T. L. Whalan | Writer

T. L. Whalan

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24.01.2022 Thursday night shopping book haul.

23.01.2022 Day 2 of lockdown and PLOT TWIST.

23.01.2022 In NaNoWriMo tradition, it's fun to create a cover for your novel. They mean nothing, but perhaps give you a thrill. So tell me, do you prefer the colour or black and white version?

20.01.2022 Here's the second blog post, but the first one on my exceedingly bland lockdown experience.

18.01.2022 Combining some of my favourite things.

18.01.2022 Submitted "The Black Shucks of Fableham" to the First Pages Prize today. :)

17.01.2022 I did it! I entered the the Ampersand Prize (Hardie Grant Egmont)! Now the wait until October for the shortlist to be announced. Now: Back to editing my paranormal young adult novel (perhaps a candidate for the Ampersand Prize next year?).

16.01.2022 Super excited.

16.01.2022 Super happy to receive my feedback from the Emerald award (from Romance Writers of Australia) today. I entered this contest late last year with the manuscript "When Darkness Speaks". I knew it would be a challenge to get far with a YA paranormal manuscript with romantic elements - instead of a full blown romance - but I'm super happy to get some lovely comments. (We didn't get to the finals.) Here are some of them:... "I really enjoyed this excerpt and would want to continue reading... I want to read more... It is enticing and certainly appealed." "The story flows, explains the characters well and allows the reader to imagine how life would have been in earlier times... It was enjoyable to read and I would like to read the rest of the story if it is available." "There is an element of intrigue from the main characters interaction that makes me want to find out more but also makes me want to see what happens to the other characters that are prominent in the excerpt... It was an unusual beginning of a story (perfect for young adults) that has me intrigued to go fruther." And the one that made me giddy: "This was such a pleasure to read. This was an entry from an author at the top of her game. Everything was handled with finesse, sparing prose and tantalising descriptions to hint at the troubles Adhan faced. From the opening sentence, I knew I was in safe hands - and fully expectant of that satisfied 'Ah!' of a Good Book when I reached the end... All was excellent."

15.01.2022 I had a productive 'Writing Saturday' (in lieu of my normal Writing Monday). Today I: -Wrote a piece for Furious Fiction (the Australian Writers' Centre's competition) -Rediscovered 'I Felt That', a novel I wrote in 2018 - and realised it's not as bad as I thought... -Edited 'The Prince, The Princess, and The Dragon' - it's been easy edits, but as I get to the end, I know I'm going to have to do some sense-work after having eliminated the first 3 chapters... -Worked on my entry to 'First Kiss' competition (by Romance Writers of Australia) - by taking the scene from 'I Felt That'. -Read a million other Furious Fiction entries, and got feedback on my own stories. I have literally worked from about 8am-8pm, with a few breaks for snacks and dogs. But it's been a great day!

14.01.2022 My writing Monday update: -Edits on "The Prince, the Princess, and the Dragon" There was A LOT of darling killing here and then I looked and went dammit, this is a better opening. There is a lot to go, and now to make sure I weave in those big plot points that have been axed from the first THREE chapters being practically cut.... -Edits on "Matty and the Merman" The edits here are a lot less difficult. This novel was overwritten in a NaNoWriMo frenzy, so I'm just cutting the rubbish and seeing what I end up with. -First kiss scene edits in "When Darkness Speaks" After thinking I wasn't going to, I considered entering Romance Writers of Australia's Firs Kiss competition... So I cut out my first kiss scene, and am looking at it closely... -More research My arvo was spent taking notes on another Napoleon on Egypt documentary. No prizes to guess the era or setting of this upcoming project! I am loving my writing Mondays. It feels a lot less satisfying to edit than write new, but this is soooo crucial and something I have neglected for too long. Excited about all my projects. :)

10.01.2022 Congratulations to the winners of Furious Fiction for January! I look forward to entering February. :)

08.01.2022 Woohoo! Today my NaNoWriMo novel hit the 25,000 word mark - halfway through! And not hating my story, so that's always a plus!

08.01.2022 So I don't know what this is but! It was wedged between school stuff from when I was about 13/14 years old.

08.01.2022 How spoilt am I! I had a friend buy me an Amazon voucher as a thank you gift. Obviously, I spent it all on books.

06.01.2022 My NaNoWriMo progress! 10k mark, 4 days in.

04.01.2022 In two and a half hours time, we will be entering lockdown. I decided I'd again blog about the experience of being stuck at home.

03.01.2022 Pleased to be starting my NaNoWriMo novel this weekend! I am writing a middle grade novel about a boy who saves a merman. It's all plotted and ready to go!

03.01.2022 Today, I wrote in my lunch break at work! Currently have written 5287 words of my NaNoWriMo project. :)