Monday 31 December 2012

Happy New Year Story Extract


Something for you all to muse over. For those who have read the book this will give you something to consider. For those who haven't I hope it wets your appetite. Happy New Year everyone, see you all in 2013!

The Council of Peace: One year on...

Do you remember where you were when peace broke out? I do. Middle of Castle Square, Larrick city, selling this very newsletter you now hold in your hand. Well, obviously not this particular one, it was actually issue thirty four thirty three if I recall correctly.

I also remember where I was when the formation of the Council of Peace was announced, a day later. A vast organisation charged with maintaining the peace. That wasn't odd; in fact I commented to my fellow writers in the Broken Dreams Happy Warrior tavern that day that in my humble opinion it was a very good idea. What was odd was the fact the organisation seemed to just appear overnight. Almost out of thin air Council of Peace compounds sprung up across the country and beyond. In every nations major towns and cities.

Maintaining the peace by whatever means necessary, so goes their unofficial motto. But who are they? And what have they accomplished now a year after the World Wide Peace Agreement?

We'll start with who are they, despite the fact this is actually a very hard question to answer. They have recruited people and races from all across the land; Magra merchants, Argon investigators, Orc enforcers, Bearkin Berserkers Dwarfen builders...I could go on. Everyone is represented in some way or another and by canny recruitment the right people seem to be in the right jobs; for the most part anyway. They are managed by a so called Grand Council but apart from a name and obvious 'in charge' status noone seems to know who they are, including many of their employee's. Really, we can't answer who they are as they seem to be, well, everyone. Prehapes that’s the point? Represent everyone so you can never be accused of being biased. Clever.

What have they accomplished? That's a little easier to answer. The peace, despite the many logical explanations against it, has held. Argon has not invaded the Trima heartlands, again. Magra has ceased its raiding. Even the Darnhun have been quiet apart from their growing mercenary trade that thankfully, operates mostly beyond our shores (and beyond our sight and mind). The peace has held. Some of that might not be the Council of Peace's doing. Not to take away from them but after fifty years, the Six Nations War had drained pretty much everyone and whilst I can't talk with absolutely authority, I strongly suspect that the leaders of each of the nations were weary of war. All they needed was an excuse to stop. The World Wide Peace Agreement was that excuse. The Council of Peace was more of an icing on the cake than the cake itself.

So lets get to the big question. Do we still need a Council of Peace to keep watch over us?

One year maybe isn't enough time to answer that question with any accuracy. That plus we really don't know a lot about what the Council of Peace actually do. They have a News Department to keep Truth Seekers such as myself informed of activates that maintain the peace but these only report so much and often report activates long since completed. It is hard to measure, with the information available, just how effective they are in making sure we don't slide back into the abyss of total war.

This Truth Seeker isn't against them. At the same time, neither do I support them. I find myself quietly opportunistic that they are doing a good job, whilst a tiny voice in the back of my head is asking 'what are they really up to?'.

Time will tell I'm sure. Sooner or later, it always does.

Article from the Newsletter 'Larrick City Opinions' dated 31st of the 12 month, 1AW (After War), 1432 (Old Calender)

Monday 24 December 2012

Happy Christmas!


Its Christmas eve and just enough time for a quick update before the celebrations begin.

At last, my Infinity the game Paradiso Fan fiction competition entry has been posted up (so I now no longer need to keep repeating its long-winded title). Find it here:


Its the one entitled 'Friendly Fire' by Vedalslayer (me!).

I'll be honest, I'm up against some very good writers on the forum so competition is tough. However, you as reader will reap the rewards. You're in for a treat whether you know the background to the Infinity gaming system or not. A lot of very good stories have appeared already and more are on the way. Look for the 'poll' posts.

I've been doing a lot of work on the new novel already; up to 4500 words now. If I can keep up this momentum after Christmas I should definitely be able to hit my target of Draft 1 completed by the end of January. The ideas are coming thick and fast. I've already written a nice interrogation scene that I'm very happy with and the characters are fighting for screen time. I intend to make sure they all get their moment to shine.

The first novel is still getting very good reviews. On Amazon, it's had 4 x 5 Star rated reviews which his just fantastic. For anyone reading this who did a review, thank you so much. I know many friends have also pledged to review the book when they finish it, please do guys! Its a fantastic encouragement and makes a big difference when people a searching for books to read on Kindle.

