Get her here … https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/299098
Hilary Darke – now available in hard copy
Reply
Just added Hilary to the Create Space website, which has been an interesting experience. I’m aware that lots of people still prefer reading in hard copy, so I thought i should make her availabl that way too! You can access her via the following link:
https://www.createspace.com/4120018 Just enter the following code for a 25% discount: FT8XTXN9
New publication
New year, new book: The Accidental Career of Hilary Darke.
A darkly comic thriller, which centres on Hilary Darke, struggling writer and reluctant temp, who experiences more success as a murderer than as an author.
Hilary’s dreams of being a successful writer seem to recede further into the distance the more she gets sucked into the daily grind of the civil service. Dealing with her bullying boss, Ros, is enough to push her over the edge. But Hilary is resourceful. She’s determind to find success, whatever it takes. You might miss Hilary in a crowd, but she wouldn’t miss you.
If that’s caught your interest, it’s available on Amazon via the following link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Accidental-Career-Hilary-Darke-ebook/dp/B00ASL2720/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357587772&sr=8-1
Keep on writing…
The Huffington Post had an interesting piece this week on not letting pessimism get the best of you: An Open Letter to Fiction Writers by Yael Goldstein Love (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yael-goldstein-love/an-open-letter-to-fiction-writers_b_1899842.html). It made the point that changes in the landscape of publishing, such as the advent of the e-book and the rise of reader networking sites, also mean more opportunities to reach readers in new and exciting ways. This is very true. There are all sorts of avenues to be explored if you are trying to connect with fellow readers and authors. You just have to be prepared to put the time and energy into it.
One site that I’ve been trying out recently is Authonomy, the online writing community developed by fiction editors at Harper Collins (http://authonomy.com/). It’s well worth checking out if you’re looking for a place to share your writing and maybe test the waters with work in progress. I’ve posted the first three chapters of a novel on there and have enjoyed having an opportunity to get some honest and genuinely helpful feedback from other writers from all round the world. I’ve also had the privilege of reading and commenting on the work of others, some of whom I’m sure will be future published authors. It really does hearten me to see how much talent is out there.
Another similar site is YouWriteOn: http://www.youwriteon.com/, and I’m sure there are plenty more out there.
It’s so easy to get sucked into pessimism, as the Open Letter in the Huffington Post points out. Will I ever get the story right? Will anyone ever even want to read it? Why am I sitting here typing away when I should be getting some sleep? Every writer has days (and night!) like that. But I’ve found that taking the chance to read and give positive criticism on the work of others is a great way to shake you out of that sort of inward-looking me, me, me state of mind. Anyway, as Stephen King said, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” * That says it all for me.
So get reading!
* Check out some other Stephen King quotes on http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/3389.Stephen_King. Also check out On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by the same author for some salutory advice (http://www.amazon.co.uk/On-Writing-A-Memoir-Craft/dp/0340820462).
Dinosaurs and canaries
Went for my morning run this morning. (Well, more of a gentle jog, given that it was Sunday morning and last night was spent with large helpings of curry and wine.) Passed the speed camera, which is still picking up pedestrians as well as road vehicles. I keep hoping it won’t notice me.
Apparently, T-Rex could run at 15 mph. I learned this while watching James May’s Things You Need to Know last week (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01m2svc). That kind of puts me in the shade as far as running against the speed camera – although I did register 5-7 mph, which was, all things considered, something of a surprise.
Anyway, while jogging along this morning, I kept passing what seemed to be strategically placed scatterings of sweetcorn. I thought the first one was an accident, maybe someone had dropped their groceries on their way back from the shops. But when I passed the fifth or sixth pile, I began to think someone was laying a trail. For what, though? Has someone got a giant canary in training? If they have, I’d love to know what he registers on the camera.
Catch some air
I went for a run this morning. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no Paula Radcliffe or Tirunesh Dibaba. I know that jogging a couple of miles after last night’s glass of wine or three isn’t exactly scaling the heights of athletics prowess. As if to rub in this fact, the local council have set up a couple of new speed cameras on the main road. I have to run past them on my usual route. I don’t know if it’s deliberate, but they’ve been angled to read the speed of passing pedestrians on the pavement, not just vehicles on the road. This morning I was flicking between 5 and 7 mph, apparently, which sounds about right.
I guess it’s just a basic human response, but when you see the figure on the screen, you immediately want to try and make it bigger. Or maybe I’m just overly competitive. It reminded me of that episode in The Middle when Axl and friends take on the radar gun on the electronic road sign and try to outrun the 15mph speed limit (http://abc.go.com/shows/the-middle/episode-detail/the-concert/926412).
I don’t know if I’ve got it in me, but tomorrow I’m aiming for double figures. Gotta catch some air…
SFWA link – self-publishing
Check out this link on the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) if you are interested in self-publishing. Lots of useful tips and further links on the options and pitfalls of print on demand (POD) and e-publishing: http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/pod/#Electronic - relevant across all genres, not just SF writers. Lots of it is probably familiar to those of you already well on the path of self-publishing, but there are some helpful reminders there, eg ‘have a plan’. OK, a lot of it isn’t rocket science, even though this is the SFWA site (geddit?), but it’s good to have someone tell you the obvious sometimes…
The Monster Inside – now available
New novel, The Monster Inside, now available to download on Amazon. Check out the free excerpt on this website. If you like it, you can access the full story via the following link:
Hello world!
Welcome to my new website. It’s a place where I hope to share some of my writing. I’m still finding my way round, but I hope to add some links and a few other things that you might find interesting. Please bear with me!