Samstag, 27. Dezember 2008

So that's it then for another year.
I can't tell a lie, I had a great Christmas.
Lots of nice nosh and good pop and pressies. The kids were well behaved and happy with their stash from Santa's sack so it's a quick pat on the back and then let's get ready for the New Year.

I'm actually working on New Year's eve and the first of January, which doesn't make for a wild Hogmanay, I know. However, I'm on lates so I'll knock off on the 31st at about ten and be able to see the new year in with the family and neighbours, and then I don't start again until about half past one the next day.
So it's extra lolly for working when the whole world is quaffing and I'll still be able to celebrate the annus nuevo.
Good, eh?

Right, I'll hopefully finish the Hot Gates in the next couple of days, which is around 8000 words now. I might pad it out and send it off as a novella to Roastbooks. Check them out at :

http://www.roastbooks.co.uk/index.php?roast=books

They specialise in novellas and the like. Who knows, they might like it?
Stranger things have happened.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Not sure what that means but it always looks good to quote Shakes... Unless the passage doesn't fit the rest of the text. Then it looks silly.
I'm rambling now, aren't I?

Reg :-)
PS. I do know what it means so don't bother trying to explain it, ok?
Bye.

Donnerstag, 25. Dezember 2008

It's about a quarter to seven on Christmas morning.
I was on nights last night and have now knocked off for four whole luxuriously lazy days.
So Merry Christmas dear people.

Oh, BTW, I took my laptop in last night and wrote loads. I'm nearly at the end of The Hot Gates, no really, I am.
Great innit?
Well I think so, lol.
Tara, merry Chrimbo.

Reg :-)

Dienstag, 23. Dezember 2008

A whole week and nothing down.
Shameful.
Well I'm afraid I have nothing to report, as sluggish and lackadaisical as that may sound.
I had a go at The Hot Gates but I was tired after early shift and fatigue and literal creativity have never been great friends. So after whipping down a quick page of inane tripe I scrubbed it and went for a kip.

Anyway, to anybody who reads this Blog, I would like to wish them a very Merry Christmas. Drink loads, eat loads and spoil yer kids loads, without having a bad conscience about it. It'll be the great Chrimbo's of life that help portray their childhood when they look back; and nobody wants to be accused of being an Ebenezer Scrooge by their offspring's psychiatrist …

Have a good one and I'll see you between the 25th and New Year, with a hangover, two angry kids and a belly that slightly resembles a wrongly placed Quasimodo's hunch.

Reg :-)

Mittwoch, 17. Dezember 2008

So, it's Wednesday and here starteth the weekend, well until Friday anyway,
Friday is early shift and that starts the whole block off again until Chrimbo.
Nightshift on the 24th and then four days off, hurrah and huzzah!

There's nothing going on at the steelworks, and consequently there's nothing for us to do. So, theoretically, I could take my laptop to work with me and finish off "The Hot Gates".
I'll try the waters on Friday, see what Peter, the shift supervisor say's, and then I just might do it.
What the hell, you only live once, right kids?
Right Reg.

Right, anyway, I'm off to dig a hole in the garden now. MP3 player on, heavy boots, spade and away we go.
It's definitely a manly pastime, digging holes that is. You never see a lady, shovel in hand, sweating like a malarial-fevered mountain gorilla, mining a chasm that could swallow the number eleven bus from Llandulas to Llandudno. Well not in my neighbourhood you don't.
So I'm off out now to get all testosteroned up and dirty.
Tara
Reg :-)

Montag, 15. Dezember 2008

I managed to get diddly squat done on Ephialtes and his secret passage, (ooer!).
There was simply too much action at Casa Jones this weekend.
My daughter hurt her foot, I picked up the Chrimbo Triffid, late shift at the Steelworks, shopping with the woman, the tension of Liverpool only drawing at home to Hull and the general hubbub, (great word) of family life at the weekend.

Well there's the excuses, take yer pick.

What's really a bummer is that we might have to go on short time at work.
Less hours, less money, less happiness, more misery, pollution, famine, pestilence and then finally apocalypse.
Not good.

If I don't sell the book I might lose the house... or even worse, my wife might have to go to work full time and I'll be left with the kids all day... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH !!!
Stoopid banks, messing up my free time. I didn't have kids to be a father! (When in doubt, get the Homerisms out say I.)

