If I Never — Free Sample Chapter.
July 2, 2009
Over recent weeks, a number of people have been asking me if samples of If I Never would be available online. After discussing it with my publisher, we’ve decided to — given all the support and encouragement I’ve been getting from my online friends and followers — make the first chapter available here.
This is the unedited manuscript version (a little more than will be in the book itself), so I suppose it could be considered something of a collector’s item 
Please feel free to download it and forward it to any friends you think may find it of interest.
I hope you enjoy it.
Read the free sample chapter of If I Never by clicking here.
If I Never — Publication Info.
May 31, 2009
My Novel, If I Never — which is due to be published on the 29th of August — is now available for pre-order.
It is available through Waterstone’s — branches and online — and probably other stores (haven’t had chance to check, yet, but will definitely be available through other outlets very shortly.) It can, naturally, also be pre-ordered through Amazon.co.uk. I’m listed on Amazon.com, but not sure when it will be available there. Will let you know as soon as I do — though overseas customers may be interested to know, if they don’t already, that they can still buy through Amazon.co.uk.
If you would like to pre-order If I Never, please click here.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their good wishes, congratulations, help and encouragement — both whilst writing my novels and, especially, during the past couple of months. The promotional ideas and support from friends on Twitter, Facebook and, of course, here has been and continues to be invaluable. Your generosity and friendship is appreciated, even though I may not get the chance to tell you quite so often as I would like. Thank you.
Inspiration.
May 21, 2009
I decided to ask my friends and followers on Twitter to set the writing related theme for today’s blog post. The original idea was to go with the first question, but within a minute or so I’d already received two questions on the subject of “inspiration”. Jacqui (@hopefulauthor) asked: “What inspired you to write?” whilst Cat (@carocat) added, “What has inspired you to write this week?”
Two questions I’m going to do my best to address in this post!
Inspiration is something writers talk about a great deal, and it possibly means slightly different things to different people. But for me, inspiration isn’t a single moment when a light bulb goes on or lightning strikes. It doesn’t come from “the ether”. It isn’t external and it isn’t sudden.
The need to write came to me quite early. Having never been able to walk — and even though I’d always had an active life with my wonderful parents, friends and family — I’d always relied upon my imagination. I was a typical kid, in that respect, but I think it’s fair to say that my storytelling skills no doubt started back then, when I played with my toys on the living room carpet in front of the television. As my reading skills developed, I occasionally read children’s novels and at the age of seven I started writing my first novel about a headless horseman. I don’t think it ever progressed beyond the first paragraph, but the dream was there, even then.
In my teens, I moved on to reading horror fiction — the Omen trilogy, Ray Russell’s Incubus and, of course, Stephen King. And in among these horror gems I inevitably discovered some real stinkers. You know the type. Killer crabs on the rampage, piranha fish with bad attitudes, that kind of thing. I read them and, with a sneer, dismissed them, already nurturing the vague and slightly arrogant notion that I could do better.
I didn’t start writing seriously, however, until I hit twenty. I’d had to leave sixth form college a few years earlier due to illness and, after trying my hand at painting, drawing etc, I decided that I would embark upon my first novel. I knew that it was something I could do when I felt able, and it struck me as the perfect occupation for someone in a wheelchair!
My first novel was, naturally, a horror novel about a telekinetic girl called Dawn — a complete rip-off of Carrie, it was utterly appalling! The first agent I sent the completed manuscript to (single spaced, calamity of calamities!) told me that I had “a lot to learn about the narrative form”. She was right. I knew it even then — but it didn’t dent my ambition in the least. It was, after all, my first novel, and as I started my second, still well aware that it wasn’t that good, I could nonetheless see an improvement.
I remembered the words of my then literary hero — King — and thought that, just maybe, he was right. No matter how little talent you have, if you read and write regularly you will improve. So, I kept writing and found that, even whilst I yearned for publication, that stopped being was it was about. Doorways opened. I found myself writing novels I never would have imagined myself capable of, quickly moving away from horror into more literary/mainstream realms, with the occasional experimental splurge.
As for what keeps me writing — what’s inspired me this week… well, having If I Never coming out later in the year has definitely spurred me on, but there’s more to it, I think, than that; I’m very aware that I’m now writing some of the best work I’ve ever produced. That sounds incredibly immodest, but I think it’s a really important that we can acknowledge our weaknesses and strengths. I’ve addressed many of the problems my writing had — one by one, year by year — and I now feel that the energy I take from knowing that I’m doing the job well is what keeps me going.
