I'm delighted to welcome Colin Garrow, the author of The Watson Letters series, to my blog today.
The Watson Letters
Volume 6: The Haunting of Roderick Usher
An invitation. A ghostly
spectre. A criminal mastermind.
When Sherlock Holmes is invited to visit an old
school friend, he and Doctor Watson are plunged into the first of three adventures
involving the Dark Arts and the supernatural. From the ghostly spectre of a
dead sister to the search for an ancient book of spells, the detecting duo
learn that each case is connected, leading them into a final showdown with
their deadliest adversary yet.
Adult humour throughout.
Purchase Link - https://geni.us/dymvutk
Author Bio:
True-born Geordie Colin Garrow grew up in a former mining town in
Northumberland and has worked in a plethora of professions including taxi
driver, antiques dealer, drama facilitator, theatre director and fish
processor. He has also occasionally masqueraded as a pirate. Colin’s published
books include the Watson Letters series, the Terry Bell Mysteries and the Rosie
Robson Murder Mysteries. His short stories have appeared in several literary
mags, including: SN Review, Flash Fiction Magazine, The Grind, A3 Review,
Inkapture and Scribble Magazine. These days he lives in a humble cottage in
Northeast Scotland.
Social Media Links –
Website
(Adults) https://colingarrow.org/
Website
(Children) https://colingarrowbooks.com/
The Watson
Letters https://thewatsonletters.com/
Amazon Author
Page https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B014Z5DZD4
Twitter https://twitter.com/colingarrow
Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/colingarrow
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/colingarrowthewriter
Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/colin-garrow
It is always fascinating to have an author's insight into their creative process. Today Colin Garrow talks about his writing routines and other challenges. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Colin!
Guest Post – Writing Routines and Other
Challenges
One of the things a lot of writers will
press upon would-be authors, is the necessity of writing every day. As Stephen
King says, If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all
others: read a lot and write a lot. However, for those of us who can’t
afford to write full time, this can be a bit of a challenge. Finding the time
and energy to write after a day a work, can feel like pushing melted butter
uphill.
I’ve always believed that writing is
one of those things you must do regularly to maintain the ability to do it.
Like exercise, if you miss a few days, getting back into it can be hard. Something
I used to use as an exercise involved starting to write without having a single
idea in my head and not knowing where it might go. Sometimes what came out
would be rubbish but often, I’d find myself creating an apparently well-plotted
story as if that’s exactly what I’d set out to do. Now, I find I have enough
ideas to start writing a dozen books, so rarely have to tax my brain in order
to know what the story will be about.
When I first started writing novels
seriously (back in 2013), I lived in a pokey little cottage that was so small I
spent most of my time in the kitchen. Filled with the eagerness of writing my very
first book, I developed a routine and stuck to it rigidly for a couple of years.
As I worked full time in occupational therapy, and also shared childcare duties
with my former partner, I’d organise the evening meal after work and, if my son
was staying, wait until he was tucked up in bed before starting to write. At
the time this involved bashing away at an old laptop on the kitchen table. In
those heady days, I’d often work until 10.30 or 11.00 at night and then spend
another hour ‘coming down’ from whatever storyline I’d been bound up in.
During that time, I believed there was
no such thing as writers block and as I had tons of ideas in my head, the task
of starting to write each evening never troubled me—I’d just sit down and start
writing and the words would emerge. More recently, the death of my father had a
debilitating effect on my writing routine and for many months I could scarcely
write more than a few sentences at a time. Even more recently, health problems impacted
on my ability to stay awake in the evenings and I’d often have to crawl off to
bed at 8.00pm.
These days, while I still have
occasional days off from writing, I usually manage to knock out a few hundred
words each day and a few thousand at the weekends. Given that my best day of
writing culminated in 6,500 words in an eight-hour session, my daily target now
is closer to 3,000 words a day. Well, let’s say 2,500. A couple of thousand,
anyway.
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