Summary of the Books I Read in 2017

So, now it's the time to reflect a bit on what I've read last year. I was determined to reduce the number of books on my to be read pile, which I counted at the beginning of the year revealing I had 30 unread novels. I've managed to read 29 of them this year.

Eric Frank Russell The Great Explosion (read over on Galactic Journey)
Arthur C. Clarke Childhood's End
Glen Cook The Dragon Never Sleeps
Jim Butcher Dead Beat
Larry Correia Hard Magic
Larry Correia Spellbound
Larry Correia Warbound
Larry Correia Monster Hunter Siege
Larry Correia Monster Hunter Alpha
Larry Correia & Mike Kupari Swords of the Exodus
William C. Deitz Andromeda's Fall
William C. Deitz Andromeda's Choice
William C. Deitz Andromeda's War 
David Hambling The Elder Ice (reviewed by my friend Roger here)
Sarah A. Hoyt A Few Good Men
Mike Kupari Her Brother's Keeper (also reviewed here by my friend Roger)
Andre Norton Star Rangers
Andre Norton Fore Runner
Andre Norton Fore Runner: The Second Venture 
Andre Norton Stargate
Christopher Rowley Starhammer
Christopher Rowley The Vang: The Military Form 
Christopher Rowley The Vang: The Battlemaster 
Tanya Huff A Piece Divided
Michelle Sagara Grave: Book 3 of The Queen of the Dead
Clifford D Simak Cosmic Engineers
A. E. van Vogt The Battle of Forever 
Michael Z. Williamson A Long Time Until Now 
Michael Z. Williamson When Diplomacy Fails

Disclaimer: Some of the links go to same page, and didn't get around to reviewing all the books I read this year.

After reading 29 books, I've just counted my remaining to be read pile, which now has 31 books. This makes me laugh. Besides the novels I read a number of non-fiction books too.

J. M. Bickham Elements of Fiction Writing - Scene & Structure
J. M. Bickham The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes
J. M. Bickham Setting
Kristine Katherine Rusch The Freelancer’s Survival Guide
Robert Shufflebotham  InDesign in easy steps
Dean Wesley Smith Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline
Dwight V. Swain Creating Characters: How to Build Story People

NB: And the astute readers will have noted that I've gone through and revised all the tags on this blog. For two reasons. First this blog is now going to be more focused on what I've written, and secondly, it was all getting rather out of hand and overly long.

Happy New Year: Reflecting Back on 2017

A planet with two moons is the setting for my next novel, Strike Dog.

Before I start, let me wish everyone the best for the new year ahead.

At this time I find myself reflecting on work, life, the universe, and everything. I can report that my NHS job has come to an end, which as one may imagine has caused a certain amount of emotional turmoil. After all, jobs are often linked to one's feeling of self worth.

So, I'm taking a long hard look at what I've actually written.

My productivity has not been helped by having the day job, but the worse thing is that I haven't focused on writing new words. Because only by writing new words does one improve. I could make a reasonable argument that all the re-writing I've done, to get my first three novels knocked into shape, was practice.

But, if this is true, then the time has come to move on with what I've learnt.

Totting everything up this is what I managed, while holding down what was effectively a full time job, this year.

Non-fiction:

Galactic Journey, twelve articles, which came to 11,839 words.
Paint it Pink blog, 56 pieces that came to 11,260 words.
This writing blog, 43 articles, which came to 12,598 words.
Two short reviews for Miniature Wargames magazine, 438 words.
Total: 36,310 words.

Looking Back:

2013; ARP 18,519; PiP 9,465; Five reviews 12,735; Total: 40,719 words.
2014; ARP 23,201; PiP 12,259; Four articles 11,166; Total: 46,626 words.
2015; ARP 30,638; PiP 14,113; Total: 44,751 words.
2016; ARP 18,155; PiP 12,682; GJ 8,230; Total: 39,067 words.

Over the last two years I have written less but, what I choose take away from all this noodling is that I write a bunch of non-fiction regardless of the demands on my life. It's not a large number of words, but I do consistently write.

However, while content will remain free to read, I've added a donate to support this blog PayPal button to the sidebar. I need income streams if I'm to continue writing, and the odd dollar here & there will help.

Fiction:

Aggregated that includes new scenes, and two short stories, 21,537 words.

Grand total:

57,407 words.

Which is just not enough to sustain any forward momentum to develop a writing career.

Looking at the editing come re-writing this year, then I know I did a draft of Strike Dog, which came to 101,638 words that has now come back from copy-editing. I've also did  a draft of Ghost Dog, which came to 96,518 words, and I'm currently re-writing it because, well just because I want it to be as good as I can make it, and my Beta reader pointed out some problems I agreed with.

So, bottom line here is, I averaged 1,103 new words per week, and re-wrote 198,156 words during the course of the year. This means 3,810 words each week that could have gone towards new novels, didn't. Add together that would've made 219,693 words, which is at least two novels. That's two novels worth of writing I will not get back.

New Year resolutions are generally pointless.

