Focus or die is a line from my new book, FLAT SQUIRREL, to be published on 28 June this year. It’s in the screenplay too, which I wrote just for fun, since animation studios like to write their own scripts and I’m not inside the magic circle. Yet.
Blogging Indifference
I don’t blog as much as I used to, or as often as I should, and in an ideal world I’d happily sling up several posts a week as I did in the past, but things have changed. My writing comes first. I used to be an unselfish person, (I believed) and I used to put family and friends first every time. These days, I’m just plain self-centred. If the work demands priority, it gets it. This has earned me a reputation for being reclusive and solitary. I wonder how many hermits of the female kind are out there. Do any of them have beards?
Lit agents like authors to have a blog. (Box checked.) Should any lit agents happen to find my blog interesting, I’m not aware of them. If it’s a case of, “Move along, nothing to see here,” then I’d rather not know. Let distractions only be good ones.
Pick Me
Another thing authors are “supposed to have” is a mailing list. I didn’t start one because I didn’t have anything substantial to offer, so there was no point. However, with the new GDPR* coming into force from 1st April, I decided I shan’t, because compliance will be yet another item on the To Do list. Besides, managing a mailing list is a huge time-suck. The eternal writers’ dilemma: write or promote? I don’t need the distraction.
There are other ways of reaching an audience, and I suspect readers won’t welcome more “Pick Me” stuff hitting the inbox. We’ve reached the point where our email providers are eating us alive and we’re brain-dead from trying to cope with it all. People no longer dream of desert islands or getting to heaven, they simply want to reach inbox zero.
Let’s continue with the status update. I’ve been writing. A lot. For some strange reason, I’m going through a whirlwind of creativity and I don’t want it to stop. My problem is, my poor body simply can’t get it down fast enough, and I have to do the boring stuff, as we all do. That’s not to say I don’t like networking. I do (hasty afterthought).
Flat Squirrel, Awards & Other Stuff
How is the “focus or die” strategy working for me so far? Brilliantly, I’d say. I haven’t felt so upbeat about writing in quite a while. Here are the highlights:
- FLAT SQUIRREL, a novel, about flying high and crashing to earth, and doughnuts. It’s a story for middle-graders and for grown-ups who never grew up. To be published by Troubador (Matador imprint) on 28 June 2018. Formats: PB & eBook.
- My screenplay, WERETEEN, (my second completed screenplay) was declared Best Original Screenplay at Miami Beach Film Festival (Comedy), 2018, and received the Platinum Award.
- FLAT SQUIRREL, the screenplay, is completed. In March I completed another, (working title only), which is going through notes and revisions.
- I’m moving on to another screenplay at first draft stage, and another concept I have in mind. I write in two genres, Family and Supernatural/Ghost Thriller.
Focus or Die, and Finish
My goals this year are to find a manager, spend time in New York to finish the research for the current project, and to complete the next screenplay in line.
I’ll add one more indispensable stage, which is, Finish. Focus or Die, and Finish, writers, and you’ll nail it.
*GDPR General Data Protection Regulation comes into force on 25 May. In view of the recent scandal that’s emerged on data misuse, it is to be welcomed. Writers, you need to check how it affects your blog, mailing list and your compliance. Many brand name bulk-mailers offer GDPR support, which will help you.
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