Katie Hall-May's Blog
March 17, 2025
New Book! Proofs, Promotions and 'Going a Bit Weird...'
So, I have a new book out!
This is very exciting for several reasons - 1) well...I have a new book out and it feels very grown up to be saying 'new' - as though I am a 'real' author who is constantly just vomiting books out and 2) I cannot WAIT to stop promoting, proofing, editing and actually Write Something New!
Let's get the promotion part out of the way. The internet gave me a handy tip on this subject. It said "One thing to avoid when promoting your books: over-promoting." This reminds me a little of a sign I once saw in a forest in Japan headed "what to do if you see a bear" and the first instruction was 1) Try not to see a bear...
Let's not over promote. I hate doing it anyway. The new book is out. I hope you like it. Please read. The link is here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0F1NGCSN2
(Oh - and reviews are lovely even if you hated it, as long as you can be bothered to tell me why!)
That's that over with. Onto proofing. I happen to have a fantastic proof reader, who I used to work with, so she has the excellent advantage of also being a friend. She is very good at gently taking the mick out of me for over-using certain words. 'Fizz', 'rotten' and 'gaze' were the main culprits this time - I'll let your minds boggle trying to put those together. Look out for them - there should be a LOT less than there were…
She has also taught me a few quite surprising facts:
Surprising Fact One: 'woffling' - as in a hamster woffling its nose - is not a word. I have been describing animal nose antics this way for YEARS. No one has ever told me that before. Mad...
Surprising Fact Two: There is an order for adjectives. You shouldn't say, "tall, white spherical", you have to say "tall, spherical white" because shape comes before colour! Who knew? Well, my proof reader did. I did not.
The exchange between us is always fun. She tries to hold me to the strict policies of Real Life Grammar, and I plead that I need to remain inaccurate because 'it just sounds right that way'. Sometimes I get away with that (my proof reader has soul), and sometimes not. Then she teases me about my overuse of words. You'd think, as an author, I would have a wide and limitless vocabulary. Nah. I have a handful of favourites and I put them EVERYWHERE. Read enough of my stuff and you'll see...
(I think I’m safe with that last sentence. I’m not sure it counts as 'promotion' if you're challenging people to find your flaws...)
Having celebrated my lovely proof reader, and the fact that I’ve managed to get the darn thing out of the door, I am now desperate to leap into the next one. I don’t know if other authors feel this (I am willing to accept maybe I’m odd!), but when I haven’t been actually creating something new, just doing the more efficient, businesslike tasks that accompany the attempt to get a book out, I start to go…well a bit weird!
I daydream more than is really healthy (and certainly more than is conducive to getting things done). I find myself simultaneously bored and exhausted. I scratch around for something to do – life seems mundane, and yet at the same time I’m having 16 kittens (not really, though that would be lovely) about whether I corrected that extra comma on page 245 before I uploaded and whether I’m going to have time to update my website and/or figure out what the hell an SMPT is…
I feel as though I’m a lot LESS grounded when I’ve been grounded in doing sensible real life tasks, than when I’ve been flying away with the fairies at my laptop, spinning completely imaginary figures into completely imaginary worlds.
Maybe we all need a bit of fantasy to keep us on track, so we carry on diligently putting one foot in front of the other in real life…
I asked the cat. She had no strong opinion on the mater, but she DID put her claw into my leg, which I think translated as ‘stop pontificating then and just get on with it…’
This is very exciting for several reasons - 1) well...I have a new book out and it feels very grown up to be saying 'new' - as though I am a 'real' author who is constantly just vomiting books out and 2) I cannot WAIT to stop promoting, proofing, editing and actually Write Something New!
Let's get the promotion part out of the way. The internet gave me a handy tip on this subject. It said "One thing to avoid when promoting your books: over-promoting." This reminds me a little of a sign I once saw in a forest in Japan headed "what to do if you see a bear" and the first instruction was 1) Try not to see a bear...