Strangley though, despite the Damoclean sword of short time and extended babysitting swaying in the wind above my head, I'm in a very good mood.

I know, it's only ten to one, shall we write something?

Yes, let's.
Tata children.
Reg :-)
PS. No, I'm not drunk. However, I do believe I'm mutating into one of those manic depressive types. I'll be crying into my keyboards in ten minutes, you wait.

Freitag, 12. Dezember 2008

Thank the heavens!
There's me, worrying about my little story about vampires in the Third Reich not fitting in with the whole scheme of things and it was all for nothing.
They have a werewolf book. Maneater by Thomas Emson.
Phew.
'Division' isn't alone in using traditional horror characters... whatever they might be.

Anyway, Ephialtes has met Xerxes and he's told 'em how to beat the vampire Spartans. Just need to move on with this because I've another short story on the brew.
Found a great site with lots of addresses to send my short stories to.

http://www.theshortstory.org.uk/news/index.php4

Well, I say 'my' short stories but nothing gets sent without Silver-bonce(George) getting a look in, chwarae teg, (fair play).
Still haven't heard from the peeps I sent my Ides of March story to. I'll write them a mail today methinks, see if they've even read it.
Can't harm, can it?
Tee, you are so write about the whole short story thing, it was just what I needed to kick my butt into gear.

Can anyone tell me why my spellcheck thing doesn't work on this site?
If ever I needed a spellcheck it's here because I normally just throw things down, (you might have noticed) and very often I don't bother to check properly.

Stoopid Blog...
Whatever, it's Christmas so sod it.
Right kids?
Sod off Reg.

Reg :-/

Mittwoch, 10. Dezember 2008

So I've been sorting out the format for when I send it off.
I'm all excited again. I hope the rejection doesn't come before Christmas because that would really bum me out, pardon my American there.
What is a bit disturbing though is that I was reading through some of the work they've published on Scribd.

http://www.scribd.com/people/view/15929.

Scribd.com is a rather like a literal YouTube where you can read long extracts from various books.
The thing is, the work they've put out is so... err, how to put this in a nice way, nouveau roman.
I'm not sure a plot about a bunch of Sumerian -cursed vampires dashing around the Third Reich and being destroyed by Christian mythology has any place there to be honest.
Humph.
Just when you think that you've found some like minded people who could do something for your book, it all goes horribly pear shaped.

God I'm so pessimistic, I haven't even sent the bloody thing off yet !!

Pessimism, however, seems to stalk my every hope nowdays...(violins out Tee.)

The short story's coming on nice though. The Immortals of Xerxes's army have just had a good kicking from the 300 Vampires of Sparta. I'm just about to introduce Ephialtes, the goat herd who leads the Persians to the track behind the Spartan lines.
However, my Ephialtes is a disgruntled Spartan who's not happy about being made to turn into a vampire, as it's dictated by Spartan law...

Oh what a happy, carefree world I live in.
Right kids?
Right Reg.

Take care.
Reginaldus of Sparta. :-)

Montag, 8. Dezember 2008

Well I didn't get much done on the weekend.
So I'm hard at it now.
Gonna finish this short story and then go back to Division and change the start.
I'm defo going to try Snowbooks.com. Not only do they do everything with email, they also skip the BS and read the manuscript in its entirety.
So no three week brain storming seesions trying to fit my synopsis into how they want it. No tailoring the covering letter. No forty pounds worth of stamnps and no printing the first six chapters out.
All in all, a result.
Whatever, that's the plan.
So now I'm going to do it.
TTFN.
Reg :-)
BTW, I'm on the sick till Saturday. That's the third time this year I've been on the sick. I don't know how I can look at myself in the mirror, I really don't.

Donnerstag, 4. Dezember 2008

It really isn't my week.
A tooth pulled on Tuesday and now a knee like an overfilled basketball.
Bah.

Ah well, I'm off to the docs later on for some life enhancing drugs so it should be OK.

I'm in the middle a nice short story right now.
Don't want to lay any details out but it's coming together nicely.
I still haven't heard from the magazine I sent my last one to. I think I'll write them a quick mail to see if they're interested at all and if not, I'll move on.

