In case you didn’t already realise, my novel, released in April 2020, entitled Distorted Perceptions, can be download free of charge in ebook formats. Details of this, and my other available publications, can be found on my Paula’s Books page.

The novel is set primarily in the 1980s. Distorted Perceptions isn’t easy to place into a genre or category, and does address many issues that are close to my heart. These include: drug addiction, alcoholism, and problem drinking; mental health and suicide; rape and sexual abuse. I definitely don’t shy away from dark and controversial subjects, and there are strong autobiographical elements, but the story is not an autobiography or memoir, as I discuss in a post about the novel and its origins.

There is a paperback version of Distorted Perceptions, which I would encourage you to consider purchasing, if that interests you, and you would like, in a small way, to support what I’m doing. This edition, obviously, isn’t free. But all ebook versions are.

I’m aware that making my novel free – particularly given that it is a standalone title, as opposed to a series starter – could lead to potential readers and critics regarding Distorted Perceptions as less valuable. Yet, I have been through so much to bring this work into existence, and put my heart and soul into the project, which has not been short-term. I’ve done research. I’ve also lived through my own hell, which has informed much of what has resulted in the end product.

In the end, I felt that reaching readers – the book’s right, ideal readers – was my highest priority. I don’t believe that Distorted Perceptions is for everyone. But I believe that there are people out there who will deeply appreciate this novel. My hope and mission is to reach as many of them as possible. For that reason, the book is available, free of charge, in ebook formats.

Thank you to Obooko and Draft 2 Digital, without whom these ebooks would not be out there. And thank you to everyone who has, or ever will, read Distorted Perceptions or/and my other work.

Read my recent post about the direction of this blog.

So, flash fiction. What does the term even mean?

And why should writers consider writing the form?

In April 2020, I published my novel, Distorted Perceptions, which turned out to be almost 83k words.

Currently, I’m not working on another novel, but am becoming increasingly interested in short stories. Not all of my short fiction is flash fiction, but much of it is, or comes close – depending upon where we draw the lines, in terms of word count.

Flash fiction is a term used to describe very short stories.

Precise word counts vary, according to different sources. Under 1k words is often quoted, although it isn’t unusual to hear that flash fiction should be under 800 words, or even lower.

Other terms and distinctions are often used to distinguish between different lengths, within the shortest (under 750 words) flash fiction stories. These include: the 6 word story, Twitterature (280 characters or less), microfiction, and sudden fiction. These are not, by any means, the only terms in use, but to explore these, and other variations, further is beyond the scope of this particular post.

I have heard 1.5k words mentioned, as a flash fiction upper limit, and must admit that I myself have often tended to write shorts that are in the 1k to 1.5k word count range.

Sometimes, it is stated that flash fiction must have a clear plot: a beginning, middle, and end.

The term vignette is applied to many slice of life or moment glimpsed type works.

However, there are novels that don’t even have conventional plots, and it’s not easy to draw the line, in many specific instances.

Flash fiction pieces will often conclude with plot twists, but this is not a requirement – simply one popular approach.

Flash fiction – and indeed, short fiction, more generally – is often viewed merely in terms of practice for novel writing.

Certainly, short fiction is an ideal way in which to learn more about the craft of storytelling. Writing it will definitely benefit you as a novelist.

And yet, different forms of writing each have their own unique values. Flash fiction is a fascinating form, in its own right, whether or not you write novels, or aspire to do so.

I initially began to write flash by chance, in that I started to find many of my short stories becoming very short.

My natural tendency does seem to be to write either novels or flash, although I’m developing the art of writing longer short stories. I might attempt to write novella length works in the future, as I sometimes appreciate reading novella length fiction myself.

Flash fiction is definitely an area I’m interested in exploring, both as a writer and a reader.

If you would like to read my flash fiction and short stories, my brief collection, Alternative Landscapes, can be downloaded, free of charge, as can the stories Sports’ Day and Second Chance. Alternative Landscapes is available via Obooko, or through various additional outlets. There is also a paperback version of this collection.

Future book links will be added to the Paula’s Books page, here on the blog, so definitely check that out, if you’re interested. Also, there is my short fiction blog.

So, the position with the Distorted Perceptions print book is that my novel’s paperback edition was published on Lulu, and is technically available.

I was generally happy with it, except for an issue – Lulu’s end – involving words being meshed together, following instances of words I’d written in italics.

It doesn’t by any means happen right through the book, but does occur a few times, and needs to be fixed. The book isn’t unreadable, but the issue could potentially distract a reader.

However, Lulu are in the process of updating their website.

I can’t currently even access my account. My username, email, and passwords are all apparently invalid. Lulu’s Customer Services are currently inundated, and I haven’t received anything other than generated email replies to my queries.

KDP Print – I found simply overwhelming.

