Horror Book

NaNoWriMo 2022 Reflections

Peter Germany Cat, Editing, Horror, Horror Writer, Life, Nanowrimo, Sci-Fi, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I wrote 50082 words for this years NaNoWriMo, hitting the target at about 9:40 last night.

This years NaNoWriMo got off to a slow start for me, I didn’t get caught up until the 23rd of the month, then I had a couple of days ahead of the goal, then a couple of days behind and then I brought it home on the last day.

It was a month where I was feeling like I was chasing the goal each day. My lowest word daily count was 247, while my highest was 4026.

The month started off with a busy schedule at the day job which didn’t leave me much time for wrangling the words. I’d write before work, then during my breaks and then get stuck in after I got home. Most of the time when I was writing at work I’d not really be able to get really in-depth with the work, but I did manage to get some words down. These feel more like I was thrashing out a synopsis of the scene/chapter I was working on. I’ve now got a lot of little synopsis to build from.

Other scenes I’ve managed to build a pretty solid part of the story which won’t need much tidying up when the time comes.

Where I’m at now is I’ve got a lot scenes scattered throughout the document and I’ve got to start figuring out how to connect them all. I don’t think it’s as bad as I might be fearing, but there is a bigger problem I’ve come up against. Originally I saw this as a three book arc, but was worried I wouldn’t have enough to fill three books. Now that I’ve started it, I think I’ve potentially got a lot more than three books worth of story to tell. I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me with this one.

This story, working title ‘War Child’ has been one I’ve been wanting to tell for quite some time, but have been intimidated by it. I feared I wasn’t capable yet to do it justice. But after some encouragement from friends and peers I decided to dive in head first. I’m so glad I did. This is going to be one where I think I am going to be pushed as a writer. I’ve spent so much of the last year trying to get stories finished and ready to either self-publish or submit I’ve forgotten what it’s like to begin crafting a new world.

Away from the writing part of NaNo I didn’t get much chance to host or even attend write-ins. Between the manic work schedule at the start of the month and a slow cash flow it just wasn’t on the cards. The one I did manage to host turned into a solo session. Which was okay, I got words down. It’d have been nice to get a few faces there though, hopefully next year I’ll be in a better position to be the ML I really want to be. I don’t feel like I’ve had the chance to step up how I want to. Between Covid and non-writing matters that have cropped up I’ve not really been able to dedicate the required time and effort to it that I’d have liked.

What’s next? I’m going to continue with War Child, but I also need to get The vampire book ready as I’ll be releasing that via the Welcome To My Nightmare tier on Ko-Fi. So I need to pull my finger out and get that final pass of edits done!

30th October 2022

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

Good evening, folks! How are we all doing tonight?

I’m not likely to get the vampire book done by midnight tomorrow, but is it really the end of the world? I can multitask, especially in those early days of NaNo. The initial excitement of the month kicking off, that energy we all have as we jump off the start line like it’s a marathon and we’re sprinting over the start instead of taking a nice gentle pace from the gun.

I’m not going to try and get ahead early on like I normally do. Most years I prepare for the worst of loosing lots of days midway or at the end of the month, but this year I’m going to look at focusing on a steady pace and getting a good foundation of this story down. I’m going to try and push myself out of my comfort zone with this one. It’s one I’ve been wanting to write for a while, have even tried a couple of times, but haven’t felt competent as a writer to do this story justice. I’m not knocking my own abilities as a writer, I feel this story I’m going to need to dig deep, and go for a different energy to what I normally write.

Can I do it? can I make this work in the way that I want it to? Ask me in two weeks.

A random picture of the river Medway in Maidstone from Friday

Good Afternoon -22/2/22

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

Howdy folks, how are we all doing?

After a few days off I edited 3410 words of the zombie book yesterday and another 5950 today.

This one has been intimidating me for a while and yesterday I just tossed myself into it otherwise I’d never have gotten it done. I’ve got about 10k left to go so I should be done by the weekend. Then I’m going to sit on it for a month maybe, and then go through it again. I’ve been working from editors notes on it and I hope that I’m making it better. Time will tell.

