Afternoon gang,
Brief post today because it's half time on the footy.
The sequel to The 24 Hour Jazz Café is finished! Woo!
It's just over 92,000 words long and will be released in all digital formats and paperback in time for Christmas.
I'll be finishing the cover design over the next few days which I'll post here first and then the promo will begin. If I'm sneaky with my pricing and category choices I might even manage to sneak to number one in the Amazon chart for Christmas. That would be nice, even if I have to give it away to do it.
Anyway, brew time, more football etc.
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Sunday, 1 December 2013
Friday, 18 January 2013
Is it okay to win at all costs?
Evening gang,
So what does everybody think about Lance Armstrong's confession on Oprah? I've only skimmed through the highlights, if that's the right word, and he didn't seem particularly repentant. Call me a cynic but while he's admitted to the doping etc he didn't seem very sorry and I can't imagine he's suddenly decided to admit to all this cheating without a very good reason.
But the thing that stands out about Lance is this idea of winning at all costs. This week in snowy old Britain we've had a number of high street retailers go into administration, arguably the biggest being HMV. Why is this interesting to me? Well aside from the obvious job losses, empty shop units, economic issues, there's a link to books.
To anyone with any interest in the news it's been no secret that a number of retailers have been in trouble for a while. HMV caught my attention a while ago and I remember talking to colleagues about it months ago saying that they'd be lucky to see out the year. Until recently HMV owned Waterstones but sold it because they needed the funds. But it's no secret that Waterstone's isn't in great shape either.
Now I'm a vocal advocate of paper books, traditional books that you can bend and fold, crease, use to prop things up and chuck at the dog when he's naughty. Although I publish to Kindle I've never owned one and pretty much refused to entertain the notion that they are better than books. Until recently...
I have a library in my house, it's got hundreds of books in it and an antique wooden ladder. I like the smell, how it looks and I like that it never stops growing. I have copies of my own paperbacks on the shelves too. But I bought a 7 inch tablet for the wife this Christmas. She loves it. One of the many apps she's got is the Kindle app. I sent her the draft of my new book to proof read on the tablet instead of printing it like I normally do. She shot through it and I made revisions.
"I'll try it myself I said. I'll read it on the tablet and then I can make live changes on the laptop as I go."
It's brilliant! I almost hate to admit it but it's light, fits in my hand like a paperback, the page turning is natural and fluid and it makes reading as it should be. About the story.
So if they've managed to convert me, where does that leave real books and further more, places like Waterstones? I have no clever answer but it will come as no surprise when we see it on the news that the administrators have been called in.
And that, in a very roundabout, tour de france kind of way, is the point of the topic. Perhaps the high street needed to be a bit sharper off the mark, play a bit dirtier against the online competition and get the government on board to help them, like Lance had his network of helpers to make sure he won at all costs. It's not too late, perhaps Lance could act as an advisor to Waterstones? He's never gonna be allowed on a bike again so he might as well do some good.
In other news, pub tonight for tea. Then a full weekend editing the final draft of the new book which should be out within a week. You'll hear it here first. I also have over 1600 Twitter followers, so thanks to all of them, and sales are going pretty well in spite of my lack of recent promo.
Hope you have a good one, be careful in the snow.
So what does everybody think about Lance Armstrong's confession on Oprah? I've only skimmed through the highlights, if that's the right word, and he didn't seem particularly repentant. Call me a cynic but while he's admitted to the doping etc he didn't seem very sorry and I can't imagine he's suddenly decided to admit to all this cheating without a very good reason.
But the thing that stands out about Lance is this idea of winning at all costs. This week in snowy old Britain we've had a number of high street retailers go into administration, arguably the biggest being HMV. Why is this interesting to me? Well aside from the obvious job losses, empty shop units, economic issues, there's a link to books.
To anyone with any interest in the news it's been no secret that a number of retailers have been in trouble for a while. HMV caught my attention a while ago and I remember talking to colleagues about it months ago saying that they'd be lucky to see out the year. Until recently HMV owned Waterstones but sold it because they needed the funds. But it's no secret that Waterstone's isn't in great shape either.
Now I'm a vocal advocate of paper books, traditional books that you can bend and fold, crease, use to prop things up and chuck at the dog when he's naughty. Although I publish to Kindle I've never owned one and pretty much refused to entertain the notion that they are better than books. Until recently...
I have a library in my house, it's got hundreds of books in it and an antique wooden ladder. I like the smell, how it looks and I like that it never stops growing. I have copies of my own paperbacks on the shelves too. But I bought a 7 inch tablet for the wife this Christmas. She loves it. One of the many apps she's got is the Kindle app. I sent her the draft of my new book to proof read on the tablet instead of printing it like I normally do. She shot through it and I made revisions.
