2017 roundup and goals for 2018

Quite odd that at the start of the year I decided to quit writing, and at the end I find myself in a stronger position than ever - certainly a situation I never would have imagined back in March.

Personal stuff.

There was a good deal of personal difficulty at the start of the year. My brother-in-law and friend for almost twenty years had been diagnosed with a brain tumour in August of 2016. He went through treatment and seemed to be doing very well, but as we moved into 2017 it was clear things weren't going well. At the same time, we were approaching March, which would mark the second anniversary of Matthew's death. On that particular day, and that particular time, I know where I should be, but that was also the date of a consultation for my brother-in-law. We thought it was just going to be a question of getting his pain under control, but ended up driving through to a palliative care hospice in Sunderland where he died a couple of weeks later. What shocked everyone was how fast the cancer destroyed him. Horrible. 

Writing

With March being such an emotionally difficult time, the rejection of a book I'd invested the last of my YA skills in tipped the balance. I wasn't up to writing another YA book, so I decided to put that YA novel out on KDP as Here in the Poison Garden and draw a line under it. 

I needed a big change. As I work in a primary school, I thought I try the lower Middle Grade audience (approx age: 7-10) - something quirky and silly with a horror slant. My agent wasn't confident in pitching books for this audience, and I had no intention of writing any more YA books, so I left the agency and decided to just write for fun. No more agents. No more publishers. No more stress. 

But once you have a finished book, it's hard just to leave it. So, during the half term break, I had a moment of madness and sent this MG book directly to three publishers. A few days later, one requested the full script and offered to publish. On the back of that I contacted my dream agency. I went down to London, met Agent F, I pitched to do my own illustrations and Buttercup became a two-book deal. 

At the end of the year, I'm in a situation where I have a top agent who really knows the younger market and I have a load of Middle Grade ideas bouncing around in my head. The first Buttercup book is going to proof in the new year and the second book is already written.

Goals for 2018

The illustrations for Buttercup #2 don't really count as a goal because they're something I have to do - and I can't wait to get started. Goals are something I want to achieve that I don't have to do. Something to work towards. So here are a few.

• To write a new MG title. Something very different from Buttercup.
• To write twelve book pitches over three months - three sample chapters and a pitch for each. 
• To read more. Much more.
• To write and illustrate a picture book - a few ideas bouncing around for that.

And that's it. So here's to 2018. Let's give it a go and see what happens.

Zombie-Col

Quick Buttercup update. Two weeks back, I met Steve from Maverick. Before he became a publisher, he used to have his own photography business, so he wanted to do some promo shots.

We spent a stunning, but cold, Sunday morning flying around North East landmarks including The Angel of the North, some strange statues in South Shields, Stadium of Light and Penshaw Monument.

The best shots are going to be used for press releases early next year, but this one makes me smile. When we went to the Angel, it was early so there weren't many people about. The same in South Shields. There were a few learner drivers in the car park of the Stadium of Light, but by the time we took this one, at Penshaw, there were people walking past giving us some strange looks while I staggered down the slope, zombie style.

All part of the fun of being an author-superstar.

On the illustration side, things are going well. The drawings are taking much longer than I thought. I draw directly onto a computer, so I knock out a first sketch, then zoom in and do a more detailed drawing, then zoom right in and draw the final outlines. It means each image takes about an hour but it has the advantage that when it comes to editing them, I can change things quite easily.

Writing stuff - Editing time

The book is written, I've done the pitch, made a sale and got a top agent to negotiate the contact. Now it's time for the real fun to begin. It's editing time!

Working with an editor is very much like being back at school. You've done your best piece of work ever - and it must be good if you've got an agent and a publisher, right? Right, but that doesn't mean it's perfect. It's the editor's job to take a good script and make it even better. 

Here's a screen shot of a page somewhere near the end of Buttercup. There are two colours of comment box because I've got two editors working on this. 

