Channelling my Inner Angst

Posted in Writing plans by heatherbwriter

During much of the writing of my current WIP I was going through a lot of personal trauma. Last year I went through a divorce after 23 years of marriage so things were never going to be easy.

While it would have been easier to hide away somewhere till the black cloud had passed, I had no choice but to continue writing. Firstly, I have a publishing deal to fulfil and, secondly, I had to think about my future income. At times I felt frustrated as my writing wasn’t flowing as easily as normal; I was too preoccupied with other matters and it made it really hard work.

With all this in mind I was dreading the edits, feeling that I might read through the book and think, ‘what a load of rubbish’ or words to that effect. However, I’ve now reached the editing stage and I’m glad to say that I’m pleasantly surprised. It seems that I have channelled my inner angst.

There’s no doubt that the writing of this book, more than any others, has been cathartic. It’s fortunate that I write gritty crime rather than syrupy romance as I think it would have been difficult to write anything sickly sweet given my frame of mind throughout much of the writing process.

I’m happy with the book’s content and feel that it’s my best yet although some may view it as my worst in terms of the level of brutality. As I enter a new year and the next chapter in my life it’s a relief to know that I have produced something that I’m not only proud of but that I also feel is marketable, especially as my writing now provides the bulk of my income.

So here’s to a better year ahead. This will be the year when my first book through my new publisher hits the market so I’m very excited about that. I’m also hoping to push ahead in my personal life too with just the small matter of moving home to attend to and sorting out my finances. Although I expect moving house to be a stressful process I’m viewing it as the start of a new phase in my life.

Here’s to new beginnings:

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12Dec2016

Writer’s High

Posted in Writing by heatherbwriter

There’s a feeling that many authors are probably familiar with. I like to think of it as ‘writer’s high’ but others refer to it as having the muse. I also call it being ‘in the zone’. It’s that wonderful feeling when you enter one of those writing phases during which you’re on a roll and the ideas are spilling from you quicker than you can type them up.

Unfortunately, it isn’t always like that. Sometimes it’s an uphill struggle, especially with a new novel, and it can take a while before you really connect with a piece of work and with the characters. You’ve got your basic premise for the novel and may have drawn up an outline but it feels a bit like painting by numbers as you try to fit each of the scenes into an overall framework. However, you’re not feeling a real spark and your writing isn’t exciting you.

Then, all of a sudden, something kicks in – one idea leads to another, scenes come alive in your imagination, characters become animated and you’re typing like the clappers, before you forget everything. You stop to make the dinner, you think of something else. You go for a walk, another scene comes to mind. You go to bed and the ideas still keep spilling out of you. By the morning you’ve got pages of handwritten notes ready to type up the following day. Your mind is alive with the thrill of it and you can’t wait to commit it all to the PC before you lose the feeling. Does that sound familiar?

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It can take over your life – a bit like a drug and, although it’s a good feeling, it can get in the way of so much. When I’m ‘In the Zone’ ideas usually come to me when I’m trying to relax so it can be while I’m trying to sleep, when I’m out for a walk or even when I’m taking a shower. I find it useful to have a notepad by my bedside and another in my handbag so that I can jot down ideas whenever they come to mind. When I’m ‘in the zone’ I find it difficult to concentrate on a film as my mind wanders. That’s the reason I watch a lot of trash TV; because I don’t need to concentrate too much. (That’s my excuse anyway.)

With my current WIP it was an uphill struggle for part of it but mostly because I was going through emotional upheaval in my personal life. However, I’m now in a much better place and back ‘in the zone’. This novel has two timelines running through it and, in order to write the later timeline, I had to recap on a lot of what had happened in the previous timeline. I was relieved to find that it read quite well. Perhaps my personal struggles helped me in dealing with much of the conflict in the book.

I’m almost ready to give the novel a good edit and hope to send it off to my publisher in a few weeks’ time. It’s been a challenge as it’s the most I’ve ever written for a novel, in accordance with my publisher’s guidelines. But this story has a lot of depth to it so I was confident of reaching the word count without any unnecessary padding. I’ll be keeping you updated as I progress further with the novel.

21Nov2016

Free Short Story Book

Posted in Free ebook by heatherbwriter

First of all, I apologise for being quiet lately both on the blog and on social media. The reason is because I’ve been working hard towards meeting my publishing deadline for my next book, which will be the first book in a new trilogy. More news will follow on that later but in the meantime I need to continue promoting my existing books.

