Back at Last

Sincere apologies to any fans of my Blog - Chronicles of the Guild.  I have been extremely neglectful and stopped writing for the last six months on this site.

Excuses: Well I have a few:

1. I was diagnosed with cancer - colon cancer to be exact and had to have surgery to remove a Grade 3 tumour - yes it had spread to the lymph nodes.
2. I had to undergo chemotherapy for six months
3. During my chemo - I concentrated on my health and healing and gave up on almost all writing, except my chemo-journey journal; a few poems, Facebook and my personal blog Vesta. So I guess I didn't really give up on writing, just working on my novels.

But . . . now I am back. 

I am thrilled to announce that at the end of May, when my chemotherapy was completed, I began re-writing and editing Book 2 - The Destructors.  Conserving energy, I re-wrote and edited the whole book, nearly 60 000 words and just over a week ago, completed the first full edit.

This week I have had an amazing time:  My PET & CT scans have shown that I am totally cancer-free, my blood tests have told me that my cancer markers are going down even further - another sign to great health ahead and  today (just a couple of hours ago) I signed a contract with Balboa Press to publish Book Two. 

So with some seriously hard work and effort, I am hoping to have the manuscript into the first round of production in the next two weeks and hopefully have publication by the end of August.

So keep reading and follow on Facebook - Beverly's writings - where I will keep you all up to date with the news.
https://www.facebook.com/BeverlyAdairWritings

Book Sales

 

 

Books have been flowing out the door via post and also personal delivery. It is such an amazing feeling to have people excited and happy to receive their copies. Receiving Facebook messages of JOY from friends as they open their mail and get my book - is incredible.

Now for an update:

This November - I will be participating in NaNoWriMo again - 50 000 words in just 30 days.  What will I be writing?

Book 4 in the series.

Now I know that all of you are just beginning the journey with Book One - The Creators - but there is more.

Book 2 - is already in the rewrite and editing stage - It is called - The Destructors and follows Este's story as well as keeping up with Sarah and her friends.  Planning for publication May/June 2013.

Book 3 is also written and on the shelf - waiting its turn - hopefully publication late 2013.

Book 4 - however is hidden from all - it is simmering quietly in my head, waiting to be released on November 1st.  It is an amazing process - I start with nothing and just by writing 1700 words per day - at the end I have a novel or at least a rough draft. 

So for fans of the series - this is my plan. for the next 30 days - wish me luck.

Book sales have begun

It has been an exciting week - I finally received my first shipment of books - 100 in total.

A published author

 Spending a week at the delivery centre - delayed my books a little - somehow my address had morphed from Karalee to Bald Hills - and it was the dilligent work of DHL deliveries that ensured that they reached me.
It was almost better than Christmas to unpack 100 books written by me.  My name is on the cover and when I am long gone from this place - there will still be a story with my name on it.

It has been wonderful to receive orders from people, but this week as I began posting and delivering copies of my books, it finally hit home that I have written something that people are willing to pay for and to read.

So if you are one of those who would like to order a copy directly from me, rather than from Balboa Press or Amazon, I will be happy to sign it for you and post it direct.

Cost and postage within Australia will be $25.00 which is less than ordering direct from either Amazon or Balboa.  If you are an E-book reader, remember it is available through Balboa as an E-book. 

So feel free to let me know if you want your own copy.  Can't wait to share the joy

The Creators - Autographing my very first book

My book was officially published on September 5th, 2012 and Mum was the very first person to order one from Amazon, even though at the time it was still only available for pre-order.  I was so excited when she told me she had done this.

Well, who could top this?  I guess my Matthew did.  I have been in hospital recently having shoulder surgery and then a couple of days later, being readmitted for ongoing colon issues.  This resulted in me getting some rather scary news that I have a cancerous tumour in my colon, which will require surgery on October 8th. With all this going on, Matthew appeared on one of his visits and from behind his back produced the very first copy of my book that I had seen. Even my own proof copy from Balboa Press had not arrived.  He had ordered it from Balboa direct and paid extra to have it express posted.

