week four and had to write something.

It was just something small. Something written on a piece (four pieces...) of scrap paper late Saturday night while my fiance played the xbox. It might be the start of something; it might not. I want to make a nice short-story out of the idea. If it progesses on from there then great. If not, I have a million other ideas thanks to my break.

Unfortunately there won't be another novel from me this year. I don't like to start a new project unless I can devote my time to it properly. There's too much going on during the next month for me to feel comfortable with starting a new book. So I'll continue to toy with my short-story idea and continue to listen to my inner-muse (Tajar).

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I have completed Volume V of "Soul Mates".

I wasn't expecting to get it finished today but once I started writing I knew I wouldn't be able to stop. The momentum of the story wouldn't let me loose and so I wrote and wrote and wrote - and 4,500 words later the novel was completed. The ending is as dark as I expected it to be. There's hope but there's darkness too. I love it!

So as it stands right now at the completion of the first draft the book is 155 pages in length, made up of 70,000 (approx) words. Apparently, that makes it the shortest novel of the series, which baffles me because I was sure it was longer than the previous volume. I don't mind really: this book really did dictate its own length and story. It is as much as it was ever going to be and that makes it perfect. This volume really does feel like a story that has a very clear beginning, middle and end. I am so happy with it. Probably the happiest I've been about a novel in a while. It probably helps that my last work - "Olimpia Valley" - ended and I just wasn't happy or excited about the story at all. I've shelved that one for a later date - although I doubt that date will ever come again. "Soul Mates" has never disappointed me. The characters are always very talkative, always let me know what they feel and how they want things to go, and the story just spews out of me as if I was there when it all happened and I'm just documenting it all for future generations. As always, it has been a pleasure to spend so much time with the characters and to write such a pretty little story.

I am now going to rest! ;)

The flasback section took a lot less time than I imagined it would. It took me two days to complete it - approximately 6,000 words, split pretty neatly between the two days. So it is done. It was great going back into the character's past - especially because she was so young and so I had the chance to write it as a younger person, which was new for me. I hope I captured it well. It had quite a dark ending. But that's how this volume has been. It seems okay until you reach the end and you realise there is a lot of darkness in the world.

I have four more chapters of the novel to write before it is completed. Which means I should have it finished by the weekend. Which is about a month quicker than I was expecting!

Work's going really well this week. I have come back to the other group of characters and straight into the action. It's all very fast-paced and exciting. Usually I'm aware of how many pages in length each chapter is but I've just been so caught up in the story that I haven't even noticed this week. It's better this way. I much prefer not knowing how much I've written and how much more is yet to come.

I do know I have one more chapter left to write this week and then I'll put work on hold until the end of the weekend. Because the next section is the flashback and I prefer to work on that all in one go. The flashback section tends to be quite long (the length of four or five chapters) so to keep the flow of the story I would prefer not to have days off in between.

The characters are great. They're bringing comedy elements to some of the darker stuff, which I love. And one of the characters, who is relatively new to the group - well, no, she's not new because this is the third books she's been in but she is the newest member of the group - is really showing herself as a real person. I like how it's taken this long for her to come out of herself, and that it has been a slow, natural progress. As she's felt more comfortable with the group she's revealed more about herself to me. It's been very interesting.

I have finished the third section of this volume. The end chapter finished completely differently to how I was expecting it to. It nicely tied together some worries that had been going on in the previous volume but hadn't been touched on that much in this one. Means when the sixth volume is started those worries have even more to add ;)

Today I wrote up the synopsis for the final three sections of the volume - one of them being a flashback sequence, which is revolving around one of the characters who has always had quite a secretive past. It's been great to delve into it and find out what exactly did happen. And then we're dragged back to the present day and it's just as dark as it was in the past. My poor characters are just made to suffer. Thank goodness they enjoy it so much ;)

I have to honest I have been very slack with writing these past few days. I just can't seem to focus and have found many other things to do besides writing. Sometimes I get like this. Especially if I've had a good run of chapters, which I have lately.

