A look back at 2014 Looking back over the last twelve months, I guess you could say it’s been a memorable period. I certainly haven’t been sitting back on my laurels and watching the grass grow; although the lawns could do with a trim. This time last year I opted for redundancy from a job that I loathed, and was finally granted release. It was a great weight off my shoulders to walk out of that building for the last time. I kid you not. I decided to focus my energies on my writing. By then, I had just released my second novel: The Gathering of the Clans. My first task was to polish up, and rewrite the first two books, to make them even better. With the help of my editor: David Wailing, (an exceptional author in his own rights) we worked hard on making these books as good as they could be, and then I released them on paperback for the first time. There is little as awarding for a writer as seeing his works in hard copy format. At the same time, and to my utter surprise, I won the Fantasy section of the SPASPA awards. Although far from the Booker Prize, it was a great honour that my first novel should win an award. Running a little behind schedule, I started to write Book Three of the Storm-Bringer Saga: The Black Knights of Crom Cruach. Inspired by the awesome cover created by Clarissa Yeo, my vision of what the book needed to be bore fruit, but I found that there was still so much more to tell. Rather than delaying the release of Book Three, I opted to stop at a suitable point and then begin work on Book Four after the book was released. By then, I also had a mass of unpublished works hoarded away. These were a mixture of drabbles, poems, and short stories. When I gathered all of these together, I realised just how much there actually was. Far more, in fact, than would fit into one collection. Setting aside the short stories, I decided to release a collection of poems and drabbles which I called: Little Words … Full of Big Worlds, after the title of one of my poems. I thought it a fitting title as it reflected the many worlds that are going on in my head. I am currently due to release the second collection shortly: a mixture of short stories both fictional and autobiographical, with a peppering of drabbles to garnish the book. This one will be called Bananas In My Shorts. Added to this, I worked on a number of lesser projects with fellow authors: A K Michaels, Bryan Thomas, C. S. Bailey, and Rick Haynes, affectionately known as the Banana-men. These small projects started as drabble compilations and culminated in the short story: Happy Halloween, which was released to raise funds for the authors forum kuforum.co.uk/kindleusersforum/ I have also been busy with other things this year, playing Gaelic Football, Tag Rugby, and coaching youth rugby to name but a few of the many things that has kept me busy. Currently, I am waiting for feedback from beta readers for the short story collection, and I have a number of writing projects simmering along. I am eight chapters through the final instalment of the Storm-Bringer Saga, as well as a few chapters into a new and totally unrelated novel, (the starting chapter of which is in my short story collection). My first priority though is to finish the fantasy saga as I know many will not commit to a series of books until the final chapter is completed. To those who have committed already to the series, and hunger for the next episode, I promise you will not be disappointed. I have many tricks up my sleeve to keep you entertained. I would like to give a special thanks to all those people who have supported my writings, and thank you for the warm reviews and comments I have received. A writer is like a flower; we wilt without the warmth and light of our readers. Also a warm thanks to my family and friends for their help and support. Go raibh mile maith agaibh.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 12:54:17 +0000
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