Jon Cronshaw's Author Diary: The Real Life of a Legally Blind Fantasy Author

Welcome to Jon’s author diary for the week ending October 31, 2021.

This is the Halloween special of Jon’s author diary.

And like all of my previous Halloween specials this episode is like any other, except I’m wearing an awesome vampire costume.

For those watching the video, you’ll obviously notice the lengths I want to make this costume as genuine as possible -- I am of course a modern day vampire who has done all he can to blend in with the populous.

This week has been the half-term break.

My wife and son have been at home, so I’ve done very little in the way of work.

I have spent a bit of time going over Trial of Thieves, which is the second book in my Dawn of Assassins series, previously called A Murder of Crows.

I want to make sure that the changes I made to Dawn of Assassins are reflected in the second book.

It’s basically meant adding an extra scene and removing references to an event that no longer occurs.

It also means I’ve got a new subplot in the story, which is always fun.

Not that this book isn’t complicated enough with its weaving subplots...

In terms of reading, I read Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.

This is one of those books that gets under your skin.

It’s marketed as a fantasy book, but it really isn’t.

The story is excellent.

The world is fascinating.

The audiobook performance might be one of the best I’ve ever heard.

But it’s not fantasy.

It might appear on the fantasy shelves in a bookshop.

It might have been nominated for a bunch of fantasy awards.

But it’s not fantasy.

Or, at least, if it is fantasy, it’s fantasy in the same way Robert Holdstock’s Mythago Wood is fantasy, or Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five is sci-fi.

It feels like fantasy, but it isn’t.

It’s realism masquerading as fantasy.

But this isn't about arguing the borders of genre.

There's something very interesting going on with this book.

And calling it a fantasy would be taking away its power.

Piranesi is about a man living through something very traumatic.

The hints are littered throughout the text that this is a character living with Dissociative Personality Disorder in order to cope with the awful situation he finds himself.

It’s subtle. But it’s there. And it’s disturbing when you piece it together.

This is one of those books that I know will stick with me for years to come.

This led me onto another book about Dissociative Personality Disorder: Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk.

I’ve watched the film, so I knew the twist.

But the book is excellent.

The voice is off the charts.

And I’m convinced that Tyler Durden isn’t the only extra personality inhabiting the narrator.

I also read a non-fiction book by Carl Abrahamsson called Occulture.

A fusion of the words occult and culture.

This essay collection explores how occult ideas influence the development of art, philosophy, music, and film.

If you’re interested in thinkers like Carl Jung, Aleister Crowley, and Anton LeVey, this will make for a fascinating and insightful read.

Next week, I’m back to work on Trial of Thieves.

And I need to start packing for my research trip to Egypt, which still looks like it’s going ahead.

I have to say, I feel like I’m playing a game of chicken, and that I can’t get fully invested in the idea of going on a trip because of everything that has gone on during the past year-and-a-half.

I’m in the mindset that I’ll believe it when I get off the plane in Cairo.

Take care,

Jon

P.S. My novel Blind Gambit is now free on all major ebook stores.

Welcome to Jon’s author diary for the week ending October 24, 2021.

I have had a crazy busy week.

Black Death Survival is now live!

Visit: geni.us/blackdeathsurvival to get your copy.

If you’re a fan of dark, gritty post-apocalyptic tales about ordinary people in extraordinary times, get your copy now.

If you’ve been following my writing career for a while, you’ll know what a rollercoaster this story has been for me.

It was very close to being abandoned, but I hate leaving projects unfinished.

What this means is I’m at the point where the only live project I have is the Dawn of Assassins series.

So, that’s going to be something new for me.

We’ll see if I can cope!

As well as doing everything to do with the book launch, I also finished my redraft of Dawn of Assassins.

I ended up adding about 3,000 words to the manuscript, and tweaked the ending slightly.

This wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, but I’m happy with what I’ve done.

Which reminds me, I now have to covers back for the first three Dawn of Assassins books.

They look amazing.

After some feedback about the second book, that is no longer going to be called Murder of Crow, but trial of thieves.

This fits better with the story and won’t see my book competing with a bunch of others with the same title.

So, I’m looking at releasing Dawn of Assassins early next year, followed by Trial of Thieves, and Crucible of Shadows.

I’m writing it as a trilogy, but it has the potentially longer series.

As well as all the writing stuff, I had my friend Russ come to stay last weekend.

We spent most of Saturday drinking and coming up with ideas for his Dungeons and Dragons campaign.

I’ve not played D&D since I was a kid, but I do love worldbuilding and designing characters.

So, I had a lot of fun doing that.

I also went to the first in-person meeting of the Morecambe and Lancaster Speakers Group.

I joined the club during the early days of the pandemic and this is the first time we’ve met in person.

I had a really good time and it was great to meet people I’d known over Zoom face to face.

In terms of reading, I read the Burning Land by Bernard Cornwell. This is book 5 in his Saxon Chronicles series.

I really enjoy these books.

Great characters, great action scenes, and an excellent story.

I also read a writing craft book called the Creative Compass. This discussed the different layers of the writing process.

It was interesting to see how the technique pretty much mapped my own.

Though every time I read about the traditional publishing process of sending out query letters, waiting for months, and hoping an acquisitions editor will smile upon you seems so antiquated and unnecessary.

I’d definitely recommend the book if you’re interested in the actual process of getting a book down.

Next week is the October half-term.

This means my wife and son will be at home and that I will be having a much-needed break.

Do remember to get your copy of Black Death Survival.

If you go onto my YouTube channel, you can watch me reading the first chapter.

So, until next time.

Cheerio.

Welcome to Jon’s author diary for the week ending October 17, 2021.

I’ve had a busy week. Much of it has been spent getting everything ready for my launch of Black Death Survival.

This is now up for pre-order and the paperback is live.

The hardback is in review and I’ve been going through the auditions for the audio edition.

I’ve taken a step back from writing A Murder of Crows and have decided I need to write another draft of Dawn of Assassins.

I thought this book was done. But it needs something else.

My unconscious mind has been nagging at me for a few weeks about this book.

And it was right.

So, I’m going through one more time to make sure the setting feels more lived in. The story’s there, there characters are there, but I need to spend a bit more time showing the setting to the reader.

It’s a grubby, grimy setting, and although I can picture that in my mind, it doesn’t come through onthe page.

So, this is going to put my schedule back for this book, but I’d rather release something I’m proud of than a book I know isn’t as good as I can make it.

Reading

This week I read The Memory Code by Lynne Kelly. This was a book about how oral history is communicated through objects and markers on the landscape. Her main argument is the places like Goblekli Tepe, Stonehenge, and Easter Island could have been built to help tell stories.

Her research was fascinating, though I’m not sure I buy all of her arguments.

I also read The Bone Ships by RJ Barker. This was excellent. If you enjoy nautical fantasy with luscious worldbuilding, this is a book for you.

What’s next?

So, next week is all about getting everything ready for launching Black Death Survival.

Plus, I want to carry on with my redraft of Dawn of Assassins.

It also looks like my research trip to Egypt is going ahead next month, so I need to start gathering provisions for that.

Take care,

Jon

For more information visit: joncronshaw.com

Get your free copy of Birth of Assassins at joncronshaw.com

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Get your free copy of Birth of Assassins at joncronshaw.com.

Visit https://joncronshaw.com to get your free copy of Birth of Assassins!

Get your free copy of Birth of Assassins at joncronshaw.com