But today I got back to work. I now only have one more small chapter to write before this section of the book ends. I will then work on the synopsis for the next section. I should pick up speed again now, as I usually do towards the end of a book. The middle always sees my attention wane a little. I just need to focus harder and be more strict with myself.

Today's chapters came so easily it hardly felt like work at all. It all just felt too easy today. Recrimination chapters are always the easiest to write - I love writing arguments! And it all went so well that I now only have two chapters left of this section of the book. That came about a lot faster than I was expecting. So pretty soon I'll be gearing it up for the last section of the book.

I had a really bad weekend where I lost two of my pets within hours of each other. It was an extremely upsetting time, and things still aren't right for me yet. But my writing, as always, has been my solace. When I write I switch off from the world and tumble into another reality. This week I am truly grateful for my ability to write and the fact that I am lucky enough to get to do it every day.

The book is coming along well. I steamed on through the one-hundred page mark at the end of last week. I also wrote a heterosexual love scene, which I haven't written in a long time. The story just arched that way and I followed its flow. It turned out really well. I was very pleased with it. Turns out I can write heterosexual love, after all ;)

Today I wrote a fight scene - I can't call it a battle because it really wasn't grand enough ;) I'm coming very close to the end of this section of the book now. Recriminations will come next and then the destination will be reached. From there it's back to the other characters to see if they can find the answer in time.

I've started a new week with just the one chapter again. It just seems like that's all I can manage on a Monday. It's worked out quite well this week because there's a bit of a break in the flow of the story, more time will shift by and the characters will have moved on from the passion they felt in the chapter that I wrote today.

I'm nearing the one-hundred page mark now. It's come about so quickly this time. I remember with Volume IV the story had progressed almost to its end when I reached the same marker. Volume IV was a much shorter novel, though. This one is looking as though it will be about the same length as the first three volumes. But it's difficult to tell really. Sometimes a novel can seem as though it's going to be much longer than it actually is, and vice versa. I've had the problem both ways with other novels but I don't think I've got any worries this time.

I've started a new week with the start of the next book in the current Volume of "Soul Mates". It was only a small chapter to get me back into the swing of things with the new set of characters. It's strange hopping from one set of characters to the next, even though I did the same thing with the previous Volume. I think I just prefer them all being together in the same place. But I can see how it can actually work better this way. More seems to happen because there are really two story arcs going on at the same time.

The characters I'll be working with for the next couple of weeks are about to face in-fighting, romance, betrayal and battle. So it should make for a very exciting writing period.

I have completed the second Book of Volume V of "Soul Mates". I wrote the last two chapters today (2,900 words). As I always say: I was away from the story for quite a few days and yet I slipped straight back into it without any trouble.

I now have to write up a synopsis for the next section of the Volume. The novel is a good length already and I have another three books in total to complete yet so I am really pleased with how well it's going. It seems much meatier than Volume IV, which for some reason needed to be a much smaller novel.

It's been a very busy but fun week, which has meant I've been kept away from the computer until today. This afternoon I finally had some time to actually sit down and write. And it was so easy to just slip back into the story and the characters. It always sort of scares me how easy it is to enter the "Soul Mates" world. I can be away for months and it still feels like an old friend, and yet also fresh and new. I suppose that's why I find it the easiest and funnest to write.

Anyway, today I wrote one chapter (1,800 words). I have two more until the end of this book. Then I'll have to write up the synopsis for the next section (book) of the Volume, which will see me back with the other characters. (In this Volume, like that last, the characters are in separate groups; except the grouping of the friends is different in this one to the last...)

Also, you may have noticed I have put up a new layout, which I hope everyone likes. I am going to tweak the novel-information pages in the weeks to come because I'm still not 100% happy with them. I thought I'd go for a nice pinkish design this time. I hope it's to everyone's taste ;)

I've had another disrupted week that has seen me only complete one chapter! I am very disappointed. I would have liked to have had much more to show. Unfortunately this next week is going to be even more disrupted. I should be able to get back into a normal routine by the end of the week so, hopefully, I'll be able to get back into the flow of the story.

