Posts

Showing posts from February, 2013

No contract

Image
 Even though the contract fell through, it was no biggie for me. It would have been nice, but I would prefer to be recognised for my ghost stories. The Sexual Explosion series is still available from me.

Lana goes in print

Image
http://alsdomain.weebly.com/whats-happening.html  This came from the publishers this morning:-  Dear Alan, We have just been forwarded your manuscript by our Editor in Chief, Kat Marshall. I was thoroughly impressed and enjoyed your stories, sexual explosions. I would like to direct you towards our submissions process Quite good, considering my former editor took joys to tear my work apart publicly and I had an on line tutor tell me every week, I cannot write a saleable story.

Book 1 is ready to buy

Image
http://alsdomain.weebly.com/book-case.html Amazon are charging $4+ for the book, if you go to the link above and pay me via Paypal, you can get the book for my top price of $3. I charge what I think is a fair price for my time, there is no company mark up involved. You pay me, and I will email the copy to your email address. :)   I have finished the first story in the Jimmy Pookly series and will put it on the book case page for a sale, before I put it on Amazon in a few days.  Price £2.50 or $3 35 pages and over 9,000 words, taking 4 days to write. I think this is a fair price to pay.

Reasons for my actions

Image
  Although I do not need to justify my actions to anybody, I will explain the reasons why I am turning down the possibility of a contract with Horny Devil Publishing.  This may have been my only chance at a contract, I have a friend who has signed a 5 year deal with HDP, it would be great to get a chance like that but...    The reasons are:-  There is a mass of interest now on line for the book, with my blog on the other blog about the first page getting over 1,000 reads, and the one about the book coming out close behind on 750+, I realise this means nothing. But, there is a great chance of selling the series if I strike now, while interest is high, if I wait to see if HDP is interested, every day I wait that interest dies away and then I will have a devil's own job to restart it. Look at Chronicles, an award winning book that does nothing.  I may be making a big mistake in not waiting for the chance to get published, but with such a strong following, I feel it unwise n

Opening chapter of Pat Canella

Image
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AUY32Q0 Here are the opening pages to my 13 chapter book "Hunted Down" which traces Pat Canella's rise in he detective ranks and her fight to win a district back from a gang. There is a link in case you wish to get the whole book and read ahead, this story is full of excitement, but please remember attitudes and behaviour are of the 1940's, so ladies you may be offended by the chauvinistic men. Pat Canella (The Dockland Murders)              I stood there, the gun still warm in my hand, barrel smoking from the gun battle.             “Why did he do that, Sarge?  I tried my best to talk him out of it.”             “Living with the guilt finally got to him, Patti.”             “Couldn’t he have talked it over?”             “No, the only thing worse than being a dirty cop, is being the son of a loose cannon, and none came looser than Bill Chart, Patti.”             I looked around.  There lay the body of Bill's so

The Queens leave home

Image
Memories of the Queens RMS Queen Mary RMS Queen Elizabeth My memory is almost infallible, this story will demonstrate this matter.  October 31, 1967 - a young schoolboy had the experience of a lifetime. I was privileged to be in Southampton at the last sailing from the UK of two of the worlds first super liners; Queen Mary & Queen Elizabeth. This glorious sight stayed with me for my life, never had I seen such glorious ships.   Both ships had a glorious war record as troop carriers/ hospital ships, as they could out run any German surface vessel.  During this time, there was another image which has been imprinted on my mind, this is of a large glass ball approximately four feet in diameter bounded by brass rings, standing in front of an office block. I wanted to know if it is still there, alas, as I can no longer travel; this is something I will never know. I have contacted the tourist information, but being such a long time ago, I doubt if there is any information or record

A word from Pat

Image
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AUY32Q0 Pat Canella talking about her return to work in Hunted Down, Back early from my enforced leave of absence I was at a dead end, the Sarge had told me to take the time off to get over the incident which led to the death of former partner, Adrian Chart.

Moving house

Image
http://alsdomain.weebly.com/index.html#.USoDYB2eMWk  From today, this blog will still run but I won't be using it very often, you are welcome at the blog on the link above; I hope to see you at my new looking and thriving venue :)  One of the reasons for the move, is that despite this being my blog for over a year, the numbers have struggled in recent weeks and I decided after the previous article to change tack and run one blog well, the work was no problem, I ran out of interesting things to tell you about.

