Friday, 28 March 2014
Launching 1st April
I'm a fool, I know. But I have my release day set for April Fool's Day.
Why delay till Tuesday, and not go with it immediately? Still one or two bits of tweaking to the KDP settings to be done, plus I like to go with memorable dates, and I should be able to remember 1st of April. So, countdown is now P minus 3 (and a bit).
Monday, 24 March 2014
My New Cover!!!
I have commissioned my book cover for City of Stone. As I said before I think it is definitely the one area that is worth spending money on. How right I was!
These are four of the five designs I was given by John Amy who runs Ebook Designer at
http://www.ebookdesigner.co.uk/index.html
To be honest I could have happily picked any one of the designs but in the end, after a straw poll of friends and acquaintances which backed up my own instincts, I went for number one. It does everything I want in terms of giving a sense of the atmosphere and style of the book, it is clean and it has impact. Fabulous impact, I think. It's actually based on a photograph of Edinburgh Castle and walls which I took myself, but then given the design treatment. I love it and I know it's going to work. Hopefully it will pay for itself in sales!So, the cover of my book is done, and uploaded to KDP, publication day is counting down, perhaps even coming forward a little, perhaps even 1st April - why not.
Wednesday, 19 March 2014
Old Horse
Where do the idea for my novels come from? Surprisingly from songs, as often as not. That happened with the book I'm writing just now, The Perilous City. The inspiration for that story came from a song, and a performance of that song, by Jacques Brel, the song Amsterdam. Well, it has happened again.
There's a song by Martin Carthy, called Old Horse. I was listening to it on Sunday, really listening to it, the way you do sometimes when you haven't heard a track for a long time. The words are moving, and that's what they did, moved me to tears. I realised then that I'm going to write a novel at some point, I'm not sure when, which is based on the ideas and the emotions contained within that song. The song is traditional, but actually it is based on a number of fragments which Carthy says he put together himself. That explains the power of the song, its rooted in our traditions and folk memories. And to prove that, my partner then said to me that her mother used to use that phrase, talking about Old Horse, as a way of saying something is worn out. I realised the longevity of the idea and its place in our consciousness.
Ostensibly it's a song about how we treat horses, use them, work them, put them out to graze and finally feed them to our sailors. But it's actually a song about how we treat our old people.The song ends with that feeling of abuse and sadness, or at least you think it does but it then adds a catch. 'Rise up old horse and shine again.' So there is a resurrection component to the song as well, and something of the mystical. I want to capture all that feeling in a novel. And I will.
Why do songs work so well as the wellspring of ideas? I think because they trade in emotions. They are a direct conduit to our emotions, and in tapping them they paint such powerful pictures. That's what I want my books to do.They are my songs - since I can't write music and I can't sing, though I wish I could. Instead I have my books, unplugged.
Old horse old horse what brought you here
Carted stones this many's the year
Killed by stones and sore abuse
They salt you down for sailors' use
A warrior am I and at war I've been
Fighting for my country and king
Now I'm old and I'm in decay
It's poor old horse get on your way
My keeping once was the stable wall
Free from all cold winds and harm
Now in the fields I am forced to go
Turned out in the cold and rain and snow
My feeding once was the oats and hay
That grew in the fields and the meadows gay
Now I'll get no such at all
But pull at the short grass by the wall
The sailors they do me despise
Kick my body and damn my eyes
Cut my meat and pick my bones
Throw the rest to Davey Jones
Here is a hoof that was so well shod
Likewise a hide that sweat so hard
Whipped him lashed him drove him down
Rise up old horse and shine again
From: http://lyrics.wikia.com/Martin_Carthy:Old_Horse
There's a song by Martin Carthy, called Old Horse. I was listening to it on Sunday, really listening to it, the way you do sometimes when you haven't heard a track for a long time. The words are moving, and that's what they did, moved me to tears. I realised then that I'm going to write a novel at some point, I'm not sure when, which is based on the ideas and the emotions contained within that song. The song is traditional, but actually it is based on a number of fragments which Carthy says he put together himself. That explains the power of the song, its rooted in our traditions and folk memories. And to prove that, my partner then said to me that her mother used to use that phrase, talking about Old Horse, as a way of saying something is worn out. I realised the longevity of the idea and its place in our consciousness.
Ostensibly it's a song about how we treat horses, use them, work them, put them out to graze and finally feed them to our sailors. But it's actually a song about how we treat our old people.The song ends with that feeling of abuse and sadness, or at least you think it does but it then adds a catch. 'Rise up old horse and shine again.' So there is a resurrection component to the song as well, and something of the mystical. I want to capture all that feeling in a novel. And I will.
