Are you brave enough to make big decisions?

Afternoon gang,

I've been doing a lot of pondering recently, hence the question posed above. As ever there's plenty going on but each thing is getting sorted in typical fashion. Face stuff head on and roll over it. We've been outlaying cash like we've been robbed so far this year. Vets bills, the roof, luxury set of Le Creuset pans which I admit we could have lived without but they are smart. It all adds up but it's all sorted.

Performance at work is okay, good enough that they've just extended my contract again until the summer. I've also got a job interview to work locally too which is giving me even more options. Less money, but enough money, and less travel.

I'm doing a book signing at the end of March and on the face of it, all is well.

And yet....

The bottom line is I'd rather work less and write more. A chap I know online, we're Facebook and Goodreads friends, called Stuart, is a writer. He sells lots more than me, but then he does seem to try a bit harder than me too in that he writes every night. He's so keen on the idea of making a living from writing that he's actively applying for lower paid jobs which will allow him more time to write. He's basically backing his own talent and drive to succeed. I admire him for it as it's something I've talked a lot about and never dared to do. It gets harder with each passing year as I earn more money and, on the face of it, have more to lose. But that little voice keeps whispering in my head, every day, you're a writer. It's all you want to do. So why are we sitting in this meeting talking about project x?

I'm regarded as decisive. I manage people, projects, I'm in charge of stuff, I sort stuff out. But when it comes to this I dance round it, have done for years. It is, I suspect, the source of all my frustration. But, here's the flipside, while I stay at work full time I get to moan about lack of time to write etc, while having plenty of cash and a very comfy life. But if I did quit, write full time, then it would come down to luck, talent etc. I'd have no excuse if I didn't succeed and then what would I do? It's a grim thought because I've never really failed at anything and I'm 37. I don't think I'd take it well.

And so we carry on. Work on Monday...

In other news, I've uploaded a cheeky promo video to YouTube for you to look at. Nothing spectacular. I just did it as a test to see how hard it was to do. If it generates traffic I'll doubtless make more use of it as a promo tool in the future. It's just a slideshow set to music at the moment but might be worth developing. I'm not short of ideas.

The paperback has been delayed for no other reason than I am unable to finish the cover because the Createspace website is currently not working. As soon as it's fixed I'll get it done, ten minute job. Book is re-formatted and re-edited and better than ever.

The paid for promo will be out on Monday. It's via Kindleboards with a view to lifting my American sales. I'll be pointing you towards it on the day.

Right, I brew time, hour on the Xbox and one eye on the football scores. Tonight and tomorrow, bit of writing (yay) on the new book FEAR. It's totally different to my other books, but awesome.

Do positive comments help?

Evening gang,

I suppose the easy answer is... depends on the context.

In terms of my last post about depression, the black dog etc, positive comments don't help apparently. Telling someone to "man up" and that "it's a lovely day outside" can apparently make things worse so best avoid that shit then.

Apparently being more helpful and knowing when to get out of the way are high on the list of clever things to do. It's all about reading the signs.

Which leads me nicely into some shameless book promotion. I've had a number of positive comments about the new book which I am about to paste in below. These are from folk who have bought the book, read it or are reading it. The theme is essentially positive.

"Got it. I loved Jazz Café so I'm looking forward to this one!"
    
"Same here! One-clicked!
Good luck with the new release Jamie"

"Finished it... not too shabby at all :)"

"I'm loving the memories the book is kindling. I visit Ayr every year and I think I remember the hotel in Morcombe as well, it was covered in scaffolding about 6-7 yrs. ago when we had a break in a wee cottage at Over Kellet.
The story has really grabbed me, 20% in and looking forward to bedtime;@)"

"51% in and the plot thickens ;@). Another early night methinks"

So you see, folk are right into the new book, which I have linked to throughout this blog. There is also an opportunity to read the opening scene for free at the top of the page. In other news my copy of the paperback arrived today. The cover is superb if I do say so myself. Createspace never quite get the internal print to look exactly like a mass produced book but it's okay. Bit small but that was necessary to keep size and cost down. It's 400 pages of a job band over 95,000 words. Value for money!

Anyway, that's enough for today. Few ales and some Xbox before bed and then Liverpool v Arsenal tomorrow lunchtime to start the weekend. Proper top of the table clash. Every game a must win now.

Night
    

US Open Tennis, late nights and a new job

Morning all,

Been raining again here in the north of England. I say 'again', it hasn't really stopped all year or so it seems. Officially the wettest summer in 100 years I think I read somewhere today. Perfect weather for writing books you would think.