But, my first novel, Bad Dog, is out as an eBook, and by the end of the month I hope to have a paperback and hardcover versions for sale. Furthermore, the sequel, Strike Dog, is nearly ready to be published, all I've got to do is commission a cover, typeset it, and then I'll be good to go. And before the end of the year I will bring Ghost Dog to market

So my goal in 2018 is to have published my three novels, and I will write three new novels.

This year is new words. It just is.

NB: Links to my Galactic Journey pieces.

Vegetating at the Movies (Day of the Triffids)
A Galaxy of Choices (British TV: The Andromeda Breakthrough)
Out of this World (the British Summer SF hit!)
Yes, please! (The first James Bond movie, Dr. No)
Great Balls of Fire!  (Gerry Anderson’s new series, Fireball XL5)
That Was the Month that Was (Christmas Cheer from a UK fan

Bad Dog – Now Available

You will die like a dog for no good reason.

—Ernest Hemingway 

Story Summary

In 2071, Sergeant Tachikoma leads a Marine combat armor squad. She knows the Corps never promised her a rose garden, only the chance to fight for her country.

Now, she faces her greatest challenge, two terrifying alien pillars that trapped her into reliving the same day again. The day she dies.

Today, she needs every ounce of courage to save her people from annihilation.

Based on cutting-edge theories on the nature of the universe, this white knuckle military SF thriller contains drama and mystery.

“This story is great, with a very firm grasp of the Marine Corps lifestyle.”


– Sgt D. Barrow, USMC

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Photographic Addition

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm 1:2.8 Pro lens.

As my regular readers are aware, photography is a bit of a thing for me. As in, I did my first degree in photography many years ago, more than I care to remember, but not completed for various reasons. I take a lot of pictures of the models I make, and other subjects that interest me too. And of course, it's useful for taking pictures for blog posts.

Quelle surprise.

For Christmas my beloved surprised me with Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm 1:2.8 Pro lens. I've been coveting one of these since I got my micro-four-thirds OM-D E-M5:M2 camera back here. As Susan said to me, this lens provides me with my favourite angle of view that I used to have back in the day when I ran my Pentax MX-5 with a SMC 15mm F3.5.

Here are both cameras and their lenses.

Pentax 35mm film camera next to an Olympus micro-four-thirds digital camera.

The Pentax I bought in January 1982, my Olympus I was given in February 2016. What is surprising or not, is the similarity in size, given that 34 years, 40 if you take into consideration that the MX-5 was released in 1976, between the two cameras.

So size, really comes down to ergonomics.

And while my E-M5:M2 is not a large camera per se, it is larger than Susan's E-PL6 micro-four-thirds rangefinder model.

Christmas 2017

It's that time of the year when, depending on your predilections, when one says, bah humbug, or a joyous time to celebrate.  The joy comes from the idea of Christmas as the time of the year for gifts.  Arguably an invention by one of the greatest writers who has ever lived.  No not Shakespeare, because he didn't write a Christmas Carol, Dickens did.  And I thank him for that.  Otherwise Christmas would be a rather joyless event.

So, here I sit, writing about Christmas thinking of the good things, for example, the books I've read this year, and the new authors I've discovered, and of course, all the work I've been doing to get my book ready to put up on Amazon.

In the mean time, the parcels are wrapped, the tree has been put up, and there's a ton of other fun stuff to look forward to.  So, let me wish all my readers a Merry Christmas, or if you prefer a Happy Holiday, or Solstice break.  Whatever works for you.

Hamster Wheel

The feeling of running around in circles as I work my way through all the tasks I need to complete to publish my first novel next year. On paper, virtual you understand, it all looks pretty straightforward. Do this, then do that, and then move on to the next task.

The catch?

If one has never done said task before then there's a learning curve. A steep one, but that's good in a way, because once you're learning your competence rises in leaps and bounds.  The opposite of the writing learning curve that rises, then plateaus, and there can be a considerable time between levels.

Different learning curves require different strategies.

With my publishing head on I need to learn a bunch of stuff. Copyright and surviving as a free-lance writer being two of those things.  So I bought these books. They're both quick thick, and I haven't yet started, but the clock is ticking.  There's a story right there.

Talking about stories, Bad Dog is waiting for me to finalize the cover, which requires me to finish the course I'm on so I can do this.

Strike Dog has been sent off for copy editing, which caused us a certain amount of angst, because of the cost.  In the bigger scheme of things I'm getting a great deal on the job, but money is tight, hence the purchase of the free-lancer survival guide.  I already know I've started out from the worst possible position, namely I'm under capitalized.

It sucks to be me and mine, but we will just have to suck it up.  Anyone got a straw?

Finally, got feedback on Ghost Dog from my most trusted Beta reader, which is very positive.  Not that there are not things I need to address, which is why I'm busy doing edits to cut words out and restructuring the order of the chapters.  I may be tied up for some time ahead.

Terror Tree - Now Available

War is the father of us all, king of all. Some it makes gods, some it makes men, some it makes slaves, some free.

– Heraclitis

Plot Summary

Imagine a future where humans face Artificial Intelligence systems controlling the machines of war.

“Terror Tree” is a science fiction short story that asks the question: What if this goes on?

Includes chapter one of the forthcoming novel Bad Dog.

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