Learn from critics

Welcome to Jon’s Author Diary for the week ending May 3, 2020. As I write this, I’ve just finished my first draft of The Star, book 17 of The Ravenglass Chronicles. Book 16, The Tower is currently with the editor, so I’m hoping to get that released as soon it is proofread, which should be some time over the next week or two. My novel Blind Reset, the follow-up to my GameLit novel/mediation on disability Blind Gambit, is also being edited, and should be back for the final proofread next weekend. I don’t have a release date set, but as soon as it’s ready, I’ll get it out to the world. Blind Reset will be the second and final book in that series as I’ve told the story I wanted to and anything else will be padding for sake of it. If you’ve been following along with my Author Diary podcast, you’ll know that I came to a decision about the future of The Ravenglass Chronicles. Kat’s story is told using the cards of the tarot’s major arcana—22 cards equals 22 episodes (including the prequel). I’ve built quite a world and magic system, and have a lot of stories I still want to tell in that universe. So once the final book of the current series is done and Cleric of the Wasteland is released, I’m going to carry on writing in the Ravenglass Universe. It’s an ambitious aim, but I’m going to start writing series based on the minor arcana—four suits containing 14 cards. This means four series of 14 novellas. By the time I’ve finished, I will have written 78 novellas. So this one’s going to keep me busy for the next few years. With the backlog projects (three non-fiction books, two novels, and a collaborative trilogy) behind me next year, I’ll be able to focus my full attention on getting the stories out on a more consistent basis. I’m excited and daunted by the prospect. But I love a good challenge! Yours, Jon

“Who then is invincible? The one who cannot be upset by anything outside their reasoned choice.” — Epictetus, Discourses, 1.18.21 Get The Stoic Writer book on Amazon. 

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“Frame your thoughts like this—you are an old person, you won’t let yourself be enslaved by this any longer, no longer pulled like a puppet by every impulse, and you’ll stop complaining about your present fortune or dreading the future.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 2.2 Get The Stoic Writer on Amazon.

Welcome to Jon's author diary for the week ending April 19, 2020. I have had a busy week, working hard to get my redraft of The Tower, episode 16 of The Ravenglass Chronicles written. It’s now ready for the editor. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be working on episode 17, The Star, and on getting Blind Reset proofread and ready for publication, hopefully by June. And, then, I need to redraft Cleric of the Wasteland. My goal for this year was to clear the backlog of open projects. So far, I’ve completed two non-fiction titles (The Stoic Writerand Podcasting for Authors) out to the world, Blind Reset redrafted, and three episodes of The Ravenglass Chronicles written. There’s still the Black Death trilogy lingering in the background, but I’m not sure how much of an appetite there’s going to be for a series about a worldwide pandemic. Podcasting I appeared on a few podcasts this week—Too Young Cinema Club and Sci-Fi Roundtable. Too Young Cinema Club is a podcast about movies you watched when you were far too young that had a lasting impact. For me, that movie is Terminator 2: Judgement Day, which I first saw when I was about nine or ten. During the podcast, it dawned on me just how much that movie inspired the way I tell stories. Which movies did you watch when you were too young that stuck with you? Visit: spreaker.com/show/too-young-cinema-club On the Sci-Fi Roundtable, we discussed time travel (which inevitably led to a discussion about Terminator 2). It was a fun times as usual! Visit: sfrtpodcast.libsyn.com

“It’s ruinous for the soul to be anxious about the future and miserable in advance of misery, engulfed by anxiety that the things it desires might remain its own until the very end. For such a soul will never be at rest—by longing for things to come it will lose the ability to enjoy present things.” — Seneca, Moral Letters, 98.5b–6a Get The Stoic Writer book on Amazon.

Welcome to Jon's author diary for the week ending April 12, 2020. It’s been another busy week of lockdown. I've kept on with my schedule of writing in the mornings then home-schooling my son in the afternoons. His guitar lessons are going really well. He’s getting the chords quite quickly and has got some strumming patterns down. I’ve taught him how to use a plectrum and started work on his first scale. It’s surprising how fast he learns. He's seven, so he's basically a sponge at this age. I love seeing his face when something clicks and he can do something he couldn’t before. I'm really proud of him for that. We’ve definitely been enjoying the sunshine this week. It’s finally started to feel like spring. The sun’s been shining and winter seems like a distant memory. We’ve been going out for walks each day. A few days ago, we took a walk along Morecambe prom and down the stone jetty to watch the tide coming in. Taking a moment to get outside and appreciate nature is necessary in these testing times. Book 15 is now live! This week, I’ve been working on my first draft of The Tower, which is episode 15 of The Ravenglass Chronicles. Things are ramping up towards what I’m seeing as the final act (episodes 17-21) of the series. In the meantime, episode 15, The Devil, is now live. As ever, I’ve kept the price down as low as I can—it’s 99p/99c or equivalent, or its available to read free on Kindle Unlimited. Click HERE to get your copy. The Devil has received the most pre-orders of any book I’ve released, so thanks to everyone who pre-ordered. It really means a lot to me. Happy Easter! I hope you’re having a hood weekend, especially if you’re celebrating Easter. For lent, I gave up alcohol, chocolate, cake, biscuits, and bread. I’m sure my waistline has thanked me during this time being stuck at home, as I may have drifted into the habit of drinking far too much ale and gorging on German cookies. Mmmm… It’s going to be a different kind of Easter for my son this year as we’ve not been able to buy him an Easter egg. The shops are only stocking ‘essentials’ apparently, so no Easter eggs for us. We did manage to buy beer and gin though, so I guess alcohol is essential.

“How much better to heal than seek revenge from injury. Vengeance wastes a lot of time and exposes you to many more injuries than the first that sparked it. Anger always outlasts hurt. Best to take the opposite course. Would anyone think it normal to return a kick to a mule or a bite to a dog?” — Seneca, On Anger, 3.27.2 Order The Stoic Writer on Amazon. 

Welcome to Jon's author diary for the week ending April 5, 2020. Hasn't it been a strange couple of weeks? I hope you're keeping safe and you’re doing your part to keep this virus from spreading. My family and I have been isolating since March 17. We’re using the time to home-school our son. My wife is teaching him in the mornings so I can get on with my writing, and I am teaching in the afternoons. My son now knows a lot about Medieval England and I’ve introduced to Horrible Histories. We've been working out ways that our son can interact with his school friends. He got quite upset when the schools closed and he realised it might be several weeks or months before he gets to play with his friends again. This has involved him writing letters and doing video calls. I can't imagine how strange it must be for him. Instead of treating this period as dead time, I’ve decided I’m going teach my son how to play guitar. I've been playing since I was ten, and it’s something I planned to teach him when he turned ten. Nevertheless, fate has bought us an opportunity to do a few years earlier. So far, he can strum an E minor and pluck the strings in time. I haven't told him yet how much practice he’ll need to do before he gets good! Writing progress Blind Reset is now ready for its final edit. I’ve decided that this is going to be a two-book series. Never say never, but Blind Gambit was a book I wrote in 2018 to explore my feelings about going blind, mixed with a fun sci-fi tale. It's the most personal thing I've written, but unfortunately, it's also the worst performing book I have in terms of sales. I finished my final draft of The Devil, book 15 of the Ravenglass Chronicles, so that is now with the editor. I'm also five chapters into the first draft of The Tower, which is book 16. The Tower looks like it's going to be quite a long episode. There's going to be another big game changer (like we saw at the ends of book four and book eleven), before we head into the final episodes of the series. When you look at The Tower tarot card, it's quite a horrific image. It's a card about chaos—so, expect chaos. Oxsight Prism Last month, I asked to send me your ideas for ways to raise money towards a pair of Oxsight Prism glasses, which will improve my lost peripheral vision. The glasses cost £4,000/$5,000 and I had some great suggestions about how I can raise the cash. Some people suggested that I write an exclusive story and raise money through Kickstarter. Some suggested in-person events and book signings. A few of you suggested that I make T-shirts and mugs related to the series or fancy in general. The idea with the least amount of friction was to ask readers simply to share a link to my books with friends on social media, etc. I spoke about it on last week’s Author Diary podcast, but I'm going to put fundraising on hold until the world gets back to normal. Hopefully, that won't be too far away. Visit: subscribepage.com/ravenglassto join the VIP mailing list. You will receive free stories and be first to know about new releases.

“In all things we should try to make ourselves be as grateful as possible. For gratitude is a good thing for ourselves, in a manner in which justice, commonly held to belong to others, is not. Gratitude pays itself back in large measure.” — Seneca, Moral Letters, 81.19 Order the Stoic Writer by J. L. Cronshaw on Amazon.