No one writes a perfect script. Even Stephen King says that every writer needs and editor. That's simply because it's often impossible to see your own mistakes. Not just typos but continuity errors - someone out of breath in one scene, fine in the next. Wearing a yellow scarf on one page, a purple hat in the next. Also, because you have the full story in your head, if you haven't managed to get all the details across to the reader, some parts might not make sense. An editor will see those things, and a lot more. They also come up with suggestions to improve or strengthen the story, they spot areas where the story dips or moves too quickly. 

For a writer, there's something genuinely exciting about receiving a manuscript filled with edits and comments. Someone has read your work enough to really, really think about it. You also have to weigh up suggestions - if you really don't feel a suggestion works, argue the point. This isn't someone pulling your work to pieces for the fun of it - you're all in the same boat, trying to build the best sail that will take you to Land of Commercial Success. Or at least, trying to make the book the best it possibly can be.

So here goes...

Wheelie bin terror on wash day.

I love hearing how other writers get things moving. While sitting here, reading a post on Facebook, I could look out and see my wheelie bin standing in the street. It's bin day so there's a few lined up next to the road. The windows are wide open and the translucent roller-blind with the butterflies, that is usually there as a thin, white barrier is up, because I've been washing our fabric sofas and the whole place stinks of washing up powder. The result is a perfect view of my wheelie bin. And although I know what is in there is really an old brown towel all wrinkled up from being stuffed in the top, from here it looks just like three fat human fingers poking out the top. Can't shake he need to go and double check.

I'm an illustrator!

I'm illustrating Buttercup Sunshine and the Deadly Undead Zombies of Dooooom!

I'm very happy about this, but also a bit nervous. I had to pitch a load of doodles then rework Buttercup herself until I got something the editor thinks is heading in the right direction. The contract is still being finalised, so I can't say anything official just yet, but I have bought a new graphics tablet to illustrate directly onto my laptop.

So just for fun, here's one of my early fine-liner sketches redrawn and coloured.

Buttercup sequels

Originally, Buttercup Sunshine was just going to be a stand alone story in a series set in the same little town. I had an idea that something had happened to cause a degree of calamity to the town and thought it would be great to show that through different events. What I didn't expect was for Buttercup herself to become the star of the series.

The publishing deal isn't signed as yet - contract negotiations take time, so while things got underway, I began thinking of what to write next. I had bounced a few ideas about, but they just didn't have the same edge. So, just for fun, I started a story with Buttercup walking back to town, having escaped from events that ended the first story. And the words began to flow.

Around this time, Agent F asked if I had any ideas, or if possible, a detailed synopsis for a second book. Perfect timing - things were going well with Buttercup #2. A week later, I sent the full script.

And then I sat waiting. Like I said, negotiating contracts is a slow process. I'm going to meet Agent F this week, so obviously my mind is very much focused on Buttercup and what could happen next, which inevitably led to a few scene ideas, a couple of jokes, and before I knew it, a totally unplanned story in the form of Buttercup #3.

Even better than that, it was playing with scenes and ideas in book #3 that I see how the series ends. At least, I think I can. Right now I've got some cleaning and fixing to do on #3, an edit and a polish and next week can get to work on the final story: Buttercup #4 - all before I've signed the contract for book #1.

And that, in the business, is what's known as blind optimism. 😜

Buttercup update

Things are moving with Buttercup. Don't want to tempt fate, so I'll steer clear of details. But I did get to work on a few illustrations to see if I could settle on a style for the internals. An editor may well want to use their own illustrator or have a particular style in mind, and that's fine. This was purely for my own entertainment.

I had to go round the houses to find a style that suited the story. It took about a week. At one point, she was very refined with crisp, clean line work, bunches in her hair and a neck like ET - something between Disney and Manga. Far too refined, and very difficult to redraw in different scenes and situations. What I really want is something I can draw fast, the way I draw when I'm teaching or reading a story in class, but as far as my own finished artwork goes, I've always had this habit of developing things too far (if you have a look at the line work in the ARTWORK section of this site, you'll see what I mean - especially the Easter drawings and Dr. Lobotomy).