Writing is a tough job, but it’s immensely satisfying. Ultimately, this is where I now find my inspiration.
2009 Luke Bitmead Writer’s Bursary.
May 13, 2009
Aspiring, unpublished novelists out there may be interested to learn that my publisher, Legend Press, today announced the 2009 Luke Bitmead Writer’s Bursary:
Hope this is useful.
© 2009 Gary William Murning (Except for quotation.)
A Glorious Thing to Be.
May 11, 2009
Life in my little corner of Paradise has been rather busy of late. Creatively, I’ve been on something of a high — As Morning Shows the Day all but writing itself (the benefit of meticulous outlining, people), the growth of character and plot, the language, feeling more natural than anything I’ve written previously. Naturally, this probably has a great deal to do with the fact that I’ve now had If I Never accepted; having a group of people like those at Legend have such faith in one’s work… well, it just makes me want to write more… and more… and… well, you get the picture.
Things are moving fairly steadily with If I Never. Editorial work should be starting soon and I believe work has begun on the cover design (or it will be fairly shortly, at least.) Very exciting.
I’ve also been looking at different ways to promote myself and my work. My disability inevitably means that some of the promotional opportunities that other writers have simply won’t be possible for me and, so, I intend to play to my strength and do as much promotional work via the Internet as I can.
With this in mind, I’ve now set up a Facebook group. I already have a profile on Facebook, of course, but I’m not entirely comfortable with allowing complete strangers access to this. The group seemed an ideal solution. If you’re at all interested, you can join by clicking on this link. (There isn’t much going on at the moment but that should change in a day or two.)
Of course, not everyone likes Facebook and, so, on the recommendation of a friend in the know, I’m also reopening my MySpace profile (click here.) These on top of my blog and mailing list (not to mention Twitter, where I can often be found holding court and generally making a prat of myself) should provide enough options for the time being. If you have a preferred platform that I haven’t considered, however, please feel free to suggest it. I’ll appreciate it.
Finally, I’m also looking for websites/blogs that might be interested in interviewing me — perhaps to talk about how I came to sell If I Never or, maybe, other aspects of writing. If you know of such a site, or if you’re a blogger or online magazine editor who’s interested, please give me a shout.
Until next time.
On Acceptance — or, When a Publisher Says “Yes”.
April 2, 2009
I can’t quite believe I’m writing this post and, consequently, I’m not entirely sure how to begin. I’m struggling for calm professionalism whilst, all the while, I simply want to do a silly dance (however unlikely that might be!) and repeatedly yell “yes, yes, yes!” like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally (okay, not quite like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally.)
Legend Press — a youthful, dynamic publisher with an excellent reputation — has accepted my novel, If I Never.
I’ve admired Tom and the Legend team’s work for quite a while. I’ve heard only good things about them (from writers, no less, a notoriously difficult-to-please bunch at of the best of times!) and the prospect of working with them is one I’m really looking forward to. After years of hard graft, cruel but truthful rejection in the early days and numerous close calls in the past five, ten years it’s quite simply wonderful to finally meet a publisher who believes in what I’m doing enough to commit to it. The chance to be a part of such a creative and groundbreaking team and stable is one I truly value. It’s an opportunity that I intend to make the most of.
I will, of course, regularly post further news here and on Twitter. Once I come down from cloud nine, that is.
The Road to Hell.
March 24, 2009
They do say that the road to hell (which I don’t believe in, of course) is paved with good intentions, and if that were the case then I would certainly be well on my way to having my eyes pricked with knitting needles by Satan for all eternity.
My novel is dominating, at the moment, and no matter how often I promise myself I’ll make a conscious effort at getting back into a regular blogging routine, I just don’t seem to have enough words and energy left over — most days, at least. I strongly suspect that this will not last, however. It’s a fairly huge project (my early estimates suggest somewhere between 150,000 words and 200,000) and it’s extremely important, as I’m sure you can imagine, to get the early chapters well and truly nailed down so that I can be completely sure of whether the novel is going to go the way I want it to. Once this stage is out the way, though, I’ll probably settle back into a more balanced routine.
In the meantime, however, I’m lining up a few guest bloggers to help keep Gary William Murning Online active and entertaining. If you’re interested in contributing something, please feel free to drop me a line — but bear in mind the themes of my website. If you’re a Christian blogger, for example, it’s pretty unlikely that I’ll use anything that relates to your Christianity. That doesn’t mean that I won’t be interested in anything else you may be prepared to offer. All I want is to keep it relevant to my particular interests/obsessions.
