De-blog

I've just watched/listened to Pentatonix singing 'Hallelujah', almost to spite the constant posts on social networks that kept declaring it would give me chills. Well, that backfired gloriously. I used to be a Christian. A real, actual practising Christian. I went to Sunday school and church every Sunday of my own free will from the age of three or four - I don't recall how old exactly; my memory doesn't stretch back that far. I loved Sunday school so much, even though I now know that when Mrs. Joss and her grown-up daughter Katrina (who might have only been fifteen, but that was grown up to me) told me 'that's excellent, Debbie' in relation to my paintings, they were lying through their teeth. Still, I guess it's not a sin to lie if it preserves a child's self-esteem, but the fact is, I can't paint now, never mind when I was three, or four, or at any age since. The Josses held Sunday school Christmas parties at their house, which w...

This week, I've been working on two WIPs: Reunions and Of The Bauble . I'd written the opening to Of The Bauble back in 2014, but I ran out of time to work on it, but I found some - inspired by Bec from Bike Book Reviews ' call for Christmas MM romances, although...this isn't quite an MM romance. It IS a romance, and it does have a bisexual male main character (young adult), but...well, I'll leave it at that for now or there won't be any surprises later! What is WIPpet Wednesday? WIPpet Wednesday is a blog hop where authors share from their current works in progress - expertly organised/hosted by Emily Witt - and the excerpt has to relate to the date in some way. For links to other fabulous authors' WIPpets, visit: http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=355404 Wednesday 12th October, 2016 (it still is somewhere...) 12x10+20+16=156 words I hopped over to read A.M. Leibowitz's WIPpet post for this week , which is themed on 'coming out' in...

This week, I've added a few thousand words to Reunions , but it's in a helluva mess. It's going to need a fair bit of reworking; for now I'm going to keep writing and tweaking where I know what's meant to happen, and...hope for the best. What is WIPpet Wednesday? WIPpet Wednesday is a blog hop where authors share from their current works in progress - expertly organised/hosted by Emily Witt - and the excerpt has to relate to the date in some way. For links to other fabulous authors' WIPpets, visit: http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=355404 It's 5th October; 5+10=15 sentences, plus a bonus sentence to finish off, from Reunions , which is season seven of Hiding Behind The Couch - the story of nine friends from high school, who are now all around the age of forty. The characters in the excerpt below are Krissi - the daughter of two of the series' main characters - and Jay, her BFFE, both aged twenty-five. Here's the WIPpet: It was clea...

(Second time of trying to post...) OK, yes, it's Thursday, but it's still Wednesday somewhere in the world. BST? Dunno what you're talking about... ;) I've not taken part in WIPpet Wednesday for a few weeks, nor any other snippet sharing, because I had a bit of an author epiphany, or meltdown. I'm undecided. The long and short of it is I realised I wasn't enjoying writing, and the reason is...deadlines! I can write to deadlines, no problem at all, but they're not always a good thing for creativity. So, I'm not doing it anymore! Unless I really, really have to. What is WIPpet Wednesday? WIPpet Wednesday is a blog hop where authors share from their current works in progress - expertly organised/hosted by Emily Witt - and the excerpt has to relate to the date in some way. For links to other fabulous authors' WIPpets, visit: http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=355404 It's 29th September, 2016, so I'm going with 29 sentences from ...

Title: Holding Author: Graham Norton Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Expected: 6th October, 2016 ISBN: 9781444791990 Link: https://www.hodder.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781444791990 Blurb: Graham Norton's masterful debut is an intelligently crafted story of love, secrets and loss. The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama; and yet its inhabitants are troubled. Sergeant PJ Collins hasn't always been this overweight; mother of­ two Brid Riordan hasn't always been an alcoholic; and elegant Evelyn Ross hasn't always felt that her life was a total waste. So when human remains are discovered on an old farm, suspected to be that of Tommy Burke - a former­ love of both Brid and Evelyn - the village's dark past begins to unravel. As the frustrated PJ struggles to solve a genuine case for the first time in his life, he unearths a community's worth of anger and resentments, secrets and regret. Darkly comic, touching and at ti...

Today, I was accused of 'author preaching' about bisexuality in one of my books, and the best part of it was, on this occasion, I wasn't actually preaching! This, alas, is what comes from writing visible bisexual characters, and I'm going to keep doing it. Without apology. That's not to say I don't get preachy from time to time. At the end of this post is an excerpt of full-on preachy-ness, all of it based on real reactions to bisexual people. Readers of Hiding Behind The Couch will have met Kris Johansson. He's one of The Circle - the nine characters at the centre of the series - and he is the most visible bisexual character in my writing. He's one of the two main characters in the stand-alone bi/gay romance, Crying in the Rain , which is FREE on All Romance eBooks until Sunday 25th September (to celebrate Bisexual Awareness Week). There are other bisexual characters in HBTC, but not in The Circle. Here's a breakdown of the gender/sexu...

