The Incomplete Photo Upload

Meant to upload four photographs yesterday, but only two showed up in yesterday’s post.  Here are the other two, taken in and near Highgate Wood, North London. 

 

 

Sky, Focus, And Some More Writing

Getting to grips once again with the writing, a crime drama/psychological thriller set in the north of England.   The debut new – Secrets by Lawrence Estrey - has attracted mostly positive feedback and is available on Amazon.

Meanwhile, I continue to work on my photography skills and the somewhat complicated photo editing software, Photoshop Elements. 

Photoshop Elements, And A Sore Neck

Once more I’ve got mega writer’s block, so I’ve been spending more time taking photos on my digital cameras and editing the images in Photoshop Elements.  Unfortunately, the endless squinting forwards when I adjust sliders has left me with a bad neck. 

Some of the results below:

(Sherlock Holmes Museum, Baker Street, Central London.  Highgate Wood, North London.  Regent’s Park )

New Phone and Bluetooth

I got a smartphone the other day, as the other phone seemed to have problems.  The new phone doesn’t have a manual or software for connecting to a PC, and I am having to use Bluetooth to get information such as photos, music and files from phone to PC.   So annoying.

Meanwhile, I’ve taken a week off the new novel, a psychological thriller, to concentrate on digital photography and the various phones.  On Wednesday, I made a short video of myself  playing the first movement of Beethoven’s Pathetique on the piano, but I will need software to edit.  My debult novel – Secrets by Lawrence Estrey – continues to sell and has received another good review on Amazon. Already nearly halfway through January and things aren’t too bad in regards to the creative arts.

Another Bout Of Writer’s Block – Again!

Once more, I’m struggling with the plot in my latest novel, a psychological thriller, unsure of where to go or which path to take…

Blog’s 3rd Birthday

My blog is nearly three-years-old.   To celebrate, I’ve chosen to upload some black and white photos of Highgate Wood, North London.   I took the images as normal in colour, then removed all Color using Photoshop Elements.

Meanwhile, I’m continuing work on another novel Silent Friends, a psychological thriller, and my debut novel Secrets by Lawrence Estrey  is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  

Things are quiet on the musical front at present, but I have several online recordings of my piano playing on Last.Fm, an internet radio site.

Happy New Year!

Leaping Ahead In The New Novel, Another Psychological Thriller…

Exactly a week ago I started a new draft of a new novel , a psychological thriller, in which a group of students move into a house where a tragedy occurred ten years earlier. In the story, the past comes to have an effect on the present, leading to mounting danger and confusion for central character Gavin and his friends. 

In the initial planning, I tried a demo free novel writing software program, but I found, as I have many times before, that these programs don’t get rid of writer’s block or help with plot progression (the question of what comes next), as the programs can’t actually write the novel.   The programs are fine for planning the story and organising scenes/chapters, but only the author can write the story.  Once I decided exactly what I wanted to convey, the story came naturally to me.

A sample:

That night, I woke with a jolt, my heart hammering in my chest. I’d been dreaming about Aidan again and something scary had happened on the landing, but I couldn’t remember what. Silence pressed in, tangible and sticky and laden with anticipation. I heard creaking on the stairs, then nothing.

            I must have fallen asleep again, for suddenly I was awake once more, my heart pounding like before. I sat up on the mattress. Dawn, Philippa and Veronica were knocking on my bedroom door, calling my name, their voices full of urgency.

Meanwhile my debut novel, Secrets by Lawrence Estrey, is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

My First Review on Amazon

Just got my first review of my novel Secrets on Amazon. Pretty pleased with it.

I have limited internet access over the next few days due to the holidays, but I wanted to wish readers a happy Hanukkah or a merry Christmas, depending on what one you observe.

A New Novel?

“Extremely scary,”…”very exciting,”…”spooky.” 

Secrets -  Lawrence Estrey

__________________________

My first novel Secrets appears to have sold in three countries and the local library has agreed to stock it, so I’m now working on a new novel and hoping it will go to plan.  Again, I have chosen to write a psychological thriller.  This time, I want to concentrate more on the psychology and suspense and less on the crime elements. 

Here are some of the things I learned during the writing process for Secrets:

• Avoid changing viewpoint unless absolutely crucial to the story,
• Delay surprises until absolutely crucial to the story,
• In a crime thriller or psychological thriller, always introduce calming sections and contrasts. These allow for more scary/exciting scenes later on. 

Sounds pretty basic, yet I ignored my own advice many times during the writing of Secrets and previous works.

Brief Update On My Novel – Secrets Lawrence Estrey

The novel seems to be selling in the US, Germany and UK, where it is based.    Secrets, a psychological thriller set in the present in the north of England, examines memory and questions the accuracy of recalled events following psychological trauma.  In the novel, central character Alan becomes increasingly unsettled when confronted with the possibility that his clearest memories may not be as accurate as he’s always assumed.   Secrets also contains a danger element with links to serious crime, along with issues of police corruption during the eighties in the north of England, around the same time as Arthur Scargill and the famous miner strikes.