I've got my eye on another couple of short story ideas, one about The Bounty and another about a war criminal. I'll write them up and see where they get and then...?
Who knows, the skies the limit.
Why am I in such a good mood? I'm in pain here.

Whatever, tara for now.
Reg :-)

Dienstag, 2. Dezember 2008

Just had a wisdom tooth pulled.
Wasn't nice but, you know what, it went quicker than I expected.
The dentist actually reckoned it’d break during the procedure; so imagine my delight when, after ten seconds of dull pressure, the whole tooth came out in one.
HURRAH !!!

I know it's not book related but it's all I have at the moment. My badger crowned buddy George is having a deco at Division and I'm planning short stories. Though the planning phase is all I seem to accomplish at the moment. I'm just so fatigued after the weekend.
Well I'll be back on form tomorrow so that's when the story will start to take form.

On a different note, I write lyrics for a band and they've just been handed a record deal... without yet having recorded a record, tape or CD!!
How does that work?
Well, they do have a demo, which is very good, and on the strength of that demo they've been given the deal. There are certain other factors involved but that’s it in a nutshell.
The only downside of the whole thing for me is that they play Thrash metal, which has the marketing value of a pile of dirty nappies in the literal world. So although I’m inordinately proud of what they’ve achieved, (with my lyrics), it won’t help me in the slightest.
Ah well, nil desperandum, right kids?
Yeah Reg, whatever…

Reg :-/

Montag, 24. November 2008

Snow.
How I hate snow.
As a child growing up in Colwyn Bay, I used to pray feverishly that God would blanket The Bay in a glut of the white stuff. On those rare occasions when it did snow, I could lose whole days sliding down Saint David's road on a bin lid, (no sledges in Tan y Lan, we were all too poor, lol).
Our school had a very dicky heating system and it would regulary give up the ghost when it was most needed; so you could guarantee the first snowfall would herald at least a long weekend off for our own little North Walien Cresta Run .
Happy, carefree days...(Sighs).
No mortgage, no shiftwork, no bills, no kids...school wasn't all that bad on reflection, lol.
My kids nearly passed out in raptures when they looked out of the window this morning. I've never seen my boy get dressed and clean his teeth so quickly. He was straight out throwing snowballs at his sister, no mucking about.

They didn't believe me when I told them that I used to slide down Nain and Taid's road on a bin lid. It wasn't the angle of the incline that raised their doubts, (mind you, it is bloody steep) it was the fact that I didn't own a sledge. How to explain to your kids the North Wales of Margarete Thatcher's Britain?
To them, poverty is not owning a mobile phone or a dvd player. My kids find it hard to believe that we never had a phone until 1984, and that our tv was a black and white with four channels or that the only computers to be seen then were on Star Trek.

Wow, how did we survive then?

Anyway, where was I?
Oh, it's snowing.
God I hate snow.

Reg :-/

Donnerstag, 20. November 2008

Germany 1
England 2 ... he he he. I didn't do much gloating at the Firebrigade last night.
I think it was the excess of gloatage that led me to waking up on the sofa this morning, still in my clothes. I bought a round for everybody after the game, (it's only €1.30 a beer so I wasn't being too ostentacious) and they bought me one back.
I tried to explain that I was only being gracious in triumph, but they wouldn't hear of it.
Hence my rude awakening this morning as the cat jumped on me, whinging for food.

It was a good night though. Having your weekends on a Wednesday does have its consolations I guess.

Mittwoch, 19. November 2008

Well the trip to the dentist was a bit of a let down, in a nice way.
He confirmed that the offending tooth has to come out and told me to come back on the 2nd of december.

So there we have it, or haven't as the case may be.

I've been looking at Snowbooks.com.
I don't know whether it's clever propaganda, (to lure me into a sense of security before ripping the carpet out from beneath my feet), but they seem to have a really good work ethos there.
When "Division" has had its 30th make over, I'll send it there to see if they like it.
One only lives once, right kids?
Right Reg.

So, I'm off to bed now, as I'm on my weekend... God I hate shiftwork.

