Hi all!

[jazzabel]

I used to be on the old forum many years ago, 2010-2014 from memory. Then life happened, and I had to attend to a different project, which resulted in a well-read and reviewed nonfiction book and quite a lot of popularity on social media. This was a good experience to go through, as there are many pitfalls to being in the public eye. I won’t share details of that project on here, in order to preserve privacy.

Fiction is my first love, however, and I had to put it on hold for about 10 years, to do the above, but now I am back in force.

The novel I’m writing is speculative fiction, with historical, supernatural and sci-fi elements, featuring strong female characters. It explores many themes relevant to women, like trauma, motherhood and striving for freedom. It is also an exploration of mind-body dissociation, as we are seeing more of with the advancements of the internet, augmented and virtual realities.

The novel is on about 100k words atm, and it’s going through the final edit, before I start querying with it. I hope progress journal on here will help me finish it by Christmas!

 

[Madman Starryteller]

Welcome back! Good to have you here.

 

[Louanne Learning]

Hello and welcome, your novel sounds like something I would really like to read.

Looking forward to seeing you in the forums!

 

[CatrionaGrace]

Welcome!

 

[THUNDAIR]

Welcome. I like the touch of sci-fi in a historical setting. I snuck a few sci-fi lines into one of my novels thinking I may have tainted it, but it was received well.

 

[jazzabel]

Thank you all for the warm welcome, it’s much appreciated!

Louanne, I really hope the book will stand up to my mental image of it. I’m currently struggling with letting go of it.

Thundair, I’m so glad that your calculated risk paid off. It takes a lot courage to deviate from the ubiquitous advice to follow storytelling formulas that will get you published with the big 5 etc. I think many readers want stories that surprise them and that deviate from the predictable storytelling which is quite prevalent atm.

 

[Naomasa298]

Hi-de-hi!

 

[Louanne Learning]

I really hope the book will stand up to my mental image of it.

Please feel free to post chapter one in the workshop and I will be sure to read it!

 

[Catrin Lewis]

Hi, welcome back! I totally remember you, and I'm sure you were on Forums-with-an-S way past 2014, because I didn't join, myself, till January of that year, and I saw you as a mainstay.

You have a different avatar now. So do I. I'm going to be cudgeling my brains trying to remember what your old one was.

 

[Pik]

A lot of folks are joining with new usernames (that I don't know, just like I didn't know their previous ones) and even more of them join only to say hi and not write here again.

 

[jazzabel]

Hi, welcome back! I totally remember you, and I'm sure you were on Forums-with-an-S way past 2014, because I didn't join, myself, till January of that year, and I saw you as a mainstay.

You have a different avatar now. So do I. I'm going to be cudgeling my brains trying to remember what your old one was.

Hey Catrin! Last 10 years have been a blur, it might be that I was there longer. Really lovely to see you again and reconnect.
I had loads of avatars, from memory one was the Borg queen (always a favourite )

 

[jazzabel]

A lot of folks are joining with new usernames (that I don't know, just like I didn't know their previous ones) and even more of them join only to say hi and not write here again.

That is quite typical for forums, though.

 

[Pik]

That is quite typical for forums, though.

Yeah, could be. But I don't agree that the readers necessarily want stories that deviate from predictable storytelling, story is a conversation after all, what one person tells another, I personally want to find out what happened in such instances rather then be surprised in terms of how the story is told, but there are so many different types of storytelling and literature. Good to have you here.

 

[jazzabel]

Yeah, could be. But I don't agree that the readers necessarily want stories that deviate from predictable storytelling, story is a conversation after all, what one person tells another, I personally want to find out what happened in such instances rather then be surprised in terms of how the story is told, but there are so many different types of storytelling and literature. Good to have you here.

I think you misread my comment. I do agree with what you said, but that wasn’t what I was referring to.

 

[Pik]

There's the option or explaining or staying misread and mysterious.

 

[jazzabel]

There's the option or explaining or staying misread and mysterious.

I wasn’t trying to be mysterious, I thought that qualifiers in my statement (many readers, not all, and referring to formulaic-type fiction which might be selling well, but it does get a bit old after a while) would be clear, apologies if they weren’t.

 

[Pik]

I wasn’t trying to be mysterious, I thought that qualifiers in my statement (many readers, not all, and referring to formulaic-type fiction which might be selling well, but it does get a bit old after a while) would be clear, apologies if they weren’t.

I know more about writing (fiction) for film or theatre rather than novels but it's somewhat similar, if by formulaic you mean following the many times tried story structure I am saying that this structure/composition is mimicking the way stories are usually told in everyday conversations. It will probably be more clear once you write few examples or post a chapter of a novel.