Afternoon folks,
What a marvellous day! Why you ask? Lots of reasons.
First of all today is the first day of the Premiership and, moreso than any other season, the players are in the spotlight to show a little humility and class. This is because of the frankly staggering success of the Olympics in London, not least the performance of the Team GB athletes and the way they conducted themselves, footballers have been in the spotlight a bit. They get paid unbelievable sums and, in some cases, have awful disciplinary records and are dreadful role models for children.
England manager Roy Hodgson commented on this following the Community Shield game last weekend, and since then this piece has appeared on the BBC website featuring comments from Hunter Davies, Michael Owen and others. My own view? I wish we could have Olympics every weekend and I was delighted to see that the BBC were showing highlights of the Opening Ceremony today.
But today is also great because it's my grans birthday. I took her a small gift and a card and am now attending an organ recital with my grandad tomorrow. It actually works out well because the wife's out tomorrow evening but when we both get back we're going to go to the pub.
Why go to the pub on a Sunday night? That's the other good thing. I'm off work for a week!! Hurrah. A full week of writing and staying in bed. Epic.
As I write this, prouly wearing my new Liverpool shirt, West Brom have scored. Bad start for the reds.
The reason I have time to be writing, watching football and typing this blog? The wife's out having her hair done. First time in about 20 years that someone new has been let loose on it. Early reports are that it's gone well. So, all in all, a great day. Especially when you factor in that I've sold a couple of books today as well.
Later on? Federer in the Cincinnati Masters semi final and footy highlights. All good.
Jamie Sinclair writes fiction set in Morecambe. Crime thrillers and romantic sagas are his thing, all set at the seaside. This blog is a record of his attempts to become a successful author.
Ballroom, Bars and Seawater Baths
Showing posts with label olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label olympics. Show all posts
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Monday, 13 August 2012
Is there a link between my Olympic photos and book sales?
Evening gang,
Is it just me or did today feel like the first day back at work after a holiday? It's like everyone woke up and realised they had a life outside of the magic world of the olympics.
It was interesting to witness the cynicism return to Twitter. We've had two weeks of really positive trends, huge support for Danny Boyle, Team GB and the individual athletes and then last night it began with a systematic dismantling of the closing ceremony online. Pity, I for one was hoping to stay Olympic for as long as possible. Thankfully the worldwide reception seems to have been positive and not everyone seems keen to return to their usual bitterness quite yet. Long may it continue.
In that spirit I've decided to add a couple of photographs a family member took inside the stadium on the night Usain Bolt won the 200m. Apparently words are not sufficient to describe how impressive an event it was. The first just highlights where they were sitting and how big it was, the second is the man himself.
Is it just me or did today feel like the first day back at work after a holiday? It's like everyone woke up and realised they had a life outside of the magic world of the olympics.
It was interesting to witness the cynicism return to Twitter. We've had two weeks of really positive trends, huge support for Danny Boyle, Team GB and the individual athletes and then last night it began with a systematic dismantling of the closing ceremony online. Pity, I for one was hoping to stay Olympic for as long as possible. Thankfully the worldwide reception seems to have been positive and not everyone seems keen to return to their usual bitterness quite yet. Long may it continue.
In that spirit I've decided to add a couple of photographs a family member took inside the stadium on the night Usain Bolt won the 200m. Apparently words are not sufficient to describe how impressive an event it was. The first just highlights where they were sitting and how big it was, the second is the man himself.
In case you were wondering the answer to the title question is no, there isn't a link between these photos and book sales, unless reading this post leads you to buying a copy. But since I've cleverly managed to get onto the topic of books I received a nice comment on Facebook today.
A chap was looking for pictures of Art Deco buildings on the internet. His son, I think, sent him a picture of the Midland Hotel in Morecambe. He liked it and looked for more, stumbling across what he described as a spooky looking picture of the hotel which was, it turned out, the cover of my book The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe. This led him to this very blog and from there to my Facebook promo page. After that, he downloaded a copy of the book. Now that is the best example I've ever had of all my marketing, promo and links coming together and I was delighted.
Anyway, the second book in the series is progressing. It's about 45000 words in so far. Next week is going to be a review week which will hopefully lead into the final push to the end. It's going to be tight to get it done and published by the end of the year but it's good to have a goal.
