Here I am at the edge

At the end of the month I shall be going off line for a time, how long is not certain; the reasons are many but the short version is I am not sure my work is valued and I need to re-evaluate my work. I have been pushing myself to get a few sales and a little recognition for two years and feel jaded. I think I deserve a rest.

The official report shows that "The Love of the Sea" has surpassed "Chronicles of Mark Johnson" in length.  Completed Chronicle ended at 26, 314 words and 104 pages.  LOTS at the moment is at 85 pages and 26,585 words, but is far from complete.  This brings up another situation, with the trend for shorter reads, do I break the book up into chunks? The final note "The Descent of Mark Johnson" was finished at 73 pages and only 17, 168 words.

Xlibis called a short while ago to find out if I was interested in publishing my book-not that I would consider them after seeing their work. I missed the call, but replied to their email by saying that as nobody wanted to buy the e-book of Chronicles of Mark Johnson, effective now, I have trashed the idea.

As I enter the time of reflections and doubts, not knowing what if anything lays ahead or if there is a future for my stories; I received this message from my editor in Seattle. Many of our members struggle for years, dealing with constant discouragement. Every once in a while we receive a wonderfully positive note, and we can only say, "YAY!"    The members to whom she talked about are a group of Indie writers at indiePENdents.org.

All things have a time and place and all film series have a limited life. I am enjoying the Resident Evil series, despite my original thoughts about zombie films.  However, and this is a big (!) however, I'm not looking forward to the later films-I may be proved wrong but I think the series had run its length after four films. This has nothing to do with Alice and Jill not being in, Claire might prove to be a good role-I haven't had the chance to watch Extinction.   To explain my point, here are a set of examples:- Mad Max had three great films, as did Pirates of the Caribbean, but Police Academy went on far too long-the first two or three were good but after that it became same thing, different place.  Directors and producers get fixed ideas on what they perceive the public want and in the end they trot the same thing out time and again, in the end diluting the series to "milk the cow." At the beginning I said I wasn't looking forward to the later films, I ...

My zombie story may be liked by my editor, but for no my ghosts are going well another sale for Sea Ghosts.     http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0088QPW92

  I realise this goal is a long way from where I would wish to be, but some solace is better than nothing as I approach the time of meditation, at the weekend.   I aimed for a 10 sale month and finally capitulated to a 10 sale quarter which I achieved with the sale of "From Elgar to Vaughan Williams" a week ago.   As I say, 10 e-book sales in 3 months is nothing compared to all the reports of book and film deals I have to read :(  Maybe one day my turn will come, or maybe it won't-the good thing is I am enjoying the writing again.

My top rated book at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EPGKFR8

About five or six months ago, I sent a short story to a friend for her blog.  After a few weeks, she told me that my story had been read more than any other on her page, at this time I decided to try and expand the 1,500 word story into a larger version.  I never imagined the lengths I would be able to get, my short 1,500 word short story, which I expected to stretch to 3,500 words if I did well; is now at 27,000 words and going strong.   This proves not only how good I am at writing stories, but how much room for character development I had in the story of a young girl and a sailor lost on foreign shores.  If this erotic and romantic ghost story does go on sale, it might have another cover as I am trying to locate a photo I took many years ago at Staithes, Teeside, which I think would do well as the cover.

  I have a curious and investigative mind which can come turn up interesting facts in my researches on line; it can also provide some funny moments, one of my interests is to find out what sites hit on my blogs.    Many months ago, I came across a blog run by a coloured lady who wrote books about inter-racial love in the Deep South, how she came to my blog still remains a puzzle as none of my stories come close to that theme.   Today, I find I have had hits from Muslim based blogs, one was in Syria and the other looked like Jordan, I have no objection to them reading the blog; I am intrigued as to what the connection is though.  And a note of comedic irony-I used to write erotic and "Love of the Sea" is a highly charged love story- I got a few hits of gay sites LMAO

In my collection of books there are many with intriguing stories. Some I can vouch for the signature as I was at the signing, others I sent away for and they came signed and numbered and even a few which I have but cannot vouch for the signature. But, this is the most interesting of all, it isn't worth a lot nor is it a rarity, but as you see from the photograph, the interest lies in that the book is an advance copy and comes with editorial notes in the margins.  As a saleable item, the book is worth little if anything, but it is a great curio.

With the re-claiming and launching of my two earliest ghost stories on Amazon this week under my name, this completes the first three ghost stories I wrote in 2011. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ERVQA9I http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0085ZXWEI  And the soon to be released "The Rocking Lantern."

