Vampires

12th & 13th December 2020

Peter Germany Short Fiction, Vampires , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good evening, folks!

I haven’t written today. I was at work and generally not feeling too well. So I’ve had the evening off.

I did write yesterday, 870 words on Penal Earth. I had been planning to write about a thousand words and then spend some time reading through Lovers, but I was on the verge of falling asleep at my desk, again. So I decided to go and have a nap.

I’ve got an early start tomorrow and then am off on Tuesday and will be looking to get closer to wrapping up Penal Earth and work on Lovers. I’m not sure how much of Penal Earth there is left to write. I don’t think I’m too far off the ending. With Lovers it’s going to be a total rewrite and I’m not sure when I’m going to be starting that draft.

Tonight I’ve finally got my YouTube channel up and running a bit. I’ve not got much up yet and am not sure how I’m going to approach it but I’ve got a video of me doing my first reading at the launch of Sparks: An Electric Anthology as well as a few videos of my friends CL Raven reading at Cons. There’s also a brief video of when I visited the site of the Battle of Hastings (again, with CL Raven).

I’ve never been that comfortable on camera but I’m not feeling as nervous as I used. So I’m going to have a play around and see how I get along.

Right, that’s it for now. This week has been a productive one and hopefully next week will be too.

Have fun, everyone!

NaNoWriMo 2020: Day Twenty-Three

Peter Germany Books, Horror, Horror Writer, Life, Nanowrimo, Short Fiction, Uncategorized, Vampires, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So, today was a good day. I finished up with 3724 words for the day, which puts me a little above where I need to be. So yeah, I’m back ahead but that doesn’t mean anything come tomorrow when I need to be hitting a good 2000 words again.

I also spoke to an editor I know and we’ve agreed a date for her to edit the novella I’m working on. And I’ve had an update from the gentleman who’s doing the cover for it, and seen it so far and I am stoked!

I’m working through till next Monday, with some long hours over the weekend, so I’m not counting on getting any words done then. I am off on Monday, but I’d like to be ahead of the game before then. So that means a solid few days writing between now and Saturday. I also have an appointment Wednesday night, which’ll be a couple of hours. That’ll also require a couple of hours of preparation tomorrow. So I’ve a lot to do, not including everyday stuff away from those things.

Can I do it? Yes, I bloody well can!

This is the final piece of my work that has been printed. My story ‘Dark’ in the ‘It came from the darkness‘ anthology was one I was invited to submit to and I was very proud to have been. It is a collection of drabbles and poetry from many big names and I was very humble when I saw who I was alongside in it and hoped my story didnt let the anthology down. Like many of my published pieces it is in an anthology that is raising money for charity, and I really don’t want to put up a piece which isn’t my best work. This got accepted, which tells me I did a good job (the publishers, Red Cape Publishing have published one of my stories and rejected another one. So I know they don’t take something they either don’t like or isn’t good enough). I can’t really say too much about the story, seeing as it’s a drabble which is a hundred word story, there’s not much I could say that wouldn’t spoil it.

It was a good day 😊

Right, I’m off to bed. I hope everyone is doing well and keep cracking on, folks!

Good Morning 25th of October 2020

Peter Germany Cat, Editing, Horror, Horror Writer, Life, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Nanowrimo, Novella, Outlining, Planning, Preparation, Short Fiction, Vampires, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good morning folks! I hope all reading this are well.

I’ve enjoyed the extra hour in bed that the clocks going back have given me. On the downside it means a later start to writing today than I had planned, but I’ll still get a few hours done. I’m hoping for a mix of writing, editing, and planning. This time next week, NaNoWriMo will have started and I’d like to be a little more prepared than I am at the moment.

Dizzy looking grumpy but purring away 😊

I have had pretty much the whole week off. I needed to ease off in one area of my life and writing is the easiest to do that with. But the silver lining to that is it’s helped me solve a couple of little hiccups I’ve had on projects. I can see how to improve a short story in my vampire book now, and my war child story. With the war child story it was a moment where if I was in a cartoon I’d have a lightbulb appear above my head. The problem is I’m now itching to write it! But it’s got to wait which is torture!

I can’t remember where I heard this but apparently someone once said “a non-writing writer is someone courting madness” I may not have the quote word for word spot on but it’s something that does apply to me. When I’m not writing I’m finding it harder to deal with the everyday. So I’m never going to for more than A few days not writing. I’ve suffered from that mistake and I won’t let it happen again.

