Thank you everybody!!

Today, I received this notification from WordPress:

Thank you everyone, for your support, comments, likes and encouragement!

I look forward to following your wit, wisdom, tips and pics in the future.

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A Construct of Angels – the relaunch

Party on here.

Todays the day! Everything is in place for the party. Along with my co-host Sonya Loveday we hope to tickle, challenge and entertain – all in one night!

Please drop by between 20:00 – midnight GMT (15:00 – 19:00 EST), even if it’s just to say hello.

Also, please feel free to reblog or share this with anyone you think may be interested.

The party will feature eBook and audiobook giveaways, fun and games, caption contests and general banter… plus I a few little items of swag.

Hope to see you there.

P.S. I would also like to say  to everyone who has offered to donate an eBook for the occasion.

If you’d like to join them and add something to the (growing) pile, please let me know in the comments below.

Write on – and party on!!

A Construct of Angels – two days to go

Party on here.

With only a few days to go until the relaunch, almost everything is in place for the party. Never having organised one of these before, I was initially faced with a writer’s worst nightmare – the blank page – before my friend Sonya Loveday sent me a list of suggestions. Thank you Sonya! 🙂

I’ve since found inspiration and added a few other items that ought to entertain those who are attending on Friday between 20:00 – midnight GMT (15:00 – 19:00 EST).

Please drop by, even if it’s just to say hello.

Also, please feel free to reblog or share this with anyone you think may be interested.

The party will feature eBook and audiobook giveaways, fun and games, caption contests and general banter… plus I hope to have some cute little items of swag to offer up.

Hope to see you there.

P.S. I would also like to say  to everyone who has offered to donate an eBook for the occasion. If you’d like to join them and add something to the (small) pile, please let me know in the comments below.

Write on – and party on!!

A Construct of Angels – the 2014 relaunch

Wish me luck – I’m about to host my first release party. Okay, technically it’s a re-release party, but since the book’s original release was a fairly subdued affair (way back in October 2012), I thought that I ought to make up for it this time round with the revised version.

Not that I’m attempting this alone, oh, no. I have some very competent assistants (for assistants, read: show me how to do virtually everything this time round) in the guise of Sonya Loveday and Candace Knoebel, they of the spectacular cover reveal and release parties on Facebook. The above promotion banner is all Sonya’s work.

Thank you, ladies, from a lumbering old Luddite whose Smartphone has more savvy than I do. Come to think of it, the house phone has too…

The party will feature eBook and audiobook giveaways, fun and games, caption contests and general banter. Please drop by if you have time on Friday 28th between 20:00 – midnight GMT (15:00 – 19:00 EST), even if it’s just to say hello.

Hope to see you there.

Write on!

Published for a year…

On October 17th, 2012, I clicked a button marked ‘Upload’ and sat back, nervously awaiting the delivery of a stream of electronic information to Amazon KDP. Twelve hours later, ‘A Construct of Angels’ was live and I realised that I had finally achieved my dream – to complete a novel and put it up for sale.

Thirty-seven years ago, I could never have dreamed that in this future age of flying cars, silver jumpsuits and daily trips to the Moon, my book would exist only as data and that it would be held in storage in a distant country. Readers would only have to tap it with their finger if they wanted to select, pay for and read it.

Cool.

I am still working to make the paperback version a reality, but with the recent bout of editing that I have subjected the poor thing to, that particular realisation has been delayed yet again. Configuring an electronic (Word-based) template with paragraphs, page breaks, chapters and the odd image isn’t as straightforward as it ought to be. *frowns* It’s now back with my new editor, Tara, after receiving some swathing cuts, including the complete removal of two characters.

In some ways, I hardly seem to have moved on at all. I am still editing and I really need to put A Construct of Angels to bed and pick up the sequel. But it will haunt me if my first book isn’t the best it can possibly be. Only when that’s sorted, can I let it go…

However, as I mentioned in a previous post, One Year On,  a great deal has changed for me in the last twelve months (plus I now have 300 followers – who’d have thought?) and I still can’t quite believe how much has been crammed into such a short space of time. I can only wonder what the next twelve months will bring, although I can’t imagine them being as crazy as the last twelve. The learning curve, I feel, is no longer as steep as it has been and for that, I am grateful. 🙂

Regular readers will know that my job sends me all around the UK. Well, by sheer chance, this week happens to have landed me back at the exact same desk from where I uploaded my book, one year ago. I am experiencing an eerie sense of deja vu – again.

