How do you manage distractions?

Evening gang,

I've been away, but now I'm back.

Pardon the dodgy quote from The Shining but I went to a special Halloween screening last Wednesday and it was awesome. It was the extended US version and it remains one of my favourite films and both the film and particularly the book have been a constant source of inspiration.

Examples? Okay. In my book All the fun of the fair the bar in the Narracott hotel is called the Overlook after the hotel in King's book. The scene in the ballroom is based on the party scenes in The Shining. Ben Torrance, in my book Playground Cool, takes his name from Jack in the Stephen King original. There's more but I'd have to refer to the books themselves to remind myself. The point is, it's one of the best stories King has written and, even though the film differs from the book, it's powerful largely because of the central performance by Jack Nicholson and the awesome camera work.

As regular readers will know I've got two books on the verge of publication yet the editing process has stalled. Why? Too much else going on coupled with a little bit of writing fatigue. I wrote the sequel to the Jazz Cafe in a matter of months while working full time. I then started to edit a book from the back catalogue days later.

End result? I stare at the pages and nothing happens. It's occurred before and I know I just need time to recharge. I never know how long but all of a sudden it will hit me and I won't be able to keep up. But for now we appear to be done. Does this mean the books won't be out before Christmas? Maybe it does. But that's okay. You can't force it. Or you can, but the result will never be quite right.

So that's it in a nutshell. I'm now distracted. Trips to the cinema, the local pub, work is frantic and driving me mad and I lack the motivation in the evening to write. But only for now.

My question is this? How do you manage your distractions? Work, kids, tele, life. Stuff gets in the way. This stuff is fine for everyone else, that's their life. But to us writers all that is research, background noise, a distraction from the real purpose. But when the words won't flow it can be very hard to turn off X Factor or not sink another beer. Yet when I'm in the middle of a story the tele could be on full blast and I wouldn't even notice.

So for tonight I'm just going to write this blog piece and that will be enough. Tomorrow I'll chalk off another day at work and pray for a lottery win to end that particular misery. I'll keep doing that until one day the words turn up and drag me off on the next leg of our adventure.

On the plus side there's plenty of football on the box this week and we're planning a trip to see Skyfall later in the week so it's all good.

Carry on...

PS While I was just on Amazon UK grabbing the links for this blog I noticed I've now got 9 reviews for the Jazz Cafe, 8 of which are 5*. The other is a 3* and it's tone is totally different to the other reviews which makes me wonder if it's from someone I've upset. Or I'm just unable to accept someone was not totally in love with my book. Either way, it's great to know folk like what I'm doing.

How long does it take to write a book?

Evening folks,

Italy was awesome thanks for asking. I'd recommend seeing more than one city in a trip as you get a great opportunity to compare and contrast different places. Venice is lovely but so different to Rome. Also, despite what everyone had told us, the wife and I both preferred Rome, although we would definitely return to both places. By the way, the pic below is the view of the grand canal from one of our windows. Needless to say one of the better rooms I've stayed in.

I'd also recommend the cross Europe sleeper as an option if you can afford it and don't like flying. It's a fun experience although not exactly the height of luxury. I've attached a couple of links so you can see for yourself. Bottom line is, you get a bed, decent tea, there's a bar and you see all sorts out of the window. It was slightly surreal being in Dijon station at half ten at night, but pretty cool. Either way, we didn't sleep great but enough to arrive in Venice at breakfast time (we had breakfast on the train too), check in to our hotel (with the above view) and spend the day sight seeing.

But the point of this post is the writing. I wrote thousands of words while I was away including a 2000 word session on the train from Venice to Italy which was super. There's a lot to be said for typing away with a glass of wine while the grand canal is only a few feet away. Again, strange but very cool. I also sold plenty of books last month which was very encouraging.

So where am I up to? As of today I've written over 82,000 words of the new book and should have a completed draft tomorrow. Needless to say I'll announce something when it's done. Which brings me to the title of this post. How long does it take to write a book? Well, assuming I finish it tomorrow this book will have taken just over six months which doesn't feel like long at all.

In other news I've had some lovely reviews lately as well. Here's a few words from someone who finished reading All the fun of the Fair this week:

"Just finished All the Fun of the Fair. Gutted it ended!! Absolutely loved Alfie from the moment I met him, tania was fantastic, reminded me a lot of myself in my youth lol, and as for lee I hope he gets an incurable STD."

This person has since purchased a copy of The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe so fingers crossed they enjoy that too.

Anyway, I'm having an easy night tonight since I'm still off work and I've been writing all day. Tele and ale is the plan. Hopefully I'll have a finished novel to tell you about tomorrow along with a couple of other developments.

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."

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.

All the fun of the Fair - New Edition

Just a quickie today folks,

First off, the rains stopped! Thank God because for the first since I've lived here my house sprung a leak. Thankfully it was nothing major and nothing a bit of sunshine can't fix.

Anyway, always one to listen to feedback (and generally ignore it) I have revised my book All the fun of the Fair. I've toned down the vocaulary because I was basically showing off. Hopefully now folk will be able to understand what I'm saying without the need for a dictionary.

I've also restructured a couple of chapters near the end which I think makes it flow better. It's not a big deal because I was reformatting it anyway because it's going to be out in paperack in the next week or two.

As such, since it's a new version, it also features a new, more grown up, cover, handily pictured here:

If you needed more reason to buy yourself a copy then I've also reduced the price to £1.31 in the UK and $1.99 in the US. As ever, I hope you like it and a review is much appreciated.

Right, quick hour in the garden tidying up before the football. Let's hope Uncle Roy has got the beating of the Italians.



Emails and Venice

Evening groovers,

As predicted I've been over thinking the submission I sent to Simon Trewin. That said, it was a bit strange. I sent the email around midnight and received a read receipt at 6AM. So I awoke to find it waiting for me and was immediately a bit excited and then a bit curious as to who on earth was opening emails at that time.

Later, at about 10:30AM I received another read receipt for my email which made me more curious and a bit more excited.

I also spent a bit of time thinking about Carole Blake (of Blake Friedmann agency) because she is on Simon Trewin's Twitter list so I know she is on holiday in Venice. I have just booked to go to Venice so I began to wonder if this was a sign that submitting to Simon was the right move.

You see how these things mess with my mind? This is exactly the reason why I was so unsure about sending anything in the first place.

In other news I've sold a few books today which is good and the revisions for the paperback version of All the fun of the Fair are progressing. I've done about half the book so it should be ready early next week. Needless to say I'll post updates on here.

Sadly I've not written much but I'm just too damn tired. I managed a couple of hundred words of fairly meaningless prose last night and I've just not had the inclination tonight but by the time I got in from work and shopping and had tea I fell alseep on the couch and that was it. I've got a couple of days in the Lake District booked at the end of the month though so hopefully that might help the creativity.

Until next time...

Followers, Friends and Book Sales

Evening folks,

So it's been an interesting few days. My push to increase my social networking presence is going well. I now have about 800 Twitter followers and just shy of 300 friends on Facebook.

Most of these folk seem to be like minded i.e. authors with books to promote and opinions on all aspects of writing. After a few days of actively seeking new people the growth seems to be starting to feed itself as my networks are growing without my input. The plan is to monitor and review to keep things on an upward trajectory.

Which leads me nicely to my next issue. How to translate this presence into book sales. It's all well and good being able to reach more people, but if they are largely like-minded, then I don't think it will lead to vastly increased sales. After all, while I have checked out a few of the recommendations I've received from my new friends, I am not about to buy all of the books available on my friends lists. So that begs the question, why would they buy mine?

I have no answer, but if and when I figure it out hopefully I can then build my sales.

In other news, Tiger Woods looked like he was in line to win his first major in four years only to have a shocking day yesterday. Sadly, his start today will have him longing for the golf he played yesterday. Meanwhile, Federer lost the final of the tennis to a bloke even older than him who hasn't won anything in three years. On the plus side, England have a good shout of progressing in the football.

I also went to the see the National Theatre Live screening of Frankenstein tonight. Brilliant. I ran into the ex-wife of a friend of mine at the bar. He left her the week after attending a BBQ at my house last summer. On the plus side she's looking pretty well but it was a bit awkward all round.

Anyway, I'd best crack on. Tonight's plan, some editing/revision of All the fun of the Fair which I plan to launch as a paperback in the next few weeks. I shall be relying on my vast new social network to spread the word far and wide.

As you were...

FREE BOOK!!

Afternoon folks,

All the Fun of the Fair will be free for 24 hours as of tomorrow the 23rd April.

It's had 5 star reviews and is apparently rather good. The fact that it's free removes any excuse you previously had for not reading it. Unless you can't read, in which case get someone else to download a copy and make them read it to you.

If you do download it and read it, please review it. I'll be suitably appreciative.

Thanks

5 * Review!!

Morning folks,

I've just had a five star review of All the Fun of the Fair. Needless to say, I'm well chuffed.

There's a link to the review here, but since it's so good I've also pasted it in below.

"This is my first Jamie Sinclair book and I was mightily impressed. It begins by introducing us to a selection of dysfunctional characters, living lives on the edge of society - social misfits. Gradually as their stories unfold to us, their lives touch each other tangentially, coalesce in some cases, and I found myself fascinated. It is a difficult book to stop reading!

I enjoyed the style, the dipping in and out of lives, the eventual realisation that many were interlinked. I also loved Jamie Sinclair's use of vocabulary. We have so many nuances in our language - we are lucky and should use them. Each apparent synonym conveys a different shade of meaning and I love to see the language used more extensively. The denoument of the book is wonderful. Some of the characters 'came good' and reached within themselves for the sake of others. Some managed, through finding each other, to excise the poison of their past relationships. (Slime balls still remain slimeballs though, but we relish their downfall!) This is altogether a satisfying and enjoyable read and I thoroughly recommend it."

Progress on the sequel

Evening all,

Bloody freezing isn't it? Scotland was superb. I got very drunk. Stella and Glenmorangie. It's how I roll.

Anyway, I am now basing scenes from my new book in Ayr, following my successful research trip at the weekend. Mitch and a character currently named Annabel are holed up in a cottage near Ayr for reasons which will become apparent later. Suffice to say, it's because Mitch needs to keep out of Rupert's way.

This is the first time I've written a series and it's really interesting getting to interact with the characters again and use the back story to develop a new plot.

In other news, still no redundancy news so my full-time writing plans are still on the back burner. But fresh from last months strong sales I have already sold half a dozen copies this month so, just for now, I'm going to leave All the Fun of the Fair at its current price. I believe it's worth it, simple as that.

My Twitter followers are creeping up and traffic to this blog is going up too so it's all positive. I just need to keep reminding myself this is a building process. I have plenty of material and aim to have another two books at least available for sale within the next six months.

In short, all good. Thanks for reading, you're making me smile!

Sales, promo and followers

Evening folks,

It's been a sunny week here. Perfect for walking along the canal or on the beach. Sadly I've spent most of it in a warehouse working. But it's the weekend now and I'm off to Scotland tomorrow to catch up with chums.

The positives of this week are I received my first ever comment on one of my blog posts which was super. I have also sold 78 books this month which is a new high. I remain convinced that if I ever find the time to promote more I'd sell pretty well. Anyway there is one more day of March left so I'd like to pass the 80 mark if possible. Given that my latest effort, All the fun of the Fair, is priced slightly higher, it's all good.

If you are reading this, tell your friends to buy my book! If you don't have any friends, open the window and shout to a passing stranger. All help gratefully accepted.

Finally, I entered a competition this week. It was in Good Housekeeping magazine believe it or not, shown to me by the wife's Aunt. The prize is publication of the novel by Orion and a £25,000 advance, as well as an introduction to the agent Luigi Bonomi. Results not announced until May. Needless to say I submitted a chunk of The 24 Hour Jazz cafe so fingers crossed. Bottle of champagne (or summat else nice) for Auntie Helen if I win.

That's it for now. I'm going to try and write a few words of the follow up to The Jazz Cafe before bed.

Thanks for reading, following and buying. As ever, it's appreciated and keeps me from going postal during working hours.

5* Amazon Review

Evening folks,

That's right gang, I have received my first five star review for Playground Cool! Ironically, or not, it's from the same lady who posted such a favourable review of All the Fun of the Fair. She is now my number one fan!

Needless to say I've tweeted about the review, put it on Goodreads and on Kindleboards, it's satisfying stuff.

Anyway, here's an extract:

Mr Sinclair has certainly mastered the art of writing credible fiction from both a woman's and a man's point of view. The story held my attention right the way through and had me laughing, crying, getting angry, rooting for the underdogs and screaming at the lying, cheating sc*mbags!
I think it is a little grittier than the mainstream Chick-lit I have previously read and I personally think that actually makes it better.

First sale of All the Fun of the Fair

Afternoon kids,

Much satisfaction today as I sold my first copy of All the Fun of the Fair in the UK. As regular readers will know this is my third Indie publication and the first which I have listed at a higher price. I can't help but think the recent positive review I received has helped.

Fingers crossed it's only the beginning.

4 * review of my new book

Evening folks,

I received a great review of my latest effort All the Fun of the Fair today. Here's the review in full:

This book is not my usual genre but I was looking for something a little different, bimbled across this and thought I'd give it a crack.
As the blurb says, this book revolves around Alfie, a man with a dark past, and how a chance meeting sends his life down a different route.
But it is so much more than just his story. It is also the stories of several other people connected to Alfie - be it by location, job or just friends/acquaintances. Minor characters in Alfie's story become major characters with their own tales, often told from several perspectives. In this way the book comes across sometimes as episodic. It takes you through highs and lows, love, heartbreak, quite a few tears and some pretty funny laugh out loud moments.
The characterisation is fantastically imaginative in parts and this works extremely well. Spelling, grammar (to the best of my knowledge) and formatting spot on. If I have any criticism, it would be the author's tendency to us obscure words that I had to keep looking up. Admittedly not too much of a chore with the Kindle's on-board dictionary, and certainly not enough to ruin the enjoyment of the story, but mildly irksome nonetheless.
As the book featured so many interesting characters - both major and minor - there is plenty of potential for future continuation and I, for one, would be up for reading more.

Thanks

Network blogs and Amazon tags

Evening dear reader,

Today's big news is that I've changed my Twitter profile pic to be the cover of my latest book All the fun of the Fair. Will it help sales? Unlikely. But it looks good.

Also, I've joined Networked Blogs and as such now have five followers for this blog! Hello followers!! Welcome aboard. Spread the word.

I'm also making a bit more effort on Kindleboards which has resulted in a sharp increase in the number of 'likes' and clicks on my book tags on Amazon which can be no bad thing, although it has yet to led to an increase in sales.

With that in mind I've sold just shy of sixty copies so far this month which is great by my own standards. I have also written 2500 words of the second in my crime thriller series.

Crikey, I nearly forgot. In a fit of drunken ambition last night I submitted an extract of The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe to a couple of agents. I won't name them in case they read this and feel obliged to represent me (HA!) but based on past experience I'm not holding my breath.

Until next time...

Facebook, Twitter, Book Promotion!

Me again folks,

Today marks my first full day on Facebook. So far I have 14 friends and 10 'Likes' of my Book Promo Page. Obviously this is pretty good but I'll need it to be a lot better if it's going to translate into significant sales.

As such, get yourself there and 'Like' my page. The more the merrier. Then, tell your friends and finally, buy my books, it's the only way. Look upon it as a kindness. I want to be full-time writer. I can't do that unless you buy stuff I write. Then I can write more stuff and the process will feed itself!

So to recap, Like, Share, Buy.

Thanks

Lots of positives!!

Evening dear reader,

Today began badly. I got a puncture on the main road on the way to work and had to dodge traffic to change the tyre. I arrived at work, late and covered in dirt and oil.

But the day improved!

I have now linked this blog to my Goodreads account. Also, Playground Cool and my latest effort All the Fun of the Fair are now available to buy or preview direct from the Goodreads site. There's more! I am also doing a free giveaway of All the Fun of the Fair. The first 100 people who email me will receive a free copy of All the Fun of the Fair to review. I have already had one response!!! Search for me on Goodreads to learn more.

There's even more! I have also sold 41 copies of my books so far this month (just 13 days) which is awesome. This on the back of about 1500 freebie downloads.

I am also working on my Facebook author page which I hope to launch in the next week or so. I have also written 2000 words of my next book which is the second in my crime thriller series set in Morecambe.

It's all happening!

Promo Results

Afternoon kids,

My latest KDP promo has just finished and it was pretty successful. Overall Playground Cool and The Storyteller were downloaded over 1600 times.

The majority, as you might expect, were in America via Amazon US. There were about a thousand downloads there. About another 500 came via Amazon UK with the rest from Amazon Germany. However, this time I had 1 download from France and 1 from Italy which has never happened before!

The plan now is to wait and see if these downloads translate into sales of All the Fun of the Fair. I'll give it a couple of weeks and if not, then I'll lower the price.

In other news there seems to be trouble brewing in terms of price hikes for ebooks. Apparently five of the big publishers are supposedly colluding to raise prices. Apple are involved because of their Ibook platform. There's a link to the article here.

That's it for now.