Illustrating a Novel
So finally my proofreader – a female 40yr ex English Teacher has called saying she is pleasantly surprised by my novel, even more so that she is enjoying it. Let’s face it, a sci-fi novel from an unpublished writer can’t inspire much confidence in a woman with a passion for the English launguage!
So happy days!! 😀
Right now though, it’s time to work on illustrating the second book! I swear I spend almost as much time on the images as I have done on the actual novel. Long ago my partner in crime persuaded me to illustrate all my books. Back then I wasn’t confident in my abilities and was convinced that it would only hinder the work produce.
Now though I’m glad I did the images for the first book. Whilst they are not first class I do feel they are strong enough for publishing. I guess time will tell on he feedback. Maybe somebody will tell me otherwise ha!
Here’s the start. This green character is based on my lil best friend Vix.
The start of the Book 2 Cover.
First Snag
Now I understand proof-reading is not an easy task, so finding someone qualified to do it can be daunting.
My partner in crime found a willing English Lit graduate to do the honours (paid of course) and agreed a five week deadline to get the work completed. After eight weeks we’ve heard nothing, and after a few phone calls discovered he’s abroad somewhere. Charming!
So the hunt is on to find another reading genius.
Just so this blog isn’t all completely text based, here’s another Book 1 image. 🙂
Chapter 6 from Book 1
5 Signs You’re a Novelist
1. When in conversation you pay more attention to how the other person is articulating, rather than what what they are actually saying. “Wow! Her nostrils really do flare when she laughs!”
2. You compare your made up characters to your real life friends. “Well Obi-Wan would’ve swung that around like this.”
3. People on a whole become more fascinating. The weirder the better! “Please tell me again why you lived in a giant bird’s nest for a year, eating acorns!”
4. Instead of saying ‘that book would make a great movie’, you say ‘that movie would make a great book’. “No seriously, the events of Death Race could’ve been much more deeply explored!”
5. Your life is thought of terms of chapters, rather than lengths of time. “C’mon! I quit my job way back at the end of Chapter seventeen.”
Breaking ‘The Secret’
Quite a few years, the directors of the company I work for decided to semi-retire (ages ranging from around 35-45). My sister was the PA to these directors and had the task of clearing out their offices. In each of the desks of the directors was a copy of a book called ‘The Secret’. Now this was long before Rhonda Byrne’s book had gained the notoriety it has today. My sister gave me one of the copies to read and I can quite honestly say it opened up a whole new way of thinking for me. This was amplified since I knew our directors had worked hard from being regular office workers (a couple were even taxi drivers!) to becoming multi millionaires in less than a few years.
Now I know a lot of people are skeptical about such books, and especially of The Secret, but I can only go off my own experiences with it. Since reading it, my life changed dramatically; my girlfriend at the time showed her true colours (things I had suspected but was made to feel too paranoid to question) and left my life – never to be seen again, in her place came a fantastic new lady – whom I adore and love with all my being (and who is as ambitious as me). Also I moved into a new home which has turned out to be the most beautiful and stress free place I have lived. And finally, my dreams of being a novelist have become a reality by a chance meeting of a woman who has now become my partner in crime and now we have our second book (this one fully written and illustrated by me) due in the shops soon.
Ok, this could all be a massive coincidence but I do feel that that book helped me in my perspective in life. After The Secret, I’ve read numerous Law of Attraction books, including the mighty Seth Speaks books. Everyday I smile, and laugh, and rarely feel sad or ill. I feel I have a fantastic life, with great friends and family. And for this I feel extremely grateful. Don’t get me wrong, I still bitch and moan like any normal person! But I guess I just believe that these books have had a huge postive outlook on my life.
That is until I ordered: The Real Secret: What to do when the universe hasn’t delivered. by Lucy McCarraher and Annabel Shaw
Strange how I would order such a book based on its title, for I do believe the universe can, and has delivered. But the glowing reviews for this book attracted me to it. What a massive dissapointment it was! It spends more time slagging off The Secret (seemingly without the authors having even read it!) and blowing away all the beliefs I’ve built up to now. The rest of the book just relays basic tips we already know (expenditure table anyone?)
One part asks if the reader dreams of a perfect life, fantastic partner, riches and fame. Its reply? ‘Dream on. They are nothing more than pleasant dreams.’ Hang on! I thought this was meant to make me feel happy! Not shatter my carefully constructed dreams! This book, costing me just shy of a tenner has now been quickly relegated to the bin!
It says 1 in 10 of self help books does more damage than good. Well Lucy and Annabel, I can quite honestly say, your book is most definitely in this damaging 10%! After reading just three chapters I felt depressed and miserable, in which nothing could lift my mood.
Its taken a few hour long online talks by Deepak Chopra to bring my beliefs (and smile) back on track. I feel happier now and my outlook on life has started to get back to its usual positive self.
Whether or not you believe in The Secret, it can’t be denied it does raise a bit of cheerfullness. And nobody, not one single person in the world has the right to tell you to forget your dreams as they won’t happen. This is exactly the kind of people I’ve known throughout my early adult life and lo and behold – they have done nothing with their own lives.
So my final words are – if you have hopes and aspirations, then DREAM ON! DREAM AWAY! Follow them, believe in them, believe in yourself, and nothing is impossible. Be happy, and the future will take care of itself. 🙂
Means to an end
In the past few days I have made this remark in deliberate reference to my job. I have also said a few times I wish I could pause time itself in order to blast out as much of my own work as possible.
Now I should probably be cautious when discussing my place of employment on my blog; you never know who’s watching or snooping. Speaking your mind on certain sites or social networks tends not to go down too well with superiors. Especially when you belittle them. Ha! But then again I’m a big believer in fate, so if any of my bosses read this and are offended, well I guess I’m sorry, and I’ll expect my P45 pronto. Futhermore, this isn’t work time, nor am I naming individuals, or businesses. It’s merely a record of my opinion at this moment in time.
