Bits and Pieces

Do you ever read novels for a second time intentionally? About a third of the way into the Sam Bourne novel I started last week, I realised I read it a few years ago. It couldn’t have left that much of an impression on me. I sometimes read my own books again, often a few years after they have been published. I remember Barbara Cartland once saying she often read her own novels when she was feeling unwell and not in the mood for writing. Mind you, she had about three hundred titles to choose from!

I’ve been toying with my jacket cover, trying this and that with Photoshop. I still can’t make up my mind just how I want to present the cover. I have two so far, and will begin a third jacket in a day or so. I could ask my boys for their opinions, but if I do that I can only expect saucy remarks from them. It all comes down to opinions in the end, so I’ll probably go with my own.

The editing has reached a lull at the moment because of the usual Christmas work load: putting decorations up, shopping for presents, writing cards out and queuing at the Post Office. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of the month and I can ask a few beta readers to run their eyes over it. I’m a bit reluctant to ask my subscribers because I may get inundated with offers to read it, and I’m hoping to rely on them buying it on launch day.

I don’t know if it’s my age or what, but I find myself doubting the quality of my current work. I remember my publisher, John Hale, telling me that as authors age, so their ability diminishes. So far I have always received good comments about my books and my reviews maintain a reasonable average, but the doubts are there. Silly really, but maybe it’s because I have struggled with this one. And maybe because it isn’t the kind of novel I write. Time will tell though.

Looking back over the year with CHINDI, we have managed to raise money for charities — over £1000 I believe — most of it raised through bookstalls etc. Next year we have a few events planned, most which will run current with the Chichester Festival — always a good time to attract readers and wannabe authors. We lost a few members over the year, thankfully for personal reasons rather than ill health, but we are already planning for next year’s events.

Two weeks from today and it will be Christmas Day and we’ll all be nice to one another for a while. Hopefully we can look ahead to a peaceful New Year all over the world, but that really is wishful thinking. From a personal perspective I hope I can manage another novel, but I have kind of promised myself to finish my autobiography. I published a short version last year called The Sum of my Life (The early years). Now I hope I can extend it to completion as well as write another book. Two in one year? Wish me luck!

Infections, corrections and displacements.

Regular readers of my weekly blog may have noticed that I missed a week. That was because I got laid low by an infection that seriously impeded my work-flow. But I’m back in harness now and making good progress on my manuscript. I tried to get a little more reading in while I was poorly. I’m afraid I didn’t make it through to the end of Jack Reacher; it became tedious. I’ve started on a Sam Bourne novel now. Hope this one is more engaging.

I had a book promotion last week — sold nine books. The return on the cost of the promotion is difficult to quantify or even justify, but fortunately I didn’t pay much for it.

I’ve been avoiding all the adverts for Black Friday and whatever they call Monday. I can’t see the point because if you respond to these enticements, it kind of propels you into unplanned promotion that could be useless. No, I’m gritting my teeth and will hold on to my money until early next year when my next book will be ready. At the moment my wife is going through the manuscript with her red pen, and I am playing around with Photoshop and learning about ‘displacements’. Brilliant stuff, but may be a bit too technical for me. I enjoy playing around with it though.

I came up with a title for my book eventually. I’m not going to say what it is yet, but it came out of the blue. Once it had settled in my brain, it became permanent. This is one of the reasons I’m learning about displacements on Photoshop: to match the cover design with the title.

Last week I joined up with the Dream Team Network. This is a group of writers who are part of Nick Stephenson’s 10,000 reader group. It’s a closed group. The idea is to cross promote other writers who work in your genre. It’s going to be difficult to match up with a writer who covers several genres like myself. But more importantly, there’s a need to ensure cooperation with a writer who can offer a similar fan base of subscribers. I have 1100 subscribers, so it would be wrong to team up with a new writer who has one book, no reviews and no fan base. I was asked by one of our group if we could come up with something, but I realised it wouldn’t work.

Another problem with cross promotion is how much you trust the other writer. I have to ask myself if I would promote someone whose work I haven’t read. And it’s reciprocal as well: that other writer has to trust me. I’ll have to go with my gut instinct, see how it pans out.

On the domestic front, my wife has just de-knotted our Cockapoo, Tuppence, and given me a haircut. Now me and the dog look tidy enough to go out. Life doesn’t get any better, does it? Wish me luck.

A Hard Day's Week

It’s been a very full week for me and my wife, which has impacted on the amount of editing I’ve been able to do. The first three days we were up in Lincolnshire visiting two close friends, one of whom is unwell. As I mentioned in last week’s blog, our grandson Adam came over and looked after Tuppence. I think they both enjoyed it. I know Tuppence kept looking for Adam after he had gone home.

I managed to do some editing, snatching moments when I could. One conclusion I came to was that I was hurrying the process, and that leads to mistakes. It will need a third read through before I hand it over to my wife. That’s when the fun begins; she’ll wield her red pen with relish.

Last Thursday it was me and the dog; Pat was out on a shopping trip. I did manage to feed myself, walk the dog and get a little editing done as well. One thing that has been on my mind for a while is a title. I can’t get the word Apollyon out of my head, but feel I need something else. The story is about a group of satanic worshippers, although this is not about demons and devils; it’s about a sinister group of powerful people who want control within the corridors of corporate and government power. It isn’t about the overthrow of a government or the downfall of huge companies, but more of uncovering the unexplained death of a cabinet minister and how the hunt leads to the guilty ones. It’s a mixture of crime and mystery. It isn’t about police work either.

Moving on. Friday was the annual, CHINDI party at Chichester. This was in aid of the charity, Dyslexia in Action. I must confess I’d never heard of the charity, but I’m always pleased to be involved in this kind of fund raising. The event included a band, a host of raffle prizes donated by local companies, and readings from four of our author members. I sold a couple of books, which is par for the course really, but it’s good to be able to chat to people about your work and hopefully encourage them to part with their money. I know I must brush up on my sales technique though.

One chap came up to my table (the authors shared tables, so no-one had a table to themselves) and opened his mobile phone, went on-line to Amazon, scrolled through and checked out my titles, then shut the phone. He told me the books were all there and he might download some. Then he walked away. As much as I would like to hope that he will be true to his word, I wish he hadn’t been so blatant: perhaps a little more discreet.

Saturday morning and another table top sale, but this time in our local church raising money for the children’s ward at St.Richard’s hospital in Chichester. Another good cause.

I began reading Lee Child’s book. Make Me. He’s an amazing author: writes the same story each time but in a different part of the USA. He gets away with it. I must admit that he is very good at what he does, and I usually enjoy his Jack Reacher books (does he do anything else?). Often we are told as writers that to learn our craft we should read other authors who write in our genre. But what could I learn from Lee Child? Answers on a postcard please……

So by the end of the week, both me and Pat felt we had put in a hard shift at work. It’s what comes of being retired. Now I will get on with the editing and should have it finished by the end of the week. Then another read through. All I need is a title! Wish me luck.