Letting your baby fly the nest

I think any author who says they don't write with their audience in mind is either lying or is James Joyce.  Most writers who write popular fiction, in any genre, do so to entertain, in the hope that people will read what they've created and enjoy it.  So it's always with some trepidation that you put your work out there into the world, where people can tell you how much they like it - or how much they don't.

Both Sally and I come from a background of fanfiction, a land where it's pretty much open season for readers to either compliment or critique your stories, and I think Sally would agree that it can nerve wracking to click ‘post’ and wait for the comments to come back.  Ultimately though, it's fanfiction - we do it for free and for fun, and those readers kind enough to check it out have the convenience of a back button if it's not to their taste.  No money spent, no harm done.

Writing a novel on which people are going to spend their hard earned cash is a different matter entirely.  I'm a book lover too, and I know how precious and limited my reading time and my Amazon budget is, so if I expect people to choose my work over someone else's, then I want to make damn sure it's something they enjoy.  It's an obligation every professional writer has.

And that's where it gets tricky.  With Hostile Ground, Sal and I knew the story we wanted to tell.  We knew the twists and turns that it would take, and we knew our intended motivation for each character decision.  What we didn't know was how it would read to the objective audience.  But the best we could do was the best we could do.  We wrote a story that we thought was a bit of a corker and that entertained us, but in the end we had no choice but to send it out into the world and wait...

So far so good.  Our twists seem to have been twisty enough and have kept people guessing, and the feedback has been good.  As with all things though, we have to take the rough with the smooth, and I daresay the rough will come, but overall it's been a positive end to this stage of our writing journey.

Next stop, Book 2...

Stargate SG-1: Hostile Ground by Sally Malcolm and Laura Harper is available now from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

Stargate SG-1: Hostile Ground hits the virtual shelves

Stargate SG-1: Hostile Ground is now available to download on Kindle and other ebook readers.  Following the team on a mission gone wrong, Hostile Ground sees SG-1 battling unfamiliar alien forces - and themselves.

Buy now from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

Stargate SG-1: Hostile Ground available for download 14th August

Tomorrow sees the release of the new official novel from Fandemonium, Stargate SG-1: Hostile Ground.  The second Stargate book written by me and Sally Malcolm, Hostile Ground is Book One of an thrilling new trilogy, the Apocalypse Series.

Sal and I are very excited about the story and hope it brings SG-1 fans all the action and intrigue from the show, in a brand new epic story.  So what's it all about, you ask?  Well, let me tell you more...

"It was meant to be an easy mission, a walk in the park. But SG-1’s first trip off-world after Colonel O’Neill’s return from Edora (STARGATE SG-1: One Hundred Days) proves to be anything but easy.

Tapped for a covert assignment, O’Neill must conceal the truth from his team at all costs. So when Dr Daniel Jackson is injured and the mission begins to go awry, tensions quickly reach a breaking point. Stranded on a hostile planet, and desperate to find a way home before it’s too late, O’Neill leads his fractured team on a desperate journey across a barren and forsaken world.

Faced with an enemy more vicious than anything they’ve encountered before, only SG-1’s strength as a unit will keep them alive — if the secret O’Neill is hiding doesn’t tear them apart first."

Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.

With the release date imminent for the second official franchise book I've written with Sally Malcolm, Stargate SG-1: Hostile Ground, I thought it was an appropriate time to start blogging about my writing and what I hope will be a journey towards turning this hobby that I  love so much into an actual job.

Dream More, Work Less has been a bit of a mantra for me for some time, one that I've not always been too successful in putting into practice, but I'm sticking with it nonetheless. What I'm aiming for is to turn the dreams I have into the work I do.  We'll see how it goes.

To everyone joining me here, welcome, and thanks for taking the time to visit.  I've never been much of one to keep a diary, but hopefully I can bring you some posts that are entertaining, and perhaps informative.  

It'll probably be organic and grow with each entry, so some posts might make a little less sense than others.  Whatever happens, I'll do my best to keep you with me along the way.

“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.” - Jack Kerouac, 'On The Road'