Morris and Henry

I've been incomprehensibly busy for the past few weeks. Promotion at work sparked a volcanic eruption of activity (I know but I love hard work). I've been promoting my professional book and my novel although I'd be thrilled if someone invented a 30-hour day for me (please)! 

I keep writing all sorts of things that will eventually culminate in a series of new novels, short stories and professional books but there is one particular event that I need to promote with all my heart.

My daughter Marusa has published her first book today! HER FIRST BOOK at a tender age of 9! It targets  the 3-5 age group so not much text although the story itself is as curly as her hair on her Amazon profile. 

The images though are unbelievably warm and telling. There is no way an adult can create anything similar - faces that ooze character and emotions, colors that radiate happiness and all that spiced up with a story of unbelievable imagination. She literally did everything herself - daddy only helped with the technical stuff. Please support her effort and buy the book, your kids will love it!

Being knackered

Am I knackered? You bet I am. I work until 2am or 3am every single day apart from Saturday night. Am I whining? Not by slightest! I am editing my first novel and although I should have finished it by now it only gets better and better. Perhaps a writer can afford a slippage once enriched by a portfolio of well accepted books but the first one needs to be good. The hell with good, in author's eyes it needs to be perfect. But here is the catch - it can't be good/perfect unless you invest enough effort. Enough effort that is to get completely and utterly knackered.

So where am I now you might ask. I just about finished Chapter 5 and two chapters back I realised working chapter by chapter and polishing them to the literary atoms suits me most. I edit the chapter once, accept all changes and then I comb it again and again and again, until... well, until I am happy with the flow and words and pace... I really feel like I am going through a PhD journey again but this time it's all about fun. I truly and wholeheartedly enjoy every bit of it.

And you wouldn't believe what happened yesterday. Well, I'm still not sure I believe this either but here you go. It was 2:30am and I was reading a page (page 143, I think) without changing a thing. So far so good but wait! Somehow I managed to fall asleep and when my head bumped against the screen I noticed page 143 has been edited. Should I be even telling you this? Well, call me crazy but that's what I saw (a miracle?).

And again, do I whine? No I don't. Oh boy, I love every second of writing and editing. I am knackered but I am damn happy and as Jason Donovan said to Piers Morgan today - "happiness is the key to success". One of the best interviews I've ever watched, by the way.

Long time

I haven't posted anything for so long Firefox actually wanted me to retype the already saved password... Shame on me! Ah well, life was tough in the past few weeks and tiredness caught up with me big time. I'm swinging from exhilarated anticipation of something wonderful to dark depths of self-doubt but I'm not giving up (apart from an occasional rant on my blog - purely for cleansing purposes though...).

The Construction Management Strategies book is coming out on 30 March 2012 and my novel is coming out by the end of March too so I should be happy, right? Wrong! I spent weeks now doubting myself, doubting my writing and desperately scanning through the books in Waterstone's whilst on a business trip in Edinburgh (ssshhh!), trying to compare my writing with published and respected authors.

Good grief, why does life play around with our emotions so much? I read an article today saying we should let go and give our emotions space to breathe. I'm doing it, don't you worry about that but doubt always finds a way back (if only I'd have such a good Sat-Nav!). I let go, it feels fabulous for a while but then it comes back again and so on and so forth. Doubt, get out of my life!

My hope and my wish? All of this will go away once my books are published. In the mean time, I sit and wait for my copy-editors to do their job dying in doubt and praying my copy-editors don't come back saying it was all in vain. I love the story, I think it flows nicely but doubt is eating me alive right now. Aaghhhrrr

Good feeling

I cannot believe it! I finished my first edit of the novel and my professional book is finished as well. Two books at the same time is no mean feat (no sabbatical my friends!). I am openly proud of this. The past few days more resembled a drama, a crime story even. My day job is getting increasingly more frustrating as some gnarling worshipers of power are getting increasingly more arrogant - long live the dictatorship! No whining though, it's a great motivating force, that is.

