Berserk! was my fifth folk-horror novel. It follows a heavy metal band as they travel north to a mysterious island off the Scottish coast on a photo-shoot for their next album, in a tale of Vikings, death metal and werewolves. You can purchase the book by clicking on the image above and view the creation of the book, from start to finish, below:
Sunday, 10 March 2019
My holidays on the Isle of Skye always inspire me. As I edit the final draft of my 4th novel, the seed for my 5th has now already germinated. The characters in the next book will be a heavy metal band, a photographer, a farming family on the remote Faroe island and a Lycanthrope! I have just written the basic story outline as we head out of Scotland. I have high hopes for this story...
Sunday, 07 April 2019
Research...
Tuesday, 09 April 2019
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| So excited to start work on my next novella , I began writing it on the work's coach home this evening |
With my fourth novella, Pixie-Led, now published and available to buy, I started writing Chapter One of my fifth novella, Berserk!, this evening. I have been musing on this new book for the last month or so but its strange how my story plots only ever truly take shape when I put pen to paper and actually start writing the story itself. After a month of basic note-taking and research, the denouement of my next book came to me like a bolt out of the blue within a few minutes of writing the very first paragraph of it. I have to admit that I am getting pretty excited by this tale, even though it is still in its infancy. I won't go into too much detail at the moment, but the story, whilst still the same as the basic plot I outlined here, has now developed a dark Viking theme too.
Tuesday, 16 April 2019
Storyboarding Chapter One:
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| I wish I could draw! lol |
Wednesday, 17 April 2019
Chapter One progressing nicely...
Wednesday, 18 April 2019
Pushing onward with Chapter One, detailing the characters and their mission:
Friday, 20 April 2019
Continuing work on Chapter One:
Wednesday, 24 April 2019
Storyboarding Chapter Two - the heavy metal band and their photographer arrive on the dismal island...
Thursday, 25 April 2019
Draft One. Chapter One.
Sunday, 28 April 2019
4K+
Wednesday, 01 May 2019
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| Chapter Two Competed |
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| Story-boarding Chapter Three |
Thursday, 02 May 2019
Writing Chapter Three and not sure of how to end it, or what happens in Chapter Four onwards...... This hasn't happened in a long while...
With slight writer's block, I spent the evening typing up my handwritten first draft of Chapter Two of Beserk!
Saturday, 04 May 2019
"No, I will not let you write today."
Monday, 07 May 2019
I struggled a little with how to close Chapter Three of Beserk! But the chapter has come together nicely for me as I actually put pen to paper to write the thing. Here is my story-board pic of the conclusion of the chapter, if you can interpret my child-like sketch. #IWishICouldDraw
Saturday, 11 May 2019
Working on Chapter Four. Really enjoying writing this book :)
Sunday, 12 May 2019
Tuesday, 14 May 2019
Story-boarding Chapter Four:
Thursday, 16 May 2019
Story-boarding Chapter Five:
Friday, 17 May 2019
11k words into the first draft.
Saturday, 18 May 2019
The group are starting to get freaked out in the isolated woodland. No human has walked this land for a thousand years and the dark gods and spirits continue to linger here...
Sunday, 19 May 2019
Researching Wolfsbane.
12k+ Words:
Tuesday, 21 May 2019
Nearly 13k words into the novel and I am stuck :o/
I did manage a little story-boarding for the next chapter though:
Friday, 24 May 2019
Thankfully, my writer's block cleared last night. I am not too sure if the plot details of Chapter Six came during a dream or whether I worked it out in that strange hinterland of thought that can occur when awakening from one dream and slipping back into another. Anyway, the plot outline for Chapter Six is sorted and I just now need to write it. In the meantime, here is another #IWishICouldDraw storyboard for the chapter:
Saturday, 25 May 2019
Out in the garden, writing Chapter Six.
Sunday, 25 May 2019
Chapter Six. Dun 'n' Dusted.
Monday, 27 May 2019
Story-boarding Chapter Seven.
Wednesday, 29 May 2019
Half way through Chapter Seven...
Wednesday, 29 May 2019
Writing with my eldest and quietest cat :)
Thursday, 30 May 2019
Wednesday, 05 June 2019
Story-boarding and writing Chapter Eight:
Thursday, 06 June 2019
Chapter Eight done 'n' dusted:
Saturday, 08 June 2019
Story-boarding Chapter Nine, the penultimate chapter of Berserk!
and researching Viking rune magic:
Tuesday, 11 June 2019
Stuck in the middle of the penultimate chapter of my latest book:
Saturday, 15 June 2019
Story-boarding Chapter 10:
Starting work on Chapter 10:
Sunday, 16 June 2019
Writing the final chapter:
Friday, 21 June 2019
I sat out in the garden this Summer Solstice afternoon to do a bit of writing. By a fluke of timing, the chapter of Berserk! I was working on was set on Summer Solstice and details a Summer Solstice ritual. I love coincidences like this :)
Saturday, 22 June 2019
Well, it looks like I need another two chapters to finish off the first draft of Berserk. This news has surprised me!
