It’s been a good long while since I offered an update on my writing. It’s been a good long while since I posted anything! I’m back now and I intend to stay for as long as I have material to write and publish. I think a break to collect new ideas is probably necessary in the blogging game, especially when it’s a personal blog and you aren’t doing it for money.

You could be forgiven for thinking that I’ve not been doing any writing at all during my break. It isn’t true though. I’ve done plenty. Chiefly, I’ve been editing Revenge on the Spanish Main, getting that word count down and improving certain parts of the story. There have been some big developments.

First of all, I’ve got the word count below the target of 210,000. Having heard that most publishers won’t entertain novels from beginner authors that are beyond 70,000 words I decided I’d reduce mine to 70,000 per part and pass it off as a three-part novel. I’ve managed to remove a third of the content and not only keep the story perfectly intact but improve it too. I honestly believe it reads better now than ever.

Secondly, it’s no longer called Revenge on the Spanish Main. I’ve never liked the title. It’s too long. It isn’t catchy. I knew I wanted to change it, I just didn’t know how. The answer came to me whilst on a break at work one day. I did a little brainstorm and threw a few ideas around. Initially, I was thinking I might put it to the vote. Then I changed my mind and decided to run with what I thought was best.

So the new title of my story is… *drumroll*

Seas of Vengeance

It’s shorter, it’s snappier, it sounds better. At least that’s my opinion and ultimately that’s all that matters. From henceforth I shall refer to the story in shorthand as Vengeance as opposed to Revenge as it used to be.

The change in title mirrors the changes in my life. A lot of things have happened during my break from blogging. I won’t go into any great detail, but the changes have been big and drastic. Life is nothing like it used to be prior to the break. I don’t face the changes with fear; I face them with determination. I have control over much more than I once did and I feel my destiny is in my hands more than it’s ever been. I like that. I like the fact I have nothing and nobody but myself to blame if things go wrong. Nobody likes poor excuses for a person’s failings.

One of my favourite sayings of late is “Own your shit” because I’m a firm believer in that you are the cause of most things that happen in your life. I believe you are also the cure of most of it. All you need is a little motivation and willpower. I see enough self-pitying people to know that I don’t want any part of that. If things go awry then I want to take responsibility for it and think of ways of improving my lot. Anyway, I digress.

Alongside working on Vengeance, I’ve been typing up various posts of a non-fiction nature as well as pulling together a few stories. A Survivor’s Apocalypse Story will be back very shortly. The second instalment is much shorter than the first. In fact it’s about half the length. That’s fine by me. I’m happy with the direction the story is going and there’s a definite plot to its conclusion. I hope you’ll enjoy what’s to come there. We’re going to see yet more sides to Ryan Lloyd that may have you wishing for his untimely death or maybe even rooting for him. I look forward to seeing what everybody thinks of this instalment.

There’s also a three-part story, each one told from the perspective of three different people, as well as bits of flash fiction. I really have been putting the time and effort into all of this and I hope the outcome is met with approval.

Finally, I shall be going through some of my old posts and either editing them or removing them altogether. I’ve read through some of my old stuff recently and the poor grammar makes me cringe. There’s also a tonne of word repetition in a few of them. It all needs taking care of if I want this blog to be a showcase of my abilities.

That is basically that without going into major detail. Work and an abundance of changes in my life cannot and will not dim my shine as far as writing goes. I have my off days where it’s just too much for me to bother or I’ll work on my music instead, but the carousel always unerringly comes back around to the dream I’m living. Writing will always be my first, my last, my everything.

I’ll update you soon on my writing ventures and let you know how it’s all going. Until then, enjoy what’s to come.

Written on 15^th June 2018

Catch up with all previous additions to this series by clicking here.