The Speakeasy

The Speakeasy - Extraordinary Night of Monologues

including

one of my monologues: 'Black Lace Curtains'

Three nights only!

Monday, June 27, 2011 to Wednesday 29th at 8:00pm

Upstairs at The Nell of old Drury, London, United Kingdom

Screaming Yellow

How splendid! An interview with me!
Nerine Dorman: This is My World: Screaming Yellow with Rachel Green

and of course the book is here:
Screaming Yellow [Rachel Green] - $5.50 : Lyrical Press, Inc.

Screaming Yellow

Out Now!
Screaming Yellow by Rachel Green

available as e-book in all formats

Changing Hats

Welcome to rainy Chesterfield ladies and gentleman (Good to see you back Cap'n). I'm skint, so there's tap or rainwater as you wish, and dirt or some raw herbs from the garden to nibble on. Mind the berries -- they're belladonna.

We had a post a week or two ago about writing for different genres and whether you should use a pen name. (I don't as it happens). My question today is similar. How easy do you find it to switch genres? Not having made any sort of impact on the writing world, I generally write for competitions and have poetry, horror, erotica, paranormal, humour and crime fiction storied published, plus a few non-fiction pieces on BDSM and polyamorory. How easy do you chaps find it to switch genre? This week, for instance, I write zombie humour in the mornings, poetry over lunch and horror in the afternoons. Does anyone else do that? How do you switch genres, if you do?

Softly Softly

I have tea, coffee, instant chai latte (please help yourself -- I think it's disgusting) and de-caff tea and coffee and some rather wonderful thyme tea. Also chocolate. The local shop were selling four easter eggs for a pound. No wonder I'm overweight!

In one of the comments last week I touched on 'notecards' as a way of keeping track of characters (and confessed it was something I should do but didn't). What I do, though, is use a variety of noteboarding tools to help me keep track of the plot and subplots.

I regularly use Write It Now and have just started trying Text Block Writer and I've tried a few others in the past.

How about everyone else? Do you use paper? cards? software? or do you keep it all in your head?

Morning Coughing

There's a selection of teas -- black, greem herbal and decaff -- and instant or filtered coffee and those little packets of 'instant' cappucino. Do help yourself to the French Fancies - they were on offer and only a little bit out of date.

How do you deal with multitasking? Does anyone else do it?

Personally I only like to work on one book at a time, whether that be editing, drafting or re-writing, but I keep up my four blogs daily, two of which are ongoing fiction (Jasfoup and Laverstone) and my poetry (one of my goals for next year will be to start subbing poetry). Then yesterday I had the idea for another on-going story/blog about anouther of my chararcters and I though 'Don't be so so cofus*, Rachel, you haven't the time or the skill or to strength of character to ever get it published'.

Does anyone else have multiple projects on the go?

Also:
Here's one asked on one of the other writing groups I belong to:

If you could ask any one author (living or dead) any one question, who and what?



*Thank you Rowan

Friday Tea (or, "Oops - I forgot")

So sorry - I was tapping away and suddenly wondered where the Friday Coffee Morning post was. Then I remembered i was down for a stint sometime round December and there I was. Oops.

I have tea -- black (Darjeeling, Assam, Lady Grey), green, chai and herbal -- and pecan twists that were on sale at Morisson's at 69p for two. Help yourself.

Mea culpa.

Still, I did about 3K today on the latest unpublishable novel -- I swear I only write for two or three readers -- and Harold's in a pickle again. Nano, of course. I know some of the others here participated. How did you do?

For those that didn't, is writing 50K in 30 days of any use? Is Nano sneered at by the professionals as a bunch of amateurs pounding out purple prose for the sake of it? Has anyone ever published a nano novel? I came close once, but they wanted all the smut removed and I never heard anything again.

First Draft

While we're on a round of Happy, I finished the first draft of Halcyon Days (H&J book 4) today.

Add that to two complete copy edits and a re-write this year, and all I have to do to hit my annual target is to write another complete work. Hurrah.

Coffee Break - The 70% Slump

Good morning! A Twinings variety pack (such good value) of teas on the table, the kettle behind you and a coffee brewing. The weather is sunny but with a very cold wind so I've abandoned meeting in the garden but there are still a variety of cold drinks available.

I've noticed on several of the blogs that people are mentioning the 70% slump, where you have a good proportion of the book written but then lose the oomph for completing it. I have to admit that my current WIP is on 95K with 10K to go and it's become a slog.

Why do you think this happens? Is it because you don't want to finish? You've become bored with it? Some other reason? Are you putting it off by looking to the next story?

How do you get over the slump? Do you have a slump at all?

Coffee Morning Trailers

Good Morning!

A selection of teas available -- The Pu'er is particularly good -- and fresh coffee in the pot. Do try the gluten-free chocolate brownies - a friend makes them and they are exquisite.

I'm about to embark on a short, whistle-stop tour of blogs to promote 'An Ungodly Child'. Something that has been mentioned to me are podcasts and book trailers. Every book trailer I've seen, it seems to me, is very, very similar -- music, stills fading into each other with text (usually the novel's hook) spliced in between. Does anyone else find these a bit samey? How about live action ones?

Personally, I use a glove puppet, but generally I only get a half-dozen views. Does anyone else have success with something different?

What would you want to see in a book trailer? How about podcasts?