Authors at the Armouries is going to be an extravaganza of Indie and traditionally published authors in genres from romance, dark romance, children’s literature, paranormal and literary fiction, plus everything in between. We will demonstrate the power of “doing it for yourself” and how dramatically things have changed since I began publishing over ten years ago, when self-publishing was still frowned upon and taken very un-seriously. It’s now pretty normal for a self-published author to top the entire US Kindle Store. It’s no longer the traditional publishers i.e. the gatekeepers dictating who makes it to #1. It’s the readers who’ve begun to decide who makes it to the #1 top spot. This is in part down to social media which has made it possible for authors to reach readers directly. Taking control of their own marketing, with all the tools available to them, Indie authors are charging ahead in the bestseller lists.
But “doing it for yourself” can be difficult. The rewards these days can be immense, with Kindle Unlimited earning some authors 6 or 7 figures a year. And there is some major satisfaction for these authors who’ve done it for themselves. However… I’ve seen first-hand the commitment required, and it is their herculean efforts that get these Indie superstars to where they are.
The ideal scenario for an author would be that they write day and night, then hand over their work and see it catapult without all the EXTRA work required. Such as sourcing editors, cover designers, then sending preview copies to ARC teams, scheduling social media posts, creating social media posts, engaging with their readers, setting up Amazon, Bookbub and other ads, AND THEN, also trying to have a personal life, too. It is really hard and these achievements are VERY hard won.
Early in my career I was offered the chance to publish with various publishers and given plenty of advice by people who I can only describe as stiff and overly opinionated, and who would no doubt have butchered out the heart of my work. Which brings me to my point here: indie publishing offers both readers and authors stories of all kinds, with all the details often edited out by traditional publishers left intact. Indie offers freedom on so many levels and it was that freedom I found very hard to give up. So I never have. It means I can publish as many books as I want, when I want, how I want – because there’s nobody else to answer to.
I was reading an interview with a BIG author a while ago, can’t quite remember who now, but I think it was one of two people and I don’t want to perjure either, but they said something along the lines of “I give everything to that book, I say everything I want to in that book, so why would I want to say anything else on social media?” I mean, quite. But that is the way of things, these days anyway lol. Social media is a massive weapon that many of my authors use to absolutely slay.
There will be newbie authors at this event as well as seasoned, but I remember in the beginning, it was book signings that really changed the game for me and gave me that extra push I needed. It made things more real.
Sometimes when I tell my husband the news about our event and the latest developments he looks at me like this can’t be real. I feel that way, too. I’ve kept the emotion at arm’s length and I will do until the day when it will probably pour forth suddenly – when the people actually are in the room and it all becomes real.
We’ve got many people coming from overseas (not just Oz, but the US, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Bangladesh!) and it’s going to be unreal.
My event, along with many other book signings this year, will demonstrate that self-publishing doesn’t just offer the bigger royalty share. It offers a community unlike any other, where gatekeepers do not exist, choice is aplenty, support is unparalleled and CREATIVITY has no bounds.
Get in the mood for Valentine’s with this tale of love and landscapes! Set between London and the wilds of Scotland, this is a stalker/protector romance with lots of twists and turns . . .
BLURB
Lashings of steamy suspense mixed with whodunnit . . .
Travelling the world as part of her job as a fashion buyer, Flora laughs it off at first when she recognises she’s being followed around from place to place. When Caelan Cameron finally approaches, that’s when she realises her estranged gangster father has to be involved somehow.
Ex-SAS with a past to rival her own, Caelan is clever, gorgeous and determined – but can he be trusted? Flora’s mind says one thing, but her heart screams another, and when he takes her to his home up in the remote Scottish Highlands, she finds it very hard to resist him. Surrounded by the most beautiful scenery in the world, she begins to fall madly in love with a man who’s clearly hiding something . . .
The sequel and concluding part Fight for Love coming soon!
EXCERPT
I wanted to ask so many questions but as we turned down some quieter streets and he directed me with the strength of a bulldozer, I got dizzy trying to figure out what we were doing. When we ended up around the back of someone’s shop, down a narrow, short alley, he squeezed my hand and said, “Wait here.”
He backed me into a wooden gate that stood between two brick walls, so I was tucked in and obscured from view. I was moments from burying my hand in my bag and taking out the small handgun I’d taken from Suzie’s safe that morning, when he quickly climbed over the six-foot wall adjacent and walked along it until he then was able to jump to a wall on the other side of the alley—then climb up a drainpipe until he was literally scaling someone’s roof. All the while my heart was in my mouth. Despite his stature, he moved like a cat.
Then he crouched beside a chimney pot and grinned with a smile nothing short of feral. Reaching into his waistband, he brandished the gun from my bag, held it up and pointed it right at me. I doubted he would do such a thing in broad daylight, then I recognised that look in his eye.
He was showing off. That’s all he was doing. Showing off.
I shook my head and walked away.
“Idiot.”
I heard his laughing behind me, even as I got into my car and put the radio on, trying to drown out thoughts of him—and greatly failing at it.
Whatever he was hanging around for, I was going to get to the bottom of it.
Next year, I’m hosting “Authors at the Armouries” which will be one of the biggest UK book signing events – if not the biggest multi-genre author event of 2023.
Over on my event site I’ve been interviewing attending authors so you can find out more about the depth and breadth of talent we will have on offer next year!
It only seems fair however, that I am interviewed, too. So, I asked my very talented content-marketer husband to pose a few questions that he thinks you guys might want the answers to.
So here goes . . .
Enjoy x
Which writers inspired you and does anyone continue to inspire you?
