Ask the Author: C.M. Gray
Answered Questions (6)
C.M. Gray
I read a lot, always have. I love history, old books, old stories, old stuff... so I love to write tales set in days of old. I especially enjoy taking an old legend and breathing life into it, as I did in Shadowland and The Shadow of a King.
C.M. Gray
Firstly I advise that you just give it a go, writing is a blast!
Sit in a quiet room with a blank screen in front of you and breathe... then think of a good starting line. Look at a few opening paragraphs from published books and get a feel for what works and what just doesn't.
You will find that after a few lines a flow starts to happen. Sometimes it goes nowhere, so start again on something different. Eventually a story will begin to take shape.
Once you have a completed manuscript (Hooray!) edit edit edit
Once you have edited, pay money for a good editor, because they will find a whole bunch more typos than you can find!
Then get a professional designer to design you a cover. Do not do it yourself or ask a buddy who thinks they are a whizz at designing stuff. The cover is what will sell your book, even if the story isn't good, you need a good cover!
Sit in a quiet room with a blank screen in front of you and breathe... then think of a good starting line. Look at a few opening paragraphs from published books and get a feel for what works and what just doesn't.
You will find that after a few lines a flow starts to happen. Sometimes it goes nowhere, so start again on something different. Eventually a story will begin to take shape.
Once you have a completed manuscript (Hooray!) edit edit edit
Once you have edited, pay money for a good editor, because they will find a whole bunch more typos than you can find!
Then get a professional designer to design you a cover. Do not do it yourself or ask a buddy who thinks they are a whizz at designing stuff. The cover is what will sell your book, even if the story isn't good, you need a good cover!
C.M. Gray
I don't really get writers block, or haven't so far.
I get lots of ideas, start writing and some of them don't go past a page or two before I just don't 'feel' that it will work out, but I just move on to another idea.
The books I have written so far, fall into two series: a pure Fantasy with The Flight of the Griffin and Chaos Storm, and Historical Fantasy with Shadowland and now The Shadow of a King. Both series are for readers of about twelve years and up, but as I have many adult readers they arent just YA books. I can just let my imagination run wild!
I get lots of ideas, start writing and some of them don't go past a page or two before I just don't 'feel' that it will work out, but I just move on to another idea.
The books I have written so far, fall into two series: a pure Fantasy with The Flight of the Griffin and Chaos Storm, and Historical Fantasy with Shadowland and now The Shadow of a King. Both series are for readers of about twelve years and up, but as I have many adult readers they arent just YA books. I can just let my imagination run wild!
C.M. Gray
I love writing. The process for me is like watching a great movie, reading a good book and playing an amazing computer game all rolled into one!
As I'm writing I just watch the story unfold before me and often have no idea what a character will do or say before they do it. I never write with a plan in mind, but just let the story unfold, entertaining me before it eve gets read by anyone else. I totally recommend anyone who loves to read to sit at a blank screen and just start typing, see what comes out!
As I'm writing I just watch the story unfold before me and often have no idea what a character will do or say before they do it. I never write with a plan in mind, but just let the story unfold, entertaining me before it eve gets read by anyone else. I totally recommend anyone who loves to read to sit at a blank screen and just start typing, see what comes out!
C.M. Gray
Shadowland, the story of Uther Pendragon set in Dark Ages Britain has gathered many followers and great reviews; currently 250 on Amazon and over 400 here on Goodreads. I received many emails asking for a sequel, but for a long time I just couldn't see how; Shadowland was a stand-alone book, but then I had an idea!
The Shadow of a King is set fifteen years after the events told in Shadowland so it can be read by someone who didn't read that first book. However, for those who enjoyed Shadowland, this book is written in much the same style and has many of the same characters - I think it really worked!
The Shadow of a King is set fifteen years after the events told in Shadowland so it can be read by someone who didn't read that first book. However, for those who enjoyed Shadowland, this book is written in much the same style and has many of the same characters - I think it really worked!
C.M. Gray
I have just finished two projects, a new Uther book called The Shadow of a King and the audiobook version of Shadowland, which is read by the amazing Welsh actor Ioan Hefin... so I'm currently playing with a few ideas deciding on what will be my next project!
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