Author Archives: Lee J. Russell

from my original blog on 20/8/19: 35 years ago I would have been about 16 years old when I first read this story. I’d wanted to read it again for some time, it had stuck in my mind as something worth re-visiting. Unfortunately I found that, for me, the story has not stood up wellContinue reading “I’ve just re-read James Herbet’s 1975 novel ‘The Fog’…”

from my original blog on 20/8/19: – take a look at https://youtu.be/Mpni7Ldni0c I’m very excited to be 15k words into the writing, with just circa 85k to go! I also reflect on whether I should self-publish this trilogy or seek an agent + Trad deal.

from my original blog on 26/7/19: – take a look at https://youtu.be/OgUBg5yxHqg In the vlog I talk about how some feedback about the plot for Book 2 helped me to find a ‘delicious’ development for Lissa Blackwood’s character arc and editing of a previous novel called ‘Dead Snow’

from my original blog on 7/7/19: This summer I achieved the dream of sitting inside the cockpit of a Vulcan bomber… and wow, what an experience! Let’s be clear, the Vulcan’s initial purpose was to deliver the Blue Danube fission bomb (yield 10-12 kt, similar to the Hiroshima bomb) against targets in the Soviet Union.Continue reading “I had a real “boy’s own” moment while on holiday and sat in the cockpit of a Vulcan bomber!”

From my earlier blog on 7/7/19: There are gaps in my sci-fi reading from about ’83-’85, when I was finishing sixth form studies and starting work, through 2002, when I finished my distance-learning BSc. I’m still making my way through that back-list and have just been BLOWN AWAY by William Gibson’s “Neuromancer” from 1984. I’dContinue reading “I finally read William Gibson’s “Neuromancer”, and it’s awesome!”

From my earlier blog on 11/5/19: Written in 1897, ‘Dracula’ is both a progressive piece of fiction as well as ‘a book of its time’. When I was around 10 years old I was given a copy as part of a set of classics as a Christmas present. I’m not surprised that I gave upContinue reading “After nearly forty years of trying, I have just finished reading Bram Stoker’s “Dracula””

From my earlier blog on 9/6/19: I’m now ready to start writing the 2nd novel in my ‘Lissa Blackwood’ Conspiracy-Thriller series. The overall plot has been fully defined and now works within the 7-Step Story Structure. Over the past month I have really enjoyed defining the 5 increasingly significant attacks that Lissa Blackwood will haveContinue reading “More progress on my 2nd ‘Lissa Blackwood’ conspiracy-thriller…”

‘PAIN’ – noun: that terrible feeling you get when you decide to abandon the method you were taught about 40 years ago for formatting inner voice in fiction! I’ve just made the choice to adopt one of the modern styles: no quote marks, italicised text with a tag. Heck – this means I’ve now gotContinue reading “Change of style for showing inner thoughts in my writing…”

I’ve just enjoyed reading Frederik Pohl’s 1979 novel “Jem”. Pohl was a prolific author- first published in 1937, with a final novel (‘All the Lives He Led’, 2011), and a collection of essays in 2012 – he died in 2013. I’ve been reading SF for about forty years and was aware of Pohl but neverContinue reading ““Jem” – Frederik Pohl”

In my latest vlog I talk about how to write Efficiently and Effectively using a combination of: – Plotting (not “pantsing’) – Mind-mapping in “FreeMind” – The 7-Point Story Structure – A writing tool like yWriter5 – Dictating a first draft using the “Dictanote” Chrome app – Editing with SmartEdit, Hemingway and editMinion Take aContinue reading “Approaches to writing Effectively and Efficiently…”