When I was young, I used to visit the library and go home with a stack of how ever many books I was allowed to take out on my one card. The next week, I’d be back for my next stack. It started from there but back then, there was no such thing as a celebrity author or brand name, except for Roald Dahl I suppose. I used to read everything and anything and that has pretty much continued. I would say I’m more Brontë than Austen. I’m more Pratchett than Gaiman. I’m more Lisa Jewell than Jojo Moyes. In fact, I remember reading a Lisa Jewell when she used to write romcoms. I was a teenager and thought they were great. I’ve had a lot of inspirations along the way but because I chew up words like nobody’s business, I don’t worship at any one altar. I’d say however, I have an affinity with the Brontë family. I’m one of four kids, three girls and a boy, too. We grew up between Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, religion played a big part in our lives, and sometimes things were tough. I really understood the sisters’ language, their burning passions. They were the classic introverts who made their way into the literary canon through nothing but imagination and hard work. I think if you’re a writer, with truth at your soul, you can’t help but find something in their work that sticks. If you’ve read my books, occasionally you’ll get a flash of that.
Alongside authors, what else inspires your writing?
Life, of course. I come up with new ideas on a daily basis because life provides all the material you’ll ever need. I’m also one of those people that others will spill everything to. They will tell me their life stories, maybe because I ask the right questions…? My husband always says, how did you get them to tell you all that? I don’t tell him my secret, don’t worry. There can only be one of me or else the world might implode!
People are so interesting and characters are at the centre of everything I do. I might detect a fragment of who someone is and think, wouldn’t it be interesting to write about them? And put a story to the person. I guess the only problem with all these ideas floating around my head and life being so busy – it’s a matter of selecting one story to tell at any one time. Sticking by that through hundreds of pages is a massive feat. Ideas are easy. Committing to writing them… a different ballgame.
Most people who meet me know something is different. I do have a way of reading other human beings instantly. If you have bad energy, I will know it and run the other way. I’m never wrong about that, either. If you’re anxious or unwell or angry, I will pick up on that and tell you. Sometimes people are offended by my directness, but I can’t help it that your closely guarded secret is really rather obvious to me. Sorry! But that ability to unearth truths is what has made me a writer. (And also, in every role I’ve ever held, a leader.)
What has been your greatest achievement as a writer?
There have been many proud moments, including being called one of the best of the British erotic authors. However, I did just write a trilogy of thrillers (pictured) through one of the most turbulent six months of my life – all while laying the foundations for this massive author event, too. Not to be sniffed at.
Are you still learning as a writer?
All the time. If you’re not, you’re not doing it right. The writer I was when I started wouldn’t believe the writer I’ve become.
What are the biggest challenges you face as a writer?
I think I mentioned this above. For me, it’s having a monumental amount of ideas whizzing around my head and sometimes having to force myself to carve out the time and proper headspace to pick just one to stick with. As an ultra-creative, I continually want to try new things and go in different directions. The practicality of that isn’t always possible. I know that my readers have books they prefer to receive from me, but, I have themes and topics that aren’t as popular but which I sometimes need to delve into for my sanity.
How do you put yourself in the mind of a reader when writing?
It’s simply not possible during the writing process. During this part of the journey, you’re a writer. And that’s different to being a reader. As a reader you have the amazing privilege of reading something polished and perfected. You don’t see the deleted scenes or the drafts covered in red pen. You never know about the foolish stuff your favourite character did before it got deleted (or maybe you do!). You never see the stage where the hero or heroine was more like a cardboard cut-out before they were made flesh. You never have to read the mountains and mountains of then, now, just, very, really, etc that eventually get deleted. All those errors though are part and parcel of an author making it to that final piece of work. Writing is the really exciting bursts of “ah-ha” moments and also the really crappy days or weeks of feeling like you’re banging on a brick wall for the ideas to come, when it all started out so well! And it is in those moments you have to remind yourself that every writer started off a reader – so maybe a bit of time spent reading for pleasure might spark your work back to life, and quite often, it does!
Writing is knowing that you might be writing something completely bonkers, but also knowing, maybe this will lead somewhere. That from the mayhem you may pluck out a kernel of absolute gold! And to a certain extent, a writer is completely alone with their work in the beginning, safe and secure – in a beautiful bubble of make believe. So while writing, I’m not imagining anyone is going to read it, I’m solely focused on the story itself. For that wonderful period of time, it’s just the work and you.
It is so very, very rare that a writer starts at chapter one and goes all the way through to the epilogue without encountering major changes along the way. As a writer, ideas might come to you in pieces. Maybe you have the plot, but not the character, or the other way around. I’ve known authors who find it easier to write the final chapters first, then they go back and start at the beginning because they have the stress of that “what am I doing?” bit out of the way. Most writers I know get it all out in stages for sure. You get it down as best you can. A few rewrites later, maybe then you give yourself some distance. It is the final edits when you start to think like a reader… You might then be asking yourself, “How will that be understood? Do I need more there, less here?”
One thing I’ve grown more and more aware of over the years is that readers do like to imagine a lot for themselves! They will skip a lot of over-description (I’m looking at you, Stephen King). Yet when it comes to the characters, you’ll find true readers tend to want to have the absolute full picture of the people they grow to love. So I find myself in the editing process making sure that the characters have become fully 3D.
Do you think that COVID changed our relationship with literature?
Not much, no. Stories are eternal. They have always been and will always be. I think obviously e-books did well during Covid because brick and mortar shops were shut and some of us started reading a lot more during the lockdowns. An e-reader weighs a lot less and you can hold it easily in the bath compared to the 600-page physical version. Escapism has always been a requirement and will continue to be. We take ourselves on a brain vacation while reading a book. It is the easiest way to download yourself into a different world.