Let's not over promote. I hate doing it anyway. The new book is out. I hope you like it. Please read. The link is here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0F1NGCSN2
(Oh - and reviews are lovely even if you hated it, as long as you can be bothered to tell me why!)
That's that over with. Onto proofing. I happen to have a fantastic proof reader, who I used to work with, so she has the excellent advantage of also being a friend. She is very good at gently taking the mick out of me for over-using certain words. 'Fizz', 'rotten' and 'gaze' were the main culprits this time - I'll let your minds boggle trying to put those together. Look out for them - there should be a LOT less than there were…
She has also taught me a few quite surprising facts:
Surprising Fact One: 'woffling' - as in a hamster woffling its nose - is not a word. I have been describing animal nose antics this way for YEARS. No one has ever told me that before. Mad...
Surprising Fact Two: There is an order for adjectives. You shouldn't say, "tall, white spherical", you have to say "tall, spherical white" because shape comes before colour! Who knew? Well, my proof reader did. I did not.
The exchange between us is always fun. She tries to hold me to the strict policies of Real Life Grammar, and I plead that I need to remain inaccurate because 'it just sounds right that way'. Sometimes I get away with that (my proof reader has soul), and sometimes not. Then she teases me about my overuse of words. You'd think, as an author, I would have a wide and limitless vocabulary. Nah. I have a handful of favourites and I put them EVERYWHERE. Read enough of my stuff and you'll see...
(I think I’m safe with that last sentence. I’m not sure it counts as 'promotion' if you're challenging people to find your flaws...)
Having celebrated my lovely proof reader, and the fact that I’ve managed to get the darn thing out of the door, I am now desperate to leap into the next one. I don’t know if other authors feel this (I am willing to accept maybe I’m odd!), but when I haven’t been actually creating something new, just doing the more efficient, businesslike tasks that accompany the attempt to get a book out, I start to go…well a bit weird!
I daydream more than is really healthy (and certainly more than is conducive to getting things done). I find myself simultaneously bored and exhausted. I scratch around for something to do – life seems mundane, and yet at the same time I’m having 16 kittens (not really, though that would be lovely) about whether I corrected that extra comma on page 245 before I uploaded and whether I’m going to have time to update my website and/or figure out what the hell an SMPT is…
I feel as though I’m a lot LESS grounded when I’ve been grounded in doing sensible real life tasks, than when I’ve been flying away with the fairies at my laptop, spinning completely imaginary figures into completely imaginary worlds.
Maybe we all need a bit of fantasy to keep us on track, so we carry on diligently putting one foot in front of the other in real life…
I asked the cat. She had no strong opinion on the mater, but she DID put her claw into my leg, which I think translated as ‘stop pontificating then and just get on with it…’
September 14, 2023
The Tricky Question of What You Want
My latest release, Puck’s Legacy is officially out today. Link here: Puck's Legacy
Humans who have never met or heard of me can now buy 400 pages worth of words set to a rhythm and order of my choosing. It’s weird when you think of it like that. It’s weird anyway.
I suspect there’s a bit of false humility in that opening (I’m owning it). Because obviously the fact is that it’s 400 page worth of my blood, sweat, tears, love and (often) hatred over at least 400 years (it seems). And I’m proud of it. But I’m scared. Someone asked me what I wanted the other day. What was my goal? Sell a million copies? Reach a thousand unique voices? Influence the world?
Apparently I was meant to have an answer. Actually the only answer that sprang to mind was what I don’t want.
I don’t want to be hated on twitter (sorry, ‘X’). I don’t want to make anyone unhappy through some thoughtless phrase or lack of consideration. I don’t want to lose my privacy. I don’t need (it wasn't quite honest not to say 'want'!) to be a millionaire. I don’t want (and this is the most controversial of all) to be J K Rowling.