Reg :-/

Montag, 17. November 2008

Oh oh, a trip to the dentist today and it will all end in tears, he's assured me.
A tooth broke a while ago and because it wasn't massively damaged, only one corner came off, the good doctor smeared it with his metal glue stuff.
Unfortunately it came out and so must the tooth.
Wish me luck.
Bah.
Reg :-(

Freitag, 14. November 2008

I've finally sent it off.
Not "Division", the short story about Caesar being a vampire.
Let's see what happens.

Yesterday evening I finally finished the rewriting of "Division" for the fourth and final time. If I don't get an agent/publisher with this then I'll just print it out with Lulu.com and to hell with it.
I've so many ideas for books and stories that it's starting to really pee me off just marking time with it. I need to move on, that's why The Ides of March, (the Caesar short story) was so good for me. It was just so refreshing doing something else and taking it to a conclusion.

I'll get back on the case with Frank Delaney now, I think. I've also got an idea for a story about a cannibal clown, based on the John Wayne Gacy story.
Look him up in Google, the man on his own is a nightmare. I thought if I made him into a cannibal or maybe a devil worshipper it could really go somewhere. I just need a nice twist in the tail.
So now you know. This whole weekend is given up to work again, (lateshift actually, normally my best time for writing) so I might get something done.
Who knows, stranger things have happened.
Reg :-)

Montag, 10. November 2008

Well, another weekend given up to the great god, "Work".
I know I should count myself lucky that I've got a job, blah blah fishcakes, but I could really imagine a life without shift work. In fact a life without work full stop would be fine with me.
"Work, the curse of the drinking class" as Mr. Wilde so succinctly put it.
Ah well, whatever.
Anyway, so I wrote this short story about Caesar being a vampire, George, (my proof reader and social equal i.e We're both in the gutter together on this) has got it right now and Tee has had a look with her friends.
Nothing from George yet, but Tee said her friends liked it so that's cool. Positive feedback is always so... positive.
When Badger Boy, (so called because of his prematurely greying mop) sends it back to me I'm gonna pop it off to a magazine. See if they like it.

Well that's the plan, let's see what happens shall we.

Donnerstag, 6. November 2008

Hang my head in shame once again...
How can I ignore this Blog for such a long time and not have a bad conscience?
I truly am a bad man.
:-(
Anyway, there's good reason why I haven't been here for a while.
I've been creating.
YES !!... It's alive !!!!

Well, I wrote a short story about vampires in ancient Rome. I'm happy with it, happy enough to send it off anyway.
I found a magazine who print short stories so I'll wizz it off when my mate George has a look and a proof read. See if the cat licks it.
Tee liked it so that's a good sign.

Otherwise I've been stuck in this humdrum existence called my life.
Went out on the weekend, until nine thirty in the morning. Which obviously meant I was good for nothing all weekend. I'm turning into such a lush, I really am.
And now I'm off to bed.
Well it is a quarter to two.
Night night dears, sleep tight, don't let the vampires bighty bite...
(cue Demonic laughter.)
Reg :-p

Sonntag, 26. Oktober 2008

Today is the first day I've had to do any writing for over a week.
I haven't stopped, what with Ikea, helping workmates with decorating and going out drinking with a load of Russians I just haven't had the time.
So I'm gonna do it.

Tara.
Reg :-)

Dienstag, 21. Oktober 2008

Another weekend lost to the demon drink.
Why is it all my guests save up their drinking stamina for the whole year to come and splurge it out at my place? The sad fact is that I can't do it anymore, drinking that is. I'm still good to go with the other thing, no problems there...

Look, let's just not go there, eh?

Anyway, I can keep up with the pace, it's just the days after that slay me.
One day my mates will come round and the strongest beverage we'll drink will be herbal tea.
Unfortunately it'll probably be when we HAVE to drink herbal tea because our ravaged coils have given up the ghost when it comes to booze.
I'm not complaining... but I am, sort of. Only because I'm not too perky at the moment though.

Oh whatever.
So, anyway, somebody else who has an idea of the literary world also thinks the Youwriteon.com thing isn't good.
So now I'm satisfied I'm doing the right thing by ignoring it.
Just need to slip back into the right frame of mind to do some writing again.

