Here I am at the edge

https://writinglife.kobobooks.com/ebooks#ebooklibrary/authors  ALL the books at Kobo have had their prices slashed

 Many years ago when I was writing for the fun and enjoyment alone. I used to write westerns because I liked the feel of them and thrill of writing about the West. I never had any ideas of selling or even letting anybody read them, too shy and not sure they were any good.  When I wrote my best seller "Holding Richmond" it never occurred to me, what I was writing was a western. I looked at it as an alternate history story with a vampiric background. The idea of the story was for  an alternate history line involving vampires; I chose the American Civil War because I knew a little of the history and characters involved through interest and war gaming in my twenties.  There is a follow-up story in the pipeline, when it will be out I can't say any more than this year as there are a lot of projects happening with my writing, even if few sell a book.

The day was warm and the spring birds filled the countryside with their happy chirruping; Algenon Pinsbury and his Bertram Rushley were walking along the country lane when Bertie turned to Algie and asked him, "Algie, dear friend, why do you rise so late? By the time you get up it is almost midday." Algie stopped his afternoon stroll by a stile, and sat down before he explained, "Bertie,my dear fellow, I rise late for many reasons. If I stay in bed I can remain warm, my room is cold and when I get up I can feel the cold start to creep into my bones."  "I'm sorry old chap, I hadn't realised your lodgings were that bad."  "That is just one reason, Bertie, if you want to hear more all you need do is ask."  Bertie and Algie were close friends despite the vast differences in their backgrounds. Algie was a struggling writer whose words could enthral Bertie, while Bertie was the man about town with the connections; however, coming from a...

With book 2 out soon, watch the back story or buy book 1 in the series

Mark Johnson at the end of book 2. I'm the meanest son of a bitch in the valley and I have the biggest guns, I WILL finish this, Annette.

 From the outset, my intention was to see if I could get enough interest in my work to risk putting a book out as a paperback, with Createspace being relatively inexpensive to work with I am reconsidering this project; the reason being the award for Chronicles and the response from my editor, that book 2 is even better than book 1. Still at the back of my mind is the lack of sales for the ebooks which was to be my guide.

PROLOGUE                         Pat Canella is a young lady on a mission, she has not only to fight the prejudices of a male-dominated police force; she has to fight her own demons after killing her ex-partner Adrian Chart in The Dockland Murders which is the start of the series. Nobody blamed for the shooting, but she couldn’t shake the feeling she was being followed.             Fighting the Colderone gang was easy compared to fighting your memories of a cop-killing, were ghosts haunting Patti? You will have to read the book to find out.             Plans were put into action to fight the gang on their turf, rather than wait for them to make a play in Middleton, things went well until they found a mole, who is he? Read on and find out.

I am starting on a re-vamp of the series which haunted me last year. Yes, I am re-editing my 3rd Pat Canella story and the 10 which followed it :) wish my sanity luck as I had bad dreams last time I tried LOL

There is a fallacy among writers than free reads encourage sales of your books. I can tell you it is a LIE, free reads do NOT boost your sales, here are examples to view:- On my blog  http://alsdomain.weebly.com/index.html#.UXcS36KG0W7 over 1,750 reads and not one sale. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008BK1WDK On Scib'd chapter one of Chronicles of Mark Johnson has over 350 reads but not a sale. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008BEDMSO  Old Church Ghosts is my most popular story with 3 versions but although its popularity is not in doubt, there have been no sales. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0085ZXWEI Many writers will argue the opposite view, I am giving you the view from my point of view – statistics tell their own story, or maybe I am just a bad writer? 

For the moment I have no deadline or schedule to stick to for my work. "The Word" which is my current project will be ready when I feel ready to release it, whether on line or on Amazon I haven't decided yet.  Another project which will re-start soon is the re-write for the Pat Canella story "Hunted down." Again, there is no deadlines or schedules as the 10 story edition took a lot of energy to complete when I did the first edition before Christman, and I need a good rest before I star t.

In the latter part of last year I ran a serialised weekly story called “The Word” on my blog. The basic premise was about a group who were fighting to regain the minds of the populace from the Game Lords and turn the minds back to the Word. The serial ran for 14 weeks and I wrote about 18,000 words before I stopped writing it, the story didn’t die but the interest from the readers did, despite the high octane battle scenes and the various twists of the plot. With book 2 of the Chronicles of Mark Johnson with my editor, in Seattle and time to relax for a few days before I do the next round of alterations, I have decided to re-touch this story and continue it on from the point I left the plot in January. After that, I have no idea what I may do with the story as it did have its fans. Imagine Mad Max meeting Farenheit 451 and you get an idea of the plots. But, I added my own twists to the story too.

Latest news of book 2 of Chronicles of Mark Johnson. I have finished the polish stage and will end it off to my editor shortly, the final count was 26,687 words (92 pages) without the prologue :)

Helmut’s shoulders were sore and the movement in them was limited, he tried to pull the jumper over his head, but the cold weather and the aching limbs did not make it easy. He slowly stripped off his seaman’s jumper and Jannine was able to view for the first, how muscular his body had become after years on the docks and trawlers. She had seen the men on the docks, but they had become like family to her and meant nothing sexual. Here before her stood the man to take Ian’s place in her heart and soul, she thought she sensed his yearning as he pulled off the wet shirt which had clung provocatively to his frame, the muscles showing through the wet material. His matted blonde hair stuck to his face like a wet mat and had the smell of old smoke. Jannine looked at him and smiling she said, “If you feel all right about us, you can take your trousers off too as they can do with a dry, before you get chills on your legs. I’ll go and try to turn the radiators on, so we can dry your clothes.”...