Anyways, to everyone reading this blog, a very happy Christmas to you all. I hope it goes well (and is stress free!). Take care everyone.

Wednesday 19 December 2012

Plenty on the go


In the build up to 2013, things have been going very well.

Soon the Infinity the Game Paradiso writing competition entries will be appearing on the relevant forum. My own entry awaits proof reading as before but I'm happy with it and once my proof reader gets back to me I'll formally post it up. I think people will like, its the same kind of style as the novel (sticking with what I know).

Also got a new short story challenge to tackle entitled 'Visit to a stately home'. This rather broad category was chosen by myself. Might be a bit too broad but we'll have a go. Keeps the creative mind pondering...stuff.

Likewise, work on the second novel is going nice and steady, working my way up to 3000 words already and its not even January yet! I still intend to set the end of January 2013 as the deadline for the second novel, first draft to be completed. I think its a good idea to impose on myself a deadline like this; keep me motivated to complete things in a timely manner.

I hit something of a milestone recently as I had my first purchase from America. Nice to see the novel appearing internationally now. Thanks again Jane!

Got my first Amazon.co.uk review as well. My thanks to Simon, really glad you enjoyed the book.

Twitter account links are going well too. I now have almost 1000 followers on Twitter, the majority fellow writers of the indie community and jolly nice people they are too. I'm not convinced I'm selling many books via Twitter but it is allowing me to get better integrated with the indie author community and forge good links with some very helpful people.

Regards the popularity of the book, its all going to be down to word of mouth. Fortunately, said word of mouth has been very good indeed and lots of friends and colleagues have been sharing tales of the book. Indeed I'm reliably informed the book was the subject of much talk during works Christmas party. To everyone who has been sharing news of the book, thank you so much for the encouragement and continued support. It has spurred me on to get the next one done as soon as.

Now I just need to make sure to have the books paperback edition completed. This and the first draft of the next novel should be done by the end of January 2013. The Createspace process seems straight forward enough considering I already have the manuscript and front cover sorted. Just need a back cover and spine completed and we are good to go.

So its busy busy busy, but the right and enjoyable kind of busy. Plenty of writing to be done and I’m still very much enjoying the experience.



Tuesday 11 December 2012

Onward to victory!


Well I'm stuck indoors due to possible protests and being on call in work. Sucks. However, it does give me time to update the blog again with new blocks of news.

First up, I finally finished my Infinity the game Paradiso fan fiction story and have sent off to my designated proof reader on the Infinity community forums. Hopefully, with only a few more modifications, it shall be ready for posting on the forums at the allotted time. Once posted I shall happily post up a link on the blogs so you guys can all take a look and let us know what you think.

Secondly, the 'Ashkelon Rising' Aeronautica 40k fan fiction is also at last concluded. Find it at this forum post on the Aeronautica Airspace forum.


The story is a bit rough round the edges at times but it was often written in haste and very experimental. I hope regardless you all will enjoy, whether a 40K fan or not. Its got plenty of comedy, action and mystery. Just like the novel!

Third, novel comments continue to flood in. Thank you again to everyone who has been commenting it's really encouraging to hear such positive feedback. It's stirred me toward getting the next book sorted quick as!

Indeed, speaking of which, fourthly, the new book! The current working title is Haldred Chronicles: Kalla; the first draft has already passed 1500 words. My original plan had been to set myself a deadline of completing the first draft throughout the month of January and give myself a rest in December. However, I had so many ideas in my head I had to write them down so I've kicked things off early and am already hammering away at the sequel.

One should also note that a sequel was already written technically (mentioned in previously blog posts) with 20'000 words put on paper. However, reviewing this sequel it soon became clear that it was likely to be a bit too big once complete. I am keen to write bigger books for the series, with more characters and more complex plots, but not just yet. I want to establish a good, solid series of novels before branching into larger sequels or spin-offs.

Thus, this sequel will be a proper one to the first book, and the original sequel idea has been shelved and will form the basis of a much bigger story in the future. This is no bad thing as right now I have another 16 different story ideas for both new books in the current series and a variety of odd spin-off's; everything from mercenary groups to sports (I kid you not!).

So there you have it, plenty still going on and keeping me going. I hope everyone continues to enjoy the novel. Just as a correction from the previous blog.

My UK Author page on Amazon is below:

My previous UK author page link was wrong. Sorry.