In the mean time I've been rewriting the finishing lines of the novel. I just couldn't identify with the previous version. It was too negative, perhaps morbid (god forbid). It needed further tweaks to make it lighter yet even more complicated beefing up the manuscript to 82,148 words (currently - will change in due course). I looked at the opening page again and the more I look at the book, the more my eyes sail through the pages, the more I like it. Editing is tough but the story is interesting making the work, believe it or not, really enjoyable.

Despite all the downs and rarely any ups I feel good, I am filled with a good feel energy. Please, please last the good feeling, please do and I will reward you with even more of the wonderful writing and my good deeds. Yes, I am praying, feeling good is so much better than feeling miserable.

Hey, it's only 1am and I can actually go to bed earlier tonight. I'm telling you, it's all good.

Keep writing

Watched two really fabulous videos today. The first one is a hilarious account of cognitive illusion by Dan Ariely, the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics (Duke University). I love it when people explain complex processes through simple reference to every day situations, and then crack a few jokes along the way.

The second one is the "keep writing a lot" #1 tip from Amanda Hocking.

She is absolutely right and you cannot believe how much your writing improves through... well... more writing! I am used to academic writing but then again pulling together a novel is a completely different kettle of fish. It's more subtle, dynamic and experiential - a complete opposite to the boredom of the academic ink.

I just edited the first 150 pages, 100 to go so the progress is good and you know what, I actually like it. The hell with like, I love it, I love writing and editing my novel. I really love the story, I love my characters and I'm happy with the outcome. Ah, I look forward to my future writing adventures!

Self-edit...self-edit...self-edit...to insanity!?

Have you ever heard of insanity? No? Yes? Well, where do I begin? I finished my novel or so I thought... This is just the beginning actually! I've got to edit it now and after reaching 60 pages (out of 250+) this seems like a mammoth task. Yes, I'm editing in my other life as an academic writer of research papers and yes, I edited my textbook but editing a novel is something else entirely.

I got in touch with what seems to be a really fabulous copy-editor and got this advice: "My advice is to not rush and submit when you are 100%, or so sick of the book you can't face reading another word, whichever is first." Thanks!? No, no, only joking, I know they are right but it is far tougher than I thought.

Christmas is around the corner and I am now spending nights editing. It's not such great fun as writing a novel but it's got to be done and the good news is that my gluten-free diet does wonders. Right, off to bed now.

Title or something of that sort

That's it, I've revealed the title to my wife... ooooough, I can't believe it! Yes, the mistake is irreversible and I've been banging my head... Wait, shut up Mike, what are you talking about for crying out loud!? No, no, let me begin again! I've spelled out the title to her and I am the most grateful person on the planet. Why? Because she criticized my subtitle to smithereens with these exact words: "You include this subtitle and your target readers are never going to pick up your book, no matter how good it is!" and she is right (my ego was twisting in pain).

And the title iiiiiis? Devotion & Deception

Yeah, it pretty much reflects the plot and the epic struggle of my main character. Of course, I'm not going to tell you what subtitle I managed to ink down on a paper because the more I think about it the more I recognize a political commentator jumping out of my mouth and fingers for that matter.

I also have to tell you that I am on a break right now... finishing off my academic journal papers, reviewing 200+ pages of my students' theses and writing 30+ page proposal(s). Yeah,... I know... but then again, I'll be rich soon and then who'll be laughing...

Oh, yes, one more thing! I was on a look out for a good writing tips blog today (well, like 10 minutes ago) and I found the most hilarious blogger writing about novel writing tips out there. I mean, just look at what he's got to say about writers suffering from writing maladies. A stand-up comedy style of advice extraordinaire! Hey, that's an idea for a new type of seminars, workshops and other advice-giving gatherings - make it like a stand-up comedy. Bloody hell, I might actually try this!

Anxiety kicks in

Here we go, the official period for editing and reviewing has begun and as soon as I finished the 80,000 word book demons of doubt have awaken from their long sleep (yeah, I think it was a pretty long sleep). Looking back at the text I immediately spotted mistakes, particularly in the final stage that is supposed to set the tone for its sequel. I'm not sure whether this is normal or not but I feel numb after spending more than two months writing almost every night and not going to bed before 3am, only to face the grueling schedule of lectures and my academic engagement afterwards (i.e. a glamorous life of the author in the making I guess...).

