John Olav Ytreland

I checked Insta for the first time in ages and was surprised to see someone congratulating me on my book launch. I must have slept through getting an agent, a book deal, and publication. A shame none of that has happened yet.

#publication #writerlife

I'm returning to the classics this month. I'm reading my way through my Halloween list, which included The Turn of the Screw, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Frankenstein. It might be November by then, but I'll read Jane Eyre again too.

#read #gothicliterature #hallloween

Picture of bad, almost unreadable print in Five Nights at Freddy's.

I'm reading through a trilogy my daughter persuaded me to read, Five Nights at Freddy's. There's plenty of eeriness, and then there are a few pages like this. The book is printed on cheap paper that isn't meant to last, but this was bad.

#reading #books

Photo of my office in the basement.

johnolavytreland.wordpress.com/2025/10/01/a...

I've never had a designated writing space before. It's rustic, but I'm loving it.

#homeoffice #writerslife

My first fascination was goth and many years later I appreciate the romance side of it too. Horror Romance gets my vote.

The most important question A photo by Jim Nyamao on Pexels. The girl could be Solaris from my book. I’m querying The Hard Choice at the moment. It’s a YA science fiction and definitely soft. It takes place on Ear…

The most important question johnolavytreland.wordpress.com/2025/09/03/t...

My science fiction is quite soft.

#sciencefiction #softsciencefiction

Fantastic news We’re going to publish books filled with magic, good plots, interesting main characters, lots of drama, and an exciting kick. The quote is translated from an interview or press release from B…

Fantastic news johnolavytreland.wordpress.com/2025/08/30/f...
A new fantasy imprint is great news, but perhaps not for me.

I’m not sure how to respond St. Olav Church from 1250 I sent my first submission about six years ago and the agencies ask for more or less the same things. The biggest difference has been between Norway and the UK. I started …

I'm not sure how to respond johnolavytreland.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/i...

Blog post: I think I need a better bio.

#querying #submitting #literaryagents

I'm in the middle of querying my second manuscript and agents do things almost the same way. I'm researching agencies today and came across one that wants me to send an empty email and they will send me an online form. A form isn't that unusual, but never heard anyone do it this way.
#querying

I shall never surrender I find Jane Austen’s unsentimental books and her life inspiring. There are different lists bloggers like to put authors on, but there’s just one I want to be on, one with published auth…

I shall never surrender johnolavytreland.wordpress.com/2025/07/15/i...

New blog post. Other writers inspire me, even a Regency writer.

Thank you. I've loved working on this and I'm still querying, but I think her scars will heal enough and she'll find her family, but maybe chosen family will be more important. This is the first in a duology and there are different paths I could take. It'll be an interesting journey for both of us.

The Hard Choice, a YA science fiction.

Her to-do list: Find her family, take down the monster who raped her and leave Earth.

#YA #sciencefiction #cozyscifi

Photo of an abandoned construction site downtown.

Do you remember your first read? Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel is one of the few I remember from early childhood. It's about a steam machine that lost out to diesel and found a new life as a boiler. This abandoned construction site reminds me of that book.

#childhoodbook #VirginiaLeeBurton

Love it when I can't put the book down, but it's 2:20 am and I suppose I should get some sleep.
#reading

There are things going on in the UFO community that has some relevance to my WIP. People believe we're close to the end of the UFO secrecy after a new whistleblower has supposedly produced evidence. It sounds more like a spiritual, I'd say religious experience.
#uapdisclosure #aliens

I'm just getting started and I guess my themes are quite common. I like isolation, family, trauma, gender, first contact. There's so much I want to explore, but these are on my mind at the moment.

I'm disordered. My first MS was fantasy, my second science fiction, and I have two ideas that are crime and magical realism. It wasn't planned, but I'm on a journey where everything is new. I learn as I go and maybe my whimsies work better now than in school.
#WritingCommunity

I am against it. I wouldn't use AI knowingly, but it can be hard to know what the sites you use do.

It doesn't make sense to me to encourage AI-written books, but would you use AI to sell your own books, or use some other services? What if you could produce an audiobook for a lot less money, would you use AI?

#publishing #AI #audiobook

Not sure I believe it. Maybe they interpreted things through a certain lens. But the owl as a metaphor, its ability to see the unknown, is interesting.

What does owls have to do with UFOs? More than I realised. I was listening to a podcast tonight, a guy who had collected accounts of people having strange encounters with owls when they had a spiritual experience, or witnessed something mysterious. Fascinating.

#owl #UFOs

I get sensible Christmas gifts like jeans and shirts. Not that I don't appreciate them, but the fun things are the stocking fillers. I'm going to make some noisy.

#MerryChristmas2024 #harmonica

#submitting It's been two years since I submitted and the last rejection hit me hard. I didn't do much in 2023, but I wrote a new novel this year, and I'm returning to submitting in January. I have missed the joyful torture and bracing for a brutal impact.

#resolutions #NewYear2025 Resolutions? Never been a thing with me, but maybe I should start. I think I'll try to remind myself in 2025 that it takes the time it takes. That may not sound sound impressive after 16 years of writing, but maybe I'll get less stressed about it.

I started my journey towards publication when I was around 40. I'm telling myself 16 years later that there's no such thing as joining the party too late. I have the same hope for every new year, and I believe it every time. Guess my optimism is eternal.

#writing #latebloomer #NeverGiveUp

#film #polarexpress #christmas I sat down with my family tonight to watch The Polar Express. It was too bizarre when Tom Hanks was dubbed in Norwegian and supported by Finnish subtitles. Luckily, we could easily rectify the awful start.

Censorship is bad, but I'm not sure it's much better if book shops and libraries are bullied into shelving certain books. If there are alternatives there is no ban.

Perhaps I'm playing with semantics, but every time I read a post or article about banned books, my first thought is, really? It sounds to me that banning a book means it's illegal to sell it in an entire city or country, and anyone trying it will go to prison.

#bannedbooks

Judge rules Arkansas law allowing criminal charges against librarians is unconstitutional A federal judge has struck down key parts of an Arkansas law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing so-called “harmful” materials to minors.

Interesting case from Arkansas. Librarians and booksellers could be prosecuted for moving inappropriate books out of the children's section, which could discourage them from shelving these books in the first place. This decision by a judge in Fayetteville protects librarians.
#Arkansas #librarians

My daughter asked me which author I'd like to talk to. There are so many I could choose. Edgar Allan Poe or Arthur Conan Doyle wouldn't be bad choices, but I like Little Women this time of year, and Louisa May Alcott grew up among some of the most interesting writers at the time.
#meettheauthor