Why do songs work so well as the wellspring of ideas? I think because they trade in emotions. They are a direct conduit to our emotions, and in tapping them they paint such powerful pictures. That's what I want my books to do.They are my songs - since I can't write music and I can't sing, though I wish I could. Instead I have my books, unplugged.
Old horse old horse what brought you here
Carted stones this many's the year
Killed by stones and sore abuse
They salt you down for sailors' use
A warrior am I and at war I've been
Fighting for my country and king
Now I'm old and I'm in decay
It's poor old horse get on your way
My keeping once was the stable wall
Free from all cold winds and harm
Now in the fields I am forced to go
Turned out in the cold and rain and snow
My feeding once was the oats and hay
That grew in the fields and the meadows gay
Now I'll get no such at all
But pull at the short grass by the wall
The sailors they do me despise
Kick my body and damn my eyes
Cut my meat and pick my bones
Throw the rest to Davey Jones
Here is a hoof that was so well shod
Likewise a hide that sweat so hard
Whipped him lashed him drove him down
Rise up old horse and shine again
From: http://lyrics.wikia.com/Martin_Carthy:Old_Horse
Tuesday, 18 March 2014
Publication Count Down - P Minus 30
Momentous decision! I've decided to kick off the self-publication countdown for The Great Project, starting with City of Stone.
The book has been written, edited, revised, edited, user-tested, revised and so on. And finished since the Autumn. I had decided to hold off publishing the series because I was deep into writing my next novel, The Perilous City and I wanted to be free to do the sort of marketing that a self-published book needs. And, in truth, I was hoping that a publisher would take it. Well, no sign of the latter yet, and I've decided that now's the time to go it alone. Rather than waiting for hell to freeze over I'm going to self-publish now, so we're at P minus 30, or whatever number of days it takes, and counting.
The process began with the decision to begin the process. I've made that, so what next? Next was to decide what to do about a book cover. I've been a follower of the self-help community on Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), which is hugely useful, and the wisdom there is that covers matter. You only have a few seconds to grab someone's attention as they're trawling the catalogue, and a good cover gives you a better chance. Therefore I'm going to direct my financial expenditure to cover design. I tried my hand at using the KDP cover creator and what I produced was mediocore at best, because I'm not a designer.
I then looked at whether or not I should use BookBaby, the ebook promotional service, who also offer cover design. I came close to going with this. Cover design would have cost me about £170 (for the deluxe version) and along with their conversion and promotion package I would have been about £300 plus a 15% share of royalties. I was within a whisker of making the choice, in fact on Saturday I had decided to do it. But I read a little bit more over the weekend on the KDP community and I put a question about BookBaby there. The responses convinced me that there's nothing BookBaby does for you that you can't do yourself, and a number of things they don't do. They don't give you access to reports, they don't seem to do as much promotion as you could do yourself, and they want you to sign a contract which, to my eye, gives too much control away.
So I decided to do the bulk of the publication and promotion work myself, and shop around for a cover designer. I've now found one, and I'm in the process of putting a brief together. I'll report back when I have the designs, and by then I should be at about P minus 15/20 and counting. Hoping to publish by Easter or thereabouts.
The book has been written, edited, revised, edited, user-tested, revised and so on. And finished since the Autumn. I had decided to hold off publishing the series because I was deep into writing my next novel, The Perilous City and I wanted to be free to do the sort of marketing that a self-published book needs. And, in truth, I was hoping that a publisher would take it. Well, no sign of the latter yet, and I've decided that now's the time to go it alone. Rather than waiting for hell to freeze over I'm going to self-publish now, so we're at P minus 30, or whatever number of days it takes, and counting.
The process began with the decision to begin the process. I've made that, so what next? Next was to decide what to do about a book cover. I've been a follower of the self-help community on Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), which is hugely useful, and the wisdom there is that covers matter. You only have a few seconds to grab someone's attention as they're trawling the catalogue, and a good cover gives you a better chance. Therefore I'm going to direct my financial expenditure to cover design. I tried my hand at using the KDP cover creator and what I produced was mediocore at best, because I'm not a designer.