As part of my book promotion, I’m pleased to announce that my short story, Crime, Conflict & Consequences is now permanently free on Amazon UK and Amazon.com. Here is the Amazon link: http://viewbook.at/Consequences. There is also a preview of the first chapter of Slur in the back of the book so if you haven’t yet read any of my books, here is a chance to sample my writing free of charge.

Crime, Conflict & Consequences is also free to download at Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, 24 Symbols, Thalia and Inktera. I don’t have a link for Apple but here are the links for the other stores.

To give you a preview of Crime, Conflict & Consequences, here is the book blurb:

This entertaining collection of 10 assorted tales explores a variety of genres with stories of crime, love and family dilemmas. There are also a few twists and surprises along the way. The common thread running through each story is – consequences.

In HELD UP our heroine is caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and becomes a witness in an unusual bank robbery.

In ISLAND OF DREAMS Joe and Bev are looking forward to returning to the island they visited on honeymoon 34 years previously. Will it still be the same?

In WELCOME ABOARD find out how Helena copes with the job from hell.

These short stories are a great introduction to the work of Heather Burnside. Each one makes an enjoyable quick read with a satisfying conclusion.

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It’s only fair to warn you that my novels are quite different from the short stories. Whereas the short stories cover a variety of genres and writing styles, my other books are gritty crime novels. However, the excerpt from Slur, which is in the back of the short story book should give you an idea of what is to follow.

Bye for now and happy reading.

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28Oct2016

Free Promotion – A Gangster’s Grip

Posted in Free ebook by heatherbwriter

‘A Gangster’s Grip’ will be FREE to download to the Kindle from Friday 28th October until Sunday 30th October so, if you haven’t already got a copy, here’s a chance to grab one. Just follow the link: http://viewbook.at/GangstersGrip.

‘A Gangster’s Grip’ is the second book in the Riverhill Trilogy but it can be read as a standalone novel so you don’t need to have already read ‘Slur’. I must confess that this is my own personal favourite of the trilogy, and readers seem to enjoy it too. To date, it has gained 44 reviews on Amazon UK, averaging 4.5 stars.

Here’s the book blurb for ‘A Gangster’s Grip’ to give you a little taster of what it’s about:

When Rita returns to Manchester after a few years away, she doesn’t expect to find a spliff smoking, beer swilling thug called Leroy firmly ensconced on her parents’ sofa. Rita is horrified to discover he is her sister Jenny’s new boyfriend, and she senses trouble.

The more Rita finds out about Leroy, the more she mistrusts him. As she uncovers the truth about his shady dealings, she becomes anxious about Jenny’s safety and is desperate to lure her away from him. Rita’s mettle is tested as she tries to protect her sister while battling with personal health concerns.

But it’s worse than Rita could ever have suspected. Through her association with Leroy, Jenny is about to become embroiled in the most dangerous phase in Manchester’s recent history.

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I hope you enjoy it and, if you’ve already read and enjoyed the book, please let your friends know about the promotion.

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15Sep2016

Using Images to Create Atmosphere

Posted in Writing Tips by heatherbwriter

During the writing of my current book and the previous one, Danger by Association, I have found a technique that is useful in creating the atmosphere for a particular scene in a novel. I therefore thought I would share it. Here’s an example of how it works in practice:

If you are writing about an abandoned building, for example, type ‘abandoned building’ in Google images and you should be able to view a good selection on your screen. Next, select an image that you feel captures the scene you want to create. If one image alone doesn’t work for you, perhaps you could try combining two different images. Take a note of what you can see e.g. mouldy bricks, peeling wallpaper etc.

While looking at the image, and thinking about the atmosphere, don’t forget to use the five senses. So rather than just describing what you can see think about how the building would feel. Is it cold inside? Can you hear the wind rustling through the eves? What does it smell of – damp? mustiness?

Once you have typed up your notes you will have a good idea of the atmosphere you want to create. Next, put your character at the scene. How does he or she feel about the abandoned building? Why are they there? Have they gone to meet someone? Are they frightened? Are they distressed? Use powerful verbs to describe your character’s actions as they enter the building.

