Well, it's official.

27/06/2011

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I am now officially a *professional*!

Paypal now contains the (token) payment for my story 'Olverston Grange'. It's not a fortune, barely a pitence actually, but its value is not monetary - it's psychological.

I have had quite a few stories published and had previously signed a paying deal (but that was royalties). This sale represents a change in my confidence levels. To believe in myself to try to sell a story was a major step.

Just goes to show if you believe in yourself good things can happen.

Don't forget - Induction is still available and if you don't have an eBook reader you can get the software for you computer and smartphone - free of charge - from those lovely people at Amazon.
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Busy days

13/06/2011

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Well the last few days have been really busy. Following the release of 'Induction' I have had a flurry of activity, mainly focussed on marketing and updating my web prescence.

I was asked to write an article by my publisher which is now done and submitted. That was a first! I've never written one before. I was aiming for helpful, mildly amusing and personable. I hope that comes through.

The latest bunch of download links are on my Home Page but here they are again.

Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Android Marketplace
Barnes & Noble
Direct from the publisher

At only £1.39 in the UK and a couple of bucks in the US, 'Induction' is easily affordable and enjoyable read.
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The most exciting email - EVER!

08/06/2011

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Today I received an email informing me of the release of part one of my Superhero series. Induction tells the story of Tim as he informed he is a Superhero, his subsequent training, falling in love and how your greatest dream is sometimes your worst nightmare.

It is available HERE and HERE with more download locations soon.

To reach this point is a massive milestone for me. I started writing as part of my rehab after my diagnosis and to have an eBook published after less than two years is a huge achievement.

Massive thanks go to: Jenni and Carol from Books To Go Now, who have published the book and held my hand through the process of changing a story I wanted to write into a story you will want to read. Much love to them both :)


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Another first!

06/06/2011

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Today I achieved another of my goals. I sold a story. For cash. Paid upfront.

It isn't the first time I have signed a monetary deal but the first one was for royalties only. So this marks a major step forward for me, it is the first time I have had enough confidence in my writing to attemp to sell it. Plus the story, 'Olverston Grange' has been lodged in my head for a good while so it's great that others will have a chance to share :D


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Another tale of creating a story

03/06/2011

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Last September I was trawling Duotrope, a website that lists publishers looking for works. I found a site that was running a Flash Fiction (no! not slash fiction, you dirty-minded swine lol) competition. They set a word limit and supplied the first and (unusally) last sentences.

Thirty minutes later, I had written 'The Grange' and was all set to submit it when I realised that you could only enter if you were a U.S. citizen. Disappointed, I decided to share it on Have A Hoot, Read A Book, where it still resides.

I put the piece aside and started on other work but the story stayed with me and every now and then I would tinker with it.

Flash forward to May of 2011. I was browsing the Pill Hill Press  website and stumbled across an anthology call 'There Was A Crooked House.'. Along with a brief outline of their requirements, there was a cover image. A lot of the elements for both the title and artwork fit perfectly with the idea of 'The Grange'.

A comprehensive re-write started. The original 500 words grew to 2500. Characters were lost (sorry Jim!), the supplied sentences discarded and motivations totally changed. What resulted was a much stronger, better written story, 'Olverston Grange'. I have submitted it for consideration and am awaiting the acceptance or rejection letter.

Fingers crossed, eh?
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Induction: the journey...

02/06/2011

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After what has been the longest and most fraught writing process, my short story 'Induction' is ready for publcation.

Orignally concieved as part of a novel, it was re-written as a short story which I ultimately retracted from the anthology that I had submitted it to. I still feel bad about messing the editor about (there was no guarantee of it being published!). I then began work on the novel again.

I then found a company, Books To Go Now, and the idea of a short story was back in play. Only now it was a series. The other characters that I had envisioned for the novel could easily be split into their own stories with a recurring cast of supporting characters.

I submitted the story and... it was rejected :(

But the exciting part of this rejection (remember: no such thing as a negative) was the included critique. This crit was totally invaluable and a re-write began. The second version I submitted was accepted.

Since then there has been a comprehensive editing phase where I have learned an incredible amount about writing and has had a very beneficial effect on the story.

The final version, including cover!, was sent to me and my Bio, Acknowledgments and Pitch (for the website) have been sent. Induction will be available as an eBook shortly.

I would to extend my thanks to Books To Go Now for their hard work and support.  
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