I then looked at whether or not I should use BookBaby, the ebook promotional service, who also offer cover design. I came close to going with this. Cover design would have cost me about £170 (for the deluxe version) and along with their conversion and promotion package I would have been about £300 plus a 15% share of royalties. I was within a whisker of making the choice, in fact on Saturday I had decided to do it. But I read a little bit more over the weekend on the KDP community and I put a question about BookBaby there. The responses convinced me that there's nothing BookBaby does for you that you can't do yourself, and a number of things they don't do. They don't give you access to reports, they don't seem to do as much promotion as you could do yourself, and they want you to sign a contract which, to my eye, gives too much control away.
So I decided to do the bulk of the publication and promotion work myself, and shop around for a cover designer. I've now found one, and I'm in the process of putting a brief together. I'll report back when I have the designs, and by then I should be at about P minus 15/20 and counting. Hoping to publish by Easter or thereabouts.
Wednesday, 12 March 2014
The Plague Doctor
Just written a passage at the beginning of a new chapter of my in-progress book, The Perilous City, which if I say it myself I really like. It describes the arrival of the Plague Doctor. Here it is:
"The night had been sharp with frost and now the morning was clear
for a change, after the cold, wet winds which had blighted the last few days. The
winter sun hung in the sky over the Lawnmarket, bringing a pale shadow of warmth to
the City. The market was busy as always, crowded with people buying or selling,
making it hard for anyone to pass through their midst. But the figure that walked
up the Lawnmarket now, as the bell of St Giles struck the nine, had no difficulty
in finding a way. The crowd cleared for him, parting like waves before the prow
of a ship.
The figure that strode westwards, towards the crest of the Lawnmarket,
was wrapped in a heavy leather cloak, despite the gentle warmth of the morning. In
his hand he carried a long wooden staff, which beat a tattoo against the stones
of the street as he walked. On his hands he was wearing heavy leather gloves, which
came halfway up his arms. His boots too were long and stout, heavy riding boots
high up to his knees, covering him, like the cloak which was drawn tight. Nothing showed of the man beneath, if it was a man. It was difficult to tell. He looked
like a bird, like some giant leather-clad bird, stalking along the Lawnmarket. His
face, if he had a face, was covered by a leather hood, with eyeholes cut
into it. And where the man’s nose and mouth might be was a beak. Or something that
looked like a beak. It was a long wicker-basket, curving downwards, shaped like
a beak, tied behind the head with leather straps. As the man walked, if it was a
man, the basket wobbled and dipped, as if he were testing the air about him and
tasting it. Tasting it for fear."
The description is based on genuine images of the plague doctors of Edinburgh, but mine is a compound of a couple of them, with a little dash of artistic licence thrown in too. I like him.
Friday, 7 March 2014
The Bone Season - Yikes!
I am trying to read The Bone Season, by Samantha Shannon. I was drawn to it by reviews which made her out to be the next JK Rowling and Tolkein and Phillip Pullman all rolled into one. Quotations like 'Truly extraordinary and thrilling' or 'filled with horrors, wonders and charm' even persuaded me to get it in hardback. What a mistake!
It's rank. And it breaks lots of my rules for good fantasy. So, as the self-appointed fantasy writing police I have to make an arrest and prosecution. Here are my grounds.
First of all, it inhabits an alternative future world which just doesn't hold together well, and which has so many invented elements that it might as well be happening on Planet Zug, or the Deathly Wastelands. It never feels like a real world, it doesn't have the physics and rules of a real world, it doesn't have a landscape that works. It's a Czarina's cottage, a false front, hollow behind, designed to look shiny on the surface but lacking depth and realisation. In particular I don't think that the characters interact well with their world. They seem to be in it but not of it, resident like lodgers, not inhabitants.
Second the characters. Flat, one-dimensional, one-speed. The thing that strikes me most about them is that I can't imagine a life for any of the characters, bar one central one, outside of the pages of the book and the scenes they inhabit. To me that is the test of a good character - could you imagine what they do when they're not in those pages? Okay, not all characters will be like that. We all write ciphers now and then - second guard, evil wizard, selfless friend. But you have to try to avoid that and where possible invest even bit parts with some of the essence of life. Dickens could do it, and I think he achieved it by giving even the smallest of characters something memorable about them, something you then hung on to and recalled. Samantha's characters (I can call you Samantha, can't I?) don't feel like they have that life essence. The litmus test is the dialogue. Her characters speak to advance the action. They don't speak to interact and tell us about themselves, they speak to tell us things we need to know and move the plot on.