I did finish another short story first draft last week. I now have two I need to type up soon. I’m going to let them sit for a few weeks before I do though, hopefully this’ll give me a more objective approach for the second drafts.

Right, that’s all for now.

Be kind, be safe, be true.

My assistant isn’t very happy 😆

Status Update 13th October 2021

Peter Germany Books, Editing, Horror, Horror Writer, Nanowrimo, Preparation, Sci-Fi, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good evening folks, how are we all doing tonight?

I’ve got a lot I want to get through tonight, so let’s get cracking!

The anthology K is for Kidnap came out featuring my story ‘Mother is God’ and is available in ebook and paperback. Please hit the link and check it out!

Love this cover!

The fantastic Leah Solmaz is working on an adaptation of one of my short stories! (squeeeeee!!!!!) Please go and check out Leah’s Instagram page, where you can see the intro!!! I’m super excited about this. Not only because something I’ve written is being adapted into a short animated movie, but also because its working with Leah who is a fantastic human being and damn talented as well. If you haven’t watched Theosight please check it out, I’ll add it to this post.

I have started on reading through and making notes based on the editors read of ‘Is that a zombie?’ I started then got hit with a head cold that knocked me off my feet. I focused my energy on work and matters away from writing. I’m going to get back on track with it by the weekend.

I’ve had a beta reader look at some of my longer pieces and got some excellent feedback, including that one wasn’t as polished as the other, so I need to go back and put my editing head back on to look it over.

Something I’m going to do in the next day or so is sit down and get my bearings on the different projects again. I’ve got a few which are at different stages and I’m just going to write them all down and figure where they all are.

On top of all of that we’ve got NaNoWriMo just around the corner…..

I am struggling to get back in the flow, much more then I thought I would. But it’s there, and I know NaNo will give me a massive boost and help get the words wrangled.

Good Evening, 18th of September 2021

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

Good evening! How’s everyone doing?

No writing today, long shift at the day job. I’ve got another one tomorrow as well, so not a lot go writing this weekend.

I have had some amazing feedback on my story that is in the K is for Kidnap anthology from another one of the contributors which has made my day! I had a lot of anxiety about this story. I didn’t think it was good enough, which is a testament to the old saying ‘never judge your own work’. That feels so apt at the moment. I’ve got to get over my anxieties about my own work.

Right, I’m wiped out. So I’m going to finish this episode of Sex Education and then get my head down. After a little reading maybe.

I will pimp out my Buy Me A Coffee page quickly. If you like what you read here, or have read and enjoyed my fiction and would like to chip in for editing, cover art, website hosting fees. Then I will be very grateful. I understand times are tough, folks. I do. But anything I’m grateful for.

Be kind, folks. Life’s better being kind.

11th of September 2021

Peter Germany Books, Dog, Health, Horror, Horror Writer, Life, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Reading, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good evening, folks!

Well, I think I did have the productive day I was aiming for.

I got up at a decent time, made tea and sat in the chilly morning air in the garden wand wrote some more thoughts down. I’ll put those in another post. After the tea and morning thoughts I ran into town for a few bits for my folks. I finally got Max a couple more balls for him to chase around the garden.

It’s nice working with Max with me. Normally as I write upstairs it’s the cats hanging out.

I got some writing administration work done, then I got stuck into some words. A nice 710 was written on a short story. Then I gamed, took Max for a walk, read, then gamed, dinner, washing up, and now I’m watching a movie and writing this post.

I don’t normally break my days down like this, and looking back it doesn’t feel like I’ve done a lot today but that’s because I only wrote 710 words. I keep reminding myself its not just about words. It’s about progression of the story, and I progressed the story today.

I’ve got plans tomorrow afternoon, but in the morning I’m going to try and get some words wrangled again. I was planning on getting a lot of writing done this week, but I’ve spent the week working on myself. It’s been freeing this week, and I need to keep that forward progression of myself as well as my fiction going as well.

4th of September 2021

Peter Germany Books, Horror, Horror Writer, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Howdy, folks! How’s everyone doing today?