Over the years my employers have shrunk our department repeatedly, which in turn puts added pressure on us that remain as we struggle to cope with the added workload. Now, in the past two months they’ve reduced us again – from five to two. Our department boss was one of the unfortunates to get the cull. So of course all the responsibilities he had have been passed to us, ramping up the workload to the extreme. Having already given up my breaks, I’ve now had to start splitting my lunch in half, and sometimes I go without any lunch at all and work straight through. All the time I’m sure our bosses feel we’re not working hard enough.
I guess it’s not the lessened breaks that bother me, it’s the fact that I used my lunchtime to work exclusively on my novel, and was a valuable window in which to hammer out some important illustrating and writing. Not that has basically gone, I’m finding the road towards fame and fortune is growing ever longer. I can’t believe I even felt guilty about working on it for twenty minutes today during lunch whilst customers endlessely griped where their advert was through email and telephone.
So what I’ve been debating about on the way home is wondering how much I can take of this Draconian regime. How much should I give up of my own life for a company who gives nothing in return. I’ve even debated with myself about taking more work home in order to lessen the burden during the daytime.
At what point do we stop following the dream and give in to a life of mundane, drab and bland obscurity. Currently I’ve been working on this novel for seven years now, with plenty of previous projects before it. I’m reaching thirty now and I’m pinning all my hopes on making this book a success and breaking free from the chains that demand so much of me and my collegues.
I see my dad, now in his late fifties, finally waking up to following his dreams and looking to escape his workplace that have held him for over twenty years. I envy him haha!
I make a vow to myself that I will never lose that passion, and I hope to look back on this in a few years and be proud that I never gave up.
Everyone I know who has a dream, I constantly tell them to never stop following it. If by some chance we really do only have one life, then I’m determined to make the most of it. And I hope everyone else does too 🙂
Time Eclipse & Tapestry of Fates
When I was sixteen, during a brief moment of inspiration I had ideas for a few stories. These were ‘The Phoenix Sorcerer’, ‘Last Battle’, and ‘Time Eclipse’. I spent the most time on ‘The Phoenix Sorcerer’ during my late teens, producing artwork after artwork. After that I concentrated on ‘Last Battle’, trying to write a full screenplay on it (it’s currently in its third draft) during my uni years and shortly thereafter.
At some point during university I decided to base my final Animation piece around ‘Time Eclipse’ – a story involving fast alien ships (inspired by games such as Thunderforce IV) and time travelling robots. After my higher education had finished I decided to attempt to pen a full novel based on the same story. However I wanted to base the story five thousand years later, since let’s face it, it does bear a slight resemblance to a popular Arnie movie, so I felt it would be more original if I brought the tale to a point where the primary story had become a mere legend.
This tale became Tapestry of Fates.
I based many of the key characters around my friends which served well in giving them their personality. It easier to think ‘what would my friend say in this situation’, rather than just write what I saw fit. This has its drawbacks though as I could not write about any of these characters in a derogatory light. Not that I would want to anyway, it simply became a little more restricted. Also I soon realised that writing about the relationships between some of these characters had to be approached a little more delicately than usual. For instance, two of my main characters were in a relationship back in 2004 when I began the story. Since then they have split and one of them has actually married. This was probably just short sightedness on my part as I should have seen every probable outcome, and constructed the novel accordingly. Maybe I just didn’t think I would actually try to make something of this tale, or take it as seriously as I do now. Fortunately, both parties are happy to allow me use their names in the story, and trust me in which ever way it goes.
As it stands, Book 1 is finished in its entirety. All illustrations have been completed and the text is currently at the proof reader. Book 2 is completely finished in its first draft and I’m starting the front cover. Book 3 is half through its first draft.
Ultimately I hope it this novel that will allow me to become a full time novelist.
I will detail a bit more of the storyline in the coming posts. 🙂
This is protagonist Ella Bland (based on my friend Ella Cookson (maiden name – Bland).
Edinburgh
Normally my weekends consist of a quick tidy about the flat, a few brews, a quick chat with my mum and sis, and maybe a cheap night out.
Also, because Wendy works Saturdays I’m usually doing overtime or working towards the novelist career.
This weekend however me and Wendy went to Edinburgh, and although I’ve been numerous times, my better half has never been – despite her being Scottish herself. Now although I adore the city; especially it’s gothic look, Wendy said the place felt really sad. I do agree on this, Edinburgh has had a horrific, bloody past (probably why I love it so much!) and seems to emanate a lot of pain and and melancholy – especially around the old town. She dis say she liked it though, but wouldn’t live there.
Shame as I always said it would be one of the places I would like to eventually relocate to. Oh well, that only leaves Miami 😀
Me and Wendy at Edinburgh Castle
Finding Time
Ok since I’ve started this I better had post something!
When I get a chance this weekend I’ll write up a bit more about what I hope to gain from this blog. I guess should also put a little bit about myself. If you haven’t guessed, my name’s Ken. The username kennydreadful came from a friend of mine who after suggesting we try collaborate on a book of Victorian style horror stories (Penny Dreadfuls) my submissions should be called Kenny Dreadfuls.
I was born in Leeds, moved to Lytham St. Annes at 11, studied Graphic Design, Art, and Animation at college and uni, and then went on to work as a graphic designer at an advertising company where I still work today.
At some point during my further education I decided I would rather write for a living, be it through screenplays or novels, rather than be an animator. The study of art helped to illustrate what ever I was writing and even though I’m not the most gifted artist, illustrating your own novel, rather than get somebody else to do it, is a double whammy of pride.
This is the offending item taking over my life at the moment.
Needs editing though 🙂
kennydreadful 