Jon Cronshaw's Author Diary - The Real Life of an Indie Author | Writing | Publishing | Disability

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Visit joncronshaw.com to claim your free copy of Birth of Assassins. 

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

This interview is used with kind permission of Beacon Centre for the Blind. 

Visit: https://www.beaconvision.org/

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

Welcome to Jon’s author diary for the week ending November 7, 2021.

I’ve not had the best week in terms of mood. I can definitely feel seasonal affective disorder rearing its ugly head.

This means I feel both restless and tired and my creative energy has been very low.

I usually find this hits me around the end of October, so I’m not surprised that it’s here.

I’ve not written anything new this week, but I did get Dawn of Assassins back from the editor and went through that.

That book is now ready for publication, so that’s exciting.

My original plan was to release it as an experiment on Kindle Vella while I’m working on the second book, but it’s not available yet for UK-based authors, so I’ll be launching the book in January.

Hopefully that will do better than Black Death Survival, which on reflection has been a complete waste of time since starting the project.

In future, I need to remember not to fall for the sunk cost fallacy. I spent a lot of time working on the book, several months I could have spent doing other projects.

I’m sure it’ll pay for itself over time, but it’s not done well at all, and I don’t think a post-apocalyptic story featuring real people in the UK is what the readers want.

But this is good. This is me drawing a line under a project that had been open for over three years.

It’s also me drawing a line under writing post-apocalyptic fiction because what the readers want does not align with the types of stories I want to tell.

So lots of reflection this week. Reflection about my writing career so far, the successes and failures, the ups and downs.

In April 2017, I drew up a five-year plan to make a sustainable full-time income as an author.

The plan worked.

I did it.

But as we’re moving towards the end of 2021, I keep asking myself ‘what next?’

Do I continue writing books and building up my back catalogue?

Or, do I scale the business up?

I feel like it’s time draw up a new five-year plan.

I can write more stories in the Ravenglass universe.

I can work with other authors, outsource tasks, and expand what I do.

I’m inspired by what companies like Games Workshop and authors like Michael Anderle and Craig Martelle have built.

They’ve created universes and a cast of unforgettable characters.

I wrote my twenty-one book series The Ravenglass Chronicles and Dawn of Assassins is set in the same universe.

It’s a universe where I can tell many stories, from stone age fantasy to space opera, and everything between.

And that’s exciting.

That’s potential.

Me doing this alone isn’t sustainable. I need to grow this thing.

In terms of reading, I read Legion and Battle for the Abyss. These were books 7 and 8 in the Warhammer 40k Horus Heresy series.

They couldn’t have been different in terms of quality. Legion was very good, but I struggled to get through Battle for the Abyss.

I’ve found with this series that some books are much better than others, but I like the idea of having a huge overarching story that gives space for many smaller stories to be told.

So, next week is going to be interesting.

I should be going to Egypt.

We’ve got the tickets.

My bags are packed.

I’m still not fully convinced that I’m going, but if I do, I’m sure it will help with the SAD stuff.

Finally, if you haven’t done so already, you can get your free copy of Birth of Assassins by visiting joncronshaw.com.

So, until next time, cheerio.

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.