I don’t know if other authors out there are constantly being asked if they’re hoping to be the next J K Rowling. There have been some controversies re her views, (which I'm not allowing myself to get into right now), but even so, I think she’s become shorthand for writerly success.
I think I’d probably prefer to be Shakespeare. People think he’s good, right? But he’s dead now, so he can probably nip to the shops in the afterlife without his make up on in peace, and he’s unlikely to get slammed on social media. Or at least if he does he won’t care about it.
There are three things we can take from this.
One – I might need to toughen up a little, get real and generally smell the coffee.
Two – Art is meant to be looked at, and people are supposed to have opinions about it.
Three – I apparently aspire to posthumous success, which is difficult to achieve whilst still alive. I don’t particularly fancy shuffling off this mortal coil quite yet though, so back to point one.
In the end I worked out exactly what it was I really wanted.
• I want all of those people who are my friends and who like to read, and who like to read this kind of thing, to have read it. They don’t have to have liked it but it would be nice to be showered liberally in general adoration if they feel so inclined.
• I want 100 people who don’t know me and have no loyalty to me to have read it and to review it. They don’t have to have liked it but a really helpful constructive review, where I can learn what the problem is and do better next time, would be wonderful. Someone did that for me on here recently for my previous book, and it was the best review I’d ever read. (Thank you to that person if they're reading).
That’s it. That’s the actual thing I want.
And photos of cats. That always goes down well too. I was going to post one on here but I think it's not allowed because technically it actually has nothing to do with my book. Which is suppose is true. That might be flaw number one to fix for next time...
Humans who have never met or heard of me can now buy 400 pages worth of words set to a rhythm and order of my choosing. It’s weird when you think of it like that. It’s weird anyway.
I suspect there’s a bit of false humility in that opening (I’m owning it). Because obviously the fact is that it’s 400 page worth of my blood, sweat, tears, love and (often) hatred over at least 400 years (it seems). And I’m proud of it. But I’m scared. Someone asked me what I wanted the other day. What was my goal? Sell a million copies? Reach a thousand unique voices? Influence the world?
Apparently I was meant to have an answer. Actually the only answer that sprang to mind was what I don’t want.
I don’t want to be hated on twitter (sorry, ‘X’). I don’t want to make anyone unhappy through some thoughtless phrase or lack of consideration. I don’t want to lose my privacy. I don’t need (it wasn't quite honest not to say 'want'!) to be a millionaire. I don’t want (and this is the most controversial of all) to be J K Rowling.
I don’t know if other authors out there are constantly being asked if they’re hoping to be the next J K Rowling. There have been some controversies re her views, (which I'm not allowing myself to get into right now), but even so, I think she’s become shorthand for writerly success.
I think I’d probably prefer to be Shakespeare. People think he’s good, right? But he’s dead now, so he can probably nip to the shops in the afterlife without his make up on in peace, and he’s unlikely to get slammed on social media. Or at least if he does he won’t care about it.
There are three things we can take from this.
One – I might need to toughen up a little, get real and generally smell the coffee.
Two – Art is meant to be looked at, and people are supposed to have opinions about it.
Three – I apparently aspire to posthumous success, which is difficult to achieve whilst still alive. I don’t particularly fancy shuffling off this mortal coil quite yet though, so back to point one.
In the end I worked out exactly what it was I really wanted.
• I want all of those people who are my friends and who like to read, and who like to read this kind of thing, to have read it. They don’t have to have liked it but it would be nice to be showered liberally in general adoration if they feel so inclined.
• I want 100 people who don’t know me and have no loyalty to me to have read it and to review it. They don’t have to have liked it but a really helpful constructive review, where I can learn what the problem is and do better next time, would be wonderful. Someone did that for me on here recently for my previous book, and it was the best review I’d ever read. (Thank you to that person if they're reading).
That’s it. That’s the actual thing I want.
And photos of cats. That always goes down well too. I was going to post one on here but I think it's not allowed because technically it actually has nothing to do with my book. Which is suppose is true. That might be flaw number one to fix for next time...