It’s another reminder of what’s changed. If I could borrow Sandra Bullock’s time-travelling postbox (The Lake House), I would send my past self a message that says ‘hang on to your hat.’

Not that I wear a hat. I’m not Terry Pratchett. 🙂

Anyway, until Tara has finished looking over my new edits, I’m hoping to press on with the sequel,  ‘A Vengeance of Angels.’ I’d really liked to have completed it, one year on, but life has a peculiar way of rearranging even the best-laid plans of mice and authors.

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High Seas Silliness is upon us once again… Ah-harrrr.

Ahoy, me fellow blogsters! I’m knowing that yer usually seeing nowt but good sense and *slugs a fistfull of rum* the occasional ramble from me good self, but see…. today be International Talk like a pirate day. And if ye ain’t belivin’ me, ask me good mate Wikipedia, who’ll tell ye it’s true, see!

I be one for tradition, y’see and be happy to share this jolly happenin’ with ye, me fellow sailors and lubbers.

So get yerselves out into the world and cheer up a few sad souls who might be lost or down. Tell ’em I sent ye!

Keep to the Code!

Ghostly WordPress goings-on

Am I the only one who is being haunted by the Ghostly ‘like’?

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This little orange ‘tease’ hangs in the corner of my toolbar like a candle, drawing my eye away from whatever I was writing and…

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Eh…

Sorry, I lost my thread there for a moment. What was I saying? Right, so I click on the ‘like’ only to find that there is nothing new there.

Worse, if I change pages in WordPress, it reappears! I click on it

As if that wasn’t bad enough, it has been joined by a ghostly ‘comment’ that does exactly the same.

There’s nothing there.

I know it’s not my computer because I’ve seen this whilst using four different units (not all at the same time, obviously. This isn’t ‘Swordfish’).

Please tell me that I’m not the only one who is being teased and mocked by technology.

WordPress, if you are reading this, please come up with a ‘fix’ for this.

If you don’t, I may need to seek out a ‘fix’ of my own…

S’okay, I’m only talking about caffeine.

Without the sugar.

And the milk.

And water.

*crunch*

One year on from my first post – and look what’s changed!

A few days ago, WordPress sent me a reminder that I’d just published my 100th post – and I was taken aback.

I suddenly realised that it has been almost exactly one year since I first created my first ever post; The best rejection letter ever?

And what a lot has happened in those twelve months – just look at the stats;

Last July                                      This July

1 post                                            100+ posts

2 WP followers                             235+ WP followers (update?)

20 Facebook followers                 900+ Facebook followers

no Twitter account                        475+ Twitter followers

No eBook published                      eBook self-published

No paperback                                 Paperback very close to completion

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This is all part of spreading the word, of building an author platform – and it’s looking quite good, IMHO.

Along the way, I have met some very talented people. Some of them are constantly beating a path for the rest of us to follow, whilst others are still following their aspirations to publish. Many are very, very close to that first eBook or printed book.

Then there are the non-writer bloggers who post recipes, amazing photographs or offer philosophical insights that leave me thinking ‘wow…’

I have learned a great deal since last July. Back then I had just exhausted my 102-strong list of UK-based Literary Agencies and whilst I’d received some encouragement along the way (notably The best rejection letter ever?), I was no closer to being published.

At that time I was on a knife-edge, wondering if I ought to begin querying US-based agencies – but electronically. I could never have afforded the postage costs. I was already several hundreds of pounds down (I still am) and further investment would have crippled me financially.

And then I began hearing, via Facebook and WordPress, about self-publishing. I was (at first) curious – and then intrigued. I wanted to know more.

The seed was sown. As the rejection letters continued to trickle in, I decided to learn all I could about creating and publishing an eBook, just in case none of the agencies picked up my book. They didn’t – so I launched myself into the world of ePublishing. The rest, as they say, is history. Very recent history – and something I could not have done without help from fellow bloggers.