I was laying in bed last night and I suddenly had a revelation on his to make my story Homestead work. So at nearly one AM this morning I wrote maybe a little shy of 200 words. I added to that before work and ended up 684 for the day.

I know where this story is going to go now, I’ve got a good idea of some of the beats to it as well. I’m looking forward to getting stuck into it and getting it done.

Right, I’m set to ease of for the day. Gonna watch a little YouTube and then do some reading.

Just started The Hollower by Mary SanGiovanni

2/9/21

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

Evening folks!

Just a quickie tonight. After work I had non-writing bits and bobs to do so no words today.

I have just finished Ritualistic Human Sacrifice by C.V. Hunt and damn what a book! Well worth checking out!

Right I’m off to bed! Rock on folks!

Good Morning 14th April, 2021 (Make Art Uncomfortable)

Peter Germany Books, Cat, Horror, Horror Writer, Insperation, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hey folks, how are we all doing today?

Yesterday I wrote 336 words on a short story but also did a lot of research for the same short story, and I’ve come to the decision that I’m just gonna go balls to the walls and yet loose. I’m not going to worry about grounding it in reality. I’m just gonna try and make it batshit crazy.

I’m having trouble letting go when I write recently. Stephen King said in On Writing that you have to write like an orphan, or words to that effect. I was reminded of this when watching the film M.F.A. recently. At the end of the film there’s a line where it basically says art shouldn’t just preserve the beauty of life, but also the brutality. Make art uncomfortable. I love this message. So many of us grow up listening to music about good love, or films where everyone lives happily ever after.

Art is different for everyone. Some people thrive on the uncomfortable while others thrive on a good old romcom. Everyone is different and we embrace different things. For me, what I write, people will find uncomfortable. But some will find it fun. I can watch Saw movies with barely a flinch at the content, but watched The VVitch and The Ritual, made me squirm in my seat. But there are different degrees of being uncomfortable. Listening to the audiobooks of The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum and What Good Girls Do by Jonathan Butcher made me very uncomfortable. Even to the point where I had to stop listening to them. M.F.A. falls into that grouping. Although not as extreme as I Spit On Your Grave, it’s still a content matter that is not pleasant and when done wrong, without the respect the topic deserves it just makes a whole other level of horrific.

For films like The Vvitch and The Ritual, these made me uncomfortable because there’s a witchcraft/cult elements to them. An unknown factor that made me uncomfortable in a way I’d yet to experience. It’s something I’m still trying to put my finger on exactly why I find it uncomfortable.

Another book that made me uncomfortable is The Silence by Tim Lebbon. This one I had to stop listening to three times. It’s got a quiet brutality to it, one which I can see happening. There’s three distinct moments in The Silence which I could see myself being in that situation. Having to make an uncomfortable decision.

Not being scared to write things which people will be uncomfortable with or offended by is something I need to be better with. I’m not going to write something just because it’s shocking. I don’t think that works and people tend to see through things like that. I’ll strive to write what the story is asking for.

Right, speaking of writing it’s time to get a few hours done.

Rock on folks, never give up on that dream. Never let someone take it away or belittle it or you. Just keep going.

Good Morning, 17th March 2021 (2)

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

That is 695 words written this morning, and one character killed off!

It was a pretty straight forward session this morning. I managed to get rolling quite well, despite kitty interference, and the next scene my characters will really get thrown in at the deep end.

I’d like to be able to channel some of the bleakness I put into a story late last year, but where I’ve got through that part of my life I don’t seem to be able to draw from it at the moment. Obviously I don’t want to return to living with the sense of desolation I had back then, I work each day to prevent that. But I wrote some good pieces then and I think this story would work well with some of that vibe added to it. That said though, would it work for this story? This story has never had that depth of emotion to it, so it may screw up the vibe it has now.

But anyway! I’m at work and will be starting shortly. I always have a productive day at my day job when I’ve been able to get some words wrangled beforehand.

I had both Dizzy and Raven ‘helping’ me this morning!