Being back at work this week has had an impact though I've managed to write 500 words each day. The thing is I've just got a new job which will start in the next month or so and I'll have to pull my finger out a bit because it's a fairly huge promotion. This is awkward as my routine tends to be, get up and go to work, come home and sleep on couch, then stay up until middle of the night drinking ale, writing, watching (currently) the US Open tennis (though it could equally be the golf, a film or the Xbox) and then stumble into work again.

Anyway, we'll see how that pans out. On the plus side I've written 57000 words of the new book and All the fun of the Fair has been ordered by the local libraries which is very cool. Even more cool, and surprising, is that someone has bought a paperback copy of The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe from Createspace. Whoever you are, I'm very grateful and I hope you enjoy it.

The plan tomorrow is a significant lie in, then hit the supermarket and spend the rest of the day writing because on Sunday, hopefully, I'm off to Anfield to watch Liverpool play Arsenal. Clint Dempsey won't be lining up for the reds as we didn't sign him which was a surprise to all concerned. Still, I'm sure the manager has it all in hand.

Right, I'm off for a sandwich and an ale before bed. As ever, it's been a pleasure.

Playground Cool Paperback in Europe!

That's right folks. As of ten minutes ago I have added Amazon Europe to my distribution channels for Playground Cool. Eh?

It means that if you don't have a Kindle but you want to read my book, or like me you just prefer the feel of a real book, you can now buy my debut novel in print from Amazon.co.uk and the rest of their Euro websites. Exciting times.

Sadly it's a bit pricey (£7.49) but it is pretty good. Amazon need a few days to update the sites so you can find it so I'll post a link when it's ready. Needless to say the rest of my books will be made available in paperback in the next few months.

By the way, to the person who bought the first paperback Playground Cool from Amazon.com, many thanks, you are a visionary and a pioneer. I'll happily sign it anytime just in case I end up famous then we both win.

Carry on...

Book Sales, Kindle Users and Painting

Morning gang,

I'll be brief as it's late/early and I'm tired from my neverending painting project.

The number 1 features heavily for me today. I have sold 1 copy of Playground Cool in paperback. Good times.

I have only had 1 vote for book of the month over at Kindle Users Forum. Bad times.

Aside from that my digital sales are steady despite the lack of promo. In terms of the day job there's talk that next week we might here something with regards to redundancy. So the dream of a period of full time writing might be back on.

When I know. You will. Night all...

Paperback!

Hi folks,

Just a quick update tonight. Playground Cool is now available in paperback via Createspace. It will be on Amazon within a few days too. You'll need to be a millionaire, or live in America, or be my mother, to want to buy a copy though because of the costs of shipping outside the US. But it does look pretty cool and if you don't do digital books then this is the option for you.

I am also a member of Book Blogs who seem like a nice bunch so far and hopefully it will lead to more followers of these ramblings.

Thanks

Morning all,

Bit of a late night which isn't clever after a long week at work. I've been up for twenty hours but I've had a productive day (once the day job was out of the way).

I've got a bit of a side project on at the moment - I'm decorating/refurbing my home cinema so I've been removing skirting boards, plastering, hammering, sanding and generally making a mess of what was the best room in the house.

Aside from that the writing is progressing well. I've completed 12,000 words of the new book and finished formatting the Jazz Cafe for paperback. Yes, that's right. The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe will be coming out in paperback shortly. I've also formatted about 50% of it for Kindle so that should also be out very soon. I'll post links on here when available.

The other big news is that today I received my proof copy of Playground Cool and very nice it is too. I've spent this evening tweaking the front cover and altering the page number layout and have resubmitted it for checking. I should have a revised proof within 48 hours and if I like it, then Playground Cool will be my first novel in print. Exciting times. I can tell you that it will be priced at $9. It's a bit steep but the price is determined by the size of the book. However, it's only about £5.50 to us Brits which isn't bad I don't think.

The book is sitting quietly on my bedside cabinet as I type. It's quite a strange feeling to know that something I wrote over ten years ago is now a real book. The fact that it's sold as many as it has on Kindle continues to amaze me.

Anyway, that's it for today. I'm aiming to start designing the cover for the Jazz Cafe this weekend as well as write a bit more of the new book. In between tidying up my mess in the home cinema of course. But all of that can wait until I've enjoyed a significant lie in!

Thanks to everyone who continues to follow my blog, retweet me, Facebook me and buy my books. It means more than even my stellar vocabulary can articulate.