I got fed up, decided I couldn't draw a thing and was ready to give up. In sheer frustration, I drew something as fast as I could - exactly the way I'd draw on a whiteboard at school, and sat back. It looked okay - very scribbly, but okay. So I kept going and things got better and better. Here's a couple of examples...

The same day I settled on these drawings, I was contacted by an agent. I was utterly bowled over by her enthusiasm, not just for Buttercup but me as a writer and where I'm going next. In short, I've never felt so excited! Announcement soon...

A nibble!!!

I only sent my submission of Buttercup Sunshine... out on Tuesday. On Friday I got a nibble from one publisher showing interest and wanting to know more about me!

Really, really happy about this because I only targeted four, but also because it's good to know that authors can submit directly and get a positive response. What's good about this is it means a writer can get the contract first, then the agent second. This sounds an upside down way of doing things, but getting the top agents is tough, so approaching them with a deal, rather than just a manuscript, stands you in a very attractive light.

Colin Mulhern

Yikes... submission time!

I've just made my first unagented submission. It's only to a couple of publishers to test the water, but I'm fizzing. It's been so long since I sent something out on my own.

The story is a 10,000 word chapter book aimed at younger readers, subtly titled:

Buttercup Sunshine
and the
DEADLY UNDEAD
ZOMBIES OF DOOOOM!

It's probably the silliest thing I've written, but it was great fun. A huge change from the edgy YA stuff. Couldn't resist a scribble of the MC and one of the zombies as I see them.

But I'd also like to leave it up to the editor, and see how they'd like this story presented. 

So... fingers crossed.

KDP Paperbacks

I think I've reached a whole new level of nerdism. I've done a video blog on the quality of a paperback. But, somewhere out there is another equally nerdy writer desperate to know the quality of KDP paperbacks - are they actually any good? How long does the process take? Do they look like real papery paperbacks you find in bookshops.

Hold onto your seats... it's a white knuckle ride on the crazy wild roller-coaster that is Kindle Direct Publishing.

Life without a Literary Agent

Can a writer survive without a literary agent?

A few weeks ago I decided to take a step back from the traditional route to publishing and cancel the contract with my agent. A bit of a leap of faith in one respect, and a bit scary in another, especially when you consider that many writers are desperate to get taken on by an agent. After all, if you want to get a manuscript in front of an editor with a major publisher, the only way to do it is via an agent, right? So why give up that chance?

Short version: An agency is a business built on reputations. Agents build up a reputation with sales - rejections are set backs, so pitching a second or third book from a writer that an editor has already rejected is a bit of risk to that reputation. The agent works for the agency first, the writer second.

In my time with my last agency, my first novel scored a contract (18 months later, the publisher had problems and the book didn't come out). However, after that I wrote two other books - one YA, one MG. These got very positive responses, but no contract. Because of that, the next books, (two MG and one YA) simply didn't get pitched - not because they were bad, but because they weren't so fantastic that the agent was sure of a sale.

And that's the crux - the agent has to be sure. And that's fair enough - an agency is a business. But here's the problem - you can't go off to another agent who might love that book, and would be very happy to send it out. You can't, because when you sign to an agent, you agree that all work goes to that agent.

This doesn't make sense - all of your books don't have to go through one editor. Those contracts are on a book by book basis, so why can't we have the same arrangements with agents? If you don't want to represent this book, how about I ask someone else? Nope. That's just not how we work.

The last book I sent to the agent was a short middle grade novel about a zombie attack on a fairytale cottage. I wrote it as a break from the frustration of trying to write for the market. I wanted to write something fun and silly and zany - something our Matthew would have loved. And you know what, I had the best time. I was so proud of the result. I sent it off - my agent liked it, but again, wasn't confident in sending it out. Same thing over again.

