Here I am at the edge

  Tonight we celebrate the first sale of the first story in the Pat Canella series to B&N.  Amazon, where are you? Two years on Amazon and no sales, and yet two days on Draft2Digital and we have the sale :)

For the last few days I've been run ragged trying to catch up on things. It is normally hectic after Christmas with family birthdays to account for but this year, I had to vector in a doctor's appointment after nearly choking to death between Christmas and New Year and a surgery visit for a breathing test today.  Add to that my daily writing schedule and some printing for a friend's birthday present and then all of a sudden -- it's the last day of the month -- and I forget to get my magazine, mass panic tonight and a mad dash out but I got the last but one copy.

   The night was cold and frosty, and the freezing Chicago rain had kept most people inside but for some, even the freezing rain was no hindrance. One such person was Carl Kolchak -- reporter for INS -- he had just got back to the offices, when the phone in the editor's office rang. His boss, Tony Vincenso, picked it up and sat talking. Tony put the phone reciever down and hung his head in his hands as he ran his fingers through his hair, then giving in to reality he called out, "Carl, there's somebody on the phone for you."  Astute as ever Kochak replied, "Who? Tony." Vincenso lifted his bulky figure off the chair and using his coffee stained desk as a prop he answered, "How the heck should I know? All the guy said was he runs a paranormal research facility and wanted to talk to you. Are you going to answer the call?" Kolchak came out from behind the desk he used and walked into the office, picking the receiver up he said, "Carl Kolcha...

That was my left ankle on July 2nd, 2011 when my tendon snapped. The injury itself goes back to Christmas 1978 and a hockey match in the Royal Air Force.  All the time since the tendon injury, my dread has been the pressure on the other ankle will cause a repeat and totally disable me -- it looks like it is happening -- the irony of the situation. I found a disturbing lump on my right shin one day and not wishing to find myself in a pool of blood from burst veins, I decided to put more weight on the left leg, the result you see above. Now, with having to change back after the injury my right tendon is taut and could go any day. :(

  Today, I have relaunched all three Pat Canella stories on D2D, as they were previously not available at B&N and on Apple -- not strictly true -- in the beginning I put Dockland Murders on but at the time B&N had a thing against UK writers. From today also available as separate short short stories are "Back from Ohandsworth" and "Ghosts of your past."

The main book news is that there will probably be no more. I don't mean news, I mean books. As nobody is buying what I write, why should I waste my time writing?  Hell, I only make just over a quarter an e-book, so, I am not going to miss the sales.  I have the stories to write but if nobody wants to read them, what is the point in writing them? 

That is a question I have asked myself many times over the last eighteen months. Holding Richmond hit the ground running -- Okay, seven sales in one weekend is a good start -- but the book entered the sales forum at the height of the "Twilight" craze. At the end of 2012 HR hit another good spell and sold a further seven copies in three months. I got pilloried on one site for showing vampires as being unsexy and vile creatures of the night. As I said at the time, my vampires are based on the German Nosferatu played by Max Schreck Anything less like "Twilight" I cannot imagine, there is nothing sparkly or sexy about the vampires in Holding Richmond. These creatures of the darkest fears of mankind are loathsome. Is that a reason for the books success I wonder? People got tired of sexy, young and sparkly things and went back to the 1920s imagery.  I make no bones about it -- I like B&W films of this era -- and many of my stories are written in this style, whet...

It may be getting on for eighteen months old, it may be not historically accurate but there is no doubt it sells like hot cakes in December. My best seller "Holding Richmond"     http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007CJKK84  keeps bringing sales in and with today's sale the month at Amazon goes to six sales :) Next stop 30 sales, will it get there?

That is no exaggeration as many of them appeared in collections and many more have not yet and probably will not emerge in public. Out of over 300 stories, only two got trashed and one re-emerged as "Zombiewatch." http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GCRPH6C  My original was called Escalaphobia and was set in a museum, unfortunately it didn't get passed page 1 before I scrapped it out of boredom.  Some time later, I resurrected the idea as a two part project. Part 1 succeeded as not only did I finish the story but I enjoyed writing it. Part 2 is out of my hands, as I was trying to prove to myself any story about zombies had a chance of selling.  The other story was about a writer who had to leave his home and family, he became so popular he couldn't go out without being mobbed. This only lasted a page or two as it was so depressing to write.

Author goes missing. This was the to be the title of a short story .  The idea of the story was to be about a writer who goes for a walk and realizes he won't be missed and never returns. The story idea originated from a semi-comedic article for an online magazine I was writing for. The article caused a stir; one person thought I was referring to him. If he had read the story, it was aimed at me; another person took it seriously and asked me to stay online. The story was written about a decade ago when I thought people would read something I wrote, if not buy one of my eBook    https://www.draft2digital.com/book/   supply. The last decade has shown me when I stop the blog I will be missed by my friend in Seattle alone.

