What are your most precious skills?

I don’t have many skills and thank my lucky stars that I possess a fertile imagination and the means to express it. Being able to read and write are taken for granted in most parts of the world. But what if you lived in a place where education was not a right, but a privilege? I can’t imagine not having access to schools, libraries and all the things associated with such things.

I count myself extremely lucky that I had unquestioned access to books and later on, discovered my ability to create through writing.

http://www.wattpad.com/user/KatrinaJack

Goodreads

Facebook Page

Twitter

Kindle US

Kindle UK 

Hardback US

Hardback UK 

http://askdavid.com/reviews/book/urban-fantasy/4787

http://pinterest.com/kateannejack/books-books-more-books/

http://addictedtoebooks.com/

What drives me to write?

I’ve often asked myself this question and I can’t come up with a definitive answer. Yes, I have a vivid imagination and a measure of talent that enables me to create worlds and characters – but that doesn’t tell me why I engage in what can be a thankless occupation.

Time after time I’ve sworn to knock writing on the head, but I can’t, I’m addicted. Without it, an already mundane life would be totally barren. There’d be no escape from the humdrum, nothing special to look forward to. Now you may say the above answers my question, but it doesn’t – not really. Why choose writing as a means to create, within my own head anyway, the freedom we all so long for? Why not learn to dance or skydive? They’re both far more active and exciting -  aren’t they?

Writing is a solitary occupation, but I’m never lonely, not while I can construct worlds of my own and create characters with whom I can “chat.” I know how that might sound, but hey, aren’t all writers a little crazy?

http://www.wattpad.com/user/KatrinaJack

Goodreads

Facebook Page

Twitter

Kindle US

Kindle UK 

Hardback US

Hardback UK 

http://askdavid.com/reviews/book/urban-fantasy/4787

http://pinterest.com/kateannejack/books-books-more-books/

http://addictedtoebooks.com/

To write, or not to write – that is the question.

Whatever you write about, be it fiction, fact or fantasy, it has to be what you would like to read yourself, otherwise what’s the point?

I’ve always wanted to write speculative fiction and loved it, but when I was younger, I was advised to write about “real” things. Being inexperienced, I thought the people who told me this must be right and set off down a writing path to disaster.

I was constantly unhappy with the short stories, articles and would-be-novels I created and became mired in a swamp of cliched and uninspired writing. After a period of struggling, during which I even contemplated giving up the idea of becoming an author altogether, I decided enough was enough and returned to my beloved fantasy fiction.

Of course, it took me awhile to decide which sub-genre suited me best and by a long, circuitous route finally found that urban fantasy was my forte.

So, all of you out there wandering in the writing wilderness, listen to advice by all means. However, if you know in your heart of hearts some of that advice is not for you, then don’t be afraid to discard it.

http://www.wattpad.com/user/KatrinaJack

Goodreads

Facebook Page

Twitter

Kindle US

Kindle UK 

Hardback US

Hardback UK

http://askdavid.com/reviews/book/urban-fantasy/4787

http://pinterest.com/kateannejack/books-books-more-books/

Have you ever wondered…

…what lies behind that book cover?

Have you ever wondered what lies inside,

the pages that took ages for the writer to write?

Is it romance, fantasy or something to fright?

What wonders will you miss, if you let it slip by?

A story to laugh at, or maybe to cry.

So take a chance and open the book,

go on don’t be shy,

and take a look.

Goodreads

Facebook Page

Twitter

Kindle US

Kindle UK 

Hardback US

Hardback UK

Goodreads: news, reviews and new/old authors.

Goodreads is a wonderful site for readers and writers to obtain information and reviews on both contemporary and classic fiction. There’s also links to various blogs by your favourite authors and the opportunity to browse for books to add to your personal library.

So pay a visit and immerse yourself in a world filled with opportunities to expand your reading horizons.

Goodreads

Facebook Page

Twitter

Kindle US

Kindle UK

Hardback US

Hardback UK

Tools of the trade.

Apart from a fertile imagination, what other “tools” does a writer need? For me it’s my netbook, pictured above, along with pens, notepads and some peace and quiet.

In a way I suppose I’m a bit of a dinosaur, in that I still write out my manuscripts by hand, before typing them into my netbook or computer. I’m also an obsessive collector of pens, three of which are also shown above.