Third. Lists of bloody words. I know this isn't one of my Fantasy Rules, but it is now. I hate books with lists of countries or words or terms that we need to learn and get familiar with before we can read. I remember, way back, it was a major stumbling block for me with A Clockwork Orange, and only gradually did I get to feel comfortable with the patois that the characters used between themselves. I hated Game of Thrones for the same reason, and never got past the first fifty pages of the first book (subject for another blog - bad book makes good TV, often. I love GofT on TV). There are 7 Orders of Clairvoyance at the beginning of the book that we have to learn, and of course the book then tests us on them. Why 7, why not 8? Because the author says so. Crap. I can accept a character saying there are 7, they have their world and their limits, but the author? Surely the world is big and wondrous and full of the unknown. Watch Supernatural to see how you can make up rules and then break them all the time as a writer.
Fourth. Plot. I said plot was crucial to good fantasy. And I meant good plot. The plot is thin, ropey, tangential and without substance here. It lurches, it takes leaps, it doesn't build. One of the things I dislike about this book is that it is one paced. It jumps into frenetic and never gets out of it, but never goes higher either. Where are the highs and lows? Don't characters ever do anything ordinary? I hate the idea that in Fantasy writing every character is always slaying, magicking, fighting, rebelling or making speeches. Why can't they just be eating their dinner? Don't elves have dinner? Don't clairvoyants watch the TV for relaxation? If your plot is all at one speed then to me it's not a plot, it's a flatliner.
I could go on. There's lots more I dislike about this book, but it would be unfair to rant much further. Clearly there's an element of jealousy here. Yes, I'm jealous she has got this much attention for this tiny amount of quality writing and story telling. But more than that it depresses me, that this is what is getting hyped. To be fair it's not bad, it's just inadequate.Therefore to see the inadequate praised as the superlative depresses me. Still, if there's hope for Samantha (we're still on first name terms arent' we?), then there's hope for us all.
It's rank. And it breaks lots of my rules for good fantasy. So, as the self-appointed fantasy writing police I have to make an arrest and prosecution. Here are my grounds.
First of all, it inhabits an alternative future world which just doesn't hold together well, and which has so many invented elements that it might as well be happening on Planet Zug, or the Deathly Wastelands. It never feels like a real world, it doesn't have the physics and rules of a real world, it doesn't have a landscape that works. It's a Czarina's cottage, a false front, hollow behind, designed to look shiny on the surface but lacking depth and realisation. In particular I don't think that the characters interact well with their world. They seem to be in it but not of it, resident like lodgers, not inhabitants.
Second the characters. Flat, one-dimensional, one-speed. The thing that strikes me most about them is that I can't imagine a life for any of the characters, bar one central one, outside of the pages of the book and the scenes they inhabit. To me that is the test of a good character - could you imagine what they do when they're not in those pages? Okay, not all characters will be like that. We all write ciphers now and then - second guard, evil wizard, selfless friend. But you have to try to avoid that and where possible invest even bit parts with some of the essence of life. Dickens could do it, and I think he achieved it by giving even the smallest of characters something memorable about them, something you then hung on to and recalled. Samantha's characters (I can call you Samantha, can't I?) don't feel like they have that life essence. The litmus test is the dialogue. Her characters speak to advance the action. They don't speak to interact and tell us about themselves, they speak to tell us things we need to know and move the plot on.
Third. Lists of bloody words. I know this isn't one of my Fantasy Rules, but it is now. I hate books with lists of countries or words or terms that we need to learn and get familiar with before we can read. I remember, way back, it was a major stumbling block for me with A Clockwork Orange, and only gradually did I get to feel comfortable with the patois that the characters used between themselves. I hated Game of Thrones for the same reason, and never got past the first fifty pages of the first book (subject for another blog - bad book makes good TV, often. I love GofT on TV). There are 7 Orders of Clairvoyance at the beginning of the book that we have to learn, and of course the book then tests us on them. Why 7, why not 8? Because the author says so. Crap. I can accept a character saying there are 7, they have their world and their limits, but the author? Surely the world is big and wondrous and full of the unknown. Watch Supernatural to see how you can make up rules and then break them all the time as a writer.
Fourth. Plot. I said plot was crucial to good fantasy. And I meant good plot. The plot is thin, ropey, tangential and without substance here. It lurches, it takes leaps, it doesn't build. One of the things I dislike about this book is that it is one paced. It jumps into frenetic and never gets out of it, but never goes higher either. Where are the highs and lows? Don't characters ever do anything ordinary? I hate the idea that in Fantasy writing every character is always slaying, magicking, fighting, rebelling or making speeches. Why can't they just be eating their dinner? Don't elves have dinner? Don't clairvoyants watch the TV for relaxation? If your plot is all at one speed then to me it's not a plot, it's a flatliner.