Release news - I am moving ahead with "A Sailor's Love" but the edits are taking longer than expected, the new release date is likely to be the end of next month rather than the end of this month.

Before I get too deeply involved in the characters and back story to the series it would be wise of me to tell you how the series came to be. In June 2011, I was in a friend's house watching TV -- I don't usually watch daytime TV -- when Lorraine Kelly came on. She was doing a walk across the desert and all she was doing was complaining about the heat and sand and sweating too much. At this point  I thought, "You ungrateful bitch, you have not said a word about the camera crew who have to lug heavy cameras around so your fans can see you." Being a former photographer, my thoughts naturally turned to the unseen heroes who never get credit for their work, and from here I created Mark Johnson, former celebrity photographer turned recluse. If there is a motive behind my stories it is praise for the likes of Tim Page, Mike Herr, Philip Caputo, Sean Flynn, Dana Stone, Martha Gellhorn, Kate Adie and Marie Colvin. These photojournalists often put themselves in danger to bring...

The craze started slowly and at first appeared no threat but gradually as time passed, we noticed more of the Games were becoming easier to obtain and users were less secretive. Who started the craze we never found out nor did we find the reason ever, all we knew is the Games took over and soon books would become hard to obtain; little did we realise what lay ahead. Reports from the main cities appeared on line; telling of mass burning of reading material and executions of readers seen in public places but these things don’t happen in a civilised world - or do they? And anyway we are miles from the nearest city, out here in the deserts, so, nobody would bother about us, or so we thought. The beginning of the end of free reading and the beginning of the resistance group “The Word” are masked in the flames of the libraries and halls of learning; which now ring to the noise of the Game Lords – people living in vast towers – who produce and sell the games which corrupt the minds of t...

The life of an Indie Author. When I started out, I was told it would take a decade to get recognized for my writing, well that was five years ago, and I have stopped waiting. To get recognized is nothing short of a miracle, as publishers ignore a writer without a letter from an agent, and to get those you need recognition and money. Not to mention you need to live in America . That way, you can attend conferences.  Being a bestseller and an award-winner means nothing as I found out. All they brought me is trouble and derision from people online who boasted about going on courses and going to university.  To some extent, it is my fault I did not succeed. I don't post how good people consider my writing is, and I don't promote my work as hard as other writers do. I would rather paste comments from satisfied readers than say how good I am, I consider self-praise no praise . In my view, the central reason for my failure is my choice not to follow the trends and t...

Between Christmas and New Year, I almost choked to death three times. The first was because I spent four hours fighting to get breath. The second was caused by some meat which got stuck and with COPD and a sore throat I couldn't swallow and the final scare was caused when I went into such a deep sleep after four days with hardly any rest, I realised I wasn't breathing in my dream and woke to find I wasn't breathing.

If you wonder why I only put the US Amazon links to my pages, the answer is that as far as I can see from viewing figures, I am the only person in the UK who views this blog and therefore adding the UK links would prove futile. The vast majority of readers are in the USA and the reason you won't find me linking to FB is because the blog never gets read from those links I supply, again proving my point about are the vast number of groups and links any good? As far as I can judge they have had no impact on either blog reads or sales.

Sexual Explosions     A Lucky Escape In 2012, I was approached by a publisher in Miami ; they wanted me to write sex stories for them. At the time, I had my reputation as a writer to consider, so I turned them down; another reason was they had a remit - coverage of stories - which I didn't like; basically, keep it legal, and we'll print it. The question is where does that lead? For some time, I hummed and harred as to my decision, then some months later I checked the site, to find it had beeb closed down; to use a common adage "The lights were on, but nobody was at home." I could get to the homepage, but after that the site had closed. Their decision was based on reading one of my blogs, the blog, at the time, had over 3,000 reads. This is an exceprt from the story. 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 stam...

Today I changed the look of the blog, I enjoyed the old look of the broken down hotel but felt I needed a more pleasing and official look to the blog, if I was to convince people I am serious. :)

Over the past three years, I have read about the lovely houses and gardens which inspire some writers and all the time, I have been stuck writing in a room no larger than a prison cell which I share with a washing machine and tumble drier and half of my space is used as a general storage cabin, so, I have a space a little larger than a bed in which to work. Although not how I imagined Mark Johnson's house in Chronicles; the small house on the left of the castle remains -- the museum of gunnery -- would suit my purposes well. It is a two level building with an open area in the front large enough for two NFL pitches and looks out on the North Sea. I am sure I could be very happy on the North Yorkshire coast which I love so much and feature in my stories.  The house is in Scarborough, which is where I loosely base my Chronicles stories.  It was during my last visit to Scarborough that I felt the urge to try and write seriously, the sea air is so invigorating f...