Blogged out

Image
 As the title said, I am blogged out for now.  I am not a person who fills every minute of the day with chit-chat about every minute detail of their personal life, and I can't brag about how well the books are doing :(  For now, the news is Book 2 of Chronicles is going ahead and I am forced to withdrew book 1 from Amazon, well nobody misses it. Both will be available from me later on. Pat Canella is going to be further extended this week to bring the story to an end -  again, nobody will care - sales are non-existent, so why am I caring to do anything to please you?  Sexual Explosions will probably be the next to show on Amazon, if Horny Devil show no interest.  The big news is that "love of the Sea" will be seen on line, which will be my only showing during the week. It is a struggle to keep you entertained for free. I did have about 150-200 readers on each blog, but my stories must take precedence now.  I work a 10-15 hour day, with little sleep and living on c

Lana's times

Image
SEX AT THE MILL The afternoon was warm and Alex had decided not to wear his jacket to the appointment at the hospital, “The walk there will make me sweaty enough,” he thought.             The half hour walk to the hospital involved crossing a small wooded area, hearing the birds always cheered him up. For many years, he had been a bird-watcher and hearing them reminded him of his days in the Royal Air Force, when he used to give talks to Cubs and Ranger Scouts. He wished he could go back to those days, when he used to go out for long walks across the moors and fields, just to enjoy the peace and calmness it brought him. But, alas, since the tendon in his ankle had snapped, all he could manage was this short walk once a week, “No use crying over things. I had a good run for my money, the injury was over thirty-five years ago and I had been waiting for it to go,” he mumbled as he hobbled across the road.             Walking through the hospital grounds was tiring as the phys

Zombie warning

Image
 My book Escalaphobia was intended to be my attempt at cheap trash, in an attempt to gain some readers for my greater works, but I couldn't do a cheapo zombie rubbish story. Here is the zombie warning:- I know it will be a struggle to get readers, when all the cards are stacked against me. ZOMBIES are a genre that lives and thrives on rubbish stories churned out repetitively, face it folks. How many times can you read the same story, a town gets invaded by a plague of undead and it ends up a kill-fest. With the predictable ending.  I have to fight against the masses of films that get churned out and video games, that all go to keeping this sub-genre of cheap trash alive, when it is well past its sell-by-date. Against all these factors and against the odds, like any good redneck. I may lose the war, but I am sure as hell not going to roll over and die.  My aim was to give some readers a good and entertaining read, not for them to plug their minds into a hair drier and

Mark goes full term

Image
  Yes, it is hard to think but eight months ago, Chronicles first saw the light of day. This was months before the award was given in October and things looked bright as I ended book 1. Eight months down the line and things have changed radically, while I never expected any story to do well. Neither did I expect the amount of apathy for our work. How would you like to work eight hours a day for $0.30c and then to get somebody to read the book, you have to give it away?  Book 1 is dead to me now.  Book 2 is????  My editor, Julia thinks it is great, at least on that point we agree. I think it is one of my best collections to date, the dark and brooding Mark goes through hell as his soul gets taken over. I won't tell you too much, in case some kind soul buys a copy.  Julia is adamant B2 will sell  I am????  She is confident that sales from this will bring sales for B1  I am doubtful at best and more than likely a non-believer.  I believe in her judgement a

Stating next week

Image
http://www.amazon.com/Pat-Canella-story-pack-ebook/dp/B00AUY32Q0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1361298750&sr=1-1&keywords=Pat+Canella+%28+4+story+pack+%29   New to the blogs will be the Pat Canella stories. I will be putting the whole 15 part series on line, the book at Amazon has only 13, I was leaving the ending up to the readers. If she sold there were about 10 more stories to go, and I am sure I could have thought of more. I did enjoy writing her, but if nobody wanted to read the stories - Que' Sera - you made the choice for me.

That which haunts me, has returned.

Image
http://www.amazon.co.uk/church-ghosts-Adult-version-ebook/dp/B0085ZXWEI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1361289506&sr=1-1 In the well known story of the one story which I don't like, yet many people do. Now in its 4th version, it is back to haunt me. I said at the time of finishing it "It would be just my luck, as I don't like it, It will be a best seller." OCG isn't a best seller, but certainly the most read.

Sexual Explosions

Image
Read all about it!  The new and extended "Sex at the Mill" will be the introduction to the new book "Sexual Explosions."

Helmut Charbrier

Image
Sleep eluded her, as the memories drifted aimlessly through her mind. The day which started well, and ended with a tragedy; no matter how hard she tries Jannine Marshall won’t get to sleep tonight. Even with the empty bottle of whisky by her bed. The story began several years ago, when a stranger entered “The Lobster Pot,” a small inn at Bartlebay. He wasn’ t tall and handsome, but he carried with him a sense of being, which made you want to know more about his life. The day had been stormy and even in the late night it wasn’t hard to hear the thunderous sounds of white-capped waves, as they crashed against the sea wall. The bar of “The Lobster Pot” was filling up, and the smoky atmosphere which the many pipes of the sailors contributed to made a heady feeling as Helmut entered the inn. Most of the men in the inn at this hour were fishermen, the office folk shunned “The Lobster Pot,” it was considered below them to be seen there. Big money passed hands in the villages main pubs and b

Real terrors

Image
 You don't need zombies/plagues or the undead to be scared, just read my new book about a phobia which is real and terrible http://www.amazon.com/Escalaphobia-ebook/dp/B00BH5HGQ8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1361222977&sr=1-1&keywords=Escalaphobia

Scary price cuts

Image
  Even MORE price cuts on my Amazon collection, I am selling at rock bottom prices to try and get some interest now :(

An addition to the family

Image
http://www.amazon.com/Earthbound-Volume-1-Mari-Collier/dp/061576133X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1361146208&sr=8-3&keywords=mari+collier Here is a book so hot, it has only been out a week. Don't miss Mari's latest adventure.

Phobias

Image
What I am writing about here is real horror, not zombies/werewolves and twinkling vampires. The real horrors of real people who suffer a phobia that is not recognised, yet as real as arachnophobia or claustrophobia. I know it to be real because I am a sufferer. If you Google Escalaphobia, you will be lucky to get anything as this phobia is both rare and recognised. There is not much more on the subject on Wikipedia either, but to the few people in a thousand that suffer, we know how to describe it. In layman’s terms, it is the fear of escalators. That is stupid you say. We use them every day and never think of them, stop for a moment and think of what they do. From the earliest cleaning crews, to the last lock-up at night. These metal stairs are endlessly travelling, how many people use them or how far they travel in one day is hard to calculate. Children run up and down them, people step on and off the escalators at will, with hardly a thought. Many send text messages while

Lana's return to form

Image
  With her return from exile, Lana has asked for the re-release of her first book, here it is. http://www.amazon.com/Sex-at-the-mill-ebook/dp/B007N6YOI8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1361054758&sr=1-1&keywords=Sex+at+the+mill http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sex-at-the-mill-ebook/dp/B007N6YOI8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1361054758&sr=1-1&keywords=Sex+at+the+mill

The Black Echo

Image
T his is my first contact with Harry Bosch and I am sure it won't be my last. His tough sense of justice at all costs and seeing that those responsible for the crimes should pay (no matter how high they are) appealed to me. Here we meet the Vietnam vet turned cop, who got a raw deal over a previous case. With two "suits" out to ""bust his balls" and make names for themselves. A thoroughly enjoyable read from Mr. Connelly.

Do dreams have significance?

Image
In dreams Do dreams have significance? This is a question I ask as twice this week I had a dream of going blind. In the first film, I was having a meal out, and went to relieve myself, when I finished, I turned to leave the toilet to find I was blind . Early this morning, July 3rd, 2023, I had a dream that I was " legally blind ," but I had very limited eyesight. In this story, I was a spy/scientist who could pass signals by his actions. I was thinking, could these dreams be related to a film from India I am thinking of getting rid of as I have two copies; I only need one of the copies. In the film, the pianist seen above with actress Tabu , who is not blind, decided to see if losing his sight could enhance his music , so he began wearing dark glasses. Tabu, took him on as a music teacher/ lover as she had an ulterior motive - she planned to kill her partner in a robbery. She committed the murder, assuming he couldn't see what had happened, but he did see and feared for

Pushed too far!

