September 19th 2005Hi, update on SSNM - 30 days from now and it should be for sale at Amazon.com. Wow, I am ecstatic! I was led to believe by the contract that it would take up to a year to be published. I have also to write to various branches of Ottakers book stores to have them carry the book and do book signings. I have to confess I'm not too thrilled about that I prefer to write rather than be seen (except for batb conventions) but its in the contract that I have to do this. OTTAKERS are the best place for that sort of thing in the UK. Oh btw, Publish America have changed their policy, they are starting to allow bookstores to return unsold copies of books they have ordered. This is great since that will encourage more stores to purchase direct from PA, and thus more authors will become known. PA currently handle 13,000 authors, have 40,000 waiting to be accepted, and it is expected that by the year 2010 they will handle in excess of 100,000 authors. Isn't that amazing? Surely POD (print on demand) publishing will be a thing of the future. Agents are too picky, a writer wants to be published. PA gives them the chance.
August 24th 2005
Just wanted to tell you where I am up to on the publication of SSNM.
I signed and returned the contract with Publish America. I know they
are controversial, but after much deliberation and asking advice from
authors who have signed with them I decided that they could at least
get the story into print, whereas the 523 agents I wrote to, and had
only 7 reply, all of which turned the story down, were obviously not
going to do so.
Since PA has a story of a similar title on their list however, I had
to change the story title to Star Dappled Night Mare. I have bumped
it up by another 23,000 words and it is now ready to rock so to
speak. For your information, it will be available to purchase at
Amazon.com and a few other online bookstores, not certain when though.
Royalties are minimal, but I retain the audio and movie rights, so
that's ok. Basically its just going to be great to see it in print.
I am now modifying the story Blue Topaz to become a sequel to Star Spangled Night Mare, and will be extracting that story from this website sometime during the next few weeks. Therefore if you haven't read it yet I'd advise that you do so while there's still time.
August 6th 2005
Once in a Lifetime Chapters 7, 8 & 9 uploaded today.
August 1st 2005
Chapters 5 & 6 of Once in a Lifetime uploaded today.
July 31st 2005
On this last day of Summer I've been writing two more chapters of Once in a Lifetime 3 which are uploaded now. Mind you I was out this morning playing football with my youngest son, four border collie dogs and a puppy. No easy game with 5 dogs I can tell you! Fun though, LOL.
July 27th 2005
I've simplified the home page. I know it was very pretty before, but took an age to open. Now you can buzz in there and out again quickly and either come here to the update page or go straight to the story index.
Also, if you are reading or haven't yet read Blue Topaz, you should know that I shall be pulling this story from the website. I am going to modify it and try to have it published professionally. Therefore, should I delete it from the site while it is being read, please email me privately and I will forward it to you.
July 25th 2005
At last! Once in a Lifetime Part 3 commences today. Chapters 1 & 2 are uploaded. Click here for a shortcut:Part 3 Index
Enjoy!