I just tried out Blurb, and my PDFs were apparently all the wrong sizes and dimensions.

I’m disappointed, as I had visions of creating hardback editions, along with the paperback. For now, however – I can only recommend the ebook versions. All are free to download. A recent post about the publication of the novel should clarify.

If you’re determined to own a Distorted Perceptions paperback, and are willing to overlook the minor technical issues described, the book is available to purchase via Lulu – if, that is, you have an account you can access. It isn’t available through Amazon and other sites, as I hadn’t got as far as setting up expanded distribution.

Bear with me on this. It’s incredibly frustrating, and disheartening. I’ve worked so hard on the project.

Like, seriously? Trusting a facility on Open Office???

As for why I’ve been using Open Office – and am now back on WordPad – don’t ask.

Yes, I did pay money for Microsoft Word, the full package. It has been a nightmare, and the only advice I received was to download Open Office, and use that instead, as it apparently did everything that Word does and would suffice.

Anyway, it seems probable that Distorted Perceptions is nearer 82,934 words. And that’s fine, but it has caused confusion. See my last post about the release of my novel. I based that new statistic on information provided by Draft 2 Digital, but it’s also in line with data given by a free online word counter I used.

For more information on Distorted Perceptions, and other Paula Puddephatt publications, my Paula’s Books page is the best page to visit.

More from me soon, hopefully.

So, Distorted Perceptions – where do I start?

Yes, Distorted Perceptions is finally published. It’s now available to download, free of charge, from various websites, in ebook formats. If you would like to know more about the origins of Distorted Perceptions, or read an extract, then check out the hyperlinked posts.

Details will be included later, in this post. Please do note, also, that there is a Paula’s Books page, and these links, along with others to Paula Puddephatt publications, can be found here.

The writing process for Distorted Perceptions has been long, and extremely challenging – often, overwhelming.

Software issues definitely did not help. Specifically, I refer to the failure of Microsoft to provide Word, even though this was paid for – and having to struggle instead with Open Office and WordPad.

The former ultimately caused so much stress that I’m actually back to using the latter, currently.

That said, I’m actually proud to have completed so many projects, making the best of what facilities I did have – including a novel of almost 85k words.

Ongoing health and personal issues have made the process still more difficult, and of course, 2020 happened, and we all know what that means. It’s beyond the scope of this particular post.

The publishing process has been stressful too, and almost too much.

I had to make some last minute continuity changes (minor but concerning enough to me). I would like to acknowledge the support of Tim from Obooko, in this area. He provided assistance via email, and implemented the needed changes efficiently. And they were changes I had previously failed to spot, and which I subsequently noticed, after having gone ahead and published.

I discovered today that one of the sites listing my ebook describes it as containing “82k words”, which is worrying. At the moment, I’m finding it all too difficult to cope with, so haven’t looked into it specifically, as yet.

Update: See my recent post about the word count of my novel.

But, for anyone who downloads my ebook, please know that it should contain the following: an Introduction, Chapters One to Fifty-Four, and an Epilogue.

If your copy doesn’t contain all of these parts, please reach out to me through social media – preferably either Twitter or Instagram, because I tend to neglect the other sites. I will then rectify the situation, in any way I can manage. Alternatively, leave a comment, here on this blog.

In terms of where I’m at now, I feel burnt out, and unsure as to which direction to take, with my future writing. Hopefully, I will expand upon this soon, in another blog post.

I am working on the paperback edition of Distorted Perceptions, and will provide updates on this, when possible. Paperback latest position: Currently available through Lulu only. If I am able to do so, I will make it available via expanded distribution in the future, and am sorry that I’m not able to do this right now.

Links to Distorted Perceptions

Distorted Perceptions Ebook

Distorted Perceptions Ebook – Obooko

Distorted Perceptions – Print Book

As many followers of, and regular visitors to, the Paula Writes blog will be aware – I’m currently revising my novel, Distorted Perceptions.

If you’d like to know more about the novel or/and read an extract from Distorted Perceptions, two of my recent posts should be able to help you.

To say that the process of writing my novel has been exhausting and extremely challenging, in so many ways, doesn’t begin to describe the process I’ve been through, to get to the current stage – which is advanced.

The purpose of this short post is to mention two of my additional publications.

I’ve recently produced a poetry mini-collection called Vibrant Carousel.

It was really a bonus project, and the ebook didn’t end up happening, because of the frustration levels involved – technical issues.

However, the print book is available through Lulu. It will hopefully soon be available through expanded distribution, also: Amazon, and other channels. Watch this space.

I also, towards the end of 2019, did publish a short story collection, entitled Alternative Landscapes.

This is free to download, in ebook format, and can also be purchased in paperback edition.

As there are multiple options for this one, it’s easier for me to link to my Paula Writes book page.

Hopefully, I’ll soon be able to provide more specific news, regarding Distorted Perceptions.