August 5, 2023
Releasing a new novel and facing the cat
Breaking news! The day is finally here. My new novel, Pucks’ Legacy, is out on 15 September and is available for pre order here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B.... (Insert excited whooping and jumping and generally unprofessional behavior). If you, like me, are an e reader for convenience and to save your back carrying multiple books around – but really your first love is the smell and feel of a real book with real pages, you will need to wait just a little bit longer for 15 September for the paperback to be released.
It’s a strange feeling when you finally let a new book loose on the world. I am always staggered by how long it takes, not to write it, but to get it to the standard I want after I have finished writing it. As a fervent hater of editing, I do as much as I possibly can up front to try to cut down the amount of pulling it apart and gluing it back together again at the end. It works to some extent but you never escape the editing really. Perhaps there are some authors out there who are so deeply talented the thing is ready for release as soon as they write the last words, and if so, I envy them intensely and will be messaging them shortly to ask they can bottle that talent and wing it my way.
I commented to a friend recently that the planning, plotting, and first drafting of a new book is magical because, at the beginning, the novel is still a fantasy. It’s a Schrodinger’s cat that might just be the next booker prize winning piece of literary genius. Once it’s written though, quite apart from the lingering bizarre sadness you get for leaving your characters behind (or killing them off I suppose, depending on how your story goes), you’ve got to edit it, which is essentially all about facing your own limitations. The cat is out of the box and you’ve got to force yourself to face all the mangy parts of it, and might even conclude it’s dead after all. I put off that phase as far as possible. But you’ve always got to face the cat in the end…
DISCLAIMER: I LOVE cats. I live with one and I adore her. If Schrodinger really put a cat in a box then I would be fully supportive of any cats out there who would like to put him in a box and see how he likes it.
Anyway, the cat has been faced. For what feels like (and probably is) years. It’s prowling about on an Amazon website/fence near you. I combed out all the mangy bits, I hope, but there are probably still some hiding in there. If you are kind enough to pre order and read it, I’d love a thoughtful review, the good and the bad. Let me know where those mangy patches were that I missed, and I’ll try to comb them out better, next time….
Katie.
It’s a strange feeling when you finally let a new book loose on the world. I am always staggered by how long it takes, not to write it, but to get it to the standard I want after I have finished writing it. As a fervent hater of editing, I do as much as I possibly can up front to try to cut down the amount of pulling it apart and gluing it back together again at the end. It works to some extent but you never escape the editing really. Perhaps there are some authors out there who are so deeply talented the thing is ready for release as soon as they write the last words, and if so, I envy them intensely and will be messaging them shortly to ask they can bottle that talent and wing it my way.
I commented to a friend recently that the planning, plotting, and first drafting of a new book is magical because, at the beginning, the novel is still a fantasy. It’s a Schrodinger’s cat that might just be the next booker prize winning piece of literary genius. Once it’s written though, quite apart from the lingering bizarre sadness you get for leaving your characters behind (or killing them off I suppose, depending on how your story goes), you’ve got to edit it, which is essentially all about facing your own limitations. The cat is out of the box and you’ve got to force yourself to face all the mangy parts of it, and might even conclude it’s dead after all. I put off that phase as far as possible. But you’ve always got to face the cat in the end…
DISCLAIMER: I LOVE cats. I live with one and I adore her. If Schrodinger really put a cat in a box then I would be fully supportive of any cats out there who would like to put him in a box and see how he likes it.
Anyway, the cat has been faced. For what feels like (and probably is) years. It’s prowling about on an Amazon website/fence near you. I combed out all the mangy bits, I hope, but there are probably still some hiding in there. If you are kind enough to pre order and read it, I’d love a thoughtful review, the good and the bad. Let me know where those mangy patches were that I missed, and I’ll try to comb them out better, next time….
Katie.