Also, links to the novel itself

For UK customers:

And for anyone from the USA who's interested

Take care everyone

Thursday 6 December 2012

The to do list has become shorter...




Its been a very busy day at work so I am taking it easy tonight, but a blog update seems in order now after launch day. Much has been happening.

Lots of people have bought the book, and even better, they like it! Getting a lot of positive comments and suggestions which is really fantastic. Thank you so much to those who have been commenting, its been really encouraging and has spurred me on in my writing of the sequel.

In turn, I've been making progress with advertising the book.

I have registered with Amazon Authors Central on both the amazon.com (www.amazon.com/author/jgcully) and .co.uk (http://www.amazon.co.uk/author/jgcully)

I have also registered my blog site (http://jgswritinganovel.blogspot.co.uk) as a Amazon Associate site and put a link up for the book there too. Please go look!

The Facebook page (www.facebook.com/haldredchronicles) has been very useful as well for getting the word out, particularly amongst friends. I'm able to update it on a more regular basis than the blogs and I have been posting up images from the novel to help get the word out. The Council of Peace symbol in particular looks very well (nicely done Mat!). The plan for the future is still to post up more background information on aspects of the novel such as organisations and weapons. Just to further flesh out the story beyond the first novel.

Added to this the list of twitter followers continues to grow (follow me at @jgwritesnovels :-D) and I'm starting to get to know more of the indie authors. They are a very nice bunch of people and I'm trying to make more of an effort to 'retweet' their book advertisements.

The Infinity the game 'Paradiso' writing competition entry has proceeded a pace. Now in draft 2 the story is looking very solid. Just under 3000 words long and i'm enjoying writing this sci-fi story as a little side project to Haldred Chronicles.

So, like the title says, the to-do list has shortened. But then, it is a big to-do list.

I still have to sort the publishing of the paperback book via Amazon createspace (still hoping to sort in January 2013) and I also need to get more reviewers to review the book and post up on the book review sites. Plenty of objectives still to sort.

In the meantime, if you guys did like the book please let Amazon know by posting up a review on amazon.co.uk (link to the book is HERE). It would really help with getting the word out.

Thanks again for taking the time to read the blog guys, I know this one was very wordy. Haldred Chronicles is a big undertaking but I'm really enjoying writing it. The future is definitely bright :).

Friday 30 November 2012

launch day!


Well, official launch day anyway, as the book has actually been out for the last couple of days.

I had to fiddle with the settings on Kindle for a bit but now, the book is definitely out there on the internets!

Find it HERE

At last.  After a year of drafts, proof reading, learning how to write, checking over and preparing, the book is released.  I am relieved and happy :).

Now comes the process of putting the word out and getting feedback.  I have already had an excellent idea from my friend Angie (thanks Angie :)) for a glossary of terms for the book.  So my plan is to work a little on a free download as a complement to the book that explains some of the terms, organisations, races etc mentioned within.  It will be a 'living' glossary, meaning it will be updated over time as new ideas come about, so will be constantly updated.

I will also be further updating the various blogs with more background info on the book and my progress on the sequel.

But right now...right now I'm going to take a few days break from writing.  Then I shall return, ready to kick off again!

My thanks again to everyone who has supported me in this.  Friends, family and co-workers, thank you all for the immense amount of help and encourage.  Again, my thanks to my truely epic proof readers and my illustrator Mat.  Without you guys, there would be no book.  

I hope you all enjoy the book and please, everyone, let me know what you think.  Indeed, if your feeling particularly generous why not leave a review on Amazon :-p!

Take care everyone.

Wednesday 21 November 2012

looking to the future

Busy busy busy!

Monday night I finished updating the novel with suggestions from Dad. Basically, it's now ready to go. All that remains is a final read over to check everything in it flows right and then formatting the document so that it is ready for Kindle upload; ready to be unleashed on the unsuspecting planet.

Paired with this, my fantastic illustrator Mat has been very hard at work perfecting the cover image. It, too, is now ready to be uploaded and looks the business. Once again, well done Mat!

Just today I properly signed up to Createspace, the publishing arm of Amazon, and have now signed up with the community area. Indeed, this blog is now appearing on the Createspace blogs as well (Hello Create-spacers!...wait that came out wrong). Yes, thats 4 different blogs...I'm greedy. Createspace will allow me to do what many of you have already asked about. Produce paperback copies of the novel. But patience my friends, let the book see the light of day first!