Right, that's all for now. To recap. Olympics awesome. I hope we can all retain the spirit as long as possible. Keep buying my books, it makes me feel warm and safe.
Sunday, 12 August 2012
My books are on Ebay!
Morning folks,
Lovely day for an Olympic marathon.
I actually typed this post last night and then managed to catch the "delete the whole post without saving" button and was too tired/drunk to retype it. Mind you it was 2:30AM and I was watching a film.
Anyway, as the title suggests, my paperbacks are now available on Ebay. It's nothing to do with me. I was on Ebay looking at original Millenium Falcons and decided to search for myself, no idea why. I was genuinely surprised when two of my books appeared. They're very expensive because whoever is selling them has added a couple of quid for themselves. They won't sell any but it's worth having a look next time your on Ebay. As ever, I've included subtle links throughout this paragraph.
In another twist, after a couple of months of low sales in America, this month I have sold twice as many books in the US as I have in the UK. Hurrah. Also, in case you missed it, The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe is still available for free via Smashwords. Just use coupon code SW52C at the checkout.
By the way, the film I watched was called Panic Button and it was quite good although it didn't seem to feature, or make any reference to, a panic button.
Right, I'm going to do a bit of work on th new novel and then perhaps an afternoon of barbeque in the garden. It's been an awesome couple of weeks, everyone loves Mo Farah and Team GB are good at sport in a way nobody expected. God knows what we're going to do for fun now because the Premiership is going to be rubbish after this.
Lovely day for an Olympic marathon.
I actually typed this post last night and then managed to catch the "delete the whole post without saving" button and was too tired/drunk to retype it. Mind you it was 2:30AM and I was watching a film.
Anyway, as the title suggests, my paperbacks are now available on Ebay. It's nothing to do with me. I was on Ebay looking at original Millenium Falcons and decided to search for myself, no idea why. I was genuinely surprised when two of my books appeared. They're very expensive because whoever is selling them has added a couple of quid for themselves. They won't sell any but it's worth having a look next time your on Ebay. As ever, I've included subtle links throughout this paragraph.
In another twist, after a couple of months of low sales in America, this month I have sold twice as many books in the US as I have in the UK. Hurrah. Also, in case you missed it, The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe is still available for free via Smashwords. Just use coupon code SW52C at the checkout.
By the way, the film I watched was called Panic Button and it was quite good although it didn't seem to feature, or make any reference to, a panic button.
Right, I'm going to do a bit of work on th new novel and then perhaps an afternoon of barbeque in the garden. It's been an awesome couple of weeks, everyone loves Mo Farah and Team GB are good at sport in a way nobody expected. God knows what we're going to do for fun now because the Premiership is going to be rubbish after this.
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Is it important to have my books available in the public library?
Evening folks,
Another monumental effort by Team GB at the Olympics today. We've won another gold medal in the last hour in the Taekwondo courtesy of Jade Jones. We also won gold in the Women's boxing and more awesome medals in the horses! Top work all round.
Tonight saw a world record in the 800 metres too as well as Usain Bolt making history by being the first man to do the double double in retaining his sprint titles. This was significant to me particularly because I had family in the stadium tonight who apparently had an amazing time.
I and others have noticed the ongoing feelgood factor up and down the country which I think has continued on from the spectacular Jubilee earlier in the year. At the moment Britain feels like a fantastic place to live.
And now onto the books. Regular readers may recall this post where I mentioned that someone I know had requested one of my books from the local library and met with some resistance. Since then, another person who works with my wife has been into their local library to request another of my books. Again they met with a little resistance although in both cases the book, I believe, has been ordered. But nobody, least of all me, is going to get rich from royalties from lending. But it's important to me as a writer to have my books as widely available as possible. I honestly feel that libraries should be actively supporting writers, especially ones local to them.
Still, it's done now and when I hear that the books are on the shelf I plan to wander in and have a look just for my own satisfaction, my own feelgood moment.
In other news, the follow up to The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe is progressing well. I have written over 42,000 words so far although I am struggling to hold onto the plot in places and some careful editing will be required when it's completed. The plan remains the same. Finish the book then put it away and publish a book from the back catalogue. Then I'm either going to publish the new book or.....