In November I’m going to have more time to write than I ever have done and I cannot wait. I will be blowing each day (hopefully) and I am 100% going to write a novel this year. I’ve done short story collections for the last two NaNo’s, which worked well the first year but not so much last year.

Fills my heart when friends and family send me things like this! 😊❤️😊

I’m super excited for NaNo this year. I’m going to miss the in-person meets, but we’ve worked on ways to do online events and hopefully have one that’s going to work out well.

Okay folks, I’m off to start word wrangling! Have a good day one and all!

19/10/2020

Peter Germany Dog, Editing, Horror, Horror Writer, Insperation, Life, Lifestyle, Nanowrimo, Novella, Outlining, Planning, Preparation, Vampires, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good evening, folks. I wrote 751 on the vampire book this morning before work and during my break. It was nice getting some words down before I started the day job, it always is. I find it sets me up nicely for the day that way.

I have also been making notes on my NaNo project. Not many so far, but I’ve got the ball rolling.

I’ve got a lot I want to get done by the end of the month, tomorrow will be looking at the vampire story I’m on to see what I can cannibalise from it. That’s what I’ve got to do with all the stories in this book going forward.

Today’s random picture is of the one and only Max!

18th October 2020

Peter Germany Editing, Horror, Horror Writer, Insperation, Life, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Nanowrimo, Outlining, Planning, Preparation, Vampires, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good evening, folks! I wrote 300 something words tonight and did a little editing. I was working on the vampire stuff and I’ve got to remember I’m not just rewriting it. If I can work elements of the previous draft in, then I need to work them in. I’m going to loose some good content if I don’t do so.

I have began thinking about my NaNo project for this year. I am going to go for the novel and not another short story collection. In preparation I’ve put a list together of movies and tv shows that I think will help (with a little help from friends on Facebook).

Now, that list may seem to have a lot of variation on it but for the project I’ve got in mind I think this list, as well as some of my established influences like Alien, Aliens, Predator, and others, will aid in bringing this story together.

I’ve had a strange day. One which I did something that I need to do more of that emotionally drains me. I am going to be vague about it, but I will say it’s something that has a flip side to. It’s a driving force for me to be better. I hid mental health problems for a long time, and had them longer than I realise. Now I’m dealing with them. Some days are harder than others, but I’m learning how to recognise when I’m slipping into a downer and I’m getting better at stopping it and figuring out why I started slipping.

I will not let my mental health dictate my life.

I’m still a little reluctant to speak about this. Mental health is still a topic people don’t want to discuss but so many people have it, and it’s something that me are encouraged to ignore by society. It shouldn’t be ignored. I got help, and I’m better for it.

Don’t be scared of asking for help.

10th October 2020

Peter Germany Editing, Horror, Life, Mental Health, Planning, Preparation, Short Fiction, Vampires, Writing, Zombies , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good evening folks! I am just about to go to bed, but needed to get this post written first.

I have been slacking off too much recently. I’ve been sitting on the path as opposed to walking along it. That’s not just writing. Outside of work I’ve stagnated a little this last couple of weeks. I’ve written all but one day this month, so that’s a positive. I’ve been able to my hand in but I’ve got frustrated at myself for not pushing harder. Today, I did that. I did a red pen edit on two short stories that make up a big part of my zombie book, one more to go. I also wrote 1101 words and finished off the rewrite of a vampire story.

I want to maximise my time in the next week. So I’m going to try again to get a to-do list made up, well more of a plan for the week. I know what hours I’m working for the day job, and I know I haven’t got much planned for when I’m not at work (aside from some gaming with Stefan at Stefan’s Daily Gaming). Which means I will have a lot of time to get caught up on what I need to get done. I will be setting some time aside to prepare for an appointment next week, and will be doing a couple of non-writing related tasks that need doing, but I will still have plenty of time to write in the next seven days. I might even post what my writing plans are for the week on here so I’ve got some accountability come the end of the week when I post next Sunday.

I love it when I notice I hit a milestone number dead on 😊

For now, it is my bed time. I had an early start and I am very ready for my bed.

Good night, all! And remember, being kind isn’t a weakness. It’s one of the finest strengths you can have.

Good Morning 25th September 2020

Peter Germany Dog, Life, Lifestyle, Vampires, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hey Folks, how are we all doing today? Yesterday I wrote 874 words on the vampire book before a chill out and then work in the evening.