Read about what is happening at indiePENdents. org at  http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=7af26069295096c01ab897ea6&id=bf7d1328de  We are a small but growing community, why not join us?

 I may be missing something in the story, so, please forgive me.  Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance ranks as one of the all time US mysteries. On July 30th, 1975, the 62 year teamsters union leader vanished and was never seen again. I can go along with the theory he was killed as the teamsters were a huge force and trucks are the lifeblood of the US. However, at this point I diverge from popular beliefs. Theory A -- the most popular belief -- has him buried somewhere in the Nevada desert. I might accept that apart from why take him all the way from Michigan to Nevada?  Theory B -- more myth than reality - has him buried in the end zone at Giants Stadium. This I find hard to believe as the stadium is too public and digging up the end zone would attract attention, and again why take him to New York from Michigan. My theory is he was killed in Illinois and his body dumped in one of the nearby lakes. To fish, the body was a meal and would have been eaten quickly, without...

I knew when I started this project that it would be demanding but I thought I may get some hope I was moving by seeing a few sales, this never happened as all I had to endure was the endless reading of the successes of others -- some not as good as me -- as my writing struggled to surface in the morass of puerile reading which has come to dominate the mind of the masses. From zombies to cheap porn hits. I tried to bring new reading to the readers but you cannot turn back a culture fed on a 40 year old genre, which has nothing at all to do with the subject matter and yet thrives. The dream which fed and fired a schoolboy's heart has turned to ice, and in the cold reality of writing I have come to realise that as good at telling stories as I am, nobody cares about what I write. Why should I care about writing?  I had my moment of glory when Chronicles won this award, I was going to enter another story for the award this year but perhaps I won't now as I don't fee...

There comes a time in the life of a book and of a writer, when the icy winds of realisation overtake the fires of enthusiasm and I feel I have reached that point in my journey. It is the section where you think you are going forward and yet there is no proof other than your continual movement. I keep getting told that I am a great story teller and that my writing has improved a lot in the last year but the sales figures don't show any improvement or signs of improvement, despite the great start to the year things have slipped back to normal. While some people are happy to read my work for free, nobody is prepared to spare a few nickels and dimes for hours of work, and I have reached the point where I don't really care any more. I will leave the books on Amazon which are there now but I doubt I shall put more on as nobody cares about my work and I am worth something, so, I shall write for the one or two people I know enjoyed the stories I wrote. Most of my time will be fre...

 When I finish my current WIP, I hope to restart "The Chronicles of Mark Johnson,"  when I left him at the end of book 2, he was fighting for his sanity after fighting his former lover -- the witch -- Annette Palmer, in this realm and realised he needed to destroy all evidence of her in his life to free his soul.

 Tonight I started the mammoth task of re-editing my 120 page story "A Sailor's Love," in the hope it may win another award at  https://www.facebook.com/TheIndiePENdents  as did "Chronicles of Mark Johnson," two years ago. At the back of my mind is the thought, why should I bother? The task involves a lot of work and for what reward? Perhaps a quick blip on the ranking at Amazon as one copy gets sold.  A recent survey claimed most writers make less than $1,000 per annum. I would be happy to make $100 per annum, at least that way I would get some joy in thinking somebody cared for my work. I never expected a lot, the meagre $10 a month was my target but that appears out of my grasp.

 One of the amazing things about Amazon rankings is the ability for a writer to rise, even without selling books and such is the case with me. While my overall ranking sinks to new lows each day. My Erotica ranking keeps rising, even though I only sold one copy of   http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008BK1WDK  and the shorter version   http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007N6YOI8 I was considering writing a follow up story for the two lovers but a lack of interest in the book on line, despite a great number of FREE reads on my blogs killed the idea.

 My World War 2 ghost romance may be fiction but there have been many reports of spirits in and around former USAAF air bases over the years and if you read my recent post about spirituality beliefs, you will realise I believe in their existence.

My first ghost story "The Ghost of St.Mary's"   http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ERVQA9I                      has sold on Kobo taking the monthly sales for the book to three and a strong contender for best seller of the pack chasing the leaders on line.

Today has been a bit of a lost day apart from a little research about some dvds. I went to the doctor and paid a visit to the city centre for a day out, but the good news is my UK Amazon rating keeps rising :)

It is always nice to have a good feeling about something and today's good feeling is my Amazon rating is on the rise again, while I know this means little in the way of sales, it is nice to see the arrows on the rise :)  Hopefully, this might lead to some sales, the month started well with four sales and hopefully more to come.

