Mittwoch, 31. Oktober 2007

Well..
what I lost on the weekend I more than made up for in the week.

I've been in contact with Richy from Struggling Authors about the website and it's all coming together nicely, thinks I.
We've found a couple of photos, rewritten the Biog/How I-came-upon-the-idea part and the logo that Chris did for me is also in there now.
We're not haring along but we're not tortoising it either.
I suppose you could say, "Softly softly catchy monkey", (whatever that's supposed to mean).

Anyway, enough of the pre-War folksayings, let's get back to business Ginger!
Chocks away, crates across the Briney and don't tell Mum... !
I'm in such a good mood, does it show?
Reg :-)

Sonntag, 28. Oktober 2007

Sunday afternoon.
I'm still poorly from Friday !!
Ah well, time for me to move on...
I'm going to write a few words about Dachau and Wewelsberg, (or Wewelsburg) for the website.
However, I don't feel too good right now so maybe I'll pass on it today.

I know it's not the mindset that built an Empire but I'm 40 years of age, fragile and poisoned so give me a break.
I'll get on it tomorrow, ok?
Right.

Freitag, 26. Oktober 2007

So...
the printing is on schedule. Well done Ads.
The Website logo/symbol/whatever is looking juicy and I've the whole weekend to sort out my biog/introduction thing.

Unfortunately, I'm off to a party tonight so I won't be up to much today. In fact I can just about write off tomorrow as well.
It'd be great to be able to say I'll excersize restraint; however, because I'm so starved of social contact I'll probably drink enough ale and spirits to slay a moose.
So tomorrow is dead moose day, (or snoring bear day as my kids call it.)

So Sunday it is then.
Hopefully I can send my biog, the picture and a few other bits and bobs off to Richy at Struggling Authors.com. to see if he can help with the website.

I stumbled onto Struggling Authors by chance, (actually a buddy told me about it).
I recommend it to anybody who's starting out in writng, at any level.

I'll wibble more about it another time.

Right, I'm off for a lie down.
I've been on the go since 0430 hrs. and if I don't have a power sleep now I'll be drooling and snoring on the table before eight!!!
Oh the trials of being a shiftworker...

Reg.

Donnerstag, 25. Oktober 2007

Well...?
What do you think?
I think The Chief, (as he is known) did the bizniz, don't you?

Fair play, I asked him for something specific and he delivered like a champion.

Thanks Cheester, I am forever in your debt.

I've written a biog for the website but I'm not happy with it. It's what I want but it's just not there yet.
I will prevail, I'm confident on that, it's just that I'm not prevailing fast enough for my liking.
AND, to top it off, there's been some problems with the printing. For some reason the document I sent seems to have gained a lfe of its own.
My mate, (Ads) on the printing side thinks he's sorted it all out but we'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

Bugger.

Ah well, despair breaks only the weak.

Immer gerade aus...
Reg :-/

Mittwoch, 24. Oktober 2007

Wednesday morning, 0638 hrs. (in Army talk).
I've just knocked off and am considering what to do.
Sleep or write a bit?
It's a toughie but the bed is just taking the edge.

The thing is that I want to write but I'm so tired I know that whatever I do scribble down will turn out badly.
However, I've still got so much to do for the website.
Permission for pictures to be reproduced, my Biog, a write up for the book... Mmmmm; I've just had an idea.

You know what?
(no?)
I think I'll combine my Biog and the introduction for the book into a how I came upon the idea for 'Division'.
Now that IS original.
I mean how many times has a writer ever thought of putting down how he (or she) came upon the idea for his (or her) work? I've never seen anything like that before, have you?
What the hell, let's do it.

Another bit of news is that I recieved permission to use a map of the Dachau KZ Lager yesterday.
It seems the map went out of print and the chap on the other end of my mail reckons it's now in the, "Public Domain".
Sounds like another name for a toilet actually but I'm not complaining.
So thanks a lot, whoever you are, for your quick and accomodating answer to my mail.

my bed is calling, I must obey...
ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz

Reg :-)

Sonntag, 21. Oktober 2007

The synopsis is history !!
I won.

Next move is the website.
Wouldn't it be great to send in my query letter, (and synopsis, don't forget that nugget) and be able to give a website that supplies all the background knowledge any agent/editor would need about the book?
"But that's why you have the synopsis" I hear you cry.
No, the synopsis is for the agent/editor to scope the story to make sure it's not a political/sexual/social hot potatoe and that it makes sense.
With a website dedicated to the story and characters you can introduce a whole new dimension to your presentation. Taking the reader right into the realm of your own literary world.

Of course, if your book is about toilet blockages you might not want to be so graphic; but for the rest of us hopeful mortals, (with less exotic topics to cover) it would be a major boon.

Brilliant !!
So where to start.

Well, you don't want a website that looks like it was put together by the rag and bone man.
A bit of effort is required. Know-how too.
That's where contacts and friends come in, or a lot of money. The money option is not an option, (if you follow my meaning) for me.
So friends and contacts it is.

I'll let you know how I got on.
Reg :-)

Samstag, 20. Oktober 2007

Is it me or is it this damned synopsis?

I just can't seem to strike the right balance between what is neded and what's not needed.