As Holding Richmond ended the soldiers thought they had defeated the evil among them, but it was hiding. Read the book and wonder what comes after the end

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ALHSC6G   This is a good selection of my ghost stories, covering early ones such as "The Ghost of St. Mary's" and following through to the short version of "Love of the Sea," which later in the year will be out as a single larger book,

I have reached an impasse, as I wonder if book 2 edits will get done; each day I feel like doing the book less :(  After the time and trouble I went to for the first book and the end result, I do wonder if this will be another waste of my time.

Final 2 chapters of hronicles Book 2 edits under way, then off to my editor for a real eye-opener LOL

If anybody is interested, before I get to edit the 12 story edition "Hunted Down," I have re-launched the first two Pat Canella books http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0078VZREI http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0080LR4M8 For some foolish reason, I decided to re-edit Pat Canella. I hope to the Lord that I don't have to re-write parts as the 13 part story is over 130 pages long :(

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007T943OO  Today if the anniversary of the launch of my joint second best seller at Amazon. DWSH tells the story of a Victorian gentleman who goes in search of a lost explorer and finds himself returning as a time traveller. This short story, designed to be a one-off for a contest in the UK has spawned a follow-up "Did we see them?"

http://www.zdnet.com/five-reasons-why-windows-8-has-failed-7000012104/  It is offiial Windows 8 IS worse than Vista LOL

Writer’s block DOES exist. However, if you listen to published and paid writers they will repeat the phrase “It’s an excuse for laziness.” This shows nothing but bloody-minded arrogance in my view, sure once you get money for work or see book in shops or on shelves, you feel less under pressure. You have proof positive that people want to read your work but what about people like me, who do NOT have that assurance to bolster themselves. I am usually fortunate and suffer from a dearth of ideas which leads to a worry that I will miss a good idea.The awards shown here were awarded to me in October, 2012 by indiePENdents.orfor Chronicles of Mark Johnson book 1, book 2 is in the opinion of my editor, Julia, far better its predecssor (Julia bought an original copy before she became my editor). It is hard to think back to those days,I feel like a fraud or at best somebody who lied to themselves; today I feel the muse which has driven for the past two years has left. I have spent ...

  Historic Fiction meets a ghost story for a new selling book. The story is close to my heart as my grand-father fought in the trenches in WW1 http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BNDHL0U Amazon Best sellers Rank:  #46,199 Paid in Kindle Store 

Tired as he may be, the fact both of them had seen a ghost outside the hut intrigued Helmut, perhaps Jannine’s ghost had been caused by his closeness and her remembrances of Ian but what about him? He had never heard of Ian before tonight, why did he see the ghost? He was a seaman and superstitious by nature of the job; things at sea or not always what you may think they are, spray can distort the light and lights in the night cannot always be explained away as passing ships. After finishing his coffee, he decided the only way to appease his curiosity was to take another look, he drank the last mouthful and grabbed the coat which Jannine had brought for him, wrapping it around his tired, muscular frame; he went out into the storm to try and get another glance at the spectre. He opened the hut door and was immediately hit by the chill in the wind, as he shivered and pulled the coat closer into his body, he thought , “I hope Jannine got back to ‘The Pot’ safe.” Helmut walked around...

 As nobody wants them, here are the final pages fro FREE to Lana's only book:- I hope you can enjoy them. Jan put her phone in her handbag and put her make-up on, her radiance shone through at all times and she only needed the slightest touches to turn men’s head; her full figure blossomed as she swept out to her car, her skirt flowing and showing just a touch of panties in the breeze. “I’ll surprise him,” she thought, “I’ll get there early and play with my pussy to get her ready for Alex’s lovely cock.” Alex sat wondering about the things which had happened in the last day or two “Why did Dave’s secretary make such an obvious play for me? Who was the lady in the museum who followed me? Is somebody playing a game with me, if so for what reason?” He was so engrossed in his thoughts he didn’t notice the young lady down the aisle get up and join him, until she said “Hello Mr. Pearson, can I join you please?” “Oh, s s s sorry,” he stammered still trying to work out what had...

I do believe in Deja vu' and ESP The irony is not lost on me. Everybody loved the story but nobody would pay for the extra work and although Horny Devil Publishing would have published the short version, had I not called them porn-pushers. Total E-bound have turned Sexual Explosions down. Deja vu' or a premonition of things to come.

  This short story tells of a young boy who finds himself thrown into the adult world of lies and deceptions as his idol tries to hide from the truth from the police.

Conrad writes his story in a similar vein to Kipling's "The man who would be king," with the difference Kurtz didn't go to be a king, whereas Daniel Dravitt did. I did find it hard at times to read but having read other books of the period, this was not a real problem. The character of Kurtz is intriguing, a white man of unknown talents(we are never told his occupation) travels to Africa for some reason we are never told. A white man's search for ivory? Or a man's search for his soul?

 Again, I find myself extending beyond my bounds. I had intended to write a few paragraphs to link the first book to book 2 in the Chronicles series, but I find myself getting so involved in my story I have written a new chapter instead :)