"I'll try it myself I said. I'll read it on the tablet and then I can make live changes on the laptop as I go."
It's brilliant! I almost hate to admit it but it's light, fits in my hand like a paperback, the page turning is natural and fluid and it makes reading as it should be. About the story.
So if they've managed to convert me, where does that leave real books and further more, places like Waterstones? I have no clever answer but it will come as no surprise when we see it on the news that the administrators have been called in.
And that, in a very roundabout, tour de france kind of way, is the point of the topic. Perhaps the high street needed to be a bit sharper off the mark, play a bit dirtier against the online competition and get the government on board to help them, like Lance had his network of helpers to make sure he won at all costs. It's not too late, perhaps Lance could act as an advisor to Waterstones? He's never gonna be allowed on a bike again so he might as well do some good.
In other news, pub tonight for tea. Then a full weekend editing the final draft of the new book which should be out within a week. You'll hear it here first. I also have over 1600 Twitter followers, so thanks to all of them, and sales are going pretty well in spite of my lack of recent promo.
Hope you have a good one, be careful in the snow.
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
What does Christmas mean to you?
Evening gang,
A regular reader, trusted associate and long time colleague pointed out today I'd been a bit slack on the blogging lately. I pointed out I've been hard at work editing my soon to be published new novel The Trust. Interestingly, said colleague is the inspiration behind one of the central characters. Sadly that character is a murderous lunatic. Still, I'll let him see an advance copy and if he's happy with it then he can have a signed one.
Oh, and just so we're clear. There's no evidence to suggest he is murderous. But of course, the clever ones don't leave a trail.
Anyway, we've got the tree up at the homestead and a big old sod it is too. Have a look...
Until next time...
A regular reader, trusted associate and long time colleague pointed out today I'd been a bit slack on the blogging lately. I pointed out I've been hard at work editing my soon to be published new novel The Trust. Interestingly, said colleague is the inspiration behind one of the central characters. Sadly that character is a murderous lunatic. Still, I'll let him see an advance copy and if he's happy with it then he can have a signed one.
Oh, and just so we're clear. There's no evidence to suggest he is murderous. But of course, the clever ones don't leave a trail.
Anyway, we've got the tree up at the homestead and a big old sod it is too. Have a look...
Which brings me nicely to tonight's topic. I'm not a massive fan of Christmas as a whole. I loved it when I was a kid. Always got lots of presents, loved being off school etc. But now I'm in a position where I can just buy any gift I might fancy so from a purely material point of view Christmas has no benefit. I also have a job which doesn't really enable me to have any time off aside from Christmas Day and Boxing Day so it's not like I'm at home watching lots of festive tele either.
So what is Christmas to me? Well I do like buying stuff for the wife. And I do like having a nice tree. I also quite like going out for festive lunch with the family, especially since my parents always pay. But this year it also marks an occasion. This year marks my transition from my existing job, which I loathe, to my new job, which I pray will be better. It's certainly more cash, which is nice.
I was at Lancaster Cathedral at the weekend. It was the annual Light up a Life service for St John's Hospice and the wife asked me to go and help clear up afterwards. I also wrote two of the readings used in the service which, I'm told, were very well received. To the folk at this service Christmas is all about remembering loved ones, missing folk and rebuildng their lives which seems a lot more important that presents and a smart tree.
I also went to visit the wife's grandmother at the weekend. We had a nice lunch and she gave us a chest of drawers. She also said she no longer puts up a Christmas tree as it's too much like hard work and she goes away for the holiday rather than spend it with any family. That struck me as quite sad that she'd rather be with strangers than family. Mind you, I've met them and I'd be tempted to go away on my own as well!
So all this has got me thinking. What does Christmas mean to everyone? Family, tree, presents, church, being on your own, time off work?
As for me, I'll be hoping to publish the new book in time to tap into all the new ereaders which people will receive at Christmas. Keep watching for updates!
Until next time...
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
The Storyteller Final Front Cover
Afternoon dear reader,
Here is the final version of the front cover for my soon to be released short story for Christmas. I've finished the editing so I'm going to have a final read through this week and then away we go. The draft cover is in a previous post. I think this version is much more representative of the story and feels slightly darker and altogether more Christmassy!
Here is the final version of the front cover for my soon to be released short story for Christmas. I've finished the editing so I'm going to have a final read through this week and then away we go. The draft cover is in a previous post. I think this version is much more representative of the story and feels slightly darker and altogether more Christmassy!
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