I'm not going to tell you what the other option is just yet. But it's something I've had on the back burner for about three years and the idea has never gone away. If I pursue it, I'll announce it here first.
Right, beer and pizza time until the small hours before one more day of work until the weekend.
Another monumental effort by Team GB at the Olympics today. We've won another gold medal in the last hour in the Taekwondo courtesy of Jade Jones. We also won gold in the Women's boxing and more awesome medals in the horses! Top work all round.
Tonight saw a world record in the 800 metres too as well as Usain Bolt making history by being the first man to do the double double in retaining his sprint titles. This was significant to me particularly because I had family in the stadium tonight who apparently had an amazing time.
I and others have noticed the ongoing feelgood factor up and down the country which I think has continued on from the spectacular Jubilee earlier in the year. At the moment Britain feels like a fantastic place to live.
And now onto the books. Regular readers may recall this post where I mentioned that someone I know had requested one of my books from the local library and met with some resistance. Since then, another person who works with my wife has been into their local library to request another of my books. Again they met with a little resistance although in both cases the book, I believe, has been ordered. But nobody, least of all me, is going to get rich from royalties from lending. But it's important to me as a writer to have my books as widely available as possible. I honestly feel that libraries should be actively supporting writers, especially ones local to them.
Still, it's done now and when I hear that the books are on the shelf I plan to wander in and have a look just for my own satisfaction, my own feelgood moment.
In other news, the follow up to The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe is progressing well. I have written over 42,000 words so far although I am struggling to hold onto the plot in places and some careful editing will be required when it's completed. The plan remains the same. Finish the book then put it away and publish a book from the back catalogue. Then I'm either going to publish the new book or.....
I'm not going to tell you what the other option is just yet. But it's something I've had on the back burner for about three years and the idea has never gone away. If I pursue it, I'll announce it here first.
Right, beer and pizza time until the small hours before one more day of work until the weekend.
Friday, 3 August 2012
I'm feeling humble. It won't last.
Evening gang,
I'm watching Blur via the red button on BBC Radio 2. UK readers will know exactly what I'm on about. For everyone else, I hope you've heard of a band called Blur but if not just tap the word into Itunes or Amazon Music Store. There's over twenty years of quality music waiting for you.
Blur were arguably my favourite band growing up, along with the Rolling Stones (thanks to my dad and his vinyl). Now I'm 36, their back catalogue is attached to so many memories for me.
This is a Low - New Year night out in Lancaster, eary 90s. 2 dozen of us out together, the only time it happened. A friend turned up late and unexpected, very drunk and very upset. He sang this song as we stumbled through the town.
The Universal - Morecambe Dome, saw Blur live in the mid 90s with friends, one of whom was best man at my wedding just 2 years ago. I was best man at his 3 weeks before this.
Couple this with an awesome day for Team GB at the Olympics and I'm feeling unusally proud and humble. Not like me at all.
But in short, to those that have been there with me and done all the things we've done, I'd change nothing because we're still here doing it.
And finally to the books. I don't sell millions...yet. But to those who have bought my books all round the world, thank you. If you enjoyed them, and most seem to, even better. Stick with me, let's see where we end up. In 20 years we can look back and remember how awesome it was when the Olympics were in London.
I'm watching Blur via the red button on BBC Radio 2. UK readers will know exactly what I'm on about. For everyone else, I hope you've heard of a band called Blur but if not just tap the word into Itunes or Amazon Music Store. There's over twenty years of quality music waiting for you.
Blur were arguably my favourite band growing up, along with the Rolling Stones (thanks to my dad and his vinyl). Now I'm 36, their back catalogue is attached to so many memories for me.
This is a Low - New Year night out in Lancaster, eary 90s. 2 dozen of us out together, the only time it happened. A friend turned up late and unexpected, very drunk and very upset. He sang this song as we stumbled through the town.
The Universal - Morecambe Dome, saw Blur live in the mid 90s with friends, one of whom was best man at my wedding just 2 years ago. I was best man at his 3 weeks before this.