I’m going to get into some work this morning, but I’ve got to be honest I’m not feeling it today. I didn’t sleep well and I’m resisting the urge to just flake out for the day.

It’s the first what I think of as chilly day of autumn today. (yes, I’m in jogging bottoms and a hoodie!). This sort of grey weather doesn’t get me down. I adore wind and rain. I love listening to it and watching it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one to go out and stand in pouring rain, but I love it. I’m someone that loves getting wrapped up and settling in with a good movie (or even a bad one) or a book and just being cozy. When it’s too warm my body is not happy about it.

Max liking the cooler weather as it means the heater got put on 🙄😂

Back to writing though, I’m going to try and crack out a thousand words today. Looking at my numbers for the last week or so I’m pushing that 1k per day most days, so it’ll be nice to get over that today. That will be a push, but if I don’t try it I won’t know whether I can punch through when I need to.

When I am finished writing for the day I may get back into some of the filling I need to do. I’m getting tired of my bedroom looking like a tip. When I’m not at work or writing this is where I spend most of my time so it’s beginning to bother me that it’s all up in the air in there at the moment.

Right, I’m off to start writing. Have a good one folks! I’ll check back in at the end of the day.

Good Morning, 17th of September 2020

Peter Germany Editing, Life, Nanowrimo, Short Fiction, Vampires, Writing, Zombies , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good morning, folks! I hope you’re all well?

I decided to take a me day yesterday after work. I did a few extra hours to cover a colleague who had a family emergency to see to, and then I had a non-writing appointment to attend to. Once that was done it was time for food, and then I honestly thought stuff it. Let’s chill out a little. So I spent a couple of hours just not doing a lot. The most I did was transfer the progress of my projects to a white board. I think I’ll probably still keep it on a paper pad as well. Mainly because I’d need a huge white board to keep it all on and I have a lot of ongoing projects that need editing or re-writing, and I don’t want to swamp myself with those until I’m ready to start working on them.

Having transferred the data over to the white board I can see that I’m going to struggle to meet a couple of targets. I’ve got two major projects that are both penned it to be completed by NaNoWriMo (November). One of which is the vampire book, and I’ve only just started the rewrite on that. The other is Penal Earth where I need to fill in a gap in the story. I don’t think that one will be too hard once I get going with it. I’m not making any predictions on the vampire one at the moment simply because although it’s going well now, doesn’t mean I won’t hit a wall somewhere along the path.

For a little while at least I’m going to be focusing on the vampire book. Unless I see an anthology submission call I’m going to crack on with that while it’s hot.

Right, I’m logging out now. I’ve got an hour to write today, so I’m going to try and make the most of it. I’ll be editing next week, I think. I’ve a few days off so will hopefully be able to make good use of the time.

Have a good one, folks!

9th September 2020

Peter Germany Editing, Fan Fiction, Short Fiction, Vampires, Writing , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hey folks, just a quick post tonight.

I started to sort through my old writing files and boy is there a lot! I spent a fair chunk of the afternoon doing this and then this evening I’ve written a few words. 504 on the vampire book. And I must have written a little on the fanfic this morning before work(I was a little sleepy). Only 105 five but hell! It all counts!

I can barely keep my eyes open right now, so I’m off to bed. I’m going to be in editing mode tomorrow and try and get up to date with that.

Good night, all!

2nd of July 2020

Peter Germany Books, Editing, Life, Outlining, Planning, Vampires, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’m not writing much at the moment. I sat down to write yesterday but I was trying to work on Penal Earth which is more outlining than writing at this moment and I just couldn’t get my head into it.

I need to write at the moment, I’ve not written properly for so long now I’m scared that I’ve lost the knack to just sit and write. I did a little during a break at work on pen and paper, but that was early rewrite for my vampire book. I’m tired of not being able to get this stories done. I’ve got both Penal Earth and Vampire book eating away at me to get them down. I love both universes and am eager to expand beyond what I’ve got at the moment.

There are a lot of things in my life going on at the moment that are priority over writing but I’ve got to make the time to write as I find that it’s always been something that helps me see the world and makes me feel better in myself.

On a different note, I’ve been blogging with WordPress for ten years. Although I have a blogger account I never really blogged there. So pretty much everything I’ve ever blogged is here on WordPress. Blogging has been incredibly rewarding and I’ve met some amazing people through it and made friends, including my best friend.

Time to wrap this post up. I’ve got a few bits and pieces to do today, not sure I’ll get time to write but I’ll see what I can do later on tonight maybe.