I'm just going to call these two weeks the end of my summer holidays. Autumn will soon be upon us, which means knuckling down and getting some work done :)

This week's writing hasn't been going so well, to be honest. I just can't seem to concentrate on it for very long. I've managed to get a few chapters done but I seem to have run out of inspiration. I'm not worried about it at all. Sometimes I get like this, especially after such a good run.

I had a frustrating rejection letter from a publisher this week. They said what everyone seems to tell me at the moment: that the story is good, the writing is good, but for whatever reason they can't take it on as a project. It leaves me little to work on. If they think the book is great as it is then what can I possibly do to make it more publishable? I think the main problem is that the characters are gay. I find it baffling that in this day and age a story revolving around gay characters is seen as a "difficult sell". Considering the amount of people I know who like stories like this I can't really understand it. So I'm a little frustrated about it all at the moment. Which is probably what's upset my writing this week.

I can't say I write to get published. When I first started writing the thought of publishing the books never once crossed my mind. But now I'm out on my own and know I need money it sort of seems a bit silly that I have this passion for writing and can churn out so many stories and yet get no payment for it. So I'm not distraught that I've been rejected again but it does knock my confidence a little, as all rejection does, I suppose.

Things are going really well with the book.

I've lost track of how many words I've written now but I know I'm into the sixties page-wise. I am about halfway through the second book of the volume and think I'll probably get that finished by the end of next week. The characters are, as always with "Soul Mates", springing to life and doing what they think is best. Sometimes I think I'm just sat there watching it unfold like a TV soap rather than actually orchestrating any part of it ;)

I still don't want to say I'm one-hundred percent better but I am doing so much better that I feel good most of the day and so have been able to write as normal again. I can't tell you how good that feels. How happy I am to be sitting at the desk as normal, typing away, letting the words pour out of me.

I have completed another 5,000 words so far this week. Which means I have just come to the end of the first book of the volume. I have a synopsis written out for the next book but not the individual chapters, which I like to have as a guide. So this afternoon I'm going to work on that and then start work on book two tomorrow.

I think I might finally be on the mend. I've had a few wobbly days but overall I've felt a lot better and have been able to write every single day, which has made me very happy.

Chapter eight was completed today, so that added with yesterdays chapters makes for about 4,600 words, which is really good. I have another three chapters of this book left and then I'll start on the second book of this fifth volume, which means visiting the other characters. Because in this book the characters are still split up, but in different groups now.

I'm still very excited by the story of this volume and am thoroughly enjoying writing it. I hope my health continues to improve :)

The writing is going well this week. I've been very lucky and have felt quite well during the mornings, which is when I prefer to write since becoming ill. I have written three new chapters (4,000+ words), which I am very happy with. I hope this luck continues and that I'm able to write every single day this week, because I haven't been able to do that in over a month now!

My plans to write a chapter a day fell apart last week. My symptoms got progressively worse and I had to return to the doctors. I was ordered to lie down and do very little so I couldn't write. The down time has thrown up some ideas for the "Olimpia Valley" novella series, which I'm still not one hundred percent happy with. If I can incorporate the new ideas then I think I'll have a much better story. For now I have to work extremely slowly so I can't even begin to guess when I'll be able to start work on it.

I have managed to write another chapter of "Soul Mates" today. It was quite small but that's just the length it was meant to be. The next chapter is when the adventure really starts so that should be exciting. As with the work on "Olimpia Valley" I can't say when I'll be able to next write. Unfortunately when the dizziness and nausea takes hold I really cannot do anything but lie very still. Even writing the small chapter today has left me feeling very ill.

So what I will say is that I will write when I'm well enough and be happy that I can even do that much. Hopefully I'll start to see an improvement in my health. At the moment no one can tell me how much longer this will last.