Ikea tomorrow. Now that has cast rather a dark cloud on the horizon.
Carrying heavy furniture and spending money on stuff that doesn't interest me, (like Nordic Jumble).
Bah.

Reg :-/

Donnerstag, 16. Oktober 2008

What an awful day yesterday was.
I spent all day painting, then came home to watch Wales get beaten by Germany, 1-0.
Bah.
We defended well with a few breaks on the counter. John Toshack said he'd be happy with a 0-0 draw and so would I have been.
However, it was not to be and Piotr Trochowski broke Welsh hearts around 70 minutes into the game with a cracker of a goal, all be it a cracker forthe German side.
Haven't done anything literal for a couple of days. I've just been decorating, filling holes in and sleeping, (not used to hard workI'm afraid).
Whatever, today is Ikea, (bah) and tomorrow and Saturday, Power Drinking the order of the day...
:-)
Tara. Reg

Dienstag, 14. Oktober 2008

Well, not much to report to be honest.
I'm just slowly labouring the first couple of chapters still.
Finding the time is the hard part. It seems that everybody and the Bassett hound needs my help to renovate/dig holes/service their wife... ok, the last one was just to see of you're paying attention.
Anyway, as I said, time is at an all time premium at the moment.
I have my own holes to dig too, did I mentioned that?
Sheesh, who'd be me, eh?

Montag, 6. Oktober 2008

So I've completely rehashed the first part of the book, well the part that was written in the first person.
Now I'll just do the rest.
I'm glad I decided not to send it off to the Youwriteon thing. There's a lot of reasons to do it and a lot of reasons not to. However, my main cause for retracting my interest is simply because it didn't sit right with me.
I didn't feel good with the whole thing and that's very important in my eyes.
Anyway, knackered now I am so I'm gonna close down my computer and maybe watch some tv.
Tara.
Reg :-)

Mittwoch, 1. Oktober 2008

Well the publshing firm who print and sell the POD books replied to my question about the cost.
Their answer was along the lines of that it will cost as much as any other book.
Vague to say the least.
So....
what to do, what to do?

The majority of people who answered my call for feedback, (and I thank you all for it) were against the whole thing, which reinforced my initial thoughts on the matter after reading the contract.
So, after much pondering on the subject I've decided not to go for it.
I'll sort out the first couple of chapters and simply plod on in the traditional manner, agent, publisher, bookshop.
I just need an agent now, lol.

If I can't find one I'll try Lulu.com or Booksurge, who have definite answers to questions like how much will the book be sold for and what exactly do I get by way of a distribution service.
Also I can do this in my own time and not worry about rushing an unedited MS off before the end of the month.
So, after briefly dipping my little toe into the waters of literary aspiration, I've taken it out again because I found it too cold.
And that's that.
Right, it's the wife's birthday today and we're all going for a meal so I'll bid you all a fond farewell.

Farewell.
Reg :-)

Sonntag, 28. September 2008

Right, I've read through the contract and this is the deal.
I send an edited version that's ready to print to the publisher, they will print it as it comes and then put it for sale on their website. It's called Print On Demand, (POD) and it means there'll be no copies in W.H.Smiths shelves to buy at Christmas; or any other high street book store for that matter.
You can only order online.

Ok, I hear you say, so what's the problem with that?
Well, firstly, the online store that counts the most, Amazon, is talking about not stocking any POD books if they're not printed by their inhouse POD printers. Secondly, who in the general public goes to writer websites to buy books? Nobody.
Who, outside of the writing community, has ever heard of or would even dream of going to a writing website anyway. Nobody.
Bogus.

Another bad point is that though the rights are all mine, to do with as I please, the price of the book however is in the hands of the publishers. So I might have a wonderfully packaged book with a cracker of a story in it, and nobody wants to buy it because the publishers have set the price at 25€.
Bogus.
I've sent a mail to the publishing firm and asked them what they're planning to charge. As yet there's been no reply but it is the weekend so I'll be patient.