Ah well, perhaps it'll mutate into something good on its own for me, (denial comes easy to the desperate.)

Hard day at work yesterday, finished around ten, (at night) and then I was on the phone with my brother for nigh on two hours. He's just become a father for the fourth time, (four girls !! The man is mad.).
So we jabbered about his new baby for about two minutes and then the Rugby World Cup and England's pathetic game in Moscow for the remaining one hour and fifty six minutes.
Then I decided to tackle the synopsis. With hindsight, this may have been a mistake.

Tonight, after work, I'm going to crack right on with it.
No ifs and no buts: the synopsis will be finished and that's final.

There, I've said it now.

I had another nice email today as well, reference the website.
This idea is really exciting and I'm in the happy situation to know some peeps to help with the technical and the design side.


That's all on the creativity front for today.
Good luck to England, (even though I'm Welsh)

Reg:-(

Donnerstag, 18. Oktober 2007

Now we're really ticking.
The synopsis is down to a healthy two pages, (A4 with no gaps).
I'm not happy with how it presents the story but it's in the zone for the lengh.
A scribble here, a delete there and I'm sure it'll be fit for presentation.

I'll be honest though, I sweated blood on it.
Every line was checked for word economy and information delivery.
It's not finished yet but I'm optimistic. I've got to be;
let's face it, if I'm not optimistic about my chances, who will be?

Despite the intensity of my workload, (the synopsis, query letter and doing shifts at the steelworks), I've decided to enter a writing competition.

"What?", I hear you scream, "Are you mad?"
No, not mad; audacious.

I won't go too much into it, follow the link and take it from there Sherlock.

http://strugglingauthors.co.uk/default.aspx

It looks right up my alley and ignore the uninvited double entendre there please.

Another 'audacious' project on the near horizon is a website dedicated to the book, or series of books, I intend to write... and publish. (Never say die.).
Nothng concrete yet but the key to success is in the planning and preparation, so watch this space...
Right, got some P&P to do,
(Planning and Preparation?
No, Partaking of Plonk!)

Bon soir.
Reg

Mittwoch, 17. Oktober 2007

It's been a long day at the ranch, I'm tired and, though I hear the typekeys-a-callin', I don't think I'll be up to much today.

I've had some nice feedback on the blog and it spurs me on to TRY and make an entry every day.
I won't but the will is there, if you follow my meaning.

It seems that all's set with the printing side, (thanks Ads) and I should soon have an avatar for my blog page.
One of my buddies is an artistic designer by trade and I've set him on the case. I'm quite excited to see what he comes up with. I hope I like it, it'd be a blow to our friendship if I say, "Thank bit no thanks... mate."
(Not that I would but I thought I'd put it out there as a bit of food for thought... and because I'm wibbling now.)

My eyes are heavy and my bed is calling, lights out London.
Reg :-)

Dienstag, 16. Oktober 2007

So...
The hour draws nigh.
I've sent my manuscript off to be printed, (a full manuscript and the first three chapters) and now I'm juggling ideas for my query letter.

I'm thinking something along the lines of my introduction to this blog as a hook. If that doesn't move 'em, nothing will.
Then I'll slide on to a short outline of the story followed by a brief history of my writing experience, (namely nothing, so I think I'll drag the outline part out a bit. What do you think?).

Then I'll work on my synopsis. The one I have at the moment is way too long, has way too much info and is way too wordy.
Think, "Less is good", Reg, (that's me by the way.).

The thing is, I want to put the fiction across without leaving any details. But I also want to carry the story so the Agent/Editor doesn't get confused whilst reading it... or even worse, loses interest !!!
However, the synopsis I have now is four A4 pages long, with no gaps.
Too long?
I think so too.

An abridged synopsis, is that an example of tautology there?

Ah well, nil desperandum.
The keys are calling me, I must obey...
Catch you later.

Sonntag, 14. Oktober 2007

Berlin, 1972. The photo of the SS soldiers standing amid the carnage of their crime was astounding. But it wasn’t the slaughter that grabbed the reporter’s attention; it was the weapons that the young soldiers in the picture carried. They were armed with swords.
Faulkner knew it was worth following up and the investigation led him to the long forgotten secret of the Division of the Damned.


Berlin, January 1944. Reichsmarshal Heinrich Himmler sends SS Standartenführer Markus Von Struck on a mission that could bring the Third Reich back from the cusp of destruction; unaware that its success will inevitably lead to the ruin and enslavement of all humankind.

Interested?
I hope so, this is the basis of the plot of my first full lengh novel, 'The Division of the Damned'.
It follows the story of SS Standartenführer Markus Von Struck and his oddysee from Himmler's office in January 1944 to battling a vampire army in the Carpathian mountains one year later.

Still interested?
Well I hope I can inspire the same interest in a Literary Agent who will then represent my book to the man-eating Editors of the Printing World.
Legend has it that only 1% of books ever get to print without the help and guidance of an agent so I think it's defo. a good move for me to try and entice a reputable agent into my parlour...

However, before I send anything off I have to do some groundwork, (prepare the manuscript, write a letter, save up a bribe; you get the idea.)

So I'll leave it for now.
Catch yer around :-)