Inside the Novels of Author Charlotte Baker: Balancing Life and Good Writing Habits
Intro from the editor: To mark the publication of Valor Diamond: Let the Dust Fall, we sat down with author Charlotte Baker for an inside look into the Valor Diamond series. Keep reading to find out more about how Charlotte juggles best writing practices and a busy life.
Valor Diamond: The Rhyme and Retribution Killer (TRARK) was the first substantial piece of work I had written and I found it took me a significant change to my writing habits in order to adjust to writing a longer piece. I could plan a short story in a morning and have it written in the afternoon, editing and proofreading the following day. A motivation and desire to write the next piece arrived shortly after I pressed send on the email to submit the story to its new home. However, with Valor Diamond TRARK it was six months of fairly intense writing and then another six months of edits and proofreading. This was all alongside the various other jobs I was working in order to fund my student life at the time.
Once I was writing, teaching, and studying horror, I soon found that I developed a far better writing habit. Although I was always better in the morning and have always been an advocate of the ‘work smarter not harder’ phrase, I only ever have worked in stints of 30 minutes before I either have a quick cuppa, telly break, or catch up on admin. Then I’ll repeat this for most of the day; the mornings are intense and I get less productive as the day gets on. When I started, I could write 1-2,000 words a day and I can now write up to 4,000. Although it's utter crap. But I’d rather get all the ideas down, like a lump of clay, ready for sculpting some other time.
AND THEN I HAD A BABY! And everything shifted once again. Although I am only 8 months into being a parent, I am still adapting, changing, learning every single day. I am not entirely convinced the routine I have now is the best, nor is it the most effective working habit I’ve ever had. But I am trying. I get up fairly early and spend my time between the baby’s naps and as he bounces away, trying to finish the tasks for that day. I thought I was an organised person before him, I’m SUPER organised now! I’m currently in the process of writing a brand new series and I’m finding that I’m much slower in being able to piece the project together and planning it, never mind writing it. Although, I’m sure my recently appointed ‘boss baby’ supervisor will have me working in no time!
About Valor Diamond: Let the Dust Fall
With no time to rest or reflect on the fallout from their last case, the Valor Diamond team are once again on the trail of a brutal killer. In Valor Diamond: The Rhyme and Retribution Killer, the team of vampires traced the rhyming clues left by a demon on the bodies of his victims. But the team failed to stop him from killing Alex, a forensic criminologist, or from escaping after killing the body he'd possessed. Now, as bodies continue to pile up, the team must regroup and try to catch him once again. But that's not easy with the team dynamic shattered. Especially since there's a mole in Diamond. Is it one of their own members, or someone close to them? Plus, what do old rivalries with werewolf packs have to do with the recent string of killings? Can the team figure out who to trust in time to stop someone else close to them from falling victim to the demon? Find out in Valor Diamond: Let the Dust Fall.