I loved writing my first novel and I think the story is gripping, with lots of utterly unexpected twists and turns but   the demons keep telling me all sorts of things that will need to be corrected. Again, is that normal? Does that happen to all writers? I'm not sure but whatever the case I shall leave it for a week now and then commence the editing. It will take a few rounds of editing before I can send it off to a copy editor, and I will also give the book to a few people to read but I'm doing it for the first time and I totally dread the prospect of severe criticism, no matter how valuable it is. I am not going to pretend, a man takes some time to get used to criticism and I'm not sure how much time I will need (go away ego...).

On a more positive side, have you ever noticed how listening a fabulous song over and over again takes away its shimmer? Why is that, I wonder? You first can't stop listening but after a while your mind and soul stop reacting. Is that the consequence of consumerism - i.e. we need a constant influx of new ever more exciting stimuli? Perhaps it's our human nature that is flourishing in consumerism though I don't feel ashamed - I got bored of one particular song recently (though I'm not going to tell you which one... cheeky!).

20,000 words

No, I am not obsessed with numbers but a few minutes ago my typing reached 20,000 words and I am thrilled. You may wonder why though. Well, my plan is to type some 1,500 words per day and when the nighttime is the only period of the day you can spare for writing, this can be a challenge. Not to worry, I am not whining, it's just a fact, pure and simple.

I am also excited as my central characters' circumstances are getting increasingly complicated making typing faster but also more interesting as I get under their skin feeling all the terrifying moments they are going through. I'm not going to reveal more (for now) but the idea is to keep my readers on their toes all the time, or even increasingly so as they progress through the book.

Eh, what the hell, I'll say something, OK. Well, it's about a terribly wrong-footed romance, which gets ever more complicated (including numerous smaller and bigger twists in between).

That oddly just reminded me of the Meredith Kercher case (no, my novel is not even remotely connected to the case)! It's one of the most abused mystery murders ever and I'm sure many will be crowding round Amanda and Rafaelle for various obvious reasons.

Having said that, it's an intriguingly disturbing case and I cannot make up my mind what to think. They have released her and Rafaelle Sollecito so thinking about the case it is disturbing if they spent four years in jail for nothing, it is equally disturbing if they have released murderers who look like angels and it is also disturbing that all the focus is on Amanda and Rafaelle yet Meredith Kercher, who was brutally murdered has been all but forgotten. That's why I intentionally didn't write Amanda Knox case above...

...and to steer into a completely different direction, Krugman is brilliantly amusing in depicting economic reality. Before finding Krugman I never thought a person could laugh reading a blog on macroeconomics.

My first novel

One might think I just decided to begin writing novels but the story is far more complex and mysterious. I always wanted to do some writing and the early beginnings can be traced to my primary school times but my writing adventures always stopped at about 50 words. Yeah, believe it or not but I just couldn't write more than a few sentences, and that was it. Looking at my bookshelves I never understood how could all these authors write hundreds of pages. That's like 70,000, 100,000 or even more words. It just didn't work out for me and envy was the only thing that remained with me for many years to come.

The real change started with my PhD when I was asked to produce a piece of work as large as universe or to a seasoned writer, somewhere around 100,000 words. God bless I said to myself but after three years of pain I actually managed to produce something to be proud of. More than 10 years later I got an idea to write a boring professional book about my frustration with the construction industry (Construction 2.0). I did, jointly with Prof John Bennett and I am really happy as the two of us work together like a Swiss clock. Well, the book eventually got a bit more digestible title (Construction Management Strategies: A Theory of Construction Management) but we're still pretty provocative and I'm happy with the result.

Then I thought to myself that now is the time to begin writing a novel and I did - last week. I've got 12,000 words so far and I am thrilled! Why? Well, it was a hell of a journey since my 50-word beginnings but I can now write for hours and even create a story. Don't laugh, it's a huge progress! It's a romantic novel about a student that fell in love with a girl, ends up in war and realizes there are people one doesn't even notice that can really make a difference. My plan is to finish it by the end of November and complete it just before Christmas - again, fingers crossed!