A bisexual top ten. :) I'm saving the best for the top spot, of course... 10. Vanessa Carlton (as if I haven't heard this piano riff a thousand times... ) 9. Fergie (Black-eyed Peas) 8. Amy Winehouse 7. Debbie Harry (Blondie) 6. David Bowie 5. Richard Fairbrass (Right Said Fred) 4. Lady Gaga 3. Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day) 2. Brian Molko (Placebo) 1. Freddie Mercury (Queen)

This coming Thursday (22nd September, 2016) is release day for my novel, The WAG and The Scoundrel . It's a nerve-racking time. Will readers like it? Will they love it? Or will they hate it? Worse still, will they give it a big fat indifferent 'meh'? I've been writing novels for nearly twenty years, and that old chestnut 'you can't please everyone' is one I (mostly) accept. My books aren't for everyone, but it doesn't make negative reviews sting any less. But anyway, that's not what this post is about. Or it is, a little bit. What I'm going to attempt to do here is provide content warnings (for potential triggers), spoiler warnings and a general note about inclusivity in LGBTQ fiction so that readers do not go into The WAG and The Scoundrel entirely unknowing of what lies ahead. However, this will be sketchy information at best, because if I spell it out, it'll spoil the story! Content Warnings These are some of the key themes...

This morning, I got to add ANOTHER phrase to my most-hated corpspeak list, and I thought I'd celebrate by blogging about it! I should also point out that I STILL hate the word 'blog', which is why my blog is titled de-blog (or deb log). Back when I created my blog, I was part of an IT steering group (steering group, ffs), where people 'in the know' talked about these 'innovative new technologies' such as blogging, content management systems, dynamic web content, and so on - what we now call Web 2.0 - a technology scarred by the favourite buzzwords of the time. innovative dynamic we will add your distinctiveness to our own... I knew technology. I'd been writing PHP for six years by that point. I'd been hacked and I knew how to hack. I knew as much as I needed to, all of it self-taught. Skip a couple of years... The web moved on, as did I. Well, actually, I moved back to writing fiction and I'm almost proud to say that I haven't ha...

Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!). In this group you'll find anything from romance and historical fiction to mystery and YA. The common thread is that every story's main character identifies as LGBTQ+. The snippets could range from zero flames to full-on sexytimes, anything goes content-wise. The only rule is snippets will be 6 sentences long–one for each color in the Pride flag. * * * * * Here's another snippet from Reunions ( Hiding Behind The Couch #7). This is part of a chapter I've been working on this weekend, in which Josh and Gabby (who attended university together) are reuniting after twenty years. Xander is Gabby's cousin; back in uni, Josh and Xander had...an unusual acquaintanceship. Here's the snippet: From Spinoza to toast... It was a distinct...

Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!). In this group you'll find anything from romance and historical fiction to mystery and YA. The common thread is that every story's main character identifies as LGBTQ+. The snippets could range from zero flames to full-on sexytimes, anything goes content-wise. The only rule is snippets will be 6 sentences long–one for each color in the Pride flag. * * * * * I missed last week's Rainbow Snippets - no time. :( But I've made sure I made time this week. :) Here's another snippet from Reunions ( Hiding Behind The Couch #7). The scene from which this is taken features George and Josh again. It's Sunday morning, and they're about to head next door but one - to Sean's house - for an Ulster fry. Here's the snippet: Josh sn...

WIPpet Wednesday is a blog hop where authors share from their current works in progress - expertly organised/hosted by Emily Witt - and the excerpt has to relate to the date in some way. For links to other fabulous authors' WIPpets, visit: http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=355404 So, it's the 18th August (I'm a day late :/): 8+18=26 sentences of my work in progress, The WAG and The Scoundrel , which is a white-collar crime mystery (ish) / romance (ish) (LGBTQ). It's the first book in the Gray Fisher Series , which is a spinoff of Hiding Behind The Couch . It's scheduled for an October release. It's written! Hurrah! I'm currently working through it - as is my no.1 beta-reader (Nige) to make sure it's fit for my editor. This will likely be the last snippet from this WIP. In the scene below, Gray and Will are having dinner and talking about Jean-Michel - Gray's deceased civil partner. Here's the WIPpet: "Very French," Will s...

WIPpet Wednesday is a blog hop where authors share from their current works in progress - expertly organised/hosted by Emily Witt - and the excerpt has to relate to the date in some way. For links to other fabulous authors' WIPpets, visit: http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=355404 So, it's the 10th August: 3+7=10, and 8 is 378 words of my work in progress, The WAG and The Scoundrel , which is a white-collar crime mystery (ish) / romance (ish) (LGBTQ). It's the first book in the Gray Fisher Series , which is a spinoff of Hiding Behind The Couch . It's scheduled for an October release. It's...getting there. There are three main characters in The WAG and The Scoundrel: Gray Fisher, Will Richards and police officer Rob Simpson-Stone - a previous colleague of Gray's. In the scene below, Rob is at the public swimming pool with his son, Lucas. Rob and Lucas's mum, Zoë, are divorced, and Zoë has custody. Here's the WIPpet: "Mum said you could c...

Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!). In this group you'll find anything from romance and historical fiction to mystery and YA. The common thread is that every story's main character identifies as LGBTQ+. The snippets could range from zero flames to full-on sexytimes, anything goes content-wise. The only rule is snippets will be 6 sentences long–one for each color in the Pride flag. * * * * * I'm going with another snippet from Reunions ( Hiding Behind The Couch #7) this week. The scene from which this is taken features George and Josh and comes a couple of chapters after last week's snippet. I think they're gonna be OK. ;) Here's the snippet: George had reached Josh's shoulder and kissed his way up his neck— "So it was a coincidence, on our honeymoon...

WIPpet Wednesday is a blog hop where authors share from their current works in progress - expertly organised/hosted by Emily Witt - and the excerpt has to relate to the date in some way. For links to other fabulous authors' WIPpets, visit: http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=355404 So, it's the 3rd August: 3x8=24 sentences of my work in progress, The WAG and The Scoundrel , which is a white-collar crime mystery (ish) / romance (ish) (LGBTQ). It's the first book in the Gray Fisher Series , which is a spinoff of Hiding Behind The Couch . It's scheduled for an October release. :o There are three main characters in The WAG and The Scoundrel. So far, the WIPpets have focused on Gray and Will. The third character is police officer Rob Simpson-Stone - a previous colleague of Gray's. In the scene below, Rob has not long been in bed when his phone rings. Here's the WIPpet: "Hello, who's this?" "My name's Naomi. Are you PC Simpson-Ston...

Today is release day for And The Walls Came Tumbling Down - second edition! For those of you who read the first edition (thank you), the story is the same, but it's a much, much better read. It's a funny thing, going back to an 'old' story. I wrote And The Walls Came Tumbling Down in 2009, so it's not that old. However, when technology or science is involved, a year (or less) is all it takes to date a story. So, there are no flip phones in the second edition, but the Tamagotchi got to stay. Why did I release a second edition at all? Well, in part it's because - I think - I'm a more accomplished author now. I have more of an idea of what I'm doing, at least. I re-read my own stories, and I tweak and refine, but only if I'm not happy with them / I feel I've done a disservice to my readers. Of course, the best I can ever achieve is to be happy with the story at a specific moment in time, and my next revisit will undoubtedly include at leas...

Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!). In this group you'll find anything from romance and historical fiction to mystery and YA. The common thread is that every story's main character identifies as LGBTQ+. The snippets could range from zero flames to full-on sexytimes, anything goes content-wise. The only rule is snippets will be 6 sentences long–one for each color in the Pride flag. * * * * * I'm going with another snippet from Reunions ( Hiding Behind The Couch #7) this week. The scene from which this is taken features George and Josh and comes a couple of pages after last week's snippet. Prior to this scene, Josh and George had a 'bit' of a falling out (it was pretty horrific). Now, Josh is in the car, all set to go and find George, but he doesn't get that ...

WIPpet Wednesday is a blog hop where authors share from their current works in progress - expertly organised/hosted by Emily Witt - and the excerpt has to relate to the date in some way. For links to other fabulous authors' WIPpets, visit: http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=355404 So, it's the 27th July, 2016, or (2707/2016)=691, but that's too many words, so I halved it, thusly 346 (rounded up, plus the last little bit so it wasn't entirely left dangling in anticip-) words of my work in progress, The WAG and The Scoundrel , which is a white-collar crime mystery (ish) / romance (ish) (LGBTQ). It's the first book in the Gray Fisher Series , which is a spinoff of Hiding Behind The Couch . It's scheduled for an October release. :o In the scene below, Gray's at home alone, and he's trying to figure out his feelings about...everything! Here's the WIPpet: It was as well Gray had steered clear of the spirits. The time was fast approaching two a...

The post title may seem a contradiction, but I've taken a break from The WAG and The Scoundrel to write this post, so... Reflections in brief: I've just hit 60k words, which is quite awesome. I plan to write 75k words, but it's not set in stone. That usually means somewhere around 100k words, but I don't think that will happen this time. There again, I didn't think it would happen last time. Some characters are chattier than I anticipated, which is nice. I think. And there are too many of them (see below). Word clouds are an excellent (if not distressing) way to see which words should not be in there as much as they are. Trying to write to a genre is one of the greatest constrictions on my creativity. I am no longer writing to a genre. I don't care. Mostly. Look at all these characters! Main: Gray Fisher - ex DCI running the SIU. Now a PhD student and part-time lecturer / TV extra Will Richards - ex investment banker, animal rights activi...

Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!). In this group you'll find anything from romance and historical fiction to mystery and YA. The common thread is that every story's main character identifies as LGBTQ+. The snippets could range from zero flames to full-on sexytimes, anything goes content-wise. The only rule is snippets will be 6 sentences long–one for each color in the Pride flag. * * * * * I'm going with another snippet from Reunions ( Hiding Behind The Couch #7) this week. The scene from which this is taken features Josh and his mother-in-law. The snippet is Josh's mental processing (he's mid-hug). Prior to this scene, Josh and George had a 'bit' of a falling out.   Note: this snippet includes passing reference to mental health issues and spoilers for e...