Here’s an example of part of a scene I created in Danger by Association using this technique:

A few more seconds and they were all inside. Rita scanned the room as her eyes adjusted to the gloom. Their makeshift entrance led into a classroom. The place had an eerie feel to it and Rita shuddered.

There were no longer any desks or chairs, but in the half-light she could see cupboards lining one of the walls. The doors of one cupboard were hanging off, its contents spilling out onto the dusty classroom floor. She was surprised the cupboards still contained old books and papers; this seemed to emphasise the state of abandon.

They crept through the classroom and into a long corridor. Here a strong smell of urine assailed them. The ceiling was high with small skylights. This meant that there was more light here than in the classroom, but in the gloom of night it cast strange shadows on the walls, which unnerved Rita.

In the distance she could hear weird noises; a tapping, and a faint gushing sound, perhaps from running water. She also thought she heard the murmur of voices but it was difficult to tell.

Hopefully by following this technique you will write scenes that capture the atmosphere you are aiming for.

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26Aug2016

I’ve Been Signed – Yay!

Posted in Publishing deal by heatherbwriter

Some excellent news for a Friday afternoon. I’ve just signed a three book deal with a publisher. We’ve been in contact for several weeks during which I sent a detailed synopsis to the publishers for a new trilogy and they came back to say they were happy to run with it. The first book in the trilogy is ‘Bad Brother and I’ as previewed in the back of my latest book, ‘Danger by Association’. The title will change but it will be the same book.

Now, if you follow this blog you’re probably thinking that this is a major turnaround for me as I’ve always been a big supporter of independent publishing. I still am. In fact, I think that because I had already had a degree of success as an independent author that probably brought me to the attention of the publishers in the first place. I had given up on approaching publishers and agents and was happy to plod along doing my own thing. However, I was then approached by a publisher and their offer was very tempting.

Because I’ve started to earn an income from my books I was able to view their offer objectively instead of through rose-tinted spectacles, which I would have done a few years ago before independent publishing enabled authors to create their own successes. The publisher is Aria, an imprint of Head of Zeus. It’s a relatively new publishing house, which combines a wealth of experience by staff who have held senior roles with the big 5 publishing houses, together with a forward thinking approach.

Needless to say, I’m extremely excited and will be doing a lot of celebrating this weekend before knuckling down and continuing to work on the first novel in my new trilogy next week. There are a lot of changes taking place in my life at the moment and I feel that I am entering a new and exciting phase in my life. I would like to send a big thank you to everybody who has helped and supported me along the way.

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16Aug2016

Playing with Words

Posted in Words by heatherbwriter

As a writer I love playing with words and I love words themselves. I know – weird aren’t I? Some words I love more than others. With certain words it’s because they have a lovely sound to them. With others it’s because they suit their meaning so well that no other word would quite suffice. There are many words that are so powerful and descriptive that they can transform a whole paragraph. In fact, ‘transform’ is one of the words on my list. Here are some of my favourite words:

– Expertise – It’s like experience, knowledge and skills all rolled into one.

– Transform – it’s more powerful than ‘change’, don’t you think?

– Incongruous – I love this one, it’s says exactly what it means.

– Onomatopoeia – This relates to the use of a word that sounds like its meaning. What I love about ‘onomatopoeia’ is the sound of the word, the use of four vowels together and the fact that very few people can spell it. I can’t think of any other word that uses four vowels together – no doubt someone will put me straight on that point. I believe it stems from either Latin or Greek so there could be other four-vowel words that have been adopted by the English language.

– Detract – I feel that no one word captures the meaning of this word in the same way. Although you’ll find alternatives such as ‘lessen’, ‘diminish’ etc. in a Thesaurus, ‘detract’ means more than that. For me ‘detract’ makes me think of moving away from something or taking away from something, especially when used as ‘detract from’.

– Encapsulate – I just love the sound of it. Again, no other single word does it justice. ‘Summarise’ is used as a synonym, but ‘encapsulate’ is more than that; it’s the act of taking all the components and bringing them neatly together as though in a capsule.

– Retrospect – To me this word means more than just ‘reflection’, it’s looking back but also learning from past mistakes. Again, no other word conjures up the precise meaning.

– Basically – It’s an excellent opener for a sentence and leaves the reader full of expectation of what’s coming next. It can open up an explanation, a conclusion or a summary. ‘Basically’, it’s a really useful word, but unfortunately I realise that I do tend to overuse it.

– Divisive – Another powerful word, which was overused on the death of Margaret Thatcher – it was definitely the media word of the week. Now, whenever I hear that word my brain automatically connects it with Margaret Thatcher.

– Replicate – Sounds more sophisticated than duplicate or copy.

– Proclivities – Means tendencies or inclinations but it’s often used in a negative way so it’s usually the word of choice if someone has perverse sexual tendencies. This word always makes me smile because of my mucky mind. It reminds me of Les Dawson (one of my all time favourite comedians) who said that some words are just funny because of all the connotations associated with that particular word.

Do you have any favourite words? What are your favourites and why? I bet you can think of some that I love but I’ve forgotten about – alas, the middle-aged memory isn’t what it used to be!

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5Aug2016

A Gangster’s Grip on Offer

Posted in book bargain, Uncategorized by heatherbwriter

Here’s your chance to grab a copy of ‘A Gangster’s Grip’ for the special reduced price of just 99p (UK) or 99c (USA) on the Kindle. The price is reduced for three days only from Friday 5th August till Sunday 7th August. To download a copy, just follow the link: http://viewbook.at/GangstersGrip.

Gangster's Grip V4

‘A Gangster’s Grip’ is a gritty crime novel and is book 3 in the Riverhill Trilogy. Although part of a trilogy, it can also be read as a standalone novel. To give you a taste of what the book is about, here is the book blurb:

But it’s worse than Rita could ever have suspected. Through her association with Leroy, Jenny is about to become embroiled in the most dangerous phase in Manchester’s recent history.

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I hope you enjoy it.

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25Jul2016

Book Signing Fun

Posted in Book Signing by heatherbwriter

On Saturday I held the book signing for ‘Danger by Association’, which was book three of The Riverhill Trilogy. We decided to make it a special celebration as the trilogy is now complete.

To mark the era covered by the books, we chose an 80s and 90s Manchester theme. We had a quiz based on major events in Manchester during the 80s and 90s as well as a bit of Manchester themed trivia.

Goody bags went to those who answered 50% or more of the questions correctly although we were a bit generous with our marking.

It was lovely to hear everybody getting all nostalgic about the era as they rattled their brains to remember when particular events took place while music from the 80s and 90s played in the background.

For anyone who was struggling with the answers, we posted up some news articles and other information relating to 80s and 90s Manchester.

I roped in the family to help including my two children and my brother, Barry.

We continued our celebrations in the bar, which is only two doors down from the bookshop. Here I am sampling some of the beer with my lovely brother, Barry. My daughter also took a video with my son providing the voice-over. You can view it on my Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/DMPublisher.

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13Jul2016

Early Reviews for ‘Danger by Association’

Posted in Uncategorized by heatherbwriter

I’m thrilled with how well ‘Danger by Association’ has been received. It’s had some glowing reviews already. Authors are generally advised not to respond to reviews on Amazon but I’m always tempted to thank the customers who have bought the book and taken the trouble to write a review. So, here is a big thank you to all those customers who have reviewed ‘Danger by Association’ (or any of my books) on Amazon or Goodreads and/or left a rating on Goodreads.

Here is a sample of some of the reviews that have come in during the last few days:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed this book

By Ann on 13 July 2016

Enjoyed this book have read a lot of Heather Burnside books and must say they have all been good so yes roll on the next one .

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read can’t wait for her next book

By Kindle Customer on 11 July 2016

Excellent read can’t wait for her next book. Is there one on the way?

5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping read.

By Amazon Customer on 5 July 2016

It was a great read though very hard to put down , knowing the characters from the previous book it was so easy to get into, if you hadn’t read the previous books it might have not been as easy to understand the story would recommend this book to all mancunians.

5.0 out of 5 stars Feedback

By Amazon Customer on 2 July 2016

I’ve read the trilogy in 5 days absolutely brilliant. Total suspense throughout and will be recommending this series to all my friends !

5.0 out of 5 stars A belting story

By Angela lockwood on 1 July 2016

A belter of a read . A real page turner full of twists and turns

In answer to the reader who asked whether there is another book on the way; yes, I’m currently working on a new book which I intend to publish early in 2017.

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