Burdizzo Books

A Little Ramble (24/3/21)

Peter Germany Cat, Insperation, Life, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve got no idea what I want to blog about, I just had the urge to have a little ramble .

Firstly, it really freaks me out when I get a message request on FB from someone using a nickname I had a few years ago. Very few people know me by that now, and those people are very close to me. Part of my inner circle. So when a spammer uses it, it’s an immediate ‘fuck no’. Also, not for nothing, I’m not German. Sending me a message in German is even more likely to get no response at all. To be fair I don’t reply to message requests anyway, but that’s just gonna make me less likely to acknowledge you.

I’ve also had a shit load of people adding me on Facebook (hi folks!) I don’t mind this, the more the merrier, but please don’t immediately send me the link to your page or group, same goes if I sent you a request. At least let’s have a conversation first!

Okay, so those were a little ranty, here’s something good. I got mentioned in a review recently! Not going to say by who or where, but needless to say it made me smile. As did a friend responding to my story, The Wank Diaries, which is in the Corona-nation St anthology from Burdizzo Books. This story is one of my most personal and hearing someone, especially someone who I consider a dear friend saying positive things about it puts a smile on my face. Both of these help to reinforce that I can write, and it’s super humbling to know people are enjoying my word wrangling.

Spot Raven!

Even though I’ve had my attention focused on personal matters that take priority, I am still thinking about writing. But not the actual writing but the business side of things. If all goes to plan my first novella will be out this year, which means I’ll need to do something to promote it. Only a couple of ideas, and hopefully I’ll have the confidence to try them and then use them when the time comes.

Okay, enough rambling! I need sleep. So good night folks!

Be kind, you don’t know how that little bit of kindness may help someone out.

11th February 2021

Peter Germany Books, Editing, Horror, Horror Writer, Life, Mental Health, Planning, Short Fiction, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Yesterday I started the day off well. I got up early and got work done. I took a member of my household to the dentist and while they were in there I did some scouting in Gravesend town centre, in particular the Civic Centre (see video for more). Once I got home though, I took a mental health hit.

Something small triggered it, something that I see often but yesterday was the first time it knocked me like it did. I didn’t hit rock bottom, but I did fall somewhat. This made it hard to sleep, I think I had maybe two hours altogether. Maybe three at the most, and most of that was today. I was up at 8am like I planned, like I was yesterday but I knew I had to get my head back down. I finally got up at about 10ish and have felt that lack of sleep all day. I’ve tried to nap this afternoon but with no joy. So I’m going to work for a little while, not long, maybe an hour, and then a bath and reading after dinner. Try to relax into sleep.

On the plus side I did get some writing done last night. A little bit on the vampire era, and the part of it I was working on struck me that it might be a part where people may assume that I’m taking from real life experiences a little too literal. I do bleed into my work. I take what I’ve experienced and put it into characters, but how I think I do it is I put the dark moments I’ve had into the stories, but not the situations. I may get close with the odd one but I’ve not got the urge to turn my life into literature, not 100%.

My story ‘The Wank Diaries’ was one I bled into a lot. When I rewrote the ending after I was trying to get myself back it was a totally different vibe to the original ending and changes the tone of the story.

People ourselves into in our work is something that we all do, even if it’s something that’s subconscious. A lot of the time I don’t think we can help it. Writing, for me, is a great form of therapy. I can channel my emotions into my characters and I hope it makes them more real. More relatable.

Another plus side to last nights insomnia was I did look at the Vampire Era again. It’s on my to-do list but I’ve been so preoccupied with Penal Earth and Black Blood I hadn’t got around to looking at it. I’m going to start working on it, because it’s a rewrite and it’ll allow me to write while also working on editing and building worlds. I need to make sure I can find a way to be writing as well as working on the other elements of producing content.

Which is what I’m going to do now!

22nd January 2021

Peter Germany Cat, Editing, Horror, Horror Writer, Life, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good afternoon, folks!

It’s been a quiet week writing wise. A little ill health(nothing to worry about) took me off game for the best part of the week. Yesterday, although I was still feeling rough, I was planning to get some work done but pulled a few extra hours at work. So when I got home I was totalled and chilled out.

Today, I’ve finished an hour early but am only now getting the laptop out. I’m not planning on getting a lot done today, to a degree this week is a write off, but come Sunday I’m intending to get stuck in. Today is going to be a nice and steady few hours of work, no ball busting effort to get a big count in. I’m just going to edit until I’m beat and then, feet up!

Werewolf, the fantastic prequel to Matthew Cash’s Fur!

Something that frustrates me is I’m guilt tripping myself for not having done enough this past week, but I realise I’ve not done nothing. I have got a few words edited, not many but more than I’m giving myself credit for. Would I like to have more? Yeah, of course. But I’ve only got two days this week I haven’t worked on writing. It will be a low number week, but it’s still words done.

Dizzy helping me write this post…she didn’t contribute much!

NaNoWriMo 2020: Day Twenty-One

Peter Germany Books, Horror, Horror Writer, Life, Nanowrimo, Reading, Short Fiction, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good evening, all. One very tired human being here. Work was good, had a good laugh, and a work out. Since coming off leave at the start of the week I’ve not really had a shop floor shift (I’m a retail worker), and today made me realise that maybe I relaxed a little too much during my time off!

Words wise, as I overlaid I didn’t get as much written as I should have done, only 480 words, but I went in a direction that I wasn’t expecting. It’s also made me realise I’ve been playing it safe a little too much. Time to get brutal and bloody! Mwahahahahahaha!

I write this blog for myself. When I started out blogging I wasn’t sure what I was doing. Over the years it’s evolved into what this is now. I share word counts not to brag, not to get one over over writers. I do it because it reminds me that some days I can’t get words out, while other days I can knock out 2k easy.

If you read this and think or see other people talking about their word counts, don’t get put off if you aren’t getting the numbers that other people do. Especially during NaNoWriMo it can be off putting seeing so many hitting big counts, but as long as you’re getting words down it doesn’t matter. A hundred words a day, you’ll have a story completed before you know it!

Just write and edit at the pace you’re comfortable with.

My next published piece was in Corona-Nation Street. My story ‘The Wank Diaries’ has an interesting journey. I wrote it with the intention of submitted it to this anthology but I wrote it and wasn’t happy with how it came out. So I dropped it. This was when I wasn’t in the best of places. Then I had a big change in my life and I was lower than I’d ever been in my life. I wasn’t writing, but I saw Burdizzo Books MC Matthew Cash putting a post online reminding people of the deadline, so I looked at it again. Scrapping the ending immediately. What I then wrote I could never have predicted and wasn’t quite sure I was capable of writing. So much of the despair I was feeling came out in the ending of this story. Brian Keene calls it ‘Bleeding on the page’ and I definitely bled on the page here. I’m very proud of this story. It gave me something to focus on and get writing again.

NaNoWriMo 2020: Day Fourteen

Peter Germany Books, Horror, Horror Writer, Nanowrimo, Reading, Short Fiction, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good evening, folks! How are we all doing tonight? Today I’ve written 1592 words and past the halfway mark! I’m currently at 25751 words for the month.

It was a good productive day’s writing before I went into work for a little training. I was planning on getting some more words down tonight, but I think I might just chill out a little bit and have a good go at it tomorrow.

I started writing this post at 6pm and after dinner, washing up, a couple of emails, and extensive procrastination I’m back to finish this post! 😀

Right, where was I?

Yes, getting back at the wording tomorrow. I’m still ahead bit I’m still not getting back to being on 1667 words a day. I wasn’t far off today, so tomorrow I’m going to push through, get the 1667 words and then maybe push through to the 2k mark. But we’ll see.

12 Days of Christmas 2017 was the second anthology I was published in. This was one of the easiest stories I’ve ever written. The anthology has stories inspired by the 12 Days of Christmas song. I snagged Three French Hens. I had a story in mind and I think I wrote it over three days. I had plenty of experiences from years of keeping hens to use when I was putting the story together (if you’ve read it, which ones do you think are true and which ones aren’t?). The most difficult part was working these experiences into a story, and when I say difficult, it really wasn’t. Although it’s not the longest story I’ve written, I definitely think it’s a fun one.

