Blog Book Tour! Overcoming Writer's Block, and Photos of Nyon

My Druid's Moon book tour continues!






All month: My book and my blog tour!

Druid's Moon by Deniz Bevan
Beauty to his Beast...
Lyne Vanlith, an archaeologist who seeks a logical explanation to any mystery, discovers an ancient Druidic curse on her first dig. When the signs foretold by the curse descend on her, Lyne can’t find a reasonable interpretation.
And that’s even before a Beast rescues her from a monstrous sea-creature. She drops a grateful kiss on the snout of the Beast, who transforms into a man, Frederick Cunnick, Baron of Lansladron. Lyne is meant to be Beauty to his Beast—and break the curse forever.
Now both spellkeeper and monster are targeting Lyne. She must take up her legendary role, to defeat the curse and save Frederick—and herself. Instead of logic, for the first time, Lyne must trust her heart.
Release date: 20 September

Blog tour!

Already open for comments:
September dates coming up:




I came across this old post on the A Round of Words in 80 Days blog and thought I'd reshare it!

We’ve all got our own methods for barrelling through the day. Some of us make lists, some of us have reminder apps, some of us keep all our errands and tasks in our heads. When you’re writing, some days the words flow and sing, and when you’re editing, some days you’re so excited that you can feel the s***ty first draft words turning to smooth, well placed sentences under your fingers.

At other times, between real life and lack of confidence, every word sounds stupid and clichéd and nothing your characters say seems plausible or remotely exciting. The best cure for that, of course, is to go out and live life for a while. Step away from the page and interact with others. Do something fun and unexpected!

For those times when you can’t do that – faced with a deadline or the need to by-gum-get-things-done – I’ve got a few tips and tricks that have helped me

Read poetry, especially something that’s written in a style completely unlike what you’re used to reading or writing. Penning a dark urban mystery? Read some Gerard Manley Hopkins. Creating a lyrical literary masterpiece? Browse some Bukowski. The contrast, and the 360 way of looking at the same old world, tends to jump start your creativity.

Research. Not in a long-term, leading to procrastination way, but in fits and starts. What’s the view from the castle at Naples? A two second Google image search. Can you use coltsfoot in stew? Another split second search. Don‎’t get distracted by photos of the Italian countryside or delicious recipes. Search, find the answer, return to the manuscript. Done! Hopefully, that’ll satisfy any urge you might have had to click over to Facebook…

Plan for writing time. “Today I will write from 1 to 3 pm.” Watch your writing time get eaten up by family demands, freelancing, household tasks, what have you. Get mad. Write anyway, even if you lose an hour’s sleep.

Go out of your comfort zone. I love writing at home, listening to my own music, accompanied by cats. Yet I get a lot more work done when I wake early and head to the coffee shop, where they play music that I can’t stand and where there’s always the possibility of overhearing ridiculous conversations (“So, like, I told him not to do that, but then he did, and I was all, how could you, and you know what my therapist says…”).

Last but not least…

Read. Write. Don’tStop. Don’tcompareyourselftoothers. There’snohurry. ChangePOVs. Writeinstreamofconsciousnesstoexploreacharacter . DrinkcoffeeStopreadingalltheso-calledrulesaboutwriting. Idleawaybythinkingofchaptertitlesorcharacternamesorbynamingashipcardoggoldfish. Siptea. Thinkaboutyourstorywhilewalkingshoweringbicycling. Re-readafavouritebookorlistentoafavouritealbum. Playagame. Daleks! Tellittosomeoneelse. Ignoreitandgowatchamovie. Eat. Blog. Exercise. Putyourantagoniststogether. Stopfocusingonbooksales-yourownorothers’. Have fun!


Speaking of ROW80, I'm still going ahead with typing up all the missing scenes from Larksong that were still in notebooks! And letting ideas for NaNo 2022 percolate...


A few photos of the lovely town of Nyon and its Roman ruins!
And ice cream, of course!

Do you have any tips for overcoming writer's block?

Comments

Jeff said…
Congratulations on your upcoming publication. Those are some good pieces of advice you've given.
Beautiful photos.
Now that's one heck of a conversation to overhear.
Computer Tutor said…
Best of luck on the book tour! You have some great stops there with folks who have nice communities. I bet it will go well!
Hi Deniz - all the best with the book tour - the premise of the plot sounds interesting ... your work ethic is exceptional. Listening to people chat can be very demoralising ... often so mundane! Nyon looks interesting ... particularly those ice-creams ... cheers Hilary
Congratulations, Deniz! Your book sounds lovely. And the photos! So romantic!
Deniz Bevan said…
Thank you, Jeff, Alex, Jacqui, Hilary, and Elizabeth! Your support means so much <3