For months I have been neglecting my writing. The truth is, there was no story to tell. I had the great privilege to fall in love and have that love be returned. I became the main character of my own story, felt the exhilarating rush of kisses and long-held cuddles. Only when I have no story to tell, when that last page to the novel flips to the left and closes that I realize how much time has past, and how happy I once was in my own love story.

They say that time will heal our wounds. I believe that this age old saying is true. I also believe that I can find solace in words, the truest friendship of a paper and a pen. What stories will come? I dare not know, but one thing is certain, I had been loved and I loved in return.

As a Canadian I am prone to apologize for everything. So let me start off by apologizing for my lengthy silence. Over the past few months I have not written a single story, not even a chapter. I was battling with severe lapses of anxiety from stresses from work and other life changing events. Fortunately I am at a place where I can breathe and feel at peace with the world. So without further ado, here is my story...

Mental healthy is an important thing to discuss at work and in our everyday lives. Sometimes it is okay to take a step back and withdraw yourself from the world. Consequently, those were my exact actions over the last several months. I needed to take a break from the publishing industry, but now that the dust has settled, I think it is a good time to step back into action.

'At Peace' is still due to be published by the late summer, ideally the month of August. The second instalment of 'Far from Home' needs to be rewritten in certain sections, so I am not certain when it will be published. I am still aiming for 'Far from Home II' to be released in the year 2022. Ironically, the third instalment is already done, it is ever so patient to be released. It is by far my favourite Gothic horror type novel, so I think you will enjoy the dark descent of this new heroine.

At the moment I have no plans to publish any further books. My mind has been on hyper-speed ever since the autumn of last year, so I won't get into a "creative space" until things in my life settle down. All the same, I hope to publish many more books in the coming years, most of them belonging to the genre of romance or eerie Gothic horror novels.

I would like to end off this blog post with a special acknowledgement to the fans that have reached out to me. It touches my heart when you send me a quick message on Instagram to share your appreciation of my work or simply hitting the "like" button on Facebook. Thank you to those  that left a book review on Goodreads or other book related platforms. On a final note thank you for my friends and family that have supported me during my period of instability.

Here is to a brighter future in the year 2022 and a lot more stories to come,

Peter

For those of you that follow me regularly on social media, especially Instagram, you are aware that I have a secret project in the works. My historical novel 'At Peace' was expected to debut at the end of the year. After some long periods of consideration, I have decided that 'At Peace' will come out in June 2022.

The main reason for this push back is that I will be returning to my former job (before Covid-19 turned my world upside down and I got laid off from my job). More importantly, I am planning to move overseas for a new position at the end of December, so that will be my primary focus for the next few months.

I do apologize to my fans for this major inconvenience. I am aware that many of you were excited for my new book, but I thought it deserved the respect it deserved by pushing back the premiere date. It is more important to me to put 100% of my effort, time and focus into this novel, rather than rushing through the process and diminishing its value to the reader. 

On a happier note, I am planning to partner up with a indie artist on Instagram for the book cover. If you want a sneak peak of the kind of art that will be displayed on the front cover, please visit her Instagram page @heafjaart

Thank you for your patience and understanding. 'At Peace' will be my longest novel to date, and the most heart-wrenching romance in my opinion. You can expect some more updates on my latest novel in the coming months.

Thank you once more,

Peter

For the life of me, I will never understand how people are able to publish books with the title: "How to Become a Writer." It puzzles me exceedingly, and probably will until my dying day.

My favourite poet of all time, John Keats, once said "If poetry comes not as naturally as leaves to a tree, it had better not come at all."

In my opinion, you cannot teach a person how to write. They simply are a writer! The act of writing is like walking or swimming, yes you can teach a person how to do it, but some will develop it more naturally than others, perhaps even excel at it enough to make a living.

Writing comes naturally to me, it is a form of art that I have nurtured ever since I was a child. My mind was filled with endless daydreams. For hours I would sit at home, stare at the sky, and see a world of imagination before me. To this day, even if I find myself waiting at the doctor's office or for the next train, I can feel my mind developing a new plot-line to keep me entertained. But we should return to the title of this blog post "How to Master Intuitive Writing." Firstly, to be an intuitive writer you must learn how to listen to the inner voice. We all have a voice inside of us, mostly represented by the media as an angel and devil on our shoulder, but I am not referring to the inner voice of our conscious mind. No, it is a far more elusive one! It is the voice that suggests decisions on a daily basis. The one that decides whether you should save your money this morning or drive over to Starbucks for a nice pastry and an iced caramel macchiato. It is that voice that I use when writing a story, except I rely on it so heavily that I never plot it out from beginning to end. I listen to the voice as it naturally whispers over my shoulder, suggesting a sudden plot-twist or to suddenly kill off the character. It is the voice of the unexpected, of pure creativity, of madness!

Henceforth, to master this style of writing you need two things: a strong sense of intuitive thinking and a wild imagination. They act as a sort of yin and yang, a perfect balance of harmony that will allow you to craft a story. To become efficient at this style of writing may I suggest you practice writing prompts. There are tons of them out there on the internet, a simple Google search and you will have a list to last you the year. For example, "The custodian walked into the classroom, alarmed at the sound of..."  Wait a second. Let your imagination give way and fly to new heights. What was the sound that the custodian heard? A chilling laugh of madness, a painful scream, the painfully familiar voice of his ex-wife? Can't you see the endless worlds of possibilities? So, to master this style of writing, I suggest you practice using writing prompts until you develop the natural ability to story-tell without a detailed plot-line placed in front of you.

One final piece of advice I will leave with you is to develop a visual board. My preference is Pinterest, as you can see by the screenshot image above. On a weekly basis, I choose images that stimulate my creative mind and pin it there, continually referencing to them as I write a story. Keep the ball rolling, everyone! Always search for inspiration! Take up a pen, scribble on paper, and with some hard work and a little bit of luck you will create a masterpiece.

QOTD: Would you be interested if I created a "Peter Gray" Pinterest account for you to follow?