charles barrow's writing

I'm re-reading books 1, 2 and 3, and giving them a buff and a polish: a comma here, a carriage return there, a shiny new adjective dropped into a sentence. No major changes, then, just a few tweaks. All of this is in preparation for them being uploaded to Amazon, to make them available on Kindle. I have had qualms about doing this, but I have to concede that Amazon is the largest shop window in the world, and if I want to find a wide audience for my writing, for my stories, then they need to sit on a shelf in their store. I don't think I can afford to have moralistic qualms when I'm an unknown writer looking for readers. I've given myself thirty days to get my reading and editing done, and to get the books uploaded and launched.

I started writing this post, in draft, way back in January. After several posts in the closing months of last year detailing the progress of Book 2, The Darkening Days of John Mann, I suddenly leapt to a post declaring it finished and published without me having said anything about the very last part of that process. That is what the bulk of those January scribblings were concerned with, so rather than let them die a quiet death I post them here now.  I published The Darkening Days of John Mann on 26th December 2014. I self-published it in ebook format, on Smashwords.com and was very happy to see it ship quickly to Barnes and Noble. I'm thinking though that I could have chosen a better time of year to launch it, and wonder if its impact wasn't blunted by putting it out at Christmas. At the time I just chose a moment when I had a bit of breathing space in the mad dash that is the festive season. Two weeks prior to launch day I had drawn up a list of some 20 tasks I needed to...

I Tweeted this earlier, 'Turned up at the empty page and filled six. Happy day. #amwriting' I've begun writing Book 3 and it's going well. I have seven chapters under my belt, although my chapters tend to be shorter affairs than most. I'm happy. I'd been circling my opening scene like you might circle something small, furry and unmoving on the pavement, unsure wether to prod it to see if there is any life in it or to assume it is dead and walk on. In my head I couldn't find the voice of a new character I've introduced. When I finally sat down to write the scene, assuming I'd have to leave blank spaces where I hoped to bring him to life later, he arrived fully formed. Hal Scarrot, teenage, street-smart thief. He'll need work, of course he will, but he's joined the cast now and I'm pleased to have him. Some author, and I'm annoyed that I've forgotten who, said that if you want to be a writer you just have to turn up at the emp...