I have also made big progress with my Paradiso infinity the game fan fiction competition entry (yes, huge title I know). I hope to have it completed by the end of this week. As well as this I've also made progress with K's latest challenge, continuing an interaction from a soppy romance novel...no easy task but a good challenge! Finally I need to think about the latest Aeronautica narrative (likely the final one) from a recent game with Rob and concluding the 'Ashkelon rising' storyline still on the go in the same forum.

Like I said, busy!

So with all of the above activates the question is this: what happens after the book is published next week?

Well, one of the first things I'll do is breath a sigh of relief. After that, my proof readers will also breath a sigh of relief (I know...your looking for spelling and grammar mistakes in this blog post as well. Its ok, I understand). Then comes the process of getting the word out about the novel and its availability.

The Facebook page will be updated on a regular basis with new information about the novels universe, pictures from Mat and other information. Just to further enrich the concept. In turn, I'll be using the twitter account (which now has around 500 followers. Yes I know I'm quoting numbers at you, sorry) to further advertise the novel as well as linking in with other novelists; there are a lot of them and they all seem very nice. I also hope to get looking at more writing blogs and forums, get myself involved more with the writing community. It's a very big community and has already been very helpful and supportive of the 'newbie' author.

Long term I need to make a decision. Will I keep this going?

I've got 14 different ideas for potentially continuing the Haldred Chronicles series, in particular the current sequel that I’ve already started (around 20'000 words). Coupled with this I've still got the BIG Novel that never was which is set in the same fictional universe; it revolves around mercenaries and is already 70'000 words long. There are even little ideas around prequels or spin-off's. Put simply, this has potential.

Right now, I do want to keep it going. It was good fun to write and it has allowed me to learn a lot about writing and vastly improve my writing skills; several of you will be thinking at this point 'well they couldn't have gotten any worse!'. I think it's a unique enough concept to fit in with the many other fantasy novels out in the writing-world and I think it's deep enough to draw people in. Most importantly, I think it's entertaining. Readers will enjoy reading the stories and finding out about the world and the characters there-in (as well as allowing psycho analysis of JG's brain...I assure you it's already a very very scary place B-)).

I'd like to end by paying tribute to my friends and family who have been so very supportive in my attempts to complete this novel. You guys are the best and without you all encouraging me or just asking after the novel and its progress, I would never have got it done.

And of course, my proof readers. Legendary individuals from many walks of life who gave up there time to help me. I won't forget guys, that I assure you. I am in your debt and you have definitely made your mark on the work by your help and skills.

Anyways, stay tuned for release information which will be next week sometime. It shall be good!


Monday 12 November 2012

More progress!


Well I've good news and bad news.

The good news (which is very good news) is the completion of the 7th Draft! The novel is now more or less complete. The final home run will be this week as I leave the completed manuscript with my father and brother for reading over, and comment. In the meantime I will leave it alone. I read a book by Stephen King called 'On Writing' (thank you Paulus for the lend) and he suggested that once you complete a draft you should 'let it breath'. Take a bit of time to leave the thing alone, and don't touch it at all. Then, after a week, go back refreshed and check what else needs to be done (if anything). I think this is a good idea, plus it means I take a bit of a break from the novel.

The bad news is JG had food poisoning or a stomach bug or some damn thing today that was...unpleasant. I made it into work but then had to rather hurriedly leave. Whilst I feel better now I am not going to take any chances so I won't be off to Mat's tonight to sort the front cover. Fortunately we've rescheduled for another day, so this is just an inconvenient. Though he did tell me of a very interesting possibility with regard to the novels future...but that can wait until another update (I'll keep you all in suspense).

Meantime, I have made some future plans. I'll be putting up more images on the facebook page (which you may be reading this blog on, if not the web address is www.facebook.com/haldredchronicles). Such as the making of the Council of Peace logo. I will also put up the progress on the front cover but that will happen after the release of the book. Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise after all!

My twitter account now boasts over 300 followers. This isn't massive in the grand scheme of things and I've not really been able to tweet that much (still getting used to it) but its a darn good start and I've met a great deal of very helpful, very interesting people (hello helpful and interesting people!). I am learning a lot about the 'indie' (independent) author community and hope to learn more from them collectively as time goes by. The next stage will be checking out the huge number of forums and blogs that people run, not just about the novels they write but about writing techniques and styles in general.

