It's all in the detail

Some of you will have read my posts from around the time of NaNoWriMo, a great motivational month for an indie writer.  I got off to a flying start, even though I began four days later than planned thanks to a nasty bug that wiped me out.  I wrote my little fingers ragged for the duration of the event, and when I wasn't writing I was thinking about writing so that when I actually came to do some writing I didn't do a lot of thinking.  And therein lies my little problem.

Yesterday I was reading an excellent article about keeping a timeline when plotting a new novel.  It focussed on how helpful it can be to stay on track with the changes in your plot, the progression of your character's lives, and so that you know that what is happening in each scene is happening at the right point in time.

It got me thinking that I would love to write a book that is constrained by the time in which it is set.  I think it would be a really fun challenge, and in the context of a thriller it could really help to focus the action.  A great modern day example of this would be the television series 24, or the movie Momento which I am ashamed to admit I still haven't seen and think that this weekend I will try to rectify that.

But what this emphasised to the unashamed pantser that I am, is that it is all in the detail.  This kind of book writing experience would force me to change my ways, to start making (good) notes, and to know my characters pretty well before we even take the first step into chapter one.

Looking back on my NaNoWriMo efforts with this thought in mind, I realise that the details themselves are what is important about this story, and some of them are, let's just say, not quite on the money.

Now whilst I did plan this book better than I did the others, the other books were written at my pace.  Write a bit, think a bit.  Scrap a bit, revise a bit.  This gives me a chance to check on the details as I write.  Instead, NaNoWriMo just became a race to the finish, and I wrote like a juggernaut without actually, at times at least, engaging the whole of my brain.

So here I am half way through a major edit, and I realise now that I have used a building in London, but I have gifted it an extra 50 stories!  The action is set on floor 90, but there are only fifty floors.  Doh! This is just plain stupid!  So before I get any closer to the end, I now have to go back and make the facts, well, ur, factual.

This is yet more damning evidence to add to the haul already stashed away in an unused compartment of my brain that my pantsing ways must come to an end.  I am considering writing the sequel to Identity X soon, and there is no way I can glide my way through that without some pretty hefty notes.  This weekend I think I need to go out an buy a nice big A3 note book and start doing it properly.

Bookstore excitement? Yes please!

It's not very often that I get much time to myself at the weekend for blogging/reading/editing/writing/breathing, and this weekend was no exception.  If I had found a moment to myself I would have already shared the fact that my local bookstore has agreed to stop copies of Identity X. 

Previously I wrote about my trip back to the UK (read this post) and how I was planning to make a visit to the local library and to the local bookshop.  I had previously taken the decision that the best way of getting them to look at my work was simply to give them a copy.  I think when you are asking a local bookstore to stock your book it is a bit much to expect them to make a decision based on an eBook.  Or even worse to expect them to buy a copy.  How can they see what it looks like?  How can they know that the quality of the print is?  How can they judge the work in the capacity that they would sell it in?  From an eBook this is impossible.  So I ordered a few copies and handed them out without really knowing what to expect.

I cannot say that I thought the initial meeting was very positive.  It seems that the local people of Warwick, my home town, are a busy bunch.  According to Keith, the owner of Warwick Books, he had three visits from local authors all asking him to stock their book the previous Saturday, and told me there was no way to stock them all.  Regardless, I gladly gifted them the book, and he promised that he would hand it over to his wife and co-owner, Frances, so that she could take a look at it.

Within less than a week Frances has emailed me back, telling me that she was finding Identity X very exciting, a bit like a futuristic The 39 Steps!  And add into that the fact that she also gave me a couple of suggestions for the next set of reprints, advice that I am always happy to listen to and see if I can improve the quality of the product.

So thank you Warwick Books for taking a chance on a local indie author.  The first shipment is on it's way!

The last Select promotion

I am always excited to hear about changes made by Amazon if those changes might help me get my books into the hands of readers.  For example, this week I found out that extended distribution channels with Create Space are now free.  This has to be a good thing, even though I know that it probably won't equate to immediate increases in sales.  But when I heard about the new Kindle Countdown deals, I was quite excited to give it a try.



