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12 Books in 12 Months

writing books and blogging about it

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February 2011

Book 2 Completed (sort of…)

I have successfully reached the word count for Book 2, and although the story isn’t finished I am optimistic that when I come back to it after writing another ten books I’ll be able to make it into something pretty good.  50,016 words in 28 days – not too bad!

Tried to watch Wild Wild West last night, ostensibly as research for March’s book.  Stopped paying attention about half way through though – it’s pretty dreadful.  Although I still quite like the idea of a steampunk Western in principle. Maybe I could make the concept work…?

I’m going to be guest blogging about the project for Mslexia magazine over the next few months, which is quite exciting.  I’ll do my best not to repeat things that you read on this page, although naturally there will be a certain amount of overlap!  You can read the first article here.

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March

In MARCH I will be writing a Western.

I’d like the main protagonist to be an older gent, based on a lovely chap who used to come into the library and take out 12 westerns at a time, even though he’d read them all hundreds of times already.

Maybe he sees his day to day life in a slightly schemey bit of a Scottish town as a Western? Maybe he goes back in time to the Wild West, either in reality or in a dream?  Could it be a sort of western style set up in the future, like Firefly/Serenity?

I don’t want to spend too much time researching the actual history of the wild west, I just want it to be a fun, colourful, ripping read!

It has been suggested that I call my old gent Victor McGlynn, and that ‘The Shootist‘ and ‘Once Upon a Time in the West‘ would be good films to watch.  And I’ve been told to listen to Ennio Morricone during the writing process to get me in the mood.  I’ve also got a copy of Salty’s Gold to read – let’s hope it lives up to the blurb.

(Old Salty Parker rose into town every week with his little poke of gold dust and left it at the bank. He was the last of the miners at Willard’s Creek and the source of his gold was a mystery that many folk wanted to solve…)

But I need a bit more to go on.  What other western movies should I watch for inspiration? Where should my story be set – the actual wild west or somewhere totally different? Who are the other characters?  Is it a revenge saga?  Who needs avenging?  How?  When?  Are there horses?  Or bandits?  Or ponchos?

As ever, you can leave a comment below, through twitter, or on facebook.  Or you can send me a good old fashioned email – ali.george85@yahoo.com

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Still Here!

Hello.

I haven’t updated in ages, for two reasons.  First of all I wasn’t writing anything for days at a time and I was too embarrassed to tell you.  Well, I was writing loads actually – there was an article about libraries, one about trying to make it as a freelance journo, and one about what it’s like trying to get into theatre directing; as well as assorted posts on my other blogs – but it none of these were my murder mystery novel.

Then last weekend, I wrote so much my hands nearly exploded.  That meant I didn’t really have time to blog, although there was some very mundane tweeting about how many words I had got down.  Between Saturday and Monday I did 23,722 words in order to catch up with my word count target.  Re-reading and editing that lot is going to be interesting…

Anyway, now that chicken sitting duties are over I have gone back to work four days a week, which I hope will help to get me into some semblance of a writing routine.  Assuming I get some suggestions for March’s Western – thus far it has been suggested that the protagonist be called Victor McGlynn, which I rather like, but other characters / plot devices / etc are still wide open.  Feel free to leave a comment below or on the facebook page if you’ve got any further ideas!

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Get Involved!

If, for whatever reason, you can’t leave comments on the Get Involved page of the blog, help is at hand!  I have made a photo album on the facebook page so you can leave thoughts on different genres there.  It’s not actually in chronological order, but you’re intelligent people and I’m sure you’ll figure it out.

I’ve done this because March – the first month where I’m really throwing this out to the general public – is fast approaching.  I’ve had some suggestions, but the novel is far from planned!

To remind you, I’d like the main protagonist to be an older gent, based on a lovely chap who used to come into the library and take out 12 westerns at a time, even though he’d read them all hundreds of times already.

Maybe he sees his day to day life in a slightly schemey bit of town as a Western? Maybe he goes back in time, either in reality or in a dream?  Maybe he goes forward in time, to a Serenity style futuristic space western?

You may have gathered by this point that I don’t want to spend too much time researching the actual history of the wild west, I just want it to be a fun, colourful, ripping read!

So, what’s my old gent called? What western movies should I watch for inspiration? Where is it set? Who are the other characters?  He must have a dead or estranged wife/child in his past somewhere, right?  Or maybe that’s too traditional.  In which case, what is his motivation?

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Another Excerpt

In which some of the theatre staff begin exploring ‘what-ifs’.

 

“Yeesh,” Kieran shuddered, “stuck in quarantine with Mrs S.”

“Yeah,” Lauren replied, relishing the moment, “for six months at least.  And then they’ll have to burn the place down because they just can’t risk the rest of the town being affected.”

“Why is this town so important, then?”

“It’s the last remaining outpost of civilization,” she responded instantly.  “The rest of the world has been completely wiped out by the bug, but Auchtergowrie was safe… until Harriet selfishly went on a secret trip to see if she could find any supplies, and she brought it back with her.”

“That’s a lot to have happened during one performance of the four man Pirates of Penzance.”

“These things move quickly.  Stop to think about anything, and you’re dead.”

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Another Excerpt From Book Two

“What did she mean, we’re stuck?”  Mrs Shiers peered at Bob accusingly.

There was a pregnant pause, then:

“….what?” he said, in the worst feigning of ignorance ever showcased in the whole of Auchtergowrie Theatre’s long and painful history.

“That actor lassie said we were stuck,” Mrs Shiers reminded him, accidentally slipping into a broader accent in her concern.

“Ah,” Bob shrugged helplessly, looking about him for guidance but receiving none, “that.”

“The security system is jiggered, Mrs S,” Lauren volunteered after several long moments.  “We can’t get out of the building, and there’s a high chance nobody else can get in.”

“But we’d rather that it wasn’t common knowledge,” Bob interrupted, “because we don’t want people to panic.  And the police’ll probably want to talk to everyone that saw the show, we think.”

“Why would they want to do that?”

“Well, to get their eyewitness accounts,” Bob said vaguely.  “To find out exactly what happened.”

“Come on,” Elspeth encouraged, holding out her arm for Mrs Shiers, “let’s leave these lot to it and get a stiff drink.”

“In light of the situation,” Mrs Shiers conceded, “that doesn’t sound like a completely terrible idea.”

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