April 2025
I’ve added a short story section. The first one is ready to read; it’s on the new Short Stories page . It’s in a style of writing I haven’t used before and would welcome feedback. Please forgive any errors – it’s just as I wrote it. More in the pipeline.
December 2023
What sort of writer am I?
I’m a storyteller. I don’t regard myself as professional writer, but I’m not a completely amateur one. I’ve written professionally in the past, very niche, part of my job, a specific type of writing with little imaginative input; proposals, then briefs to action them. Perhaps at times creative, but not imaginative. Now my books are all imaginative, albeit with themes that resonate in the real world.
I read avidly, all types of books, four or more a week. During military service, many years ago, I was trained to speed-read, blocks of writing at a time, and to type as fast as I could listen. The training was intense, but very effective. Even now, many years later, when I write I let my imagination flow through my fingers into a word processor, I don’t even have to think about the process. The software corrects typos and amends simple grammatical issues, but not the more academic nuances. I’m alright with that because when I’ve completed a draft, I read every word out loud. If the flow is interrupted or doesn’t sound right, I know where it needs adjusting. If anything, grammatical or not, is suggested further down the line by the publishing experts during editing, I consider making changes only if it improves what I intended to say?
I don’t write to make money, neither do I need professionals who might, quite justifiably on their part, persuade me to consider doing things that would make my writing more profitable. I write for the pleasure of doing so, in my own way, at my own speed (sometimes I don’t feel like writing for months, then pick it up refreshed from where I left off). I find writing therapeutic and relaxing. I also have a family and as I, and they, grow older the time they demand does not diminish, but they like that I write and encourage me.
During past careers, I have witnessed and been involved in many traumatic experiences and events. Some writers with a similar background relive theirs in biographies and novels. I regret nothing but sometimes wince at memories; they are best left alone. So, I prefer fantasy, a genre as old as human communication, when storytelling made sense of a wild, natural world. I try to add authenticity and aspects of human behaviour; good and bad to my stories, but in an imagined way of course.
January 2024
I am currently carrying out the final revision of Book Two before submitting to the publisher. I hoping it will go to the publisher in March for completion and publishing in September 2024
March 2024
I’ve added another heading – A Story – it’s a sort of autobiography. I will be writing it in tranches; as I feel inclined, but regularly. It’s self-explanatory. It will cover the first half of my life. Whether I extend it to cover the rest is doubtful, anyway it will take some time to tell the first half. It may surprise you; some of it is unusual, so much so that I have taken the liberty of not admitting it is exactly true – why wouldn’t I? Read it and see. Decide for yourself.
I haven’t posted for a long time, family commitments and other projects have taken precedence somewhat, but I have revised books 2 and 3 of The Land and I’m looking to publish at least one this year. I have also written some short stories and will put them on this website (I revise everything over and over again. I leave a draft for a month or so and discover areas of improvement, lapses in continuity or grammatical issues). Please leave feedback when I do post a story.
James A Lloyd 