Over the next months, I shall be off line-I shall be here but not as active-and one of things I plan to do is to clear out all the old stories which have amassed over the last two years.   I have started the cleansing process already by getting rid of a lot of files for my Sc-Fi stories as it is plain nobody is interested in the stories but me.   One which will remain however is Sons of Baal, at least for another two months, in October I am entering it in a major contest in Toronto.    I have no real chance of winning but if Danny Kemp can get a film contract-what the hell, go for it I say, all I have to lose is $5 Canadian.   I am taking this time out to evaluate the progress and the value of the work I do. I have been told many times and by various people that I am a good storyteller and have a growing US fan base-yet to be proved.   One of the main things to be evaluated is that after the abysmal lack of interest shown for the time and eff...

  The only way is up-I hope-as ratings hit an all-time low and with no sign of changing, this is a good time to call the changes and take an over-due recess; will I be back?  Being honest, I don't know.

Bank Holidays to me as a child meant one thing, the fair would be in Clevedon. Every Easter and August Bank Holiday the big lorries carrying the rides and generators would parade through our village and set up camp for a week on the sea front in front of the Salthouse Inn.  The area is a large expanse of open grassland and in the winter the tides wash over the meagre barrier of an old sea wall which has seen better days. The underlying soil is always damp and these heavy lorries turn the grass into a mud bath which takes weeks to get back to life.  Like many of my era, Bank Holidays also meant Grandstand and World of Sport covering the Moto-X meetings at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire, with names like Jeff Smith, Dave Bickers, Vic Eastwood-seen above on his last ride for AJS-Vic Allan and the Rickman brothers.  These were the dying days of British motorcycles with names like AJS, BSA, Greeves,Rickman Mettise and Triumph giving way to Suzuki, Yamaha, Bultaco, Cz ,Husqvarna...

This was my first ghost story, and has been re-edited for a new sale. This is the first time it has been on sale outside an anthology.  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ERVQA9I

  In the next week I shall be releasing on Amazon two early ghost stories, previously not for sale and the second of the Chronicles mini-series books.

AM I EVOLVING AS A WRITER?  Okay, if you read Chronicles of Mark Johnson, you know how weird I can get with monsters and weapons but this is taking a new step.   Your resident zombie-hating critic is not only watching Res. Evil films but enjoying them and if you add to the mix that my editor likes the beginning to my zombie story; I ask myself "Am I evolving as a writer or copping out,knowing zombies sell stories?

    Last night's post about North Moor-part 4 of the Chronicles book-was by far the most read article in weeks.  If you wish to find out what Mark feared at North Moor, the story will be for sale next week in the second of the mini-series books.

COMING SOON

In reading the new Marcel Proust biography, as suggested by my editor, Julia. I came across some likenesses in personality; which I won't go into here.  One thing which did interest me was that a friend asked him for a list of things he looked for in people and the arts, this got me thinking of doing a similar thing for Julia.  Most of the human qualities would not have changed a lot over time but other likes would have changed greatly. Obviously some musical tastes have changed as I like 50's jazz music and Django Rhienhardt, but at the same time some have not as I like some of Mozart's work as well as Brahms and Schubert but I am not too keen on Bach as I prefer the more robust styles of Wagner and the East Europeans like Jancek, Bartok, Martinu and the Russian influences. He quoted writers like Pliny the Elder, Saint Simon, Racine and Flaubert among his favourites among mine are Hemingway, Greene, Shostakovitch and David Eddings.  The list got me thinking who woul...

I did it again :(   I started to write the zombie story with a few ideas in mind.   1- Could I finish the story.  2-To prove that anything with the Z word or a picture of them on the cover would sell. At NO time did I intend it to be taken seriously as I don't like this genre. Today, I sent the opening pages to my editor, Julia, and she liked the story.

  This is always a grey area as it leads to a definition of ho you class being published.   The official definition is any person who writes an article which is in the public domain can class themselves as published. This includes all the teenies who blog their views on line about fashion and pop trends.   My view is a harder but plainer concept to understand. I will class myself as published if I see a book of mine in print by a publisher other than me.   True, I do have the right to call myself 'published' as I have work in print in 3 or 4 anthologies, but to me the definition is not complete until I see my name on a book by another publisher.

Coming out over the next few months will be "The Word." In a world ruled by fear, the Game Lords control the minds of the young, but in the midst of terror hope exists with a group called The Word.  Their aim is to break the hold of the games and generate interest in the forbidden Word.

Get your copy  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EMMVW2C

Book 3 of Chronicles is going well, spooky-scarier than 1 & 2 and still only the beginning of Chapter 1 (45 pages/ 15,000 words)

   If you have read my blogs, you recall I suffer from EDS which causes weak muscle structure around the joints and one of the worst joints affected is my left wrist.   As I hate to class myself as disabled-this is not a macho thing-I am not totally disabled yet and do try to help if I can.  I need to be very careful after about an hours physical work I need to stop, the reason being the wrist joint is weak and badly damaged and I don't want to end up in a cast for the rest of my days.   The support I wear most of the day is good but it comes with a drawback other than making typing awkward and that is when I sweat I get a rash on the back of the wrist.

                           Readers matter Most readers would consider the size of a country as a guide to the amount of people wishing to read my blog ; this is not the case. This week, I have had more readers in Israel , than the USA , and Canada combined. Years ago, the USA was the main target area for readers; these days it is changed to Hong Kong . At the time, I was told I write like an American , and think like a Jew . I was not surprised as I wrote in the style my readers would understand, and I have always supported Israel.

I am not averse to reading biographies having read the ones about  Chet Baker and Moshe' Dyan, but the preponderance of celebrity biogs is boring in the extreme.   What can you hope to learn about somebody who spent their life in the media spotlight? And how can a 25 year old write a biography having only started on life's journey?  Some months ago, I pondered the idea of reading Marcel Proust's great work but being honest the size of the seven volumes I found daunting and instead I bought a book of Graham Greene short stories on the request of my editor, Julia.   You can therefore imagine my trepidation when Julia suggested I study the new Marcel Proust biography, and try to read "Swann's Way" which is the first book in the collection. The biography is close to 1,000 pages and I have to admit I was not looking forward to attempting to read the book, but as Julia has been a great help to me, I would do my best. To my amazement, I find myself enjoying th...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BNDHL0U  With the failures of Chronicles behind me, it is nice to know some books are selling :)

  With July being more than 29 days long, I was fortunate to get a double Disability Living Allowance payment and my intention was to by a second hand PS3 and a few games to help me relax and keep my heart problem under control, however...  Owing to having neighbours who have had an on going feud with the family for over 25 years-because we won't join their gangs and we stay out of trouble- I have had to put this money aside to do some building work and now cannot get the money for the PS3 until my next double month which is April.   To add to this, I am in dire need of a new laptop to continue my work as this one is running on faith and running out.

  Gone are the days when if I lost a day or two I would frantically pressure myself to get the work done to catch up. My best friend pointed out to me that it is better to pick up the slack slow and steady than to have a mad dash and risk burning out in the rush.   She is right and let's be honest; nobody really cares how long my work takes to complete as nobody buys my stories, so why should I be pressured to get the days back quickly?   Today has been another lost day :( It is 3:30 and I should have been working but owing to a stage 2 migraine, I am only starting now.   Stage 1- Bad headache over the right eye  Stage 2-The ache continues down to the jaw from the eye socket.  Stage 3-The pain is like having your head in a G clamp with the clamp being tightened, the pain goes from the top of my head down the right side of my face and into my shoulder. I have to rest in a dark room as my eyes are like Star Trek when Enterprise goes into warp a...

    When I was in my early thirties I had the second of my operations, this was to try and relieve my migraines caused by sinusitis.   There are two ways to do this; the first is to cut above the affected eye and pack the area with gauze, as I suffer from EDS   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehlers%E2%80%93Danlos_syndrome   this  would have left a major scar and as I have no scar over the eye, I assume the surgeons chose option 2.  The second option is to drill the sinus through the nose and for this to be successful you need to go back at least once a year- NO way was I doing that- losing a few days is a far better option to going into surgery every year.   When I was in hospital I saw a sight which scared me; having been in the RAF I am not worried about seeing blood but to witness a man rise from lying down to the sitting position and to see a white smock turn blood red in a matter of seconds is not something you forget.   A c...

"Flying is probably the safest way to travel, go to any airport and count the planes going in and out in an hour and  there is the proof,"  how many times had I told my friends that; I lost count. And yet, here I was at the airport, shaking like a leaf as I waited to be called onto our plane.  "Strange how the change of circumstances transformed my thoughts," I thought as I paced nervously, "we made the plans and I couldn't back down now, how would I explain to Jenny that I didn't meet her because I was afraid to fly?"  I had been in the Royal Air Force and travelled many times, mostly by train or boat; the only times I had flown was out to Germany and both ways to and from Ireland; none of the flights were more than an up and over lasting more than an hour and here I was waiting for a nine hour flight.  I hadn't eaten for hours and the early arrival at the airport meant a long wait, all this added to my tensions about the flight; I was hu...

Read the second of my eight stories which comprised the Chronicles of Mark Johnson. THE PORTHERN CASE Since resolving the matter of the trapped spirits at the old Morton house a few years prior, Mark Johnson’s expertise and skills as a photojournalist were in demand again. He was now getting serious job offers for both his photographic and writing skills. Even though wealth was heading his way, Mark had not changed. He preferred to stay a recluse in his cottage by the coast, his only contact with the outside world being his lady friend, the artist Annette Palmer, and his agent, Phil Moore. He had met Annette a few months earlier while on a case. He had felt an affinity towards her from the moment they met.     Today he was out walking the dog, when the house phone rang.   “Hello, Phil, what can we do for you?" Annette asked.   “Hi, Annette. I think I might have a story for Mark, plus a chance of some art work for you at the same time.”   “Sounds interesting....