Do you fancy a Kindle alternative?

Evening folks,

US readers are already able to enjoy their ebooks on a wide variety of devices. One which seems popular is the Nook by Barnes and Noble. In the UK Kindle is king, while everyone else has an Ipad, although a few folk have got the Sony Ereader.

Now, however, we're about to get the Nook in the UK as well. Apparently it's due for release in October. Why is this interesting to me? Because all my books are already available on Nook so if you do get one for Christmas, you can go straight to the B&N website and grab yourself a copy.

Hurrah.

Right, that's all for now. I'm still quite hungover from last night and I'm struggling with the plot of the new book today as well.

London 2012 and pink grapefruit

Afternoon everyone,

So then, how good was the opening ceremony then? Apparently 26.5 million folk stayed up to watch here in the UK. The wife and I sat pretty much mesmerised by the whole thing. I can only imagine Danny Boyle and his team will receive some sort of mention in the Queen's next honours list.

It seems that our American chums struggled to see the opening of the largest sporting event on the planet owing to NBC not showing it live. I don't know details only what I've seen on Twitter etc, but a lot of people seemed pretty unhappy that it wasnt being shown live. If it wasn't, it begs the question, what's more important than showing the opening ceremony of the Olympics?

I'm established on the couch today for a full day of olympic viewing - I am going out tonight though. Outdoor showing of Woman in Black in a local park. Hope it stays dry.

The BBC have pulled out all the stops with the coverage. They've got a fancy menu TV guide thingy where you can just click on the sport you want to watch and away you go. Epic.

The other bonus was that I discovered a tin of grapefruit in the cupboard so that became a late breakfast.

Since this is a writing blog I'd best mention the books. I've written 30,500 words of the new book so I'm still on course to have it published this year along with another from the back catalogue. My existing books are also still available on Kindle, Createspace, Smashwords, Kobo, Apple Ibook, Sony Ereader, Bibliocracy and doubtless a few more. They're all priced to sell too, except the paperbacks which are vastly over priced but look superb on a shelf.

Oh, one last thing. An associate of mine went to the local library yesterday and asked if they could order in a copy of one of my books. He was, I believe, armed with the necessary ISBN info. From what I can gather they seemed to suspect that he was, in fact, me trying to abuse the library and use them as some sort of self-promotion tool. I have to admit to being a bit miffed. After all, I thought libraries would order in pretty much any book if a customer asked for it. Add to that the fact that I'm local and it's win win all round. If I end up selling millions all of a sudden they'd have "local author" posters all over the bloody place to drag people in. Poor form!!

Now stop reading this and watch some Olympics!

Midland Hotel & the Jazz Cafe

Evening gang! Everyone okay? Excellent.

First off, how on earth does an 11 year old child get from Wythenshawe to Rome via plane on his own without a bloody passport? For God's sake the Olympics starts on Friday. Should we not be on top of security at major airports? Just in case you've missed this story here's the LINK TO THE BBC.

In other news, this picture is of the iconic Midand Hotel.

Awesome photo isn't it? Thanks to Crosby Camera Club for the image.You should see the inside of the hotel. In fact, come to Morecambe and stay there. This hotel features in my book The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe. In fact, it's on the front cover.

Not bad is it? Accordng to the reviews it's a pretty good crime thriller too. Sadly in the book the Midland is not open but being redeveloped as it was a few years ago. Then the hotel is burned down at the end. Don't worry, they build something awesome on the site for the follow up!

Anyway, that's the point of this post. I use real places in my books to ground them in reality. Makes the story more believeable. In Edinburgh you can go on an Ian Rankin Rebus tour to see the places featured in the books. I hope one day that folk will come to Morecambe and district for my books in the future and, hopefully, that will help the regeneration of the town.



Is it just about numbers?

Morning gang,

Progress on the new book continues. I had a thinking day yesterday because I suddenly realised I was writing myself into a bit of a cul de sac. That seems to be sorted now and I've written about a 1000 words today to take the total to over 26,500. Hurrah.

I have to admit I've been sidetracked somewhat by The Open on the BBC. As ever, if you've read my profile you'll know this, I was routing for Tiger while knowing that, realistically, he would fall short. It was frustrating viewing because he was basically trying to win a Major tournament without using a driver. Such is his talent he still came third. If he ever manages to recapture his previous magic God help everyone else. The numbers are interesting. Adam Scott was winning but bogeyed the last 4 holes to leave himself level needing to par the last for a playoff with Ernie Els. He didn't. Also a big thumbs up to Team Sky and Bradley Wiggins for winning his first Tour De France. Never been done by a Brit!

Last night also saw Liverpool's first pre-season game take place against Toronto FC. Interesting largely because it was Brendan's first game in charge. What did I take from the game? That Liverpool has a lot of players on it's books, many of whom will never, ever play in the Premier League. The game was a 1-1 draw. It's a miracle I've written anything.

Right, I'd best dash, I've got to be at work in 5 and a half hours and I've got a bottle of beer to finish first.