I could go on. There's lots more I dislike about this book, but it would be unfair to rant much further. Clearly there's an element of jealousy here. Yes, I'm jealous she has got this much attention for this tiny amount of quality writing and story telling. But more than that it depresses me, that this is what is getting hyped. To be fair it's not bad, it's just inadequate.Therefore to see the inadequate praised as the superlative depresses me. Still, if there's hope for Samantha (we're still on first name terms arent' we?), then there's hope for us all.
Wednesday, 5 March 2014
Going to Plan. Or not?
I've gone a little bit off-plan with my current novel, The Perilous City, and I'm slightly freewheeling just now. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I don't think so. Is it? Until now I've pretty much followed the chapter plans I've mapped out in advance. That's not the same as my overall plan. I said before that that has had to change as I've gone along, and is necessarily fluid. But before I start writing a chapter I try to have a good idea in my mind of what it will contain, and the rough sequence of events.
That approach has broken down, slightly, with the last couple of chapters, and I'm wondering why. I'm finding it a bit hard at the moment to see the chapter ahead clearly. I know where I need to get to in a couple of chapters, and I have a list of events that have to happen in between, or that I want to happen, but I'm finding it hard to take the bull by the horns and order them explicitly.
I think some of that is planning fatigue. Just fed up of too much planning. Some of it comes from being slightly surprised by how long it is taking me to get to the end of the second part of my novel. Perhaps I don't want to plan it out because I'll see how much I still have to fit in. Also I'm in a slightly hazy area now, where the relationship of certain events to each other is time crucial, but I'm finding it hard to line them up straight. I may even have to go back in the editing stage and shrink the time frame - make less days happen between point a and point b. I want a shock to happen for the City, but it looks like happening on Friday and I could do with it happening on Saturday.
However, never fear, instinct takes over. Instead of following the plan I'm writing from the characters. I'm letting the characters lead me in these chapters, and I'm pulling in events I had planned as it makes sense to do so. So, for example, Rennie has time to kill after the trial at the Tollbooth, after he has heard about it from Jinty. I didn't plan for him to see Jack, but that's what he would do. He's at a loose end and he feels guilty about leaving Jack unable to get around. So of course he would. And where would he take him? To the tavern, of course. And that gets round my problem of when Jack finds out about the challenge that Rennie has accepted. Because of course someone in the tavern mentions it. So, my conclusion is that sometimes it's alright to follow your instincts because then you're following the characters, or letting them lead, and that can't be a bad thing. Just as long as you keep your plan to hand. And at some point I will get back on track and cover my list. I promise myself.
That approach has broken down, slightly, with the last couple of chapters, and I'm wondering why. I'm finding it a bit hard at the moment to see the chapter ahead clearly. I know where I need to get to in a couple of chapters, and I have a list of events that have to happen in between, or that I want to happen, but I'm finding it hard to take the bull by the horns and order them explicitly.
I think some of that is planning fatigue. Just fed up of too much planning. Some of it comes from being slightly surprised by how long it is taking me to get to the end of the second part of my novel. Perhaps I don't want to plan it out because I'll see how much I still have to fit in. Also I'm in a slightly hazy area now, where the relationship of certain events to each other is time crucial, but I'm finding it hard to line them up straight. I may even have to go back in the editing stage and shrink the time frame - make less days happen between point a and point b. I want a shock to happen for the City, but it looks like happening on Friday and I could do with it happening on Saturday.
However, never fear, instinct takes over. Instead of following the plan I'm writing from the characters. I'm letting the characters lead me in these chapters, and I'm pulling in events I had planned as it makes sense to do so. So, for example, Rennie has time to kill after the trial at the Tollbooth, after he has heard about it from Jinty. I didn't plan for him to see Jack, but that's what he would do. He's at a loose end and he feels guilty about leaving Jack unable to get around. So of course he would. And where would he take him? To the tavern, of course. And that gets round my problem of when Jack finds out about the challenge that Rennie has accepted. Because of course someone in the tavern mentions it. So, my conclusion is that sometimes it's alright to follow your instincts because then you're following the characters, or letting them lead, and that can't be a bad thing. Just as long as you keep your plan to hand. And at some point I will get back on track and cover my list. I promise myself.
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