Totally thrilled and delighted with it and with him I spent the evening grinning from ear to ear.

On being released from hospital, I had a chance to sit down with Matthew and sign his copy for him.  Thank you Matthew for this amazing gift. I love you so much.

Watching Mom sign his book

 

Autographing my very first copy of my novel for Matthew

 

 Matthew and I will the very first copy of The Creators that I held.

My beautiful son.  His sisters' did state that they thought he had gone a bit overboard in trying to earn brownie points in getting the book so quickly and early.

No time to rest for a writer

Welcome to another day.  I have discovered that even with shoulder surgery (Wednesday 19th Sept) and a colonoscopy and hospitalisation (Friday 18th - today) - there is still time to be a writer.

Last week I underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery to repair a busal tear and other ligament problems in my left shoulder; as well as having cortisone injections into both carpal tunnel ligaments in my wrists.   Action plan was for a few days rest and then back to writing next week.

Unfortunately, Friday saw me re-admitted to hospital for further tests for ongoing colotis, which had left me dehydrated again!  So by Sunday I was very, very bored and asked for my laptop to be brought into hospital. The joy of modern medicine and modern technology has meant that I have been able to rest my arm on a pillow and sit typing a fresh 2000 words of my non-fiction book. 

I even inspired myself.

Now news regarding 'The Creators' - orders are being shipped from Balboa Press bookstore (my son's copy was delivered express) - he is so proud of his Mom that he ordered it as soon as it became available and is therefore the first in the family to get a copy. The book is also available from Amazon.

Today my bookmarks, postcards and business cards promoting 'The Creators' arrived - they are beautiful. I had the joy of signing my very first autograph in my hospital bed.  One of the nurses has ordered my book from Amazong and I gave her a bookmark, which we asked me to sign. 

So as the title of the post said :  No time to rest - time to write, write, write.

The Prophecy - Balboa Press

Balboa Press has released a 'free preview' from the inside of my book.  As it is written in a 'poem' form in the novel - it has unfortunately been printeded without the punctuation. So for all my fans, here is your own sneak-peak of the prophecy.

In the beginnning, good and evil battled
Humanity - the pieces on the scales
Time will tell who will win
Now is the time to begin

Time and need will produce one of noble birth
One born far away from angels
One whose belief held her gifts
One whose family loved her but never understood her
One whose friends envied and tormented her

The girl-child must grown into a woman
She must be protected to grow into her powers
The girl-child can balance the scales
She can triumph over the Destructor

She will carry within her the gift to end all conflict
She will carry within her the gift to end all rifts
She will be the one who will make for humanity the lasting peace
She will create again the balance . . . . . . .

. . . . . .Beware

To tip the scales, evil will nurture one
One who will become the destructor
The destructor will be undiscovered
The destructor will be alone
The destructor will embrace the evil
The destructor must destroy the girl
The destructor will have the power
To destroy humanity . . . . . . .

Find the hexagon and train them
Build the pentagon to stand strong
Keep the septagon safe
Build a pyramid that will stand
stand the conflict of time

Protect the Noble One and Protect the Protectors

Writing Thought of the Day

Sharing the JOY of writing with others, inspires not only them, but also oneself.

I have always loved writing, but it was only when I started my Creative Writing courses at University that I found the magic of writing in a community.  My greatest question was "How was I going to write on demand?"  I have always written best when 'inspired' rather than pressured.

Yet, each week I was inspired and challenged, and both of these things allowed and encouraged me to write.

So what holds you back from writing? Is it time, commitment, courage, fear? 

My major breakthrough came when I did NaNoWriMo, (refer to previous blog post) and wrote a 50 000 word novel in 30 days.

I overcame this challenge by breaking it down into 1667 words per day; or 209 words per hour over 8 hours; or just 4 words a minute for 8 hours. Now we work at work for 8 hours a day - so why not be a writer for 8 hours a day.  It became easy and fun.

My advice is the following:  If you think you have a book to write, put it down on paper becuase:

The book is already written you just need to share it with the world.