How is Authors at the Armouries (AATA) going to be unique to other signings?
The scale of it for a start will be much bigger than what people are used to. I’m passionate about authors of all genres and especially Yorkshire authors so there will be a few more genres than usual, and quite a few local writers. Saying that we’ve got people coming from all four corners of the UK – and others from the US, Europe, Australia and Asia. As an experienced writer and an organiser, I understand what it is people want from both sides of the table.
With my first event last year, which I managed to pull off despite Covid, I found myself kind of crippled by the restrictions. Sort of like trying to keep everything as simple as possible so that it was ultimately achievable within the confines of “anything could still go wrong”. So with AATA (fingers crossed) I am hoping that I can finally take my foot off the brakes and unleash the full shebang.
What can fans and authors expect from AATA?
Over 100 authors to meet, buy books from, and laugh with, for a start. Also, a lot of extras and surprises. The full experience! I have a genuine wish for everyone, from reader to author to volunteers and whoever else tags along, to feel accepted, welcomed and part of something bigger than all of us. At events, you never know who you’re going to meet, what friendships you will forge that might last a lifetime. It really changes the game for authors who’ve never done this sort of thing before. It makes what you’ve accomplished seem so much more real… there will be a lot of emerging stars at this one.
What are you looking forward to most about AATA?
The Bridgerton Ball. Seeing happy, smiling faces. Hearing the unscripted nonsense coming out of authors’ mouths during the talks. Trying to manage my assistants who will be so excited they won’t know whether to laugh or cry. But especially, as the day wears on, I hope that most of the authors will have got into their rhythm and will feel a massive sense of pride in themselves and their work. Signings make it all seem real, even if just for a day.
A new series which adds a fresh perspective to the frightening, alternative S. M. Lynch universe . . .
Leah was wrenched from everything she knew at a young age and turned into a killer. It became that she didn’t know anything else but the day’s toil of hardening her body and her mind.
Her mentor Caleb was the only person she saw and she couldn’t escape him. We only know that at some point they fell in love, but it didn’t quite go according to plan.
The present Leah Feltham is now the toughest assassin in London, a woman in her thirties working alone, existing for the job, nothing else.
Then, something goes wrong.
War is brewing. She knows it.
And she’s about to find her true love, right before it all kicks off . . .
**This series can be read without any previous reading, but for added context, it’s recommended you read the Ruthless Series after reading the Collective Series**
S. M. Lynch Connected Novels Reading Order:
Chimera (Collective 1) Panacea (Collective 2) Exodus (Collective 3) Ruthless Trilogy The Radical (Unity 1) The Informant (Unity 2) The Sentient (Unity 3) The Awoken (New Unity 1) The Rising (New Unity 2)
Author Note
DEAR READER,
My advice to you if you’re reading my work for the very first time is to read this series AFTER reading the Collective Series.
However, you can also read Ruthless without any previous reading, being that it is a story that can stand alone and makes sense within itself. Leah is the narrator, taking you on her journey, and you can follow her adventure without any previous reading whatsoever.
My point is however, all of the novels in the S. M. Lynch universe are interconnected. Therefore, they are designed to be read in chronological order… or you get some spoilers. Chronologically, you should begin with the Collective Series, then read the Ruthless Series, UNITY and then, finally, New Unity. While Ruthless could be read as a sort of prequel to the Collective in terms of ideas/timeline, it does contain spoilers for the Collective Series which is why I advise to go this way. But anyway… it is up to you! I am one of those strange people who started with The Two Towers and still ended up enjoying the entire LOTR Trilogy. So sue me!
Now, a word of warning about books in this universe:
Firstly, don’t assume anything (and I mean anything) is what it seems.
Secondly, there are elements in these books BEYOND the thriller genre. I dare to venture into sci-fi, mind-bending plots… and well, more besides.
“Books at Beverley Races” took place last October and was a roaring success. Lots of happy smiling faces, many books sold, hilarious conversations had and long overdue catch-ups finally achieved after, in some cases, two years apart. It was a lot of hard work but it was so worth it – and let me tell you, I wasn’t always sure it would still go ahead, what with Covid lingering in the background. Truth to tell, this event was a bit of a crazy late-night idea of mine. I had no idea what it would really require, but I met each challenge head on, knowing how much this meeting would mean to people.
Also, what it would mean to me. The idea of organising a book event such as this arose from a desire to challenge myself, to test my capabilities. I’ve always been a bit of a leader in every job I’ve ever had, yet since becoming an author, I’ve obviously only been in charge of myself, and I might have somewhat forgotten the broad spectrum of what it is I am capable of. Yet this desire to challenge myself wasn’t just about reconnecting with long-forgotten skills… it was an urge to level up with everyone around me. So many people have been in pain for one reason or another this past couple of years. Yet they’ve stepped up. They’ve shown up. Especially some people close to me – mostly, my husband, who’s not only about to lose his dad from cancer, but this past few months or so, has had to deal with some terrible, cruel manoeuvres from people within his career orbit. That’s not something you need or expect, especially when these people know your father and best mate won’t be here for much longer. But what does not destroy us, only makes us stronger (or stranger), and we are stronger and more defiant than ever. It was at this event actually that someone told me just how much my partner had helped her that day – and I agree – my husband is normally the one propping up everyone else.
