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and you reminded me of the days when we studied the speeds of galaxies. Of course as undergraduates, we already had the data just had to get our heads round the bloomin' reams of print out. Then final year we studied the magnetic fields of the outer planets using the data from Voyager 2 or was the 1? It was so long ago I can't even remember! It might have been both 
We researched under Professor Michele Dougherty tutelage and guidance. She is now the inspiration behind one of my characters in my book.
Hi all, I'm Robin.
Who am I? Well -- surprise, surprise -- I like to think I'm a writer. Naturally, I also have a day job
My background is mixed - I won a few prizes as a kid for creative writing, but then decided there wasn't much future employment opportunity in the English field, so I went on to study Astrophysics. That was a major lesson in life. Just because you're pretty good at maths and physics, and you have an interest in astronomy, doesn't mean those aspects should be combined.
(Only much later did I discover Alastair Reynolds' solution for combining prosaic science with real prose).
Do you have any idea how boring it is, spending months gathering sufficient data until you are able to calculate the temperature of a star 222.8 light years from Earth? Well, for me, it was incredibly boring. I mean, who really cares? So boring indeed, that I decided to do something much more interesting -- that is, ensure that aircraft travelling with 1000mph closing speeds don't actually close.
Now this was fun; video games with people's lives, if you like. Air traffic control.
Lots of stories (some comical, some more leaning towards the horror genre) from a career 'pushing tin' for fifteen years, or so. Then, typically for me, I decided I was bored again, so I went into development and later, management roles (up to my current post).
Throughout all of those years I kept writing. I've lost track of the number of short stories and novels I've started/sort of completed. One of the great benefits of life as a shift working controller, is plenty of time off to read and write! Writing has remained my passion, my hobby; perhaps because it's so damn hard to get it right.
I took a few creative writing courses, and I've read many books on the writing craft in the meantime -- my favourite being a book by Walter Mosley, closely followed by Stephen King's legendary guide. At a certain point, I decided that the biggest weakness I had, was exposition. I needed to make my writing much tighter, and since (perhaps you get the idea by now), I was bored at work, I signed up and completed a Law degree over several years. Hard work, but I do think it helped.
Subsequently I wrote a number of short stories; a recent effort called "The Apothecary's Tale" was published in the British Fantasy Society Journal at the end of last year. It's an allegorical agitprop, about the life and death of the United States, based upon my experiences travelling around that beautiful country for several months at a time.
That success spurred me on, and I persevered with an idea I'd had rattling around for a while. And this time, I was determined to push myself through not just the fun creative parts, but also the 'boring' editing and redrafting too. I've now completed draft nine of a 100,000 word novel called... well, actually, I don't know what to call it yet, but that's part of the reason I'm here... , which is a post-apocalyptic thriller with, again, a background of an allegorical agitprop.
Which brings me to today, and my membership here. I was wading through the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook recently, when I came across Redhammer Management (literary agency) and Peter's advice: come to Litopia. And my hope is that here, I can learn a little more, gain more valuable feedback, until I'm pushed off the edge and sending 'Whatever it's called' out to agents. That's the plan.
Good plan. But now what do I do?
Greetings to all.
Welcome and what an exciting intro - love your writing already!
Snap on the method of finding Litopia. My Writers' and Artists' Year book 2014 is still sitting on my shelf. I've got the children's version too as I'm focusing on MG sci-fi series.
Lovely to read you
Oh man! This is bringing back some nostalgic feelings.
. Thank you, too, for the warm welcome. I'm enjoying looking through the old threads. A gold mine.Welcome, welcome, welcome
Sorry I missed this thread when you posted it. I've been run off my feet this last few weeks. Worth it though
Have you had your writing read by beta readers? If not, that's the first port of call before agenting. We all get a little blind to our own work so beta readers help you notice what you missed 17 times already
I have SOOOOO much love and appreciation for my beta readers. @Jason Byrne @Jennifer Stone @Stephen Drake @David Steele you know I'm looking at you guys
After you have gone back and forth with beta readers (and friends and family) then do one last edit and start querying. Hope this helps xx
Thank you very much
I second what @Jennifer Stone recommended. The group I mentioned all read for each other and for a few otherseconds besides. At present I have @Nicole Wilson s book and some shorts by @Meerkat plus @Jason Byrne s 2nd book having just completed his first one.
What sort of length are we talking for yours?
About 100k.
Okay, I'll keep looking about. Learnt a bit already, anyway. Haven't done so well with the @Jason Byrne method of pacing though. So far I've got twenty minutes of Schindler's List soundtrack, buffered with Rage Against the Machine on a loop
lol. I know what you mean. I use music but not OST tracks. I make up playlists for characters and character pairs that match what I have already written.
, John and Ava are "All of Me" by John Legend. Damn it... em @Jennifer Stone that time where thingywiggle takes teeny-fae-troon down to, em, aye I'll just day down, and they are at the place where they can hear through the door? "Take it off!" by Ke$ha. Damn it that was hard! Also originally thingywiggle was supposed to play a very slow version of Ke$ha's "Die young" to teeny-fae-troon and sing part of it to her before deciding to take her but I couldn't do that for copyright reasons so that scene got cut Not soundtrack type songs though, they just remind me of the films they are from, though I have anime music I like for writing to too.lol. I know what you mean. I use music but not OST tracks. I make up playlists for characters and character pairs that match what I have already written.
When I am writing Rayven and Robin's scenes I usually listen to Lindsey Stirling. When I am writing Rayven, Nora and Timothy scenes I usually listen to Pentatonix. But generally I think I must be the exception to the rule, because all the creating is already done in my noggin. It's just a case of atmosphere while I write, you know? Gads, I mean Rayven, Robin, Nora and Timmy's scenes aren't until series 2. They are only just brand new born (apart from Robin) in series 1. But you get what I mean, have a run of the scene and pick songs that fit, like Brax would be "Behind Blue Eyes" by limp bizkit in book one, whereas by book 3 he would be "Bodies" by drowning pool
Spoilers are a bitch haha!
I have playlists for everything. Listen to them in the car and walking to the shops
Like the pic I posted on FB the other day and I nearly gave it all away?
If you're posting in the back room, don't put upload any of your MS. Ask for beta readers and then exchange the MS over email. Anything posted online is considered "previously published" and makes it hard to get an agent.
YARPI think I know what you mean, if I'm thinking of the right people. I think I am
I was reading book three the other night. Still gets to me. Was gurnin like a babby! AGAIN haha!Not entirely true. Anything posted online in it's entirety is considered published. Not excerpts xx
But still. Absolutely the best course of action. Petition Beta readers and exchange over email. Doing a swapsy for changey is usually the best way. Mutual back scratching
That's what I meant. He asked about posting his entire MS, so that's what I was responding to in that sentence.
Ok Being a dough-heid I missed that
oops xx
I probably wasn't clear. Thanks for clarifying for me.Ok Being a dough-heid I missed that
Haha you probably were and I'm just missing things. Focussing so hard on photoshop atm my eyes are going funnyI probably wasn't clear. Thanks for clarifying for me.
Still. Will be worth it in the end
Anytime anyone says "back scratcher" or the like, I always think of this scene from Family Guy:But still. Absolutely the best course of action. Petition Beta readers and exchange over email. Doing a swapsy for changey is usually the best way. Mutual back scratching
And the she's a he
Lol whoops. Sorry about that.And the she's a he