There are other things to consider too. Although an agent might like the book and take me on, which has happened to other writers on the website, some people see POD as a form of vanity publishing. That means that the book has not been weighed and judged to be financially viable and that an agent and publishing house are not hoping to make money on the back of my talent, (or lack of...?)
There's a definite lack of kudos with vanity publishing in the writing community, but hey, when have I ever worried about what other people think of me?
Well, anyway, I'm in two minds on whether to do it or not. I have to get my book in by 31st october, but why rush it when I can go to Lulu.com, or any other website that deals in POD publishing, and print it when I want to AND have more control over what it costs etc etc etc...
Oh the weight of decision.
On the other hand, I recieve 60% of the royalties and with an agent and publishing house it would only be about 25-30%.
Also my mate The Chief can do all the artwork which will mean free publicity for him.
Thirdly, it is only my first book and I've got to think about what my chances are of actually getting a deal. It would be nice to see it in print just to get the whole sorry story behind me, I'm fed up of the whole Division of the Damned circus at the moment.
I have other geese to fry as they say in Uganda.

Just to put the publishing industry into perspective, this is the last rejection leter I recieved from a very good agent who I was holding a candle for:



Dear Mr Jones

As promised, I have finally had a chance to read your material – I do apologise for the delay. I can see the imagination at work here, but I can’t honestly say I loved it. After fifteen years in publishing before setting up the agency, I'm all too aware how difficult it is to get a publisher interested in a new writer, so I feel that I do have to love my clients' work - personally and professionally - to do the best possible job. If I don't feel that strongly, I'm the wrong agent. Publishing is a notoriously subjective business, and every new author needs both an agent and an editor who do love their work. It's hellishly difficult getting the bookselling chains to take a new novelist seriously, so that initial enthusiasm is vital.

There is nothing specific I can point at – it’s perfectly okay. But the entry level for a new novelist now is 'special', not 'good'. This is partially because sales and marketing directors have so much more power than they did ten years ago. If they don't believe they will be able to sell a first novel into W H Smiths and the rest of the bookselling trade in numbers, they'll block the editor from acquiring it in many companies. A senior editor told me a few weeks ago that even if he loved an author's writing, he wouldn't make an offer until the book that was submitted to him was 100% right for the market - he has just acquired an author whose previous four novels he (and everyone else in London) had turned down despite liking them a great deal. Thus, I have to believe the writers I take on are truly wonderful, or it's pointless submitting them. If an author’s prose doesn’t set me on fire, first and foremost, I say no, as do editors in this situation. Most UK editors see around thirty books every week and only take on one or two debut novels over an entire year.


FYI, I've taken on about forty writers as clients and turned down well over 4,000, so far...I know it can be as difficult to get an agent as it is to be taken on by a publisher. You just have to keep plugging away.

All best wishes for the future, and by the way I am about to head off on business until the evening on the 30th. Once again, apologies for not coming back more quickly.

Yours

The Good Agent

Well peeps, that's the story. Do I do it or not.
Print it and move on or rewrite the beginning and try for a deal in the traditional manner?

I've got to think about it.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Reg :-)

Freitag, 26. September 2008

It's a funny old game, innit?
Life I mean.
Yesterday I was the beetle at the bottom of the dunghill, looking up at the inconquerable heights of literary success.
However, today?
Today?
Well today I'm at the top of the heap with only a couple of pieces of poo between me and the summit.
That's right, somebody wants to publish my book!!!

GASP, CHOKE, SPLUTTER !!!!

Not thirty minutes after the crippling slap of my last rejection, my old mate Tee, (of THAT synopsis fame) gave me a swift kick up the butt and told me to get in touch with youwriteon.com.
Apparently they're printing people who have a book ready.
Steadying myself for another round of aspiration denial I sent a mail off, introducing myself and putting down a fifty (yes, fifty as in 50) word synopsis.
Fifty word synopsis.
Do you remember the agony and torment of the one page synopsis?
Well fifty words to portray the entire book was ridiculous to say the least. However I wittled it down to forty nine words and a couple of punctuation marks and sent it off.
Today I recieved one of the nicest shocks of my life, they want to print it !!!

To be continued...