So last year was a productive year indeed. Under my third (secret) pen name, I published four books which have been very well received. And after the success of Beverley, I really wasn’t sure about organising another event. I was exhausted. And if you’re anything like me and you can see a lot of moving puzzle pieces inside your mind, then you’ve accounted for everything but you’re also prepared for it all to go wrong, too. Yet – and I am sure many other events organisers experience this – after pulling off something like this, you have a sort of withdrawal (if not right away, eventually) and all you want to do then, is do it all over again! Maybe one day I won’t want to do it ever again, but right now… I can announce that I AM DOING IT AGAIN!
The feeling I got after Beverley was not only that people wanted me to do another event, but that they also want me to make it more varied. There were many constrictions I was under at Beverley due to Covid and other factors, preventing me from going further, but now I think I have found a terrific venue that will give us the platform to create something even more special.
I find that at every event I attend, whether as a reader, author or organiser – they just zip by too bloody fast! All the people you wanted to speak to you don’t always get to and all the things you told yourself beforehand to absorb and suck up…. Well, in practise, it just doesn’t always happen. So with “Authors at the Armouries”, I am organising a dinner-dance after the main signing – and also hoping to lay on some small, intimate seminars/panels on the Sunday morning, too! There may be some interesting conversations that morning!
So if you are an author and would like to register your interest for my next event, click here and input your details! If you’re a reader and would like me to approach your favourite author, send me an email… smlpublishinguk@gmail.com. So far, it is shaping up to be an exciting and unforgettable one. All genres are welcome and we have already had interest from thriller writers, PNR, fantasy, romance, poetry, contemporary and children’s.
Other News
I’m sure not one of you has not been affected lately by what we’re seeing in the news. We all feel useless and mortified we can’t do more. Yet all over the place, small acts of kindness are brimming – sometimes it’s those that push me over the edge, not to mention the images we’re subjected to every day. I am contributing but a poem to this anthology organised by Danielle Jacks, but there are several authors writing short stories centred around military romance. All proceeds will benefit the Red Cross Ukraine Appeal. You can find out all you need to know here:
This year, it’s 10 years since I first started publishing and I find myself more and more going back to my roots. I began my writing career publishing sci-fi novels and as S. M. Lynch, I find myself able to explore avenues and areas of my writing I can’t as a romance writer. As a thriller writer, I can vent about a lot more – and considering my past self of ten years ago predicted a pandemic to occur in 2023 (I was a couple of years out), maybe we can read quite a lot into my other predictions, too. It’s the fate of an ex-journalist, I am afraid, to be always on the pulse.
So it gives me great pleasure to announce my next publication, RUTHLESS! I can’t wait for you all to read it. Read the blurb:
A new series which adds a fresh perspective to the frightening, alternative S. M. Lynch universe . . .
Leah was wrenched from everything she knew at a young age and turned into a killer. It became that she didn’t know anything else but the day’s toil of hardening her body and her mind.
Her mentor Caleb was the only person she saw and she couldn’t escape him. We only know that at some point they fell in love, but it didn’t quite go according to plan.
The present Leah Feltham is now the toughest assassin in London, a woman in her thirties working alone, existing for the job, nothing else.
Then, something goes wrong.
War is brewing. She knows it.
And she’s about to find her true love, right before it all kicks off . . .
**This series can be read without any previous reading, but for added context, it’s recommended you read the Ruthless Series after reading the Collective Series**
Ruben is a man on the edge. He has no idea where Freya has been taken.
He’s desperate. He’s out of his mind. With few options available to him, he decides to take the art world by storm and wait to see how his enemies react. Hoping he’ll get the attention of whoever took his bride, Ruben holds his breath.
But is he exposing them both to even more danger?
***
Freya was on the cusp of marrying the man of her dreams when it was all wrenched away.
A foe from the past arrived uninvited, determined to wreck her life. He’s got plans for Freya: to twist her thoughts, torture her mind and bring her into his arms. Whether she escapes his clutches will entirely depend on her strength of mind.
Freya has overcome so much already, but can she overcome this, too?
Nobody knows who’s taken her. Nobody can find her.
Only her wits will save her now.
***
The final instalment in the Legacy Trilogy contains surprises galore, answers all the questions that may have lingered and features some major new players who’ve always been there, meddling in the background. It’s time to find out whether true love really can conquer all.
Excerpt
[He] wanted me to spend a fearful night in the tower last night as the castle rattled and shook against the elements. The building is exposed out here for sure. Sitting in the conservatory, I’ve noticed how vulnerable this property is to mother nature’s wrath and it’s obvious the chateau sits in a clearing surrounded by forest and indeed, there are steep hillsides on one or more sides… like we’re perched right on top of a mountain.
There’s something that doesn’t feel right about this house. It certainly isn’t a home. What did André do for the people who lived here before? Does [he] actually live here? Or is this place a glorified holding cell he only uses occasionally, and André likes that most of the time, he’s left to his devices and can pretend he’s in charge and that this is his house?
There are two tall lamps in the conservatory I’ve switched on and they are lighting up the place now the sun has firmly sunk beneath the horizon. It’s chilly in here since the sunshine stopped streaming through, but the creaking of a radiator lets me know it’ll soon heat up. Still, I imagine André has lit the fires by now and I am seriously considering braving the drawing room.
The wicker chairs in this room are complemented by rugs that picture scenes of nature, strewn across the room to protect bare feet from the wicked tiled floor.
