jake-l-hyde

[jake-l-hyde]

I love to handle books, to hold them and feel them. I love the smell of books, especially when the air is laced with freshly ground coffee. Although I'm not published, I do own the first and only hard copy of my novel. There isn't a better feeling than when that arrives on your doorstep!

[jake-l-hyde]

I think, therefore, I am

I would like to be able to say, 'you may know me for my literary work and book publications', where I would then list the books I have had published. Sadly, this isn't the case - at least, not yet!

I am Jake L. Hyde, and one day my name will be on the shelves of your local Waterstones, WHSmiths, Barnes & Noble or BAM.

Of everything I've done in life, the one thing I feel I'm good at, and enjoy the most is writing. I love it, and live for it. In the summer of 2011 I finished my first complete novel. It took me a little over 12 weeks to write, it's 140,000 words, over 500 pages. Called The story of a saint, The tales of the L.A. Ripper. A current crime story based in Los Angeles. The novel isn't published at the moment and has sat, very comfortably, on my laptop, gathering tiny specs of animated dust. My lack of attempts to publish are largely due to my inability to dedicate time to polishing the novel, and sending it to agents.

Since then, my life has evolved and recently I've had time to write again, however my interests have been taken away from crime into new ventures. I started this blog a few months ago, but appeared to neglect it, I plan to rectify that and I apologies for it, so as well as writing this blog, I'm working on a new novel and a collection of short stories (shorts) that relate to that novel. The writing I'm currently working on hasn't yet been named, and the theme is slightly more complicated to simply label. I suppose if I was to put it into a category, I'd go with post apocalyptic, featuring action and romance. I'll share more information about the novel, the 'shorts' and about my ideas as they come up.

I guess the aim of this blog is to get my name and some of my works out there into the world, to be known by people who are interested in my work, interested in writing and interested in what it is I have to say. My other goal is to hopefully help anyone who has always wanted to write, but has never known where to start. The fact is, writing is easy, and satisfying! One of the nicest feelings in the world, is sitting down with a cup of coffee, a notebook, and writing down the start of your first chapter! Almost instantly you feel a sense of accomplishment, a gratification of having done well! "Today hasn't been a complete waste! I achieved something!" An even better feeling is when you send that chapter to people and they give you positive feedback. Validating your ideas, and your writing style.

You might wonder, what right do I have to give my views on how to write, or how to plan your book. Truth is I don't really, but, people ask me what I do, what my career is, "Well, I'm an author." Does it matter if I'm published already? Nope. I wake up every day and think about writing, when I'm in the shower, eating, working and when I'm going back to bed, I'm thinking about writing. The fact I've been a butcher and a microbiologist is irrelevant. I live it, I breathe it. I am an author.

The following pros is an extract from my own creative works, "The story of a Saint, The tale of the L.A Ripper."

A Man At the End

The man stood over the abyss. The expanse ahead of him was vast

and stretched on forever. The light was fading, the sun disappearing

over the distant cliffs, but the man wasn't alone. He stood, staring into

the face of his great enemy, who had been fighting him his whole life.

And then he realised. It wasn't the eyes of his nemesis staring back at

him, but Time. He had been fighting her from the beginning and without

realising, he had become old.

A man standing on the edge of his life, looking over what the future held.

Nothing. He knew he had lost and with that a single tear rolled down his

cheek and he faded away into the abyss. And light was gone.

You will have noticed the double spacing between lines, whether you write on a computer or a notebook, I would advice this style. It is the style literary agents prefer, and makes it easier to add notes to your work if you work in a notebook.

To say the least, what I write on this blog is my own experience of writing and attempt to make it as an author. It would be fair to say any advice or notes I give are only worth what you pay for them: which is nothing. The final point to make, is if at any point I suggest you purchase something, it is only a suggestion and there is no financial gain to myself from suggesting it.

I suggest you buy a note book, an A4 hard back with a bound spine, and a small A6 jotter. (the bound spine is because you should never remove a page, even if you don't like the work. Keep it! It may be useful later.

The jotter should be kept on you at all times. If you intend to write the full works on a notebook before putting it onto a computer, then I recommend buying 2 A4 notebooks.

If something I write is of help to you, then you are welcome, I wish you well and good luck!

http://jakelhyde.blogspot.com/2013/06/i-think-therefore-i-am.html

[jake-l-hyde]