And, of course, I will still be contributing myself. I have a lot planned for this site and mine will never be just an editorial presence. Apart from anything else, I’m too opinionated for that
Finally, I think it’s fairly likely that I will be posting samples of As Morning Shows the Day some time during the next few weeks. So remember to keep checking back (add me to your feedreader, if you haven’t already, or follow me on Twitter or by email, AOL etc, so as not to miss the announcement.)
A World Outside the Novel.
March 18, 2009
Sometimes it’s hard to remember that there are other things I need to do as well as working on As Morning Shows the Day — like post here, for example, or, generally, look up from my computer screen every once in a while and notice the world outside my window, the world outside the novel.
Such symptoms are always a good sign, of course. I’m 12,000 words in and everything is pretty much as last reported. Having everything outlined in such detail, I’m not constantly worrying about how to fit it all together, what I need to do next etc. All I have to concentrate on is keeping it going the way it is now. And I think I can manage that.
Today, however, I’m taking some time off. With a long project it’s always wise to pace one’s self. As I’m fond of saying, a novel is a marathon not a sprint.
On an unrelated note, can I just remind everyone that whilst I may not be posting as often here as I usually do, I do post regularly on Twitter. (I’ve just checked my stats and, apparently, I update Twitter on average thirty-four times a day… not in the least bit addicted, then!) It is proving a really handy way of keeping in touch in short, economic bursts. Not simply time wasting fun, though it can be that, too, but a very useful tool. Not a replacement to my blog, of course, merely another way of interacting.
Until next time, keep looking up from the screen!
Back from 1974.
March 13, 2009
This week has been highly productive, although my blog, it must be said, has suffered somewhat. Chapter Two has now claimed my attention fully, my characters coming to life in ways that I could have only hoped for — holding me in those, as it sometimes seems, long ago times of Fuzzy Felts and Mariner 10 space probes. The words and the tone they create are coming quite easily and, with 10,000 words behind me, I’m starting to feel comfortable… settling into the thematic landscape, exploring it and looking forward to the inevitable surprises.
That isn’t to say that it’s all been plain sailing, of course. Chapter Two of any novel can often be difficult. The energy and excitement built up for Chapter One dips a little and, even though the quality of the work may not visibly suffer, self-doubt can (and all too frequently does!) raise its ugly head. This, as I’d half-expected, happened to me this week. It was quite fleeting, and had everything to do with my mood — the inevitable tiredness I was feeling — but I always find it wise to at least try to turn such self-doubt to my advantage.
I did this with the last novel I started (and abandoned) last year. The self-doubt set in and I had to ask myself if it was mood related or if there was something genuinely not right with the work itself. With that novel, there were major problems — not least that I simply found it too bleak and depressing to write well. So I did with that one what I always do with projects that simply aren’t working; I moved away from it and focused on something new. I outlined in more detail and started this current project… knowing that it would inevitably face the same tests, but hoping that better planning and a story that I really felt passionate about would make it capable of withstanding the various trials ahead.
So how did As Morning Shows the Day fair? So far so good. The prose is clean and sparse, none of the heavy-handed exposition I can be prone to when things aren’t going well. The characters seem alive to me, the story hooks in place and the period… yes, it feels like 1974 but I probably need to work on that just a little bit more. More than anything, I look forward to returning there each morning. Yes, it’s work — and, yes, it’s probably going to cause me even more sleepless nights over the next ten months or so. But that’s par for the course. That’s what I expect.
When a novel gives the writer more than it takes — even if it never makes it publication — it’s a success. As Morning Shows the Day so far falls into this category.
I’m enjoying writing every word. Even the ones to keep trying to get away from me.
If I’m Quiet…
March 4, 2009
I’m having a little trouble producing interesting posts at the moment — caught up in my work (which I am thoroughly enjoying) — and I don’t want to write about just any old thing that springs to mind. So, for the time being, I may only be writing a blog post three or four times a week, rather than every day. The beginning of a project is always one of the most demanding stages, so this will pass pretty soon, I’m sure.
In the meantime, if you’re missing your daily fix of Gary William Murning Online, I post regularly on Twitter (see the sidebar to the right of this.) It’s not always insightful stuff but it will at least keep you up to speed on what I’m doing.
If this page is quiet for a few days, however, please keep dropping back. It will only be a temporary break.