Bit of holiday reading

Around the same time, I ordered something through Amazon - a book written by a friend and published directly through Amazon's KDP. No agent. No publisher. The book has some minor formatting issues and a few copy edit issues but you know what? I absolutely loved it. It's an adult horror bloodbath with a story that entertained me for three whole days. It was brutal, stomach churning and completely OTT - Manga meets 90s Splatterpunk.

For some reason, it reminded me of the early copies of VIZ, back in the eighties when the illustrations were messy as hell. VIZ wasn't about quality or pleasing some third party; it was about laughs and an audience that wanted something utterly insane. VIZ had the feel of a punk fanzine. In fact, VIZ was punk through and through.

VIZ, issue 5. One of the first I read.

Which got me thinking about punk music and the bands I liked as a kid. I grew up on a diet of Sex Pistols and Stiff Little Fingers. When I hit my teens I developed a thing for thrash metal, then speed/death metal, indie punk, grunge and industrial goth.

That stuff was never about the sales, never about the big deal. While my older brother followed the likes of KISS and Bon Jovi who could fill arenas, I was into Napalm Death and Gaye Bykers on Acid. I loved the underground stuff: the smelly bars and sticky floors, the weird looking fans, photocopied fanzines, moshpits, murk and meyhem. I used to go to gigs where the place was nearly an empty room - I once saw Extreme Noise Terror with only about fifty people in the audience, but they were amazing.

And so I took another look at the books I'd written - in particular that last MG book. The one I'd written just for the sheer utter, silly fun of it. A book that would never see a publisher so long as I stayed with this agent. So I left, because I realised right there that I'm never going to be Bon Jovi or KISS. My books might never appeal to a huge audience, but I'm okay with that. In fact, I'm better than okay with it - I think I've finally found out the key of being a writer, and that last book was the most fun I've had for years and I want more of that.

Can I survive without an agent?

Don't know. What I do know is that if the only books pitched to editors were the safe books, the ones guaranteed a sale, then we'd have no Bunker Diary, no Watership Down, Lord of the Rings or even Harry Potter. Because in their own way, these books are all punk too.

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Added - The book that got a deal but never came out is available in paperback and ebook from amazon.

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Added - The MG book came out through Maverick as Buttercup Sunshine and the Zombies of DOOOOOM. On the back of that, I got another agent, but the same problems outlined above came back causing frustrations on both sides, and so, exactly two years later, here I am again.

Only this time, I have a plan.

Colin Mulhern

Notes on Grief

Have you ever seen those model houses with an old woman and an old man that come forward to tell the weather? The old woman means it's sunny and nice; the old man means it's stormy and cold.

Today was my first day back at work after the break. I work in a primary school and I like it. Usually, I'd say I love it (especially Fridays - on Fridays I work in Reception and Nursery. I could write a load of posts on that alone).

Today I was talking to a colleague about Christmas. She initially said she'd had a great Christmas, then added how it was, in fact, pretty bad. Grandparents and falls and broken hips and hospital. That sort of thing. So not really a great Christmas at all. I made a joke that people are inclined to say they've had a good Christmas because that's what people expect to hear, but actually, if you've had a shit holiday, it's good to have it acknowledged from those who understand, because Christmas is a pretty tough time for some.

This year is our second Christmas without Matthew, but things started getting heavy for me around October. I've dealt pretty well with things up until now. I mentioned this and said that I sometimes feel like one of those old models with the old woman and old man. When I'm at school I play a role of the old woman - all sunny and bright. I have fun and genuinely mean all the jokes that get me through the day. But inside, a storm is brewing.

When I get home, I can put the old woman back in the house. The old man steps forward and the bad weather comes with him. And that's not a bad thing, because in all honesty, sometimes it's nice to be the old man. It's nice to allow that side out.

Grief is hard. It comes in waves of different sizes, waves where the dips and peaks can last for months or days, or hours or minutes. Happy times come with their counterparts. What the hell do you call that? Bipolar grief?

One day, I'd like to write a story about this. Not a memoir, but a story, based on all of this. No holds barred, no emotion caged and I'll call it Notes On Grief.

But not yet. Not for a long time. For now, I'm content that I can be the old man in the comfort and safety of my own home, because that means tomorrow, I can be the old woman, and the sun will shine again.

For a while.

The Girl With All The Gifts

Finally saw the movie. I read the book a couple of months ago and loved it. I first heard about it when it was shortlisted for the 2015 August Derleth award (alongside Station Eleven and that year's winner, the completely brilliant No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill). It took me a long time to get round to it but it was worth the wait.

I read a few early reviews that were quite severe, stating it was an original idea that fell into cliché territory once the main characters left the compound. I can understand the frustration because neither the original cover nor the blurb gave any indication that this was a zombie story. And as zombies are the the modern day luvvies of the horror world, this particular area is getting a tad tedious (but thank god the romantic vampires finally slipped away).

There was a lot I loved about the book. More than anything, the detailed look at zombies at the physiological level. This approach, for me, means The Girl With All the Gifts does for zombies what the Necroscope series did for vampires.

The movie, by comparison was pretty good. It kept very close to the book with two unusual changes - the skin colour of girl and her teacher. For some reason they swap. It doesn't really impact, and anyway, Sennia Nanua is amazing as Melanie. I didn't recognise Glen Close till halfway through, which was round about the time I realised Sergeant Parks was Steve from The World's End. I did like the change in the way the movie dealt with the spores near the end, having them growing up the post office tower rather than filling the streets.

All in all, great book and pretty good movie.

And then I wrote some stuff. 700 words on Daniel's Daughter and 700 on another - more about that in another post. For now, I'm just playing with scenes.

Why you should write really bad scenes

Most writing guides focus on writing good scenes, getting the conflict and tension in there. A bit of detail to add colour and location, good dialogue. I'm going to put forward the argument for bad scenes - the stuff that gets cut.

The problem with focusing on good scenes and top copy is the moment you write a dull scene, you have a good idea that it should be cut, so you cut. And you start again, which leads to frustration and the feeling that you're getting nowhere. I certainly feel that way. And then I read an article by a YA author who said she had to write nearly half a million words to get one particular novel right. If an average YA novel is 70,000 words then that's 430,000 words not needed.

Does that mean they could be avoided?

Well, it got me thinking to how I wrote Clash and Arabesque. Clash actually started as a very different book, something called Get Even, Get Girl, Get Lost, and the story of Kyle and Alex was really just the opening of the book. It wasn't until I came to rewriting the entire novel that I realised Alex was really interesting and the rest of the book paled compared to those first few scenes. Two thirds were cut right there. About 40,000 words, and nothing of that was reused or reworked. It wasn't particularly bad, just nowhere near as strong.

So I began rewriting to develop those first scenes further. The majority of that first chunk was either rewritten or ditched. I think only two scenes of the original draft survived, and both were developed further and rewritten several times over. It was months before I had enough scenes to take a step back and be able to work on the plot.

I couldn't have planned Clash, and I couldn't have written it straight off. It was a mish-mash of good and bad scenes that were eventually hammered into shape.

Yesterday I wrote a scene for my current project (I'm going to call it Daniel's Daughter from now on, just as a working title so I can refer back to it), As a scene, it's okay. It was fun to write. It's got conflict and tension, it fires off questions for the reader and ends on a cliffhanger. But now that it's written I can't help thinking, 'What if...?' and approach the opening a different way. Over the past year or so, this has stumped me again and again and made me rethink, replan and start over. It's that fear of taking a wrong path that has held me back. It's that fear of writing bad scenes - or at least, unnecessary scenes - that holds back development of new ideas. The result of this is a book with lots of good scenes, but not a lot of development - no depth. I've written some clangers over the past few years!

So maybe writing those bad scenes has its place. I know that yesterday's scene probably won't make the final cut, and today's scene might not either. But I do think that writing them is the springboard to the good stuff.

So for now, the scenes stay, and Daniel's Daughter moves a step forward.