Free today and tomorrow

I have heard lots of writers of late announcing how the free Select Giveaways have been a waste of time.  So people were keen to try something new.  There has been a fair amount of buzz regarding this new promotional tool, including a new website from Amazon for readers to browse all the books available through the countdown deal promotion.  Early reports from some writers suggest it has helped them reach the top of their category, and that they have seen a sales increase.  Other writers have complained about bugs in the system and that their book page wouldn't load correctly throughout the duration of the promotion.

I however am not one to complain about the free Select days.  Without the exact facts and figures, I know that most of my sales come after free Select days.  I have been lucky in the fact that I have reached either the top of my category or close to it with all three of my books during the promotional events, and have seen a steady stream of sales post promotion.  I would say that in all, 70% of my books have been sold in the weeks after Select promotions.

But I have decided at the end of my latest Select period to have a shot with the new Kindle Countdown Deal promotion.  Which happens to start next week.  So today and tomorrow are the last days that you will strike lucky for a free copy of Identity X.  This will be my last waltz with the free Select days for a while.  And I will keep you updated on the progress.

 

GET YOUR COPY NOW FROM AMAZON

Review sharing for Identity X

Reading a new review for Identity X is always fun and I really like this one!  This review is courtesy of K Ree at Kitty Muse Book Reviews (kathyree.wordpress.com) and can be found here.  But I am also sharing it with you below.  In other news, it's Sunday, it's late, my throat hurts and my nose is blocked, and there is a seven year old sat next to me who has also decided to write a book who needs my help, so forgive me, but the rest is copy and paste!  Enjoy!

"Persona non grata" is a phrase defined as "someone who is not wanted", in a nutshell. But what if someone decides to take that "not wanted" stigma a step much further?

Ben Stone becomes the target of such an ambition when, after a discovery of global proportions, he is suddenly, for all intents and purposes, wiped out of existence. The only thing that remains is the troubling fact that he is still breathing. Overnight, his lab, his work, his co-workers, and his very identity have all disappeared. Someone way up in the governmental hierarchy has gotten what he wanted, and is now hell-bent on making sure Ben gets erased.

But what this menace does not foresee is how very resourceful Ben is when it comes to surviving. Even though he is completely bewildered, with absolutely no idea of what has happened, Ben keeps his wits about him and eludes the bullets that rain down on him at every turn.

All too soon, though, with no one he can trust, and his options running out, Ben has but one choice-to trust the one person he thought he knew better than anyone. She risks her life to save his, along with the life of their son. But running like a low-voltage current through all of this is the one question: What happened to Ben's discovery? And what will the people who stole it from him do with it?

To be honest, my only regret is that I didn't read this book sooner. Ms. Muckley has a way with words that is in the upper echelons of writing. Her turns of phrase are so accurate and so descriptive-some of the best I've ever read. For example, at the beginning of the book, Ben is facing his peers, ready to announce his discovery. This is what Ms. Muckley writes:

He felt the weight of all great men before him who had stood on the same precipice of achievement, isolated in the solitary moment before the world learns what has been accomplished.

The book is rife with descriptions of this caliber. Her characters are so real that I could almost hear them breathing. Beautifully crafted, and it has an ending that just cries out for more. It was a total surprise, and, as they say, "therein lies another story".

More, please!

A MENU OF DEATH IS AVAILABLE TODAY!!

 

A collection of stories centered around vengeance, obsession, cravings, and life.

Pick one item of the Menu or devour the entire buffet

Make sure you don't bite off more than you can chew

Read, but not with greed for

Death awaits, ready to come and collect its due

 

Today I am so excited to be hosting Lucy Pireel, an avid reader and dabbler in the kitchen.  Lucy doesn't like to be confined to one genre of work, and so she writes whatever comes to mind which makes for a very varied collection of work.  Today she is celebrating the release of A Menu of Death, and she took a quick time out to answer a few of our questions.

 

Lucy, welcome! Looking at your collection of work, you seem to enjoy writing short stories. What is it that draws you to the short story writing, rather than a full length novel?

