IHIBRP Reviews Award

Hi lovelies,

Today I write to share with you something I just found out! My first novel, The Watcher of the Night Sky, was awarded IHIBRP's 5-star recommended read award! Now I have this wonderful badge to attach to my cover :D These awards are created by the fabulous J. B. Richards and you can find her review here: https://bit.ly/2SEz75c. Let's hope I win some more awards over the next few months - the title has been nominated for a few and will start to get some notices in spring next year.

We're getting into November now so I will be off the grid participating in NaNoWriMo in order to finish book 3 if the Aronia Series. Wish me luck! Unfortunately I've got a few appointments this month I can't avoid (immigration and my ENT - he admittedly likes to make me come every 10 days because he likes hanging with me and thinks I am famous ^^). I'd like to get the draft finished and begin first edit in December.

On November 18th I will be down in Busan participating in the first international Busan Book Con and all the posters and bookmarks and books are all freshly baked and ready to go. You know what that means for you? I now have the items to ready for my swag bag competition! As soon as the book fair is over i will get it all set up and ready for you to participate :D

Since today's blog is so short, I thought I'd add the following post that was used last month in a blog tour. In case you missed it:

My Writing Journey

My earliest memory of writing is when I was in primary school, perhaps primary six or seven, and I wrote a “novel” titled something like Six Down and One to Go. At that time I was really into Goosebumps, so it’s not that surprising that my first attempt at writing would be a thriller/horror inspired by that.

As I moved into high school, my writing continued but became more focused on songs and scripts. I was really into pop at that time, groups like the Spice Girls, Take That, East 17, PJ and Duncan, Roxette, and All Saints were regulars on my CD player. My girlfriends and I spent our free time writing our own corny pop songs and pretending to be pop stars. Once I got into my later teens, I joined a theatre group, and my writing shifted to plays and musicals. I spent my free time in front of an old computer typing stories that were suspiciously akin to the plot lines of the 9 pm movies UK's Channel 5 used to show. Stories of teenage gangs and action movies and kidnappings. Then at some point during high school, I was introduced to The Outsiders. That book had a huge influence on my creativity. I was obsessed with that story and and the fact the author was published at seventeen years old.

Later, I took up the guitar and wrote songs with my university friend in the style of the Barenaked Ladies. Gosh, did we love that group! Our songs were ridiculous and comical, written usually during or after a drinking session. I think my story writing started to get a bit more structured and serious during university. I took a bus to school every day, and to pass the time I started writing a fantasy novel. I can pinpoint some of the inspiration for the story to a poster I had on my bedroom wall of a gnome chilling by a mushroom puffing on a pipe. I started to write this story about a prince that had come to earth from an alternate land because he had wanted to explore before becoming a ruler. He brought his controversial, human-obsessed magician friend along with him, and a gnome snuck through the hole too. The plot centred on the prince’s relationship with a worker from the hotel he stayed at. I must have written and rewritten and edited and re-edited that story for YEARS. Maybe about eight in total. I made maps, drew all the flags and colours, and wrote notes about all the kingdoms of the land. I continued writing that into my twenties, but eventually, my work and social life got in the way.

Not wanting to settle into a lifestyle I wasn’t satisfied with, I decided to pack up and leave the town I lived in. I moved to my parents’ town to take on a job with minimum responsibility, allowing me to focus more on my story. I shared extracts with a co-worker, and she loved the tales of Magi the gnome. I had my first fan.

I obviously took notes and wrote other random thoughts along the way, but my mind was so focused on that story it took me a long time to admit that I had to give up on it. By all means, I don’t think I wasted any time. I developed my skills, style, and creative mind. But I knew it had become a jumbled mess that couldn't be salvaged, and I had to put it aside. I will come back to some of the characters and locations later, but I don’t think I’ll ever write that novel. I’m not sure it’s original enough (though I would like to write the adventures of Magi the gnome).

It was later while recovering from an illness and being utterly bored, that I looked through some of my creative stories and started to develop on the notes that would eventually become The Watcher of the Night Sky. One scene was the spark and soon I was writing endless scenes and ideas for the story. I don’t often plan out a plot. I let the ideas come out and then work on outline and development later. After moving to Korea, I became deadly serious about finishing the first book. Almost seven years later I am on the third.

I hope that writing can turn into a full-time career. And I hope my writing style continues to develop and grow. I try to fit in podcasts and courses on writing and marketing and such just to make sure I am doing the best I can for my readers. I have two more ideas I am ready to develop into something. One will be a stand alone (not young adult) and the other could be a series. For now, I will focus on finishing the third book of the Aronia Series and see what happens after. I'm thinking I might stick to shorts for a while and maybe go back to school to do a masters (major to be determined - my mind is all over the place on that. Sometimes Psychology, specifically health or individual differences and culture, sometimes graphic design or something related to UI/UX - which would incidentally incorporate researching... I am digressing and have just signed a contract for another year at my school so am in no rush to decide).

You can see the original version of this post here: http://www.gobookyourself.info/2018/10/blog-tour-rachel-pudsey-writing-journey.html?m=1

Thank you so much for sticking with me. If you want to invite any of your friends to subscribe you can share this link: https://shoutout.wix.com/so/e4MQalQ47