Couple this with an awesome day for Team GB at the Olympics and I'm feeling unusally proud and humble. Not like me at all.
But in short, to those that have been there with me and done all the things we've done, I'd change nothing because we're still here doing it.
And finally to the books. I don't sell millions...yet. But to those who have bought my books all round the world, thank you. If you enjoyed them, and most seem to, even better. Stick with me, let's see where we end up. In 20 years we can look back and remember how awesome it was when the Olympics were in London.
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
Tired of the Olympics? Try a free book!
Afternoon all.
Obviously you're not tired of the Olympics, they're awesome. Plus Team GB started winning golds today thanks to the women rowers and Bradley 'Wiggo' Wiggins.
But if you fancy losing yourself in a 5* rated crime thriller for a few hours you can download my book The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe for free from Smashwords. That's right, any format you like for nothing.
You'll need to register with the site and then use code SW52C at the checkout.
Here's the blurb: The book begins with Mitch Johnson returning to his home town where he tells his lifelong friend, Rupert Watts, that a young woman is going to be murdered. Mitch thinks that the killing will mirror that of a schoolgirl fifteen years earlier, a crime Mitch himself was suspected of committing.
With no idea when the murder will take place, or who the victim is, the friends endeavour to find the girl before she comes to harm. But they must also contend with Don Hague, a senior councillor and central figure in the dark underbelly of the town who holds Mitch responsible for the ruin of his career and his reputation in the town. The police are watching Mitch, and they are also watching Don Hague.
Who is the girl Mitch is convinced will die? How is her death linked to the schoolgirl murder? Is Don Hague, or his associates, involved? Can Mitch and Rupert convince the police to take them seriously before it’s too late to save a girl’s life?
So to recap. Go to Smashwords, search for Jamie Sinclair, click on The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe, and use code SW52C at the checkout and it's yours on your Kindle, Sony ereader, Ipad, anything you like.
Enjoy.
Obviously you're not tired of the Olympics, they're awesome. Plus Team GB started winning golds today thanks to the women rowers and Bradley 'Wiggo' Wiggins.
But if you fancy losing yourself in a 5* rated crime thriller for a few hours you can download my book The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe for free from Smashwords. That's right, any format you like for nothing.
You'll need to register with the site and then use code SW52C at the checkout.
Here's the blurb: The book begins with Mitch Johnson returning to his home town where he tells his lifelong friend, Rupert Watts, that a young woman is going to be murdered. Mitch thinks that the killing will mirror that of a schoolgirl fifteen years earlier, a crime Mitch himself was suspected of committing.
With no idea when the murder will take place, or who the victim is, the friends endeavour to find the girl before she comes to harm. But they must also contend with Don Hague, a senior councillor and central figure in the dark underbelly of the town who holds Mitch responsible for the ruin of his career and his reputation in the town. The police are watching Mitch, and they are also watching Don Hague.
Who is the girl Mitch is convinced will die? How is her death linked to the schoolgirl murder? Is Don Hague, or his associates, involved? Can Mitch and Rupert convince the police to take them seriously before it’s too late to save a girl’s life?
So to recap. Go to Smashwords, search for Jamie Sinclair, click on The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe, and use code SW52C at the checkout and it's yours on your Kindle, Sony ereader, Ipad, anything you like.
Enjoy.
Am I more successful than Michael Phelps?
The short and obvious answer is a loud and confident NO. He is, as of tonight, the most successful Olympian of all time in terms of medals won and it's a mighty achievement.
But humour me just for a moment. In terms of goals, mine is to be a published author. Done. I wanted to sell books. Done. In multiple countries? Done that too. So that's success right?
But of course we do rather need to quantify our success, to put a number on it and guage the degree of that success. So in those terms I'm something of a failure. I'm not a bestseller, I don't sell millions of books, I don't have a lucractive publishing deal with Hodder or Random House. I'm not Michael Phelps.
But to stick with the theme. I might end up being Michael Phelps. I still have time to sell more books, to become a best seller. At 36 I'm a long way from being too old whereas the most successful Olympic athlete in history is at the tale end of his glittering career. So I'll keep plugging away, putting in the hours, not giving up or being defeated and I will strive to achieve my goals. And that, folks, makes me Michael Phelps! Maybe.
One final note, and this will only mean something to UK readers. I searched for myself on the WH Smith website tonight and one of my books is listed. It was oddly satisfying to see my work being sold by such a British institution. Admittedly I have yet to sell any books through Smiths, but it felt good nonetheless.
Night folks, I think I'm going to do a book promo tomorrow to kickstart sales for August. I will decide exactly what format this will take during tomorrow and announce it after work.
But humour me just for a moment. In terms of goals, mine is to be a published author. Done. I wanted to sell books. Done. In multiple countries? Done that too. So that's success right?
But of course we do rather need to quantify our success, to put a number on it and guage the degree of that success. So in those terms I'm something of a failure. I'm not a bestseller, I don't sell millions of books, I don't have a lucractive publishing deal with Hodder or Random House. I'm not Michael Phelps.
But to stick with the theme. I might end up being Michael Phelps. I still have time to sell more books, to become a best seller. At 36 I'm a long way from being too old whereas the most successful Olympic athlete in history is at the tale end of his glittering career. So I'll keep plugging away, putting in the hours, not giving up or being defeated and I will strive to achieve my goals. And that, folks, makes me Michael Phelps! Maybe.
One final note, and this will only mean something to UK readers. I searched for myself on the WH Smith website tonight and one of my books is listed. It was oddly satisfying to see my work being sold by such a British institution. Admittedly I have yet to sell any books through Smiths, but it felt good nonetheless.
Night folks, I think I'm going to do a book promo tomorrow to kickstart sales for August. I will decide exactly what format this will take during tomorrow and announce it after work.
Monday, 30 July 2012
Medals and reviews
Hi folks,
Just a quick post while I have a brew at work.
Federer is cruising inthe Olympic tennis, our omwen set an Olympic record in the rowing earlier and there's Tom Daley to come in the diving shortly. Epic!
But to more pressing news. I stumbled across a review of my book All the fun of the Fair which was quite simply bursting with enthusiasm, to the extent that I've included it here. Huge thanks to the reviewer, it's much appreciated.
"Usually, I only ever read horror. However, after being 'horrored out' on holiday in Corfu I decided to read something from a different genre and had downloaded this book a while ago. I am so glad I did. The story centres around a group of Morecambe residents. The author does an amazing job of inter-twining all the main characters to tell their individual stories. It is funny, sad and heart wrenching. What I especially liked about the book is the fact that Morecambe holds many dear memories for me and it was lovely to read about places I recognised (Happy Mount Park being one) and it gave me a nice warm fuzzy feeling! I could picture the streets of Morecambe clearly. This is a really well written book, and after reading it I am eager to read more by Jamie Sinclair. The author portrays his characters exceedingly well and the reader becomes attached to them all. He gets into the minds of the young and the old alike, seamlessly. This is a brilliant book and I am so glad I read it. Look forward to reading more by this author."
Just a quick post while I have a brew at work.
Federer is cruising inthe Olympic tennis, our omwen set an Olympic record in the rowing earlier and there's Tom Daley to come in the diving shortly. Epic!
But to more pressing news. I stumbled across a review of my book All the fun of the Fair which was quite simply bursting with enthusiasm, to the extent that I've included it here. Huge thanks to the reviewer, it's much appreciated.
"Usually, I only ever read horror. However, after being 'horrored out' on holiday in Corfu I decided to read something from a different genre and had downloaded this book a while ago. I am so glad I did. The story centres around a group of Morecambe residents. The author does an amazing job of inter-twining all the main characters to tell their individual stories. It is funny, sad and heart wrenching. What I especially liked about the book is the fact that Morecambe holds many dear memories for me and it was lovely to read about places I recognised (Happy Mount Park being one) and it gave me a nice warm fuzzy feeling! I could picture the streets of Morecambe clearly. This is a really well written book, and after reading it I am eager to read more by Jamie Sinclair. The author portrays his characters exceedingly well and the reader becomes attached to them all. He gets into the minds of the young and the old alike, seamlessly. This is a brilliant book and I am so glad I read it. Look forward to reading more by this author."
Saturday, 28 July 2012
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!
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!
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Wednesday, 25 July 2012
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.
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.
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