Night

Making the most of Morecambe

Evening folks,

Just a quickie tonight. The wife's out so I'm going to indulge in some big screen film/xbox tom-foolery. But I will be recording Turn Back Time on BBC 1 as it's set in Morecambe and features several places featured in my books.

Speaking of which, I have recently acquired the Winter Gardens in Morecambe as a follower on Twitter. If you've got a spare million or ten, send them a donation. If they crack on and get it refurbished they could have The Rolling Stones do their 50th anniversary gigs there next year. Now wouldn't that be something to aim for!

Dreaming aside, here's a bit of Morecambe based book promo. You'll like this, it's clever.

The photo above is the entrance to Happy Mount Park in Morecambe. Alfie, the central character in my book, All the fun of the Fair, is park keeper here. Also, the vile Lee Etchman runs the cafe and has an ice cream van in there too. He is obsessed with his young assistant Tania Streatham.

The park also features in my book The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe. The body of a schoolgirl is found at the back of the park by a dog walker.

So you see, while the work is fiction, the places featured in the books are quite real. You could even come to visit, perhaps use my books as a kind of guide to places of interest.



New Paperback out now!

Afternoon folks,

This is a note worthy post simply because it is being written from my garden. It's hot and sunny, the flowers look great and, knowing the British weather, this might be the only chance I get to do this.

The other news is that my book All the fun of the Fair landed on my mat this morning. That's right, if you don't or won't do Kindle, you can now buy it in paperback. It's slightly smaller, in terms of measurements, than my previous two books, but in terms of word count it's the longest.

It's also the revised version based on reviews and feedback from the Kindle version. I've toned down the language a bit and restructured the chapters leading up to the ending. Either way the reviews are all super and the feedback positive. I'm also particularly proud of the cover. Although it's in no way linked to the book, the house where a number of the characters live (Westminster Road in Morecambe) is real and features in the new Mitch and Rupert book. It is also adjacent to Albert Road where the BBC has set it's new Turn Back Time series. So if you want to get a visual idea of where the book is set, watch the programme.

Anyway, here are the links for the two main Amazon sites:

All the fun of the Fair AMAZON.COM

All the fun of the Fair AMAZON.CO.UK

Right, I'm going to wander inside and keep one eye on tennis. The last bit of good news is that I have started work on the new Mitch and Rupert book again after a few weeks off.

Until next time...

PS Roger Federer in Wimbledon final tomorrow for record 8th time. I know I'm supposed to want Andy Murray to win and if he's the best player tomorrow then full marks to him. But I'd rather Roger won. There I said it! He's the best player there's ever been in my humble opinion and to win tomorrow would be a huge achievement in terms of the history of the game. 7 titles, back to World number 1 and finally breaking Sampras's record for weeks at number 1. Immense.

Turn Back Time on the BBC

Interesting news folks.

UK readers might be aware of a series called Turn Back Time on the BBC. It's set in Morecambe like my books! Places like the Midland Hotel are featured, as well as local theatres, the park, the promenade and the beach.

Why is this interesting? Aside from being set 200 yards from where I was brought up, these places also feature heavily in my book The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe and All the Fun of the Fair. In fact, the Midland hotel is on the cover of the Jazz Cafe and All the Fun is set on Westminster road which is the street next to Albert Road as featured in the BBC programme.

I'd be daft not to try and use this to market my own books so if you want to read more about Morecambe and the locals, buy my books. Then, watch the BBC series, it's very, very good.

The Battle of the Bookshelves

Hello again. Welcome along.

If you've read any of my previous posts my passion for books, real ones as opposed to our new electronic chums, should be obvious. So you can imagine my lack of delight when I read this article on the BBC website about plans to close hundreds of libraries across the UK.

It's a tale of cut backs, something we're all famliar with at the moment. The government has cut budgets in all sorts, not least the public sector in which I am employed. Closing libraries is seen by councils as a way to cut back expenditure in the wake of these budget cuts.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favour of increasing efficiency and saving money. But pick something else to close! I realise everyone has an opinion. If it was announced that they were going to close schools, there would likely be folk marching in the streets. Close a hospital? Can't do that, bodies in the streets. So I see that libraries are an easy option. But they're an important part of local communities and offer so much more than just a place from which to borrow a book.

Anyway, have a read of the article, then go to your local library and borrow a book, use their computers, join their bookclub, borrow a cd or just sit in the corner reading the paper. But use the library, before they're all gone.

Decline in High Street Bookshops

Afternoon all,

Given that I've recently started a blog about my writing and given that I've written a number of novels which I hope one day to see in print it was a proper disappointment to read this article on the BBC website today. The article says that real bookshops are slowly vanishing from the high street and, given the well documented problems Waterstones are having, it's hard to argue with. I'm not a fan of electronic publishing but I am about to try it for myself simply because, like any other writer, I want people to read my work.

Me and the wife buy lots of books but often this is from the supermarket and even when we do go to a bookshop, when was the last time anybody paid full price for a book? When you think that you can buy a bestseller for a couple of quid on a Kindle it's easy to see why it accounts for such a high percentage of sales.

So, despite my preference for something tangible, for the feel of a real book, it would seem electronic might be the way to go. I've included a link to the article here for those that want to read it.