A great storyteller My dream was to be considered the same as the Russian writer  Anton Checkov . Out of interest, I bought a book of his short stories , which changed my mind about him. I read half of the stories in the book, and out of a dozen, I enjoyed only three stories. In comparison, I have read several stories from the selections by Alexandr Solzynethsin  and enjoyed most of them. Also in my collection of books is a selection from another short story teller from Russia - Alexander Pushkin . As always, if I get to read my Pushkin book, I will view it impartially. I have had many complaints about the quality/ length of my books; my response is what do you expect for less than the price of half a cup of coffee - Pushkin?

 My next planned book is going to a collection of dragon themed stories aimed at the family market, the aim of these stories is to show the beauty and grace of these ethereal creatures. I will put a funny story in the book too.

 Here at last after eleven months of work is "A Sailor's Love," the 1,500 word 'short' story which turned into a story of over 38,000 words and 120 pages. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HVHY6PU

Even as the writer my stories are so good I cry when I write a sad story and the scary stories give me bad dreams, even though I know what is happening, imagine what it would be like if you didn't know the plot. This is not an idle ego boost, my editor Julia who graduated from Harvard says I am a great story-teller and my writing is coming on well over the last year and a quarter, so, I guess the lady knows her stuff as she has been in the writing business for over thirty years in various editorial roles. Sadly, because of the vast numbers of zombie books on sale and the ever growing number of cheap porn E L James copycats on the market, there is little chance that my ghost stories will get a look in as they are not sensational enough. I know I am better than some writers who make a lot more money than I do in a year, but I am hindered by a lack of funds to publicize my writing, a lack of connections, a desire to see my work live on its merits not because some celebrity gives...

PAT CANELLA  The young lady with a gun, a 'tude' and some hidden secrets could well make a comeback soon, as my current WIP is about to end. I thought I would give the stories which were highly recommended by an ex-police sergeant another airing.  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0078VZREI                                  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0080LR4M8                                        The next story involves Native spirits, gang shoot-outs and a chase as the finale' with a mysterious ending

The origins of this story go back to a time when I was on a popular writers site and was involved in an erotica writing section. We decided to have an adult themed fairy-tale contest one Christmas and I chose Snow White as my topic. You need to remember this is an adult version of the popular fairy-tale and not for children as it is going to be explicitly raunchy as this is what the readers want to read.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008BK1WDK  If you have been following this blog, you know one of my basic tenets is I hate a cop out ploy and yet I find myself in a jam and forced much against my ethos to cop to the dollar.  The reason for my sorry state of affairs lies with a book market which relies on the sale of books with covers displaying half-naked torsos to sell books. Having tried all other genres to get a few sales -- including zombies -- I have been forced to the conclusion that to sell e-books I shall have to write cheap porn as this appears to be what readers like to read.  This action I find repulsive on so many levels it sickens me to think that I have to drag myself down to the gutter to get a dollar sale, if this doesn't work I have no idea what to do, other than give up writing. Previously I held the conviction I would never write a zombie story as I detested the zombie genre, but I did write one, even if this too failed to sell and now I sin...

My poignant WW1 ghost story written as a tribute for the grandfather I lost contact with at the age of eight and also written as commemoration for all the men and women whose lives were so radically altered by the social upheaval which the war created has sold again in the UK   http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BNDHL0U  making it the new highest ranked book of mine at Amazon.  This sale also moved ETVW close to becoming the leader of the pack chasing the top sellers:-  Holding Richmond, Nerja & Did we see him?

Picking herself up from the floor, Angie commented, “Judging by the violence we witnessed then, and the front pressure build up, I wouldn’t say more than two hours or three at the utmost. If you planned on doing something, it’s now or never, Helmut. You get your things ready and I’ll get back to ‘The Pot’ and call the guys to help us. God help us for what is coming our way” Helmut crossed himself and said, “Amen to that, Angie -- if he can’t -- nobody can.” The raging storm outside slammed wood from the beach against the small hut and made the glass in the windows rattle to the extent small cracks and fissures began to show. In the violence of the winds and rain Jannine’s voice was all but lost as she yelled, “I don’t know what you meant about spirits, but this is no ordinary storm look at the sea!” Helmut and Angie looked out and saw what Jannine was talking about, the waves had risen to the size of a four storey house and were taking the shapes of various demonic forms, ...

 Before I begin, I must tell you I have nothing against people who write or read erotica -- although I do have personal limits too what I find arousing -- I wrote a couple of erotic love stories, so I can't say I am against the genre.  My stories contain some erotica as part of erotic romance and I see this as a true showing of the love between the two people, but at all times the man shows respect and care for the lady -- an old fashioned concept these days -- but this is how I feel love should be.   To define the differences in my view:-  The difference lies in the emphasis of the title, to me an erotica writer writes mainly erotica and that is not (!) me. While a writer of erotica writes erotica as a part of their larger scope of writing  this is (!) me.  I prefer to define myself as a writer -- no genre -- but if you need to categorise my stories then I am best described as a ghost or Gothic horror story writer.