So its all go, and going in the right direction. Till next time.

Tuesday 6 November 2012

To the final draft


So its finally here. I am now working on the final draft of the Novel!

My proof reader Cara has completed work on the 6th Draft and I am now working my way through the 7th draft to complete the novel. 7th Draft will be the final draft. After that *deep breath* it will be release time.

Likewise my fantastic illustrator Mat has done a real number on the front cover. He's sent me his draft version of the front cover and its looking nothing short of incredible. Again, the next one he sends me will be the actual front cover, with text, ready to roll for release.

As the preparations for release draw near, I have not been idle. My twitter account (@jgwritesnovels) has grown. I'm now following over 200 people and being followed by over 80. I'm getting a lot of good advice from experienced authors as well as experienced twitter users. If successful this twitter account will prove invaluable in both advertising and keeping fans up to date with future writing.

Likewise the facebook page (which you may or may not be reading this blog on) has over 80 likes from both friends and random passersby (hello to you random passerby...see, I included you!) which has been really encouraging. Too all of you who have liked the page, thank you, it really encourages me in the writing and to see this project to its conclusion.

I've also been investigating printed versions of the book and yes, it can be done. However, first comes the electronic version, then I'll sort some printed copies for those who have asked and finally, if its proving popular, see about a publishing deal with Amazon. I told you, I've not been idle, but it all depends on the popularity of the book.

A lot of hard work has gone into this novel, not just from me but from many tireless proof readers, encouragers and what-about-this-idea...ers. You have all encouraged me to keep this project going and I thank you all so very much for this help.

I am on the home stretch.

Thursday 1 November 2012

Now to synchronize

Ok, I now have effectively 3 different blogging sites so to make things make sense (eh?) I'm going to synchronize them all together so they are all showing the same information at the same time.  

So from now on, this blog along with Bad Company Redux and the Facebook page for the book will all have the same information on them.


Makes it easier for me as well when updating, and means no one will miss out on information no matter what blog they go to.


Hope you all enjoy the facebook page in particular, the intention is to post up plenty of info just before book launch day, get people interested!


Monday 29 October 2012

The BIG update

Its been over a year since I updated this Blog so thought I'd better return and update.
A huge amount has happened since November 2011. To put it in simple terms I took part in the November writing competition and successfully wrote a 60'000 word Novel partly based on the Universe I created for the original 'big' novel.

The story is a combination of Comedy, action, investigation, with a small amount of romance, all set in a post-war fantasy world of my own devising. Its not an 'epic', as the post war world thing is more of a backdrop as apposed to the main focus. The BIG Novel will be the epic if I ever get it finished and this smaller novel will determine that.
Armed with my first draft I have spent the last year drafting and re-drafting, perfecting my writing style. Over time, with help from friends and family, I have moved from a badly written 1st Draft, to a much more solid 6th Draft.
Many friends have been proof readers for the various drafts and helped me modify and improve my writing. Spelling has gotten better, and grammar. The characters more real, the environment better described, the story more interesting.

The 7th Draft will be the last one before, all being well, this Novel will be published on Amazon Kindle. I had toyed with applying to a publisher but the amount of time and effort required would result in me waiting up to 6 months for a response. With Kindle I will be published immediately and will be able to tell within a very short space of time whether the Novel has been successful.
If its successful, I will then keep writing. If not, well, I can say I tried.
I've even sourced a illustrator to do the cover design. He's in the process of drafting a 3D computer image to serve as my books front page. The first images look fantastic and I'm looking forward to the finished product.

As well as the Novel other activates have kept my interest in writing going.
I've taken part in a short story competition between a friend and a friend of a friend, were we post short stories (between 250 and 500 words long) between each other for critique and comment. This continues today.
I've also written narrative for Airspace forums Aeronautica campaign throughout the summer. Not as well proof read but its kept my interest and let me do sci-fi as apposed to usual fantasy stuff.

For December, I've to write a 3500 word short story for the Paradiso writing competition on the go on infinitythegame.com. This, again, will be a nice break from fantasy writing.
Finally, I've set up a twitter account specifically for the novel. @jgwritesnovels is the name for those who want to follow, and I'll hopefully be using it to further promote the Novel once its out.
In the future I will update this blog, and my Badcompanyredux.com blog with more news on the Novel as its nears completion.

Hopefully, it will be worth the wait :).