Tag: updates

Friday Catch-Up

~ Gareth Ellis ~ 3 Comments

So today is just an end-of-the-week catch-up.

Today, to celebrate The Next Stage getting over 50 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reviews – 61 at the time of writing this post – the Kindle version is free over on Amazon. But, if you’d like a Google or Apple Books version, I have so promo codes to giveaway so just let me know.

I still can’t believe how The Next Stage has been received, and I’m exceptionally grateful the those that have reviewed it and especially those that have taken the time to do a text review. Reading how you enjoyed something I’ve written just makes it all worthwhile and like I’m actually good at what I’m trying to make my living doing.

In other news, I’ve decided to set myself a schedule for these blogs, so I have a vague idea of what content to post. It’s going to look something like this;

Monday: Writing update, where I’m up to with projects, and how I write, what I think about writing etc

Wednesday: Gaming, I’ll be doing reviews or retrospectives on gaming throughout my life.

Friday: Mental Health, these will be posts about how I live with bipolar, thoughts on how to deal with different situations, and general chat about it to get things out there.

I may deviate from this on occasion depending on what happens in my life, but I’ll be trying to stick to it where I can.

I’ve also decided to start Twitching again – game streaming, not the tick I get when someone mentions Twilight. My Twitch link is on the main page, but I’ll also be posting when I stream over on Twitter, it’ll probably be a weekend day, so if you want to join me, you’re more than welcome. I did a test run yesterday with Cyberpunk 2077, I’ll be playing through that, but I’m also going to be doing a try of all the months new PSNow additions – a blog about the one we’ve been playing recently will be coming on Wednesday.

As far as writing goes, I’ve been working on my ghost story, and I’m almost at 50,000 words, so it’s coming along. I’m hoping that I’ll have the story finished before Christmas and then I can polish it in the new year and hopefully release it soon after.

That’s it for today, so have a good weekend, and I’ll be back with more updates on Monday.

Welcome to Another Week

~ Gareth Ellis ~ Leave a comment

I’ll start the week with some good news that made me happy this morning.

I woke up to my first review for The Next Stage on Goodreads, and what made it even better was that it was a 5-star review. It means so much that even just one person has read and enjoyed what I’ve written and to get that rating is just…wow.

Since then I’ve had another 2 reviews, both 5-stars. So at the moment, it stands at the highest average it can get.

I am honestly beyond chuffed with these reactions to a book I put so much into.

Today, I’m continuing to work on It’s All in the Eyes. So far I’m at a total of just over 20,000 words and the story is really coming along.

While I write, I do bits and pieces of research on various things when the plot requires it. I can’t do any before because I just write and see where my brain takes it, and so far it’s taking it to some interesting places.

I have no idea when this book will be finished and out, but as I’m getting more confident in what I’m doing I feel like it won’t take as long as The Next Stage.

I’ll continue my updates and maybe even give out a few teasers when I feel like I’m ready to.

In the meantime grab a copy of The Next Stage and let me know what you think.

It’s All in the Eyes

~ Gareth Ellis ~ 1 Comment

It’s been a long week in an exceptionally long year.

Writing has this week saved my brain from having a meltdown.

My new project-and hopefully next book-is called It’s All in the Eyes. I don’t want to give away too much at this stage, but it’s turning out to be a sci-fi/horror story. It’s set in England, mainly around Manchester, and it follows a pair of mycologists discovered a new fungus that’s spores have an-I’ll say-adverse effect-on those that breath them in.

Like Creatures before it, this story is based off a dream. One that I had probably nearly 20 years ago, which has stuck with me ever since. On multiple occasions, I’ve tried to write it, but it just never worked. But now, with two books under my belt, I feel a lot more confident that I can do this story justice.

I’m so far just over 16000 words in, and it’s flowing really well. At this point, I’m not sure how long it will be, I’m just going to see where it goes. Hopefully, it will turn out alright, and if I do release it, people will enjoy it.

As I carry on with this here is a friendly reminder that my new book, The Next Stage is now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and in paperback format.

Ups and Downs

~ Gareth Ellis ~ Leave a comment

I decided the other day that I was going to aim to do a new blog every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I didn’t manage to do it this week, so I’m posting today instead.

A few months ago, I found out that I have a torn labrum in my left hip, this has meant for the majority of this year I have been in a lot of pain – even with pain management.

Yesterday was a particularly bad day as the pain seemed to overwhelm everything. As a knock-on effect of this, I also went downhill mood-wise. Most days, I can deal with the pain, but when it gets really bad, it even starts to affect my mental health.

With everything going on in the world, it’s easy to let it all get on top you. But it’s more important than ever to look after your mental health. Even those without diagnosed mental health issues can struggle in the current climate.

I have a hard time talking about the way I feel sometimes, but even I realise the importance of having people that are there for you and will help you through anything.

If you need to, make sure you talk to someone, a friend, relative, co-worker or even a stranger. Just being able to talk about how you feel will remove some of the burdens that you may be feeling.

It’s a tired saying, but it’s okay to not be okay.

In book news, I’m now over 14000 words on It’s All in the Eyes. It’s going pretty well so far. I think it’s going to end up being a mixture of sci-fi and horror, but that could change the more I write. At the moment, writing is helping me get through the bad times. Escaping to a world of my own creation and building it from within really makes a difference.

Today I also received my author copies of The Next Stage. With these arriving I feel like I can finally put this book to rest and concentrate on something new. It’s a strange feeling, but physically having the book in my hands makes it much more real, and something that I extremely proud of.

Hopefully I’ll be able to do another update tomorrow and actually stick to my own schedule.

Be safe out there.