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| Story-boarding Chapter 11 |
Sunday, 23 June 2019
With the end of the first draft of Berserk! in sight, I have started work on the cover design for the book:
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| My original photograph of one of my local woods |
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| Work in progress on the book cover for Berserk! |
Monday, 25 June 2019
Story-boarding Chapter 12:
Wednesday, 26 June 2019
The first draft of my fifth novella, Berserk!, has now been completed. And I am quietly happy with its mad denouement :)
Sunday, 07 July 2019
It's time for me to get stuck into the second draft of Berserk! I printed out a hard copy of the first draft last night, so now it is time for me plough into those words and hopefully harvest something pretty damned good from them...
Friday, 12 July 2019
Cracking on with draught 2:
Sunday, 14 July 2019
Continuing work on the second draft:
Friday, 19 July 2019
Plodding on with the second draft of Chapter One of Berserk!
Saturday, 20 July 2019
Determined to make progress with the second draft of Chapter One...
Sunday, 21 July 2019
Here it is, the full cover design for Berserk! (pic contains reference gridlines that will obviously not be on the final printout). This has seriously done my head in today lol.
I have kept the text on the back cover to a minimum for this book to concentrate the eye on the artwork and to keep the design sparse.
Thursday, 25 July 2019
Completing Chapter Two, Draft Two:
Saturday, 27 July 2019
Working on Chapter Three, Draft Two:
Monday, 12 August 2019
Draft 2. Chapter 4.
Monday, 19 August 2019
Draft 2. Chapter 5.
Monday, 26 August 2019
Draft 2. Chapter 5. Completed.
Wednesday, 28 August 2019
Draft 2. Chapter 7.
Monday, 02 September 2019
Draft 2. Chapter 8.
Saturday, 07 September 2019
I spent this morning out in my writing shed, listening to a little Japan and enjoying the faint warmth of the autumn sun on my face as I completed the second draft of Chapter 8 of Berserk. I am still ahead in my writing schedule, 12 days ahead to be precise, and am confident I can get this beast of a novella completed by the end of the year. But the clock is definitely ticking...
Sunday, 08 September 2019
I have had a good few day's writing and am now two weeks ahead of schedule as I begin work on the second draft of Chapter 9 of Berserk! :)
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| Working on draft 2 of Chapter 9 of Berserk! |
Monday, 09 September 2019
Chapter 9. Draft 2. Complete.
Chapter 10. Draft 2. Complete.
Thursday, 12 September 2019
Draft 2. Chapter 12. Complete.
Friday, 13 September 2019
Despite the pretty grim cold that descended upon me this morning, which had me suffering and sneezing all day, I took the opportunity afforded to me this afternoon to grab a couple of hours out in the sunshine, where I managed to complete the second draft of Berserk!
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| Completing the second draft of Berserk! |
Thursday, 13 October 2019
Cracking on with Draft 3:
Saturday, 05 October 2019
Working on the third and final draft of Berserk! Looking at the number of changes I have made to just the second page of text (all the handwriting on the left page are amendments additional to the scrawling changes I have made on the right hand typed page!), I am starting to wonder if I will miss my December 31 publication date deadline :(
Sunday, 06 October 2019
With an afternoon to spare, I managed to catch up with with writing schedule today. I am happy to report that the final draft of Chapters One and Two of Berserk! have now been completed. :)
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| My youngest cat concluding the days's writing schedule by sitting on my work book |
Friday, 11 October 2019
Saturday, 12 October 2019
An early morning writing session on the balcony of my weekend holiday retreat, overlooking River Cleddau, Hakin:
Followed by a quiet and creative afternoon with my wife, attending to our various individual projects...
...whilst my son played on his Nintendo Switch:
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| Writing as my son plays his Nintendo Switch |
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| Completed the third draft of Chapter 3 of Berserk! |
Sunday, 13 October 2019
Woke early to make the most of my last few hours in our weekend holiday retreat and used the time to start the third draft of Chapter 4 of Berserk!
Friday, 18 October 2019
Commencing work on the the final draft of Chapter Five...
Saturday, 19 October 2019
Final draft. Continuing work on Chapter 5.
Sunday, 20 October 2019
Up at the crack of dawn to complete the final draft of Chapter 5.
And started work the final draft of Chapter Six during the afternoon.
Wednesday, 23 October 2019
Continuing work on the final draft of Chapter Six:
Saturday, 26 October 2019
Chapter 7. Final draft.
Saturday, 26 October 2019
Chapter 8. Third and final draft.
Tuesday, 05 November 2019
Final draft. Chapter 9.
Friday, 08 November 2019
Final Draft. Chapter 10.
Saturday, 09 November 2019
Working through the dawn to complete the final draft of Chapter Ten:
Sunday, 17 November 2019
Chapter 12. Final Draft.
Thursday, 21 November 2019
Completing the third and final draft :)
Friday, 22 November 2019
I had been planning to make a start on typing up the final draft of Berserk! tonight. But this attention seeker put a stop to that:
Sunday, 24 November 2019
Tuesday, 26 November 2019
Typing up the edits of Chapter 3 with this one:
Monday, 23 December 2019
Buy now! A heavy metal band travels north to explore a seemingly uninhabited island, hoping for some atmospheric locations for their next album's photo-shoot. Made infamous after the Vikings marooned their most vicious Berserker warrior there, the band soon discover the truth behind the island's dark reputation as being a place to shun and fear...