Donnerstag, 25. September 2008

Well he answered.
Another ejection.
Bah.
:-(
Nil Desper... oh shut up will ewe...
Still nothing.
I'm wondering to myself, did he mean "Friday" as in tomorrow?
It'd be nice if it was, lol.
Tee sent me an interesting website, Youwriteon.com.
Apparently the first 5000 books sent in will be printed for free, as long as they're not crap of course.
The closing date is the 31st October. However, I'll wait for this agent to say ye or nay before I make a move methinks, it is only fair.
Right kids?
Right Reg. :-)
I had a look at the website and found a book, or proposed book, that spiked my interest by a chap called Guy Saville.
Set in 1948, it's all about the Nazis invading Africa, kicking out the other colonial powers and turning the Dark Continent into one massive labour camp to support the Third Reich.
Obviously there's more to it than that but it looks an interesting read.
It's called The Africa Reich, (a very unsatisfactory name if you ask me but a title is only as good as its content. I think I would have called it SS Africa or The AfricaN Reich but who the hell am I, right?)
Anyway, I'm defo going to look out for that on Amazon.
Hey, who knows, perhaps one day Guy Saville will be looking on Amazon for my book...
(Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men. Right on Mr. Goethe.)

Reg :-)

Montag, 22. September 2008

Still not heard anything.
They contacted me a couple of hours after I'd sent the mail and said they'd have an answer for me on Friday.
Well it's Monday now and I don't know if it's a good thing or not.
Fingers crossed, eh?

Donnerstag, 18. September 2008

Soooooo...
I've sent the offending mail off.
Actually, it was a bit strange because the first mail I sent came back to me with the report that the email address had "fatal errors", whatever that's suppossed to mean.
So I sent it again and this time it arrived... I hope.
Well, Nil Desperandum, right kids?

Yesterday was spent in the hallowed halls of the origin of many a female wet dream, Ikea. We meandered through that den of Swedish iniquity for three hours! And while my wife and daughter let rip with squeals of delight at the collection of Nordic jumble they so garishly parade under the dubious label of furniture, I underwent the thousand deaths of ennui.
God, how I hate shopping.
However, I reckon that if they built a pub next door they'd make a killing. I could drop the girls off on a Saturday afternoon, watch the footy, quaff a few cool ones and then six hours later they could pour me back into the car for the drive home. We'd all be happy then as well; me with my sloshing beer belly and the girls with their yellow bags of trash.
It's a simple idea, but tinged with a modest brilliance that even Mr. Steven Hawkins would applaud.

Ah well, I survived it and that's the main thing.
However, if I had to choose between another afternoon of prolonged water torture at Ikea, or a day with a business of rabid ferets stuck down my paisley Y-fronts, well... I'd have to say...

... it'd be close.
Reg :-)

Samstag, 13. September 2008

I've written a rough draft of the mail I intend to send to the agency I sent my work to.
Nothing too dramatic, just something along the lines of asking what their policy is on rejection; will they contact me if they don't want to see the full manuscript or not?
It's not quite ready, I'm not too sure about the wording, but it will be be soon.

I was at the dentist yesterday and my teeth are still aching even now, as I write.
You have to ask yourself why did God put nerves, and bloody sensitive ones at that, in our ivories? Do you write "Ivories" like that? Is there such a word as "Ivories"?
Probably not.
Well, whatever, it makes absolutely no sense; I wonder if it's some kind of cosmic joke?
It's enough to know that I hate going to the tooth doctor full stop. I'm scared witless of the drill and I break out in a cold sweat as soon as I hear that shrill, spine-destroying, pain-heralding whine.
I think the man who invents a silent dentistry drill will probably make billions... Mmmm....

Right, I'm off to help my mate with his house, then it's night shift tonight too...
Bah, who'd be me, eh?
Reg :-/

Dienstag, 9. September 2008

Well I managed to get through it all and sort out the minor problems with the story.
Thank the heavens, it was really getting to me having to go back to cover my butt, as it were.

Still haven't heard from the agent I sent my M/S to.
I really don't know if this is a good sign or not.
Probably isn't but, well, who knows eh?
I'm thinking about what to write to him by way of a memory jog.
How about, "Hey, wake up butt brain.
What's with my work I sent ya?"

...Nah, probably not.

I'll have a think about it.
Lateshift today, not good.

Ah well, one day I'll be a millionaire and not have to do shifts ever again...

(Hey, come on, a man can dream can't he?)
Reg :-)

Donnerstag, 4. September 2008

It really is a strange situation to be in.
Let me explