Chuck Buda

Crowd Sourcing Expectations

Peter Germany Editing, Horror, Horror Writer, Planning, Preparation, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve been playing catchup with podcasts, so have been bing-listening to The Mando Method Podcast by Armand Rosamilia and Chuck Buda. There was an episode, I think it was Chuck’s Mailbag #9, but don’t hold me to it. But in it there were responding to a question and the conversation got around to social media and being present. Making sure you post consistently and so on. I can’t remember the exact wording but there was mention of crowd sourcing and expectations. This kinda hit home a little. I’ve got an active Ko-Fi page and I’ve been regular in posting in my ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’ tier which is a short story/chapter from a longer story, once a month that hasn’t been been published elsewhere before.

I have zero expectations of earning money through this site. I’ve been blessed in that I have had contributors. (You know who you are and I love you!) But I didn’t set the page (or my inactive Buy Me A Coffee page) with the intention of making a nice chunk of cash each month. I set it up because once I get a few books published I will start building a fanbase, and then it’s somewhere people can come. When they do they’ll see there’s a number of posts, mainly short stories that they can check out.

I am feeling like a fraud. I talk a lot but don’t do anything to get my work out there. But, I feel I am making progress. I’m wrapping up longterm projects. I’m planning future projects. I am moving forward, just slowly. But I am getting there. Stories are ready to go, the zombie book and Penal Earth are there. Just need to get the money for the cover for zombie (this cover is awesome!). And with Penal Earth, I’m gonna start trying to find a publisher for it.

Good Morning, March 26th 2022

Peter Germany Editing, Horror, Horror Writer, Short Fiction, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Howdy, folks! How are you all doing this morning?

It is a gorgeous morning here in the South East of England, so obviously I’ve been sat at my desk, in my pjs and dressing gown writing. I’m off to work this afternoon and knew I wanted to get some words written. This I’ve done, 1393 all in all and I’ve finished typing up the ending of the zombie book. The next stage is transferring it to the main file, then do my final pass. In that pass I’m looking at just a few minor tweaks. There will be one larger addition to the first part of the story that will give a character a lot more depth and motivation. That will only be a couple of lines though and is the largest tweak that this final pass will have. Then it’ll be off to my editor for her to give it a final pass to make sure I’ve not left any really stupid grammatical errors or plot holes with this new ending. Which reminds me I need to message her and the cover artist.

So, what’s next? Next will be typing up one of the short stories that I’ve recently written as well as continuing with the story for an anthology I’ve been invited to submit to (need to check that deadline). I do also want to start my final pass on Penal Earth, but that can wait a little as I don’t have the money to send it to an editor yet. I do have a few notes from a dear friend who read it and picked up a few pieces that I, my mum and beta readers had missed. So this coming pass will mainly be for those.

I just want to give a shoutout to The Mando Method Podcast. Armand Rosamilia and Chuck Buda have always produce engaging, informative, and just damn entertaining content that I have learnt a lot from, but now they are doing a monthly roundtable episode where they’ll bring in two other authors and I’m really enjoying these episodes. Sometimes a podcast will make a change like this and it doesn’t quite work, but Armand and Chuck have nailed it with this one, and it really adds a new element to their podcast. I strongly recommend checking them out.

Just a little pimping out my Ko-Fi page. It’s still the bog standard page but membership will be up and running soon. You can follow for free, and I won’t be putting this blog behind a paywall. Once in a while I’ll put a post up on Ko-Fi that will then come here maybe a few weeks later, but these what I think of as journal posts will never be behind a paywall.

I’ll end todays post with my flash fiction piece, Ghost, which appeared in the 84 Stories 84 Words anthology.

Good Evening 20th July 2021

Peter Germany Editing, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good evening, folks! Today I wrote 1038 words on a new short story. It took a little to get going, a couple of false starts but once I changed a small detail I found the spark that got the story going and boom! A thousand words flowed in a good half an hour. I’ve not had a session like that in, what feels like an eternity.

Here’s the the thing I’ve been struggling with, I’ve lost my confidence. I keep rewriting and editing and putting off finishing something. Listening to Armand Rosamilia and Chuck Buda on the Mando Method last week has really hit home. My confidence in writing is generally pretty low, but lately its been rock bottom. I’m going to work on smashing through that and building that confidence up again.

Something that I feel I need to do, is stop censoring myself. I do that a lot, holding myself back. The last two stories I’ve worked on I’ve just written. I’ve not thought about it at all, I’ve just written it

Right, I’ going to wrap it there. I feel like I’m rambling.

9th of August 2020

Peter Germany Editing, Outlining, Planning, Preparation, Short Fiction, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good evening, folks! How are we all doing? Was a good Sunday had?

During work I got a few words done on a new short story that I’m going to write for an anthology, then added more after I got home and ended up with 646 words. I’m winging it a little with this one, but I’ve got a good feeling for it. I’m gonna try for something A little different to what I’ve done before and see what it comes out like.

I am also looking at getting another story brainstormed and ready to write once I’ve got a draft of the first one. Not done any brainstorming for a while so I’m looking forward to it.

I’ve been catching up on The Mando Method podcast, which I’d recommend checking out off you’re a writer. It’s great catching up with Armand Rosamilia and Chuck Buda and hearing how they’re progressing and the tips they’re dishing out.

Which notebook to use……

This coming week I’m going to be working on maximising time and getting the most of the time I have to commit to writing. Obvious I appreciate that it could all go pear shaped but I’m going to stick to it.

Right, time for to call it a night.

Most of the time our biggest doubters are ourselves, don’t let that doubt defeat you!

Good Morning, Sunday March 15th 2020

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

Good Morning, folks! This will be a slightly different post to what I normally put up simply because it’s not going to have much about writing in it.

We’re in a state of uncertainty at the moment with the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak. Now, I’ve not been directly affected by it. Aside from some silly memes on social media and a few conversations I’ve not been affected by it. I have loved ones who fall into the high risk category and this concerns me. What happens if we have to go on a lockdown also worries me. There are few people I know who don’t live pay packet to pay packet. What happens to our finances if that happens?

I look at what’s going to happen to the emergency services, which in the UK is already a part of government that is understaffed and overworked. They’ll be pushed even harder and for much longer.

What happens to getting food to people? Will a lockdown allow people to leave to shop? Will the shops have to have police or even military presence to make sure things stay under control. Are they contingencies to ration? (like seriously people, the first sign of an emergency situation and we start hoarding? we did a shop the other day and just did a normal shop and I know other people are doing the same. We don’t need to panic buy, just be sensible) Sorry, I’ll try not to rant any more this post.

It is something that I feel like we as individuals needs to start thinking about. Both rationing of things like food and of money. I don’t need to go out and spend anything today. All I’ll be doing is using a little fuel from my car and thats about it. That said, it could all be over in a few weeks. We might not have to go on lockdown, but I’d like to be hearing from governments what’s going to happen if we have to, and I’d like to hear more about how they’re going to make sure we as a society don’t fall apart in the meantime.

Lots of food for thought at the moment, on the plus side I am getting a few words down and this story I’ve been working on this year is nearing completion of the first draft.

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I’ve just finished The First Cut by Chuck Buda. If you like your horror with blood and sex then I’d recommend looking this one up 🙂 

I’ll end this post with yes, it says good morning but I posted in the afternoon. And that I’m not an expert with anything I’ve said today. These were just some thoughts that I’ve been having the last few days.

25th of October 2019

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

Good evening folks, the last couple of weeks have been busy to say the least but not with writing. Despite that I’ve still managed to get words written. Mostly on CS1, which I’ve decided to add an element to which changes the entire tone of the story, but I think it works. It just means I’ve got to go over and start the editing process again but I think it’s worth it.

This week I’ve managed to write about 2000 words but I’ve not kept up with tracking day by day.  I know how many words I’ve written on CS1 so that lets me figure it out. I still don’t think I’m going to hit the word count I’ve set for the year but NaNoWriMo is just a week away now (holy shit! how close is it!), so hopefully I’ll be close to getting the word count I had targeted.

Books wise I’ve not made as much progress as I’d have liked over the last few months but I’m trying to pick that up. With that in mind I’ve started reading The First Cut by Chuck Buda. I’ve read a few of Chuck Buda’s weird western Son of Earp series which I enjoyed but I’m loving The First Cut.

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Right folks, I’m gonna call it a night and spend the rest of the evening chilling out. Have a good one, folks!

Good Morning, Sunday 8th of September 2019

Peter Germany Books, Editing, Horror, Movies, Writing , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good morning folks. I’ve not done a lot of writing the last couple of days. I did write 668 on the fanfic I started last week but yesterday was just one of those days where I couldn’t find the time to get anything done.

Friday night I went with my girlfriend and my buddy Stefan (Stefan’s Daily Gaming) and his partner to see IT Chapter 2. It was really good. I think I liked the first of the two films a little better but as a whole its a good story and I like what they’ve tweaked from the book. I know with adaptations you’ll never be able to hit all the notes a book does but I think with this one they’ve got it spot on. For me these films aren’t scary, I like them but they don’t make me squirm in my seat, and there wasn’t any real jump scares that got me with this one. I’m not taking anything away from the two movies, horror is very subjective as we all fear different things and although I love these films, they don’t rattle me like The VVitch and The Ritual did. I think I’ve learnt with Horror movies in particular that if I re-watch them they don’t get to me, but if I don’t then they’ve had an impact on me.

Right, back to writing. I’m going to spend the bulk of the day editing on CS1 one with the odd dive into the fanfic piece. I’ve got a lot of work to do with the opening of CS1 which I think will follow through with the rest of the book, but we’ll see.

I just want to wrap up by talking about a couple of audiobooks I’ve been listening to. Firstly the first three books of Chuck Buda‘s Son of Earp series of supernatural westerns. I’ve really enjoyed these three books, and I never thought I’d say that about a western! but Buda has spun me around on them. They’re about the teenage son of the legendary Wyatt Earp and he’s life as he tried to become the man he wants to be. Well worth checking out.

The cover for book three of Chuck Buda’s Son of Earp series, Summoner of Souls.

The other one I want to talk about is Dirty Deeds by Armand Rosamilia. This one is a crime thriller about a man who is paid to kill children, but there’s a twist to what he does. I really liked this one. Rosamilia manages to craft a really deep story dealing with a really dark topic while keeping a good sense of humour in it. If you like your crime thrillers, please check it out.

The cover for Armand Rosamilia’s Dirty Deeds.

That’s it for now. I’m off to get some writing done.

28th of August 2019

Peter Germany Audiobooks, Books, Editing, Writing , , , , , , , , , ,

Good evening folks. Today I’ve written 510 words on a new short story, and have worked on another section of the zombie book. Yesterday I wrote 851 words on what was going to be a submission but I’m not going to get it done before the deadline hits.

I’ve done the editing on my desktop this evening as it’s working but I’ll be keeping an eye on it.

I did finish a lot earlier than I was expecting tonight. It’s almost 9pm now and I’ve been finished for a while but I like working in sections when editing and if I’d started the next section it would be gone 10pm by the time I would be done. So I’m going to do that one Friday night.

A lot of this weekend is going to be ‘get shit done’. I’ve got a lot of stuff that has been backing up or things I want to be getting done so I’m just going to get stuck in and see how much I manage to get through.

I did finally finish Anarch by Dan Abnett. This was a highly anticipated book for me and it didn’t let me down. There was a couple of things in it that I found frustrating but over all it was a really good read.

Audiobook wise I’m halfway through Summoner of Souls by Chuck Buda. This is his third Son of Earp supernatural western series which I’m enjoying a lot.

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I’m absolutely loving this cover!

Thats it for now. I’m going to watch a movie and then might read a little.

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Tonights movie, Deliver Us From Evil.

17th of July, 2019

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

Good evening all. Yesterday I wrote 576 words on the vampire book. Today I haven’t written up until just over an hour ago. Since then I’ve written 1112 words on what I think will be a short story, but we’ll see. I was going to work on the vampire book but seem to have written myself into a dark corner. So a couple of days off from that one which I hope will let my brain figure out how to get outta the damn corner!

That’s it for tonight. Today has been warm and muggy and its drained a lot of energy out of me. I’d recommend checking out this weeks episode of the Mando Method podcast. I get a small mention as Armand Rosamilia and Chuck Buda discuss their listeners goals for the year and how we’re all doing. Oh Armand, I’m born and bred British and I live in the UK just outside a small town called Gravesend which is near London. I also don’t know the origin of my surname 😀

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I went to the zoo at the weekend with my girlfriend, so here’s a random picture of an elephant.

20th of June 2019

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

Good evening, folks. I have written 1037 words today, all of which were before work and during my lunch break.

Today I was listening to this weeks Mando Method podcast which was a Chuck’s Mailbag episode. They answered a question I’d sent in about project and time management. A couple of things Armand Rosamilia and Chuck Buda said stuck with me. Chuck suggested doing a rolling three day goal, which I kinda like the sound of. I’ve been trying to get into the habit of setting weekly goals, but have been struggling to keep on track with it. The last couple of days I’ve had more focus, so I’m going to give Chuck’s method of a three day rolling targets a go. Armand suggested monthly goals. I think I might find this a bit more difficult as I can struggle with planning forward at times, but I’m going to give it a go. He also said to post them here. That way it’ll keep me honest and give a level of accountability I think will help.

With that in mind, I’ve got a couple of targets I’m going to share. These aren’t monthly ones, but project ones. The first is to have the first draft of my vampire book done by November (NaNoWriMo). The second is to have the first draft of CS1 done by the end of the year.

One of my goals for the year was to write 20,000 words a month, which is 240,000 words for the year. I’m well off target of that. My stretch goal was 30,000 a month (360,000 words for the year), but that’s now my goal for the final half of the year. I need about 31,000 words a month for the second part of the year to hit the 240k. I think it’s doable, about a thousand words a day. I do have NaNoWriMo as well, which’ll help massively.

So, it’s time to get into NaNoWriMo mode earlier than normal. If I have a few minutes spare, write. It works for me. Tomorrow I will also get my three day goals rolling.