Image
Mark Johnson fights for not only his life but his soul, as he delves into the dark recesses of his mind to combat an evil witch. Read book 2 to find out why my editor is so enthralled with my description of a man's mental break down, then wonder how could I write it so well? Be warned this will haunt you

HR triple play

Image
 Holding Richmond's latest sale completes a first for me. It is not only the true leader but the only book to top the ratings on both Amazon sites in the same week.

Driving forces

Image
  With  various things possibly going to happen in the next few months. I often think why do I do it? Being a writer is as much a test of faith as it is of selling your work. I have plenty of faith in my books this year, mainly because I have a wonderful editor in Julia, who sees my worth and also I have three wonderful ladies who read what I read and have always enjoyed it, the four ladies have kept me going over the last six months.   Faith:-  If I have the faith in my work, where is the problem? you ask. The problem lies with the public and what they choose to read, I cannot fight the growing on rush of zombie books which plague the book stores as did the locust in Egypt. I did try to cop out and write a zombie story, to see if I could get some attention for my better works, but it wasn't for me.  Resolution:-  I keep being told by friends that I am a good writer, which is something I have come to believe after a struggle with my demons. My friends faith in my

At the death

 If I go off line in the next week, it is because my laptop has died on me :(

Rainbows and pots of gold

Image
Few people have seen this picture, it was one of the earliest that Angie did for my Chronicles stories.   The latest score for book 2 is 17K words and 2/3 finished. I would be nice, if after all this time, effort and trouble for somebody to buy a copy.  There again, I am not Danny Kemp, nobody is going to give me a book contract, let alone make  a film about Chronicles.   Rainbows and pots of gold, I will be happy if I get 3 or 4 sales. At least this will show  me that all my time was not totally wasted.

The new best seller

Image
 In the aftermath of last night's sale for Holding Richmond, I have decided to class the book as my best seller. The fight with Dockland Murders has been won, although still 2 sales behind I feel that the title "Best seller" is a misnomer for Patti's book as it has not sold since June 2012 and that wasn't on Amazon.  If you think I hindered DM by taking it off Amazon, remember the book had already been on sale for over four months before HR made its de'but and had sold only one or two copies, since then it has only repeated the sales in the last eight months. All things taken into consideration, Dockland Murders has to be considered one of my least popular books; the complete Pat Canella series is available in Hunted Down.

Patti Vs HR

Image
 The latest information is Dockland Murders leads by 2, as another sale pulls Holding Richmond closer.

How long?

Image
 As a result of an incident about four years ago. My right hand is constantly in pain, which leaves me with the problem of how long will I be able to write my stories?

Don Quixote

Image
 We have all heard the story of Don Quixote, and how he challenged windmills in a futile fight, believing them to giants.  Recently, a young lady I used to know said I was like him, I took it to mean because we were trying to show a site that things were wrong and needed changing or it would collapse.  Last weekend, I was looking for some information for a friend and came across my school report cards. My English teacher wrote that he thought I wouldn't do very well and always struggled with the subject. I got one of the lowest grades for an exam, but was determined to retake it the next year, and almost passed.

I write, therefore I am

Image
  With the release in the next week or two of book 2 of Chronicles. I wish to impart on you a short message.   Ye, though the masses may not read my work, I have long since cared what they think about it. I write because for a few people I know, I do bring some joy.

Swings and roundabouts

 I have noticed on certain days the blog readers go down, yet the posts read goes up. In a perfect world it would be nice for both to go up, but I am more than happy readers are finding more than one post to enjoy on my bog. Thank you for reading my blogs :)

Revalations for me

For many years I was under the impression that my biggest influence was my English teacher at school. Today, I found out that I was wrong, I should thank my English master at College for giving me encouragement.

Unriddled

Image
http://hereiamattheedge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/a-3-book-riddle.html#.URULrR000x4  A few days ago, I did the riddle of the books blog. Tonight, I may have the answer to parts 2 & 3.  I had caves of ice, as a single book and thought I got it again as a single, when it turned out I got it in the above compilation.  Book 3-Blood Angels Omnibus Vol 2. I have come to the conclusion I never had, after going through my receipts going back eighteen months, there is no sign that I bought the book. I probably thought I did as I picked it up many times and put it back wanting to read Vol 1 before starting this one.