Sharing – it’s the best part of blogging! It makes the lonely business of writing feel a lot less…well, lonely. We all get to read about other people’s experiences on a daily basis, both the good and the bad. Most notable is Ryan Casey’s runaway success with his short stories and novels and Michelle Proulx’s difficult journey with the publisher iUniverse. Both authors have flourished, but their experiences contrast greatly. But even bad experiences can teach us all something. Thanks for sharing, Michelle!

What’s most encouraging is the great feedback that I’ve received. Every comment makes me want to post again…and again. I love seeing that little orange star at the top of my dashboard. It’s encouraging to know that someone had read and ‘liked’ my words. But even more heart-warming is that little orange speech bubble. Whatever I was about to do, whatever words I had in mind…they get sidelined as I click on the bubble to see the message that has been left.

A blogger once remarked that comments are addictive. They were right. I love them! They have delivered support and encouragement in so many different ways. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to leave me feedback.

I wonder if my second year of blogging will be as fascinating and thrilling a ride as the first?

See you all in July 2014!

Keep blogging (especially Shay Starcaller)!

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Post Script;

What I hadn’t expected – and this came right out of the blue as I was preparing to post, was this;

I really had NO IDEA that I’d been with WordPress for so long.  It’s true that I’ve chronicled my writing endeavours as far back as 1999 (see The Homeworld Saga), but that was all retro-written just to document where my modern writing began to coalesce properly.

But four years?

Wow…

Time does fly when you’re having fun doing what you love the most!

Woot! Awesome! 200 followers!

I’m very please to share this congratulatory message from WordPress – fresh from yesterday.

Can I offer a great big

to everyone who has chosen to follow my random ramblings over the past ten months. It’s been a hugely enjoyable and education journey and I hope you’ve been able to glean at least one interesting or useful fact from my pages.

No laurels will be rested upon – the learning curve continues ever upwards!

In the meantime, Write On, everyone!

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Honoured to receive the Dragon’s Loyalty award

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Love that picture!

I was very pleased (not to mention surprised) when Briana Vedsted nominated me for the Dragon’s Loyalty Award!

This was an award I’d not seen before so I was delighted when Briana chose to nominate me and my blog.

The rules for this award are:
1.         Display the Award Certificate on your website.
2.         Announce your win with a written post and link to whoever presented your award.
3.         Present 15 awards to deserving bloggers.

4.         Drop them a comment to tip them off after you have liked them in the post.
5.         Post 7 interesting things about yourself.

So here goes!

Seven interesting (I hope) things about me:

1.         Robin Hobb’s ‘Blood of Dragons’ might be the last paper book I will ever read…

2.        Writing has become my anchor in an otherwise chaotic life.

3.        I dislike the cold and grey of winter – but I love the snow!  How weird (S.A.D.) is that?

4.         I have a terrier who may have been an engineer in his former life.  He’s the smartest dog I’ve ever seen.

5.         I’m fascinated by sunsets and cannot stop taking photos of them.

6.         My biggest regret is having not pursued motor racing in my 20’s.  I still think I could have made a career out of it.

and…
7.         I can find peace and inspiration if I stop to watch running water.  Perhaps my Muse is a water-spirit…

And now for my nominees (I’m doing 10 instead of 15):

As it’s a loyalty award, I will nominate those who have been with me, who have encouraged me and stuck with me throughout my (and their) ups and downs…

Ryan Casey – without whom I may not have (self) published

Candace Knoebel – whose adventures have blazed a fiery trail!

Sonya Loveday – for her love, encouragement and inspiration here and on Facebook.

Jon at Jumpingfromcliffs – for keeping me going when things got sticky.

Michelle Proulx – for her zany (and often surreal) humour and for introducing me to the word ‘Woot!’

Pat at patwoodblogging – for her steadfast encouragement even when it snowed.

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…plus a few newer followers with whom I have enjoyed much banter;

Karen Gadient – it seems we share much that is non-corporeal!

Daphnee at AnEvilnymphsblog – who is anything but evil (sorry, didn’t you want that known?).

Nightwolf aka KisaWhipkey – for encouragement via blog and Facebook

Fortyoneteen – thanks for your insight.

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Please pass this award on to those bloggers who are deserving of a loyalty award.  We gotta stick together!

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