 

I actually am writing three full lenght novels too at the moment, but in the mean time I write shorts and publish those to fill up the gap until my first full length novel is ready for publication.

 

Wow, you are busy! I have been thinking about writing a short story for a submission to a magazine. How do you make sure that you develop well rounded and real to life characters in a short story?

 

Ah, it's all about words and in a short the arc is there just as in a novel, you just have less words to make everything work. While in a novel you have 'time' in a short every word counts as if your life depends on it. There is no room for fillers or frills. No side-tracking and focus on what is necessary to the story and the character development.

 

What is the hardest challenge that you have to overcome as a writer?

 

Don't let myself be distracted by social media! :-)

 

HA!  I know all about that!  I notice on Amazon that sometimes you have co-authors for some of your work. How hard is it to collaborate? How to you resolve artistic differences?

 

A slight correction. Even though I do have a few collaborations on the go, all of the work that is published until now is solely my own. None of the shorts published is a collaboration of any kind. But it is not that hard to collaborate, it is just a matter of finding the right person and be ready to adjust what you think the work should be like. For example I'm at the moment working on a conversation in poetry collaboration. It's fun to do, because while each 'message' is a poem, the whole will eventually become a rounded out story.

 

If you had to stop writing tomorrow, what would it be that you miss the most?

 

Being able to create a world and characters that, even though I am the author and their creator, is an essential part of me. The way how writing lifts my mood when I'm down, or relieves anger when I can kill of that character instead of swear at someone who doesn't deserve it.

 

What are your future writing plans? Any more work lined up?

 

As I mentioned, I have three WIPs and one novel in its final stage of editing. And I intend to keep writing shorts to complement the longer works.

 

Thanks so much for joining us! 

 

You can find lucy in the following places

 

WEBSITE - BLOG - FACEBOOK - GOODREADS - TWITTER - SMASHWORDS - AMAZON

 

And don't forget that you can enter the competition here!

 

 

 

 

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Release day appearances

I have been making a few appearances today as part of the launch for Identity X, and so instead of listing them all as seperate blog posts, I will list a few of the appearances here.
 
First up is an appearance with Ella Medler on her blog. She has got an excerpt and a full review of what she thought of Identity X.  Don't take my word for it that it's any good!  You can read the full post HERE.
 
Secondly is an author spotlight being hosted on the All Authors Blog. You can view the full post, and see what I had to say about a writer finding his or her voice HERE.

There is also a post on the wonderful Lucy Pireel's blog, and I am so thankful for her help in spreading the word.  You can see the post HERE
 
Also, I have been chatting with Kayla from Kayla's Place Book Blog.  If you want to find out which actors I would cast in the lead roles, or what advice I would give to new writrers, head over to her BLOG now!
 
It has been really great listening to all the chatter today, and seeing how the world of social media has engaged in the release day for Identity X.  I am so thankful for all of you who are helping and taking part!

RELEASE DAY IDENTITY X

Finally, after many many months of working, editing, working, editing, release day for Identity X has finally arrived.  The early reviews are back, and no bad ones so far.  Phew.

So what does that mean?  Well, obviously it means you can buy it.  You can do that HERE ON AMAZON.  It also means you can leave your review!  But that's not all.  It also means that I have some prizes to give away.

There is a giveaway going on at the moment, and by entering you can win yourself a free signed paperback, or get yourself one of ten eBook copies of Identity X.  I think that's pretty cool!  You can enter by taking part in the Rafflecopter below.  It's as easy as commenting on this blog post or sending out a tweet.  Like me on facebook and I will love you for it!


a Rafflecopter giveaway
But maybe some of you are writers, and want more than an eBook to get you excited.  So this one is for you.

To celebrate, I've teamed up with Ellen Brock, a freelance editor, to host a giveaway of 5 free coupon codes for her online course Revise and Edit Your Own Novel. Ellen Brock works with both self-publishing and traditionally publishing authors. You can check out her editing services, her course, and free writing and editing advice on her blog The Writeditor.

Check out a sample lecture from Ellen's course and enter the giveaway below!

Sample Lecture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHC7_3TYbMo


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Competition time!

Tomorrow, Identity X is released on general sale. For those of you who haven't heard about it yet, Identity X is a thriller set in almost present day England.  Ben Stone is desperately searching for a cure for all genetic disease in an effort to save his son.  He watched his father die and promised himself that it would never happen again, especially to his own son. After his appointment as lead researcher in Bionics Laboratories he begins his desperate research. It takes four years, but he succeeds. He discovers NEMREC, a serum able to reconstruct DNA and cure the diseases that have driven him. It should be the beginning of a new future, but by changing the face of the world, he has unwittingly destroyed his own.

After arriving at his laboratory to find that it has disappeared, he is sucked into a world of conspiracy and betrayal. The Agency wants NEMREC and will do anything to get it, believing it to be the most powerful scientific discovery in decades. But it wasn't just NEMREC that they wanted. The Agency wanted Ben dead, but somehow he survived. His best friend, his wife, and Ami, the beautiful scientist who he has fallen for at work all offer to help him, but each has a different version of the truth. They all have their own agenda, only one of them wants what he wants, and in a world where you are already dead, how is it that you are supposed to survive?


To celebrate, I've teamed up with Ellen Brock, a freelance editor, to host a giveaway of 5 free coupon codes for her online course Revise and Edit Your Own Novel (hyperlink: https://www.udemy.com/revise-and-edit-your-own-novel/). Ellen Brock works with both self-publishing and traditionally publishing authors. You can check out her editing services, her course, and free writing and editing advice on her blog The Writeditor (hyperlink: thewriteditor.wordpress.com).

Check out a sample lecture from Ellen's course and enter the giveaway below!

Sample Lecture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHC7_3TYbMo


a Rafflecopter giveaway
So if you have that first draft lurking in a drawer somewhere and you know it needs working on, or you have a book already published and just want to learn more, enter this rafflecopter giveaway to access this great course.

Blog appearance with Elizabeth McKenna

I am appearing on Elizabeth McKenna's blog today, talking about how I cannot plan my work, my usual writing routine, how what goals I have for the long term.

You can read the full interview here

Elizabeth McKenna works as a full-time technical writer/editor for a large software company. Though her love of books reaches back to her childhood, she had never read romance novels until one Christmas when her sister gave her the latest bestseller by Nora Roberts. She was hooked from page one (actually, she admits it was the first love scene).
She had always wanted to write fiction, so when a psychic told her she would write a book, she felt obligated to give it a try. She combined her love of history, romance and a happy ending to write her debut novel Cera’s Place. She has also written a short story titled The Gypsy Casts a Spell, which was published in the February 2012 issue of eFiction Magazine. You can read it for free here. She hopes you will enjoy her latest novel, Venice in the Moonlight, as much as others have enjoyed her previous works.


Elizabeth lives in Wisconsin with her understanding husband, two beautiful daughters, and sassy Labrador. When she isn’t writing, working, or being a mom, she’s sleeping.

Thanks so much for having me Elizabeth!

Saturday Slide Show

After seeing somebody's post on Facebook about Pinterest, I decided to have a look at opening my own account.  And I did.  I can't tell you that I really know what I am doing yet, but what it has done is open up the concept of using images to help portray different elements of Identity X.

So today I thought I would share some of these images on my blog (a platform that I actually know something about!) and explain why these images are important.

Identity X is not just a book about science and DNA.  The story between Ben and Hannah is paramount.  Without their love, and their love for their son Matthew, there is nothing worth fighting for.

 

 

When Ben is forced to run, he is left with little chance for hiding.  But he finds his chance unexpectedly.  How might he feel hiding just the other side of the door like this when somebody has just shot at him?

 

 

 

Exactly how Hannh might feel, considering the state of her marriage and absent husband.

 

 

 

When Ben arrives at the safe house, all he can see is a concrete box in which he is hidden.  But what is outside of it?  Will he ever see it?

 

 

 

A great example of a possible building to represent headquarters, but will Catherine make it in and out on time?

 

 

Identity X is available on 24th September 2013

 

 



 



The book to movie adaptation...yes or no, or maybe?

I was twelve years old when I first got my hands on the Thomas Harris book, The Silence of the Lambs.  It was my school speech day prize on account of being the class nerd and I devoured it faster than Lecter would a meal served with a Fava bean and Chianti accompaniment.  I was to wait another year before I finally saw the movie, after convincing my mother that it was safe to let me watch it because I had already read the book and knew what happened.   She however, had not.  Whilst remaining unconvinced, she relented as a holiday treat as I encouraged her with suggestions that ‘it wasn’t really that bad’.  As the film started I sat glued to a ten inch wall mounted television as we both sat propped up on our shared hotel room bed.  I sat there watching the imprisonment and eventual escape of a man who visited my dreams for many of the following nights, and my mother sat there clearly wondering if she would ever be able to undo the irrevocable damage that she had unwittingly allowed to occur.  I too was scared stiff, and considered an attempt to turn it off in a display of near-teenage disinterest.  But I knew that I couldn’t muster such a credible performance and so instead sat there terrified to the end, possibly, but questionably, more so than my mother.  Honestly, I had enjoyed every single flesh eating second of it.

 It was indeed a grand moment in my book to screen adaptation education.  One of the first screen adaptations that I ever watched was lavished with not one, but five Academy Awards and remains regarded as one of the best movies ever made.  The book was celebrated.  The movie was celebrated.  All round success.  Yet Demme’s directorial interpretation was far from a carbon copy of the novel.  So why is it that whilst we consider this adaptation with such high regard, another we will toss back into the bargain bin before the credits have even had the chance to roll?

There is a huge difference is creating an image through written words and description, and creating something visual.  The smallest of well written descriptions can result in a whole scenario in the readers mind, and ultimately what is created is something that the reader finds individually satisfying.  You could take ten readers of the same passage and ask them to draw out an interpretation, and each would undoubtedly be different.  Our own interpretation follows our own rules because the image is internalized.  Once this process is complete, the director of any subsequent screen adaptation has to fight against the imaginary images already created.  An exception could perhaps be a work so detailed, such as that by Tolkien where there are so many details that the reader and director have no choice but to follow the same path.

The director also has to decide on what details to leave out, or whether to include everything.  Whilst reading Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, I completed a whole first chapter which concerned itself with no more than the extraction of a pea from an ear.   Chapters and chapters passed by before I had even been introduced to the mysterious Corelli.  But yet when I sat down to watch the screen adaptation these characters from the beginning of the novel make little or no appearance in the movie.  Their importance is whittled down to nothing more than a passing mention, or worse still, their whole personality is changed. 

So what is a director to do?  If they try to remain faithful to the original story it can begin to feel like an exercise in ticking boxes and a two hour run through at break-neck speed.   Alternatively, the film would be unbearably long and indeed, should this have been the approach of John Madden in his attempt to direct Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, the movie would have carried an advisory notice for those with a predisposition to the development of DVT.  Taking this same example, the drastically simplified plot of the screen adaptation managed to reduce a series of complex and thoughtful personalities into a cast of threadbare characters that I really didn’t care much about.  The central element regarding the love between Corelli and Pelagia was so stripped of its depth and detail that the idea that she would have fallen in love with him almost seemed ridiculous, to the point that when an alternative and more emotionally agreeable happily ever after conclusion that I had hoped for throughout the last quarter of the book actually happened, I really couldn’t have cared less, and instead found myself wishing that she had turned around and told him to hop back onto the nearest boat and head in the direction of the Adriatic Sea.

So perhaps if you read a book and love it, seeing the movie will be an inevitable disappointment if you are looking for the same experience.  Should we expect the same from a two hour visual representation of a text that takes us at least four times that to read?  I for one should certainly have seen it coming when I eagerly sat down to watch Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.  So rather than reverting to the idea that books shouldn’t be made into movies, or berating them when we see a less than faithful adaptation of one of our favourite books, perhaps it is time to stop making comparisons.  Instead, we should open our eyes to the idea of enjoying different media in the form it was intended, and judge each interpretation on its own merits and failings rather than trying to force it to adhere to the rules of another.