We don’t keep hens anymore, but it was fun and very interesting while we did.

NaNoWriMo 2020: Day Twelve

Peter Germany Books, Editing, Horror, Horror Writer, Insperation, Life, Nanowrimo, Sci-Fi, Short Fiction, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1185 words written today. I’m at the point with NaNo where the urge to edit is kicking in! So I might try and do some editing on a short story and see if that quells that urge.

I didn’t write as much as I wanted to, today. I had a phone call just after midday and then a friend who is a very skilled writer text me asking if had five minutes to brainstorm a problem she had with a story she’s gearing up to write. That five minutes ended up being three hours, it a damn good three hours. It was good working ideas out and just letter her talk out her ideas. The story itself sounds damn good and I’m kinda itching to read it. So I’m gonna start bugging her to make sure she’s writing, because that’s what friends do!

The first story I ever had published was in Sparks, from Burdizzo Books. I still can’t quite believe that I’m a published author, but I have proof of it, even if I have to pinch myself once in a while. My story, ‘The Last Charge’ is one that was very easy to write. I wrote from the hip, no real idea where I was going with it. Looking back, I’d have done a few things differently, but I don’t look at it and cringe. It’s still something that I am still very proud of.

Imposter syndrome is real, very real. But I don’t feel as bad about having it hitting me once in a while when I hear of well established authors suffering from it. What beats over that feeling is the buzz you get from having a story published. I’ve only encountered two things that have given me a better high (no, not narcotics!).

Right, folks! I’m settling in for a movie (The Cave), and then a busy day tomorrow.

Have a good one folks!

31st October 2020

Peter Germany Nanowrimo, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good evening, folks!

I wrote a massive 101 words this morning. I overlaid a little and got called into work early. Even if I hadn’t, I still wouldn’t have got a few more words written. It was one of those mornings.

Tomorrow though, it’s NoNoWriMo. 1667 words a day….. I can’t do the midnight start, and I doubt I’ll be writing before work. Once I get home though, I’m gonna go for it!

Just a quickie tonight, I’m beat and I’ve got an early start. So, have a good one! And if you’re starting NaNo at midnight, good luck!

Look them all up on amazon 😊

29th October 2020

Peter Germany Books, Home Office, Horror, Horror Writer, Life, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Nanowrimo, Outlining, Planning, Preparation, Reading, Short Fiction, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hey folks! 772 words today and planning for NaNo, as well as tidying up my office so it’s ready for Sunday evening when I get home from work.

In other news I can reveal what the secret project I’ve mentioned a few times is. It’s an anthology called Beneath The Leaves from Burdizzo Books to celebrate the birthday (I’m not saying which birthday but it’s a milestone one) for Em Dehaney. Here’s the link:

It was a massive honour to be included in Beneath The Leaves as Em is a fantastic human being and I think the work everyone has put into this shows that.

Horror movie and research 😊

I’ve not felt this capable for a very long time. I’ve got one element in my life which isn’t how I wish it was, but that’s not just something that I can fix with a flick of a switch.

Right, another busy day tomorrow. So I’m going to read a little of Beneath The Leaves and then bed.

Night folks!

Flash Post! Interviewed by Leah Solmaz

Peter Germany Horror Writer, Life, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hi folks!

I was asked by the fantastic Leah Solmaz if I wanted to be interviewed, obviously I said hell yes! And it’s not live! Please hit the link and check it out! 🙂

https://www.leahsolmaz.com/amp/author-series-peter-germany?__twitter_impression=true

25th October 2020

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

Good evening folks! Although today didn’t go quite as planned, I had some family come over, I still managed to get 2152 words done. But no editing or planning. Obviously, I’m darn happy with that!

Raven being sweet for a change 🙂

I knew yesterday I wanted a 2k day and knew I’d get it done. Maybe it was a case those few days off from writing recharged me, add in a couple of other little bits and pieces and it all may have contributed to being in the right place today. The trick I’ve got to learn is to always be able to write despite where my head is at.

Had a couple of anthologies I was asked to sign today 😊

That said, it’s likely not a trick. I probably just need more discipline.

Right, I’m wiped! So I’m off to bed.

Have a good one, folks!