Wednesday, 30 July 2025

New House & 15 Minutes Daily Writing

I am seriously enjoying my new Kindle Scribe and I've been using it to write all my blog posts and articles. The handwriting recognition software it has converts my scrappy writing to text effortlessly and accurately.

Sadly though, I haven't had much time to use it lately (not even for reading) because Dean and I have been busy because we bought a house. 

As you know, we had to sell our apartment late last year and have been renting a house for the last 8 months. And after months of searching we finally found a house we liked and bought it. Unfortunately, it needs a lot of work done to it, including having a new kitchen and bathroom put in, and a complete clean inside and out, and a complete paint job.

The house was owned by an elderly man who lived there for years and, it seems, let the place go to hell. We daren't even think about the junk-filled, overgrown garden yet. But what the house does have is amazing potential and a nice open layout.

We've spent the last couple of weeks cleaning and repairing the place, and it's looking (and smelling) so much better already.

The problem is that in addition to spending a lot of time working on the new house, we still have everything to do at home, too (at the rental house where we still live until the new house is habitable). So we are extremely busy and exhausted, and most days I'm too exhausted to write or read on my Kindle Scribe or do much of anything else.

One of the ebooks I was reading on my Scribe was Dorothea Brande's Becoming a Writer.

In it, she says that to be able to write more, you should write for at least an hour first thing every morning and for 15 minutes later every day. I wanted to get up and write every day, but at the moment, mornings are only for getting up, having breakfast, and heading straight over to the new house to work. But I thought I could write for 15 minutes at the end of every day, because I'm the author of 'How To Write an Article in 15 minutes or Less,' so how hard could it be? I managed the 15 minutes of writing every day for about 5 days, but it was tough because I'm always so damn tired at the end of every day now. One day I was so exhausted that my hands were shaking. Eventually, I decided to just give it up for now and try it again once my life is back to normal, and I'm not physically exhausted every day. I don't think I've ever been this tired in my whole life. Maybe I'm just getting too old for all this.

But while I was doing the 15 minutes of writing every day, I was enjoying it, and it was good to have a set daily writing habit. It was good until the last day, when I was so tired I felt brain dead and could hardly think at all. So I went to bed instead, even though it was only 7.30 pm. And I slept for ten and a half hours, so I must have been more tired than I realised.

If you want to grab a copy of Dorothea's ebook, it's only 99 cents on Kindle and it's fascinating and insightful about how to write more. https://amzn.to/471PX6E 

And now it's late (well, not really, but I'm exhausted all the same), so I need my rest. Boy do I need it.

I'll try and still post on my blog when I can, but if I do go MIA you'll know why.

We're aiming to finish the house and move in six weeks.

Fingers crossed. 



Monday, 21 July 2025

Jackolantern

I don't often send out a sales post, but I just couldn't help myself this time because I'm so excited about my new novel.

It's a Halloween horror story called Jackolantern.

Here is the blurb:

When Gerald came home and found a jackolantern on his porch, he thought it was nothing more than an unwanted Halloween gift from a neighbour.

But it was much more sinister than that.

No matter how many times he got rid of it, the jackolantern returned, angrier than ever.

Eventually Gerald discovered what was really happening.

But was he too late?

This is a book that I had fun writing. 

It's the second horror novel in my Campfire Series of three books.

The first one was called Mackarb: A story so frightening that it cannot be told around a campfire near the woods, or worse, in the woods.

You can read more about Mackarb at https://www.cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/mackarb.html

Mackarb


Jackolantern is available to preorder and will be published on 1st September 2025.

You can preorder/buy it as a paperback novel or an ebook from Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and ebooks.com or any other bookstore. If you want to borrow it from your local library, put in a purchase request for them to buy a copy.

Or pre-order now from your favourite bookstore.

https://www.cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/jackolantern.html 


Happy reading


Thursday, 10 July 2025

Free eBooks, Free Writing Competitions, and High-Paying Writing Markets

 For July 2025

Today I’ve gathered a few interesting and (hopefully) useful items for you to help you write more, earn more, and relax.

There are links to 3 free murder, mystery ebooks, 8 horror writing markets, free-to-enter writing competitions, and a link to a huge list of paying article writing markets.

Enjoy.


(Currently) Free ebooks:

  Imposter Syndrome: A Gripping Psychological Thriller

https://amzn.to/4lJiu53 

THE PICASSO SCAM: a gripping Yorkshire crime thriller full of twists (Detective Charlie Priest Mysteries Book 1)

https://amzn.to/40abWnS 

Whispers in the Fog: A Christian Suspense and Mystery Novel (Shadows of Harbor Point)

https://amzn.to/4eGuB0k 


Write for Magazines: 50 Magazines That Pay for Articles

https://makealivingwriting.com/write-for-magazines/ 

Free Entry Writing Competitions

https://womagwriter.blogspot.com/2025/07/more-free-entry-writing-competitions.html 

New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

https://ericjguignard.blogspot.com 


Start writing, reading and have a great weekend.





Monday, 7 July 2025

My New Kindle Scribe and What I Really Think About It

This is an image I 'borrowed' from Amazon
As you probably already know ( because I mention it all the time) is that I like to write by hand.

The only problem with this, of course, is that all my handwriting has to be typed up later. I've tried many times to write straight to the keyboard, but I'm just not comfortable writing that way, and my creative flow is stifled.

So I've been looking around for years now for a device I can handwrite on and have it converted to text automatically.

Years ago, I had a little PDA that I used for writing. The hand recognition software would convert my handwriting to text as I wrote. That was an amazing little device, and I used it every day. Sadly, as computer software changed, I could no longer upload my files because they were no longer recognised, and I had no way to update the little device.

I immediately went in search of another one, or a computer or tablet with handwriting recognition software, but I couldn't find anything.

A couple of years ago, I came across a device called Remarkable that can recognise handwriting, but all the marketing for it suggested that it was more for art than writing. I also saw that Amazon had brought out their latest Kindle e-reader. It's called Kindle Scribe because it's for writing as well as reading. I put off getting one for a while because I wasn't sure it was exactly what I wanted.

I use the Kindle app on my phone and computer to read ebooks, and I’ve been using it for years, so I knew the Scribe would be good for that because it meant I could read my books on a screen bigger than my phone. And with the pen that the Kindle Scribe comes with, I'd be able to highlight and make notes in all my books( they're mostly non-fiction). I read my books over and over, so it would be good to be able to make notes and do summaries.

As the software in the Kindle Scribe improved, I became more and more intrigued by_ it. Last week I took the plunge and ordered a new Kindle Scribe, plus a folio cover for it and a box of extra pen nibs.

The Scribe has what it calls ‘notes' for handwriting, which is great. It also has the option to convert a 'note' to text and email it to yourself or to anyone.

So I tried it out and it works well. No matter how untidy my writing (and it is pretty bad when I'm writing fast), the software converts it quickly and effortlessly to text and emails it as a simple text file.

And I wrote this article about my new Kindle Scribe, on my new Kindle Scribe.

I hand-wrote a note, converted it to text, emailed it to myself, cleaned up the formatting, and I was done. It was ready for uploading and publishing without any typing needed. And it's great to read my ebooks on a bigger screen, and it automatically adjusts itself for brightness and warmth so I can read it in any light, or lack of light.

So far, this Kindle Scribe is beyond useful and is currently my favourite device.


UPDATE: I’ve had my new Kindle Scribe for almost a week now, and I’ve used it every day, both for reading and writing. It is now my favourite device. 😀