Did we see them?

Image
The book mentioned in the prologue to the story is available from various ebook selling sites. As I previously mentioned in my journal entry marked “Did we see him?” Things have happened in recent months that have questioned my sanity.             After returning from an experience that I find hard to come to terms with. I saw things no person should have seen. To give you some ideas, we were sent by an organisation called “The Glove” to try and find out what information Sir Percy Fawcett had obtained on his last trip up the Amazon.  What we saw. Or did we? The sights and sounds of those days haunt me. Things that were neither man nor animal, beings that lived in neither the living world, nor were they dead.  They worshipped a white man, who could have been Fawcett. As we left, at Fawcett's bequest, we witnessed the true horrors of this life as he was beaten, close to death before being eaten by ants, while the tribe devoured a person's body. The poor soul was still

Broken Resolutions

Image
  When I set out this year, I made the resolution to myself that I wouldn't enter any contests. Last night I entered the contest at the Friends of Merrill Foundation. I still feel I am upholding my resolution as I had forgotten about this contest, and had prior to last night no intention of entering.  My aim is for a top 6 position and the chance to pitch the series to a top Canadian publisher of Sci-Fi, as usual I don't expect to get anywhere.

Mark does Toronto

Image
 A year ago, I was lucky enough to win the well known Pat Canella cover in a draw for the Friends of Merrill foundation. This is the utmost Sci-Fi collection in the Americas, tonight Mark has entered the arena on Patti's anniversary.  I don't expect to get anywhere, but it keep me in the scene :)

Happy Birthday, Patti

Image
http://www.amazon.com/Pat-Canella-story-pack-ebook/dp/B00AUY32Q0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1360329820&sr=1-1&keywords=Pat+Canella+%28+4+story+pack+%29 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pat-Canella-story-pack-ebook/dp/B00AUY32Q0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1360329820&sr=1-1&keywords=Pat+Canella+%28+4+story+pack+%29     Today is the anniversary of the Pat Canella's launch in the world. A year ago, I put the first book (Dockland Murders) on sale at Amazon and from the start, there was little interest. Over the year she has sold less copies than most of my work. With most sales coming in one weekend from Waterstones, the book stores in the UK. From today, the only edition of the stories available is the 4 pack selection. Thirteen stories over 115 pages, full of surprises and a mystery ending.

Another boost by Amazon

Image
     Yet another boost on Amazon today for Mark's chronicles as book 1 fails to impress, I haven't added it to the page. It is getting almost regular now, a pity it doesn't bring one sale in. Book 2 is going well with another few pages added today.

On track

 Over the last few days, with one thing and another I have lost impetus with Book 2 of Chronicles, I am glad to say today I have regained some of the lost ground and have added 4 pages, making 37 so far. Which will be about a third of the story I hope.

A novel idea

Image
    When Chronicles came out in June of 2012, some of my friends asked me. If I had thought of expanding the stories and writing a novel?  I hadn't because according to some sources the word count is over 90K, and at the moment I am not sure if I can go that high. A year ago, I was doing short story contests and thought reaching 7,500K was beyond me .  Mordhiem has already exceeded Chronicles and Hunted Down by 5K, and I have still a long way to go, so who knows where it may end? I am hoping somewhere around 30K. I view Chronicles and the Hunted down multi-pack as a series of short interlinked stories on a theme. Imagine them as a series of charms on a chain. However, Hunted Down stories are continuous; Chronicles can be read as individual linked ideas.  If you get the Hunted Down series, you will note there is a strange ending to the stories, this is because I feel there are two endings available: - One is for the fans I know will read the stories, a

Free until Thursday

Image
http://kannemeinel.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/free-book-from-alan-place-monday-24-until-thursday-27/  ONLY available from me

The story that haunts me has made a comeback

Image
 Complete with the scary cover by Yezall and a new spook filled atmosphere, The Old Church Ghosts come back to haunt you. This is an adult version, you have been warned.  Copies can be bought from me, before they go on sale at Amazon.