After I finish a book, I get to ironing. Typically I do three passes. I call them ironing, because at this stage all the plot engine stuff and moving parts are on the page, but maybe not in the exact right places, so I have to smoothe out wrinkles. Some sections will be boggy or slow. I often get caught up in a moment and stretch it out, when it needs to be faster. So the first ironing pass catches the worst of this. Usually I’m aware of it going in. As I write chapters, I’ll leave notes on the …
The Lies – Last Mayor 8
The Lies is Book 8 in the Last Mayor series. 7 billion dead. 1 truth. The apocalypse killed almost everyone on Earth. Only 700 out of 7 billion people survived. It began with love, and loss, and lies. It will end in blood. The end is coming. The TV show ‘LOST’ hammers into the end times in this unrelenting thriller, oozing dystopian pseudoscience and blood-soaked punishment for the wicked. A tale of post-apocalyptic survival mystery that brings the Last Mayor series up to the precipice, to be completed in the final Book 9. Burning questions will be raised and answered, …
Zombie Ocean Book 4 – Speculation
What do you think will happen in the upcoming book 4 of the Zombie Ocean, THE LOSS? What do you hope to see? Which characters are we going to focus on? What will be on the cover? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Paper Eagle
In class the other day I had my 19-year-old pre-uni students make a paper eagle as part of a teamwork exercise. This is it- Inspiring. Its name was Lily, like the Danish Girl *shrugs*
Kingkiller & Holly Lolly
I just finished book 2 of the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss- proper review forthcoming- and now I need something similar to read. All I want is more Kvothe! There is none though, the third book in the trilogy has been expected for at least 4 years, and still no sign of it coming. What is Rothfuss playing at? Whatever. But, three cheers for reading!! Other news We had Theodora come round today to design our garden. It’s gonna have red leaf trees from Japan, nice wide borders, and a ton of interesting plants. She trimmed our holly bush to …
Kindle Publishers Meetup Group
Last night I went to Canteen in Spitalfields market to join the Kindle Publishers Meetup group, hoping for a good discussion about self-publishing and book marketing with fellow authors. To some extent I got it, from a very friendly and welcoming bunch, with a very friendly and cheerful leader, Sharif. The discussion was maybe not all I’d hoped for- though that is no real fault of anyone involved- we’re simply at different levels in the process. I am by no means a black belt in self-pub, but I’m on the belt system. Most of the people last night had yet …
Work style…
At drinks with colleagues a few days back, the topic came up of my lack of ‘work style’. Of course I wear a suit, so I’m smartly presented, but that always becomes shirt and pants as I’m not comfortable in a jacket. Add that to the fact that I don’t wear a tie (nobody does here) and I often wear white shirts (I’ve got 8 of them), and my ‘work style’ is very bland. No cardigan, waistcoat, jacket or vest, jumper or cummerbund or what have you. So, I borrowed a colleague’s bow tie and gave it a go. What …
Not a bin…
The sign says it’s not a bin. So, some kind of medieval urinal? Answers on a postcard. Actually if you peer closely at the faded sign, you will it is in fact a mop wringer. Of course. We saw this at the Guildhall in Leicester- which we headed up to for a day trip today. Actually, it’s a little sad- we booked the trip to go see our latest niece, my sister’s second daughter, named Clover. She was born a week ago and we wanted to go welcome her to the world. But I had a cold. It seemed …
Breakthrough in zombie town
For the past few days I’ve been doubting the opening quarter of Zombie Ocean 3- but today I had s breakthrough. What seemed repetitive and dull became (I hope) gripping and taut. Even if we know what happens. It’s no secret to say the opening part of Zombie Ocean 3 has some substantial overlap with books 1 and 2, just as book 2 had overlap with book 1. Done well, I love this technique in the stories I read/watch, eg: – LOST did it all the time, showing us the same events from new perspectives, tied in to different bits …