From left to right, the first is a standard ballpoint, followed by my green dragon pen and finally my red and gold dragon fountain pen. Yes, I like dragons, quite fitting for a writer of speculative fiction

Almost everything I’ve ever written is contained in numerous notebooks, of all sizes, designs and colours. These are my “tools”, without which I couldn’t function as a writer. Like most authors I carry a notebook, or pad, along with various pens, everywhere I go. You never know where or when ideas will strike, so best to be prepared.

Goodreads

Facebook Page

Twitter

Kindle US

Kindle UK

Hardback US

Hardback UK

Ode to the joys of editing.

The last chapter has been written and the end of the story sealed off; now it’s time to edit. For me this is the best part of the writing process. To craft, sculpt and refine the whole, is a thing of joy and immense satisfaction. To put flesh on the bones of the story and see it truly spring to life under your fingers, as they skip and hop across the keyboard, is to feel the very essence of creativity. Is there any other feeling like it? For me the answer is no.

Bringing to fruition the second of my Silver Flute Trilogy is a great achievement, because I wasn’t sure I could keep the original characters both the same and yet have them also evolve. I was afraid that any new characters I introduced wouldn’t add to the story and help it continue its journey into the third book, but I think I’ve achieved both these things. How do I feel about that? Simply wonderful.

Goodreads

Facebook Page

Twitter

Kindle US

Kindle UK

Hardback US

Hardback UK

 

 

 

What to do on a grey Saturday afternoon?

Well I’ll tell you what I’m doing. At this very moment I’m sitting in my armchair, with a fleecy blanket over my knees and watching Inspector Montalbano from the very beginning. Lazy? Damn right!

After a week of getting up at 5.15 am, writing for a couple of hours, scraping the car windscreen, not to mention changing the partially frozen super absorbent cloths in the driver’s foot well to soak up the water from the mysterious and still untraced leak, I think I deserve a little down time.

So pass the biccies, make me another cup of tea and then bugger off, so I can ogle Luca Zingaretti in peace.

***

Goodreads

Facebook Page

Twitter

Kindle US

Kindle UK

Hardback US

Hardback UK

Dear diary… a writer writes.

What is a common fault amongst authors – no matter what genre they write in? Procrastination. There are very few of us, I should imagine, that can write at a steady pace each and every day. Some, like myself, lack self-discipline, or simply don’t have the amount of time we would like to devote to our work. However, be that as it may, there really is no excuse, beyond life threatening situations or family emergencies.

Yes, we have to work or look after children, pets and so on, but every minute not spent doing these things should, in theory, be devoted to getting on with whatever work in progress we have in hand. But what do we do instead? We tell ourselves one more minute watching TV or ironing, or whatever – anything other than simply getting on with writing. Is it worth it? Hell no!

The constant nagging of your conscience, the frustration at not writing, all build up and up, but still we persist in shying away from achieving our goal of completing our word count for the day. Yet when we finally give in and settle down, the feeling of having accomplished what we set out to do is wonderful.

So I’m not waiting for New Year, I’m making a resolution right now. I will write every day, at least 2,000 words and I will stop faffing about – life’s far too short.

Watch these pages and see if I succeed.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Land-Midnight-Days-Katrina-Jack/dp/0957412649/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356112665&sr=1-1 (Hardback UK)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Midnight-Silver-Flute-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B008Z10Y3E/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351100423&sr=1-1 ((Kindle UK)

http://www.amazon.com/Land-Midnight-Days (Hardback US)

http://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Silver-Flute-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B008Z10Y3E/ (Kindle US)

 

A long and winding road.

Why anyone would choose to be a writer, is beyond me. What possible reason could there to be travel a road so long, there appears to be no end in sight? What is the reason for this powerful urge to create worlds and people from the raw material of the imagination?

The answer to the first question is addiction. One can’t help but pen to paper. If resistance is brought into play, then the writer pays the price – and it’s a high one. There’s no let up from that nagging feeling that you should be writing and not procrastinating, something of which I’m afraid I’m guilty of.

But, if one rolls up one’s sleeves and gets to work, then the reward is just as high. That sensation of having accomplished something worthwhile is worth all the hard graft. Taxing your brain to the nth degree, in order to dredge up plots, characters and settings, is well worth the effort entailed.

So, all my writer colleagues, have to and pen that story, article or book – you know you want to.

http://www.ecanuspublishing.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/KatrinaAnneJack

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Midnight-Silver-Flute-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B008Z10Y3E/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1345235895&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=land+of+midnight+days