I’ve got my fill of daylight and I’ve read nearly three quarters of Rebecca which I pinched from the library earlier. Library…
Alexia had a library at the place in Mayfair. She once offered me the chance to take a first edition for myself. The books I’ve browsed so far are mostly in English, a few in Latin, very few in French and none written in Portuguese. Ruben once said his mother doesn’t read English or French or any other language besides Portuguese, so perhaps she isn’t a reader, or they had a library in their house just for show.
This cannot be her house, though. She’s been living in Portugal. Ruben couldn’t be mistaken about that. Unless…
My train of thought is interrupted when [he] arrives and stands in the doorway, wearing what he was sporting this morning—suit and tie.
“You’ve been in here all day.” His arms are folded and he’s looking down on me with revulsion.
“Where am I supposed to go?” I shoot back, painting on a fake grin.
He takes a few steps forwards and looks around the room as if he’s never stood in here before and finds it unattractive and disinteresting. “I would like for you to dress appropriately for dinner tonight. You have an hour to make yourself decent.”
“An hour’s fine,” I retort, “but what about you? Some people don’t have a decent bone in their body. Five years wouldn’t be enough to shave the filth off you.”
A smirk spreads across his face and annoyingly, he looks impressed. “Careful, Freya. Don’t go mistaking me for him.”
He turns on his heel and his ghostly silhouette is absorbed by the dimly lit hallway, his figure like a wraith shrinking as he gets further away, something inhuman about his movements at this time of the day when leisure, not haste, should be the mood.
I take a deep breath and meet André as I’m about to ascend the staircase.
“Would madame require any help?”
“What for?”
“He wants you to dress accordingly.”
I lean in and murmur, “If you tell me what this house is, and why I have period costume in my wardrobe, perhaps I will obey.”
Welcome to the world of Freya Carter, hotel manager turned art dealer. She has been on quite the journey, from London to Nice – and yet she has further to go yet!
When it seems like the only man for you can never be yours, what are you going to do?
Well, when your name is Freya Carter, and your middle name is Badass, I think you’ll soon get the picture . . .
~Blurb~
In the first instalment of the steamy, suspenseful Legacy Trilogy…
Ruben and Freya have been friends for two years and still don’t know one another very well. Whenever they meet up for a drink, sex with other people is something they openly discuss, but fooling around with each other is out of the question.
Then right out of the blue, everything changes. Freya can’t stand to have him in her life anymore and Ruben is shocked into action, forced to confess his true feelings.
Endless nights of pure, unbridled passion between two people seemingly destined to be together follow. Freya and Ruben are equally closed books, but as their passion unfolds, so do the pages of their chequered pasts.
There is however, one secret so dark and devastating, it could wreck their lives. As their pasts converge, kismet will play a big part in whether they survive or die.
PART ONE of The Legacy Trilogy is FREE to download for Kindle, Apple, Nook and Kobo
Freya has forged an amazing career in the art world, built a brilliant relationship with her brother and finally has the man she loves by her side, too. It seems like she couldn’t want for more from life.
If only the past had never happened. There are still traumas to face, confessions to be made and dark truths which must be exposed.
From France to Brazil and back again, along the way Freya will learn more about the man who changed her life forever. Theirs is the love of a lifetime. There’s no matching it. She’s certain she will never experience this same connection with anyone else… and the more time they spend together, she realises there’s nobody else she could ever be happy with.
Life could be so good, she knows that – if they stick together.
Killer releases on January 19th! To save yourself spoilers, don’t read the blurb for this one until you’ve read Books One and Two. You can pre-order from Amazon; other vendors available soon!
I’m a prolific writer! So, maybe I don’t suffer the dreaded ‘it shall not be named’. I do, though. It’s just I know how to get around it.
Writer’s block is a thing for every writer, even the biggest selling and most widely published, and I thought it might be helpful to other writers and my future self (when I hit a bad patch) to write about the dreaded BLOCK and other writerly challenges.
I’ve already published ten books this year, some of which are novella-length, but trust me each book needs to make sense within itself and you don’t get away with half-done books, no matter what length. Some of the best novels of all time have been short in length and often a novella or short novel requires that extra bit of restraint to prevent yourself going off on a word spree/tangent.
You can imagine that after writing a few books as I have, it gets harder and harder to sound original, to achieve the same shock and awe in a reader after they’ve read a handful of your books. I don’t very often re-read my back catalogue, but I’m sure if I did, I’d discover a writer that doesn’t feel like the writer I am now. Because accepting the ever-changing thing that is life is the first rule of writing. The finished product can end up so different to how you imagined it in the beginning.
Sometimes when I finish writing a book or series, I’ll get to the end and start to wonder how the hell I started writing this blessed/damned story in the first place. Inspirations can come from anywhere/everywhere. One of my biggest-selling series is Nightlong and I do wonder how the heck I came up with that story. Sometimes the origin harks back to a goal you wanted to achieve. With Nightlong, it was to write a femdom trilogy. Although it didn’t quite work out that Ciara was always in charge, are any of us? No matter how dominant we are, are any of us ever truly in control? Accepting there’s a lot in life we cannot control is a skill invaluable when it comes to novel-writing. Especially in overcoming the Block.
Getting past writer’s block should be simple, right? It’s the ability to be able to recognise that we’re not always in charge. Right? Many writers will tell you the blank first page is their nightmare. That it taunts them. It represents to many that scary possibility that anything they put down might end up being absolute crap. The heightened sensitivity of a writer is what makes them so good at it but also undoes them. The blank page, empty and pale and fruitless, beckons us to fail? Or does it? What if the blank page scares us so much because it taunts the writer of the journey ahead . . . the hours you’ll spend hunched over a computer. It spells all the work you’ve yet to do . . . and humans are self-preserving creatures, after all. Every time I finish writing a novel I know I’ve done something many will never accomplish because the war against your own mind is EPIC.
I’ve never quite been a subscriber to self-help, self-improvement, regimented living . . . I am an extreme creative who doesn’t like any rules or regulations. Some days I just don’t feel the urge to write. Other days, I’ll be typing until my fingers go numb and my eyes are about to give up on me. I don’t ever force myself to write unless there’s a pressing deadline.
Therein, lies my cure to writer’s block: don’t write according to rules. Or just wait until the urge to write comes back again, and once it does, prioritise the shit out of that over everything else. I can only liken it to this: it’s like a car with the wheels spinning out of control but the back end is still on bricks and you’re not moving anywhere. I’ve found my most productive writing sessions are after I’ve got the car off the bricks, having got to the point where the tyres are going to set on fire otherwise!
I often think back to my journalistic days when, present day, I’m faced with difficult literary hurdles. I could bash out 4,000-5,000 easily in a day back then, but that was different. That was copy designed for a customer. It was technical and regurgitative. It wasn’t me as I am now, facing the blank page, knowing it all has to come from me and nobody else can complete this singularly unique and individual task. With creative writing, anything can happen, and only in the rule-breaking can a writer achieve that thing they haven’t quite achieved yet. I also remind myself that as a journalist, I never turned up to work drunk and drink has never made me a more productive writer or more uninhibited. Over the years I’ve begun to shake my head a little when I see writers posting a picture of a bottle of scotch and the words: ‘writer fuel’. My writing is much better off for no alcohol involved, nor loud music in the background (husband differs on this). There’s meant to be all this glamour surrounding what it’s like to be a writer, but it couldn’t be different in reality. If you ever find yourself rolling up to the school run in mismatched clothes like you’re colour-blind, you’re wearing sunglasses even though it’s snowing and you have no tolerance for any other human being whatsoever, then it’s fairly safe to say you’re a writer.
While there will always be slightly familiar patterns to my work (to be expected), I still try to find new stories. They say every story ever told derives from a handful of core plots that, over time, have been embellished to look different but are essentially the same. The mechanics are often the least important thing in the first draft – they can be sorted later – it’s the heart of the story you have to master first and foremost.
The Bad Series was published this year and it is the first series I didn’t go to town on editing. I wrote it straight through and hardly did any major re-writes. If it reads quite punchy, and light, that’s because I wanted it to come across that way – to give readers a chance to make up their own minds without the stories being too heavy on detail and the characters too fixed in place. I didn’t want anything so final about it all. The characters are incredibly real, almost to the point of exacerbation – but that’s what I wanted! I grew up on those types of stories.
The danger (or positive) of being so well written as I am is that you do tend to become extremely opinionated on the writing process and on the industry, because you’ve seen and done A LOT. What works for someone else does not always work for you – but what works for me IS LAW.
I personally don’t want to live on social media (I already give SO MUCH to my books, everything I want to say is in those). I also don’t believe social media is necessary to sell books. SM helps if people want to connect with you, it gives your readers access to the person behind the words, but what if you’re not interested in building a brand or being consistent or predictable to serve a commercial purpose? When you’re a writer who just writes and wants to reach the shy people who love to read books and don’t make an awful lot of fuss about it all (as I do), then you’re probably more likely to reach those readers through email marketing and ads that are delivered store-front.
There have been a few stories I’ve written where I’ve felt certain only one or two people would really get it, and then I’ve been surprised, and vice versa I’ve written stories that I thought were for mass market and people didn’t like those as much. They started reading me because I’m different and they want to keep reading my work because it’s different. It is an absolute minefield out there, so what are you best off doing? You can only write what you feel you must write. If what you feel you must write is a story your publisher can get onboard with and you need sales to put food on the table, do that.
All stories matter. I’ve written stories about some truly inexplicable people but at the end of the day, their stories mattered because they felt real to me and my readers. I don’t want to sugar-coat a story to make it seem more palatable, that would never be genuine or very writerly of me. Similarly, if you make a character too unlikeable, you might make a reader want to straight away unplug. But everyone always gets their reckoning . . . one way or another.
It’s been a rollercoaster this year for everyone out there, writers and non-writers included. My writing has felt a lot like a rollercoaster on more than one occasion. Some days I’ve been straight out of the blocks, other days I’ve just not had the impetus. During lockdown I largely buried myself in the stories, lay awake at night plotting and forming scenes before typing them up the next day. I would indulge in long lie-ins and write till late at night because the house was quiet and my mind in a more relaxed state. I’m no longer able to indulge now my husband and daughter are back at school and work. Sometimes I pine for those late nights and late mornings, while some days I am thankful for the routine of normal working hours again. While a lot of my stories are predominantly planned, I’ve also written some stuff completely by the seat of my pants. Sometimes you’ll do that and come back to it and be like WTF, other times you’ll realise you did need to pants it. It’s all about going with the flow, that’s it. It’s just that it is the damnedest thing.
I’ve often found that notebooks full of ideas haven’t always come to fruition. When you’re actually in the story, it takes you in another direction more often than not. Something in the plotting stage may have seemed like a totally great idea, but once you’re arcing and forming something more tangible, it just gets thrown out of the window and you end up writing something much more in line with the narrative. I had this terrible problem early on in my career where I really struggled to write things unless they were entirely factual and accurate (journo brain) and that took so long to shake off – to remind myself fiction is fiction and anything is possible. I also feel like the writer I am today is much more mature than the one I started out as and that, as before mentioned, some of the books I wrote seven or eight years ago would seem foreign to me now. The things that happen in our lives shape us. They can make us more tolerant or the opposite; bitter or accepting; honest or even more dishonest. Life shapes us and the writer changes. But what has always been evergreen about my stories is that the characters never needed to be reshaped. I always give them to you how they present themselves to me. Within the 40+ books I’ve written is a plethora of different people. But I never ever tried to promote my books on the diversity within. The unique stories are always what I hope people will remember. Stories are universal. The people I write about are real people, sometimes subversions of people I’ve known or know, sometimes they’re ugly people I try to make seem better, until there’s no denying they aren’t better. Strong characters can be kind or cruel, witty or dour, evil or good or plain and dark, beneath. The way they talk or treat people, love people, is the most important aspect of any heroine or hero.
Any good writer can convince themselves and others of anything. You just have to have a narrative that is watertight. But imperfections are the parts of us that allow other people in, so should that go for literature, too?
I know lockdown and everything going on in the world has made sitting down to concentrate so hard for so many people. I recognise the energy it takes for someone to sit down and really give themselves up to a story and let it take over and it’s not easy. It’s so HARD. The brain is a muscle, it needs to be exercised, but if you allow it to burn-out, what do you think is going to happen? It’s going to rebel.
The point of this blog is that, even I, Sarah Michelle, with all my techniques and tried-and-tested mantras have still found it hard this year (at times) to write. I think after I finished writing the Bad Series, I thought I might never write again. I wasn’t exhausted physically, but emotionally and mentally. I had to take a few weeks before I could even think about promoting it. It is the single most challenging piece of work I ever undertook and somehow, lockdown helped me complete it. I had somewhere to venture, to escape. I allowed myself the luxury to write when I wanted. It just seemed to work. A few months have passed and I’ve had to readjust my settings all over again – and will probably have to once more if Lockdown 2.0 happens!
All I know is that everything – and I mean everything – that has ever happened in my life has led me right up to now. To enable me to pull off a piece of work like this nine-book series. In the past I did used to force myself to write and maybe that was the best thing for me, then. If I hadn’t have forced myself, might I not have got further down the line, to the more mature, wiser and experienced writer I am now?
When I get writer’s block, what do you think I always say to myself? “This is leading somewhere, this is my journey . . . it’s taking me somewhere.”
Has 2020 been all about Covid? In a way, yes. In many ways, no.
For a lot of people it’s been about re-evaluating. It’s been a wake-up call.
Do I need to commute so far every day? Do I love this person I’m living with? What’s the point of continuing in this job I hate? Why am I putting up with so much outside of my control? I could go on… the list is endless. Everyone has been forced to stop and THINK.
2020 has been a shit year for many. There we are. In the words of Mad-Eye Moody, “End of story. Goodbye. The End…”
But it hasn’t all been about Covid.
For instance, among my family and extended family three people are living with cancer at the moment. The worst moments of some people’s lives have taken place, all while Covid exists as an annoying accomplice in the background. Cancer hasn’t gone away. Nor have any of the other ailments killing people every day.
My husband’s work has changed completely. He’s adapted and is a podcaster now and wants to do a Masters for himself, because as he put it, “You just sometimes realise if you want to do something for yourself, you’ve got to do it now. There’s no time.”
We had a major financial scare at the beginning of this year. Suffice to say, there are some dodgy, dodgy companies out there… and they will still be doing what they do post-Covid, because some things never change.
I’ve heard numerous times from my daughter, the words, “I hate coronavirus!” All she sees is that she cannot meet her friends in the same way. She can’t stay over at Grandma’s. She couldn’t go to school. She hates seeing her parents in the scary masks and doesn’t understand why so many people are angry and impatient everywhere. And all the adults ever seem to talk about is fucking coronavirus. LOL.
I started writing a series of books last winter, almost a year ago now. I put fingers to keys to create the Bad Series well before any of this kicked off.
I wrote this series during some of the worst times of my life, but I worked SO HARD throughout to stick to the brief I set out a year ago – to write it as it was meant to be written from concept to completion. I oftentimes write my books real-time and that’s why more often than not, I write in first-person present tense because I want it to have the feel of “happening right now” – that you’re living the story alongside the characters. The epilogue of the Bad Series brings the characters right up to about now (2020 – the year which in future shall not be named). However, I am no way going to ever mention the C-word in any of my books. WHY? Because it doesn’t have a place. Not right now. Maybe not ever. The issues I chose to write about and have been detailing for ten years are, to me, much more prevalent, evergreen and pressing. Issues such as family, relationships, friendships, mental health, overcoming trauma, acceptance of one another and love.
If you want to discover what my post-natal brain conjured eight or nine years ago about the future (2023) then read my predictions in the Unity Series. If you’d like a window into what my highly sensitive nerve endings picked up on as being our future, Unity comes very close in a lot of (interpretational) ways. If there was a message in the Unity Series, it was to think for yourself. To not allow ourselves to be pushed apart. Broken, we can be divided; together, we’re unbreakable.
Fiction, as it turns out, is more important than ever. To me. To you. To the world. A safe space in which to translate and work through everything going on around us.
I know how lucky I am every day to be able to venture into my own private domain. To have the skill to be able to knit my concerns about the world within good stories. To have my safe space.
I recognise, now more than ever, there is pain out there which goes far beyond the virus and it is being squashed away because of this C-word thing going on and interrupting our lives.
Domestic abuse is up. Cancer patients are waiting. Many elderly are suffering because they simply cannot get out. They are missing that VITAL chance to be around the younger generation and feel connected to the world. People are telling themselves their suffering is small and therefore they aren’t going to the doctor with that ache or pain or lump they’d normally get checked out. And MONEY still isn’t being placed where it is needed most. And the WRONG sectors are benefiting from this crisis while the pre-existing and various struggles of millions are ongoing and far outweigh some people’s reluctance to don a mask.
And the very fine balance of people’s mental health is being tested like never before. Those of us who have never had a mental health issue – are wondering if it’s coming for us next. Because sometimes, some days, you just wake up and think, “What the fuck next…?”
For someone who processes events slowly, and then all at once, the next writings from me might be very interesting indeed.
Is 2020 a write-off?
I don’t know.
Personally, this year has taught me that I am there for a heck of a lot of people. And I will always be. But stepping back sometimes is something I have to do. Trying to save people is something I can’t accomplish. Even when I can see what they’re doing is causing damage only to themselves, I can’t step in. But maybe somebody reading one of my books might read it… and be moved to see things clearer than if someone in their lives had sat them down and told them.
For some, lockdown was their saviour. It was finally their chance to take stock. To catch up on sleep. No more boarding a flight every week. No more sardine-in-a-can train journeys. Time spent catching up with their partner and/or kids. Time to spruce up the house or driveway or back garden, or front – maybe all the above. Time to grow out your hair and/or nails. Time to breathe. Time to actually speak to your neighbour. A chance to buy local. A chance to sell local. A chance to be local.
If I’m anything to go by, let me tell you, one thing is for certain.
Post-2020, creativity is going to be UP!
Things are going to change, and it is going to hurt, but through the enormous amount of creativity that is coming – because nothing can come from nothing and who we are, the experiences we’ve had and the hearts we own are everything – we can be together.
Looking for something to binge on the beach? In your garden? On the commute? This could well be the series for you. Packed with steamy scenes, complex friendships, drama and a few BIG surprises, the Bad Series is an epic saga following the lives of eight friends and the people they love.
The first two box sets can be downloaded for a limited time at a bargain price! Six books for 99 pennies! Read on for info on each individual instalment. Enjoy!
Box Set #1 . . .
Bad Friends
Lily is in denial about her relationship with Ian, a university lecturer who was sexy three years ago but has become progressively more boring. Her friends try to tell her what she already knows but it’s an illicit Christmas encounter that finally makes her see sense.
Is life about to get better, or will it only get worse?
The path to true love never runs smooth.
Bad Actor
Theo Richards is a very bad actor. He’s told lie after lie, kept secrets so deep and dark . . . and yet, his heart has always been in the right place.
The kind of love most people can only dream of is about to drop into his life. At the same time, his career is about to take off and everything is going to change.
Will he survive the rollercoaster, and does anyone ever really get everything they want?
Bad Wife
Susan has always known exactly what she wants and how to get it. So being told she can’t have something is very hard to take.
Now a year since Adam walked her down the aisle, things are becoming complicated.
They visit a fertility clinic for help once it becomes clear things might not happen naturally. The results are unexpected and send Adam into a tailspin.
Were his friends always right about her?
Or didn’t they give her enough of a chance?
Box Set #2 . . .
Bad Girl
Chloe is travelling around Australia with her boyfriend when she hears some unexpected news from home. Having spent two years dodging reality and living like a nomad, she decides it’s time to quit messing around and finally go after what she wants.
Leaving Cole behind, she heads home to figure out what her future holds – and why things never worked out with Adam.
As with most love stories, nothing is ever as it might first seem . . .
Bad Guys
Saskia is one cool customer, unreadable and off limits. She has her boundaries and lets everyone know so, just without telling them exactly why she has built up this huge wall of protection around herself.
Married men end up becoming a major factor in her love life, but is that a proactive choice, or just bad luck?
The man she finally falls in love with is a shocker . . . and perhaps she’ll end up becoming ostracized because of it.
Bad Lover
Anabel has known Susan since school but their friendship has been so intermittent, she’s always wondered why Susan sometimes disappears and then comes back.
After years of barely any contact, she’s shocked when Susan arrives in London with a story that doesn’t seem to add up.
Susan has been something of a mystery to Anabel all these years and it feels like she may be on the cusp of discovering just what drives her enigmatic friend.
Box Set #3 . . .
Bad Exes
Marie’s marriage is on the rocks. She and Ade haven’t been on the same page for quite a while and when she discovers her ex is single, she decides she has to see him.
Her relationship with Anthony was painful, complicated and passionate. She would have stayed with him forever if she’d had it her own way.
Now she has three kids. A career she loves. A husband who has been there for her, though they haven’t always shared the same connection she had with Anthony.
She will have a difficult choice to make, but there are truths in this story which reveal just how much Marie’s friends influenced her – for better and for worse.
Bad Night
Paul is alone in the world but feels safer this way, with no responsibilities, no temptations. He’s working towards a goal: to get out of the country and never come back.
Then Tom shows up unexpectedly and what starts out as two friends catching up quickly becomes a nightmare.
Evil strikes . . . and one of the friends will lose their life.
Bad Endings
Three love stories round off the epic saga . . .
They say it’s rare that people meet in school, marry AND stay together.
Well, it’s true. Only one couple who met in school and married will stay together in this story.
As the tale draws to a close, everything comes out. Scores will be settled. Truths will be unmasked. No question will go unanswered.
Even if they go their separate ways, it’s clear they will always carry with them the impact they have had on one another.
They’ve influenced each other’s lives, left marks in some cases . . . burned bridges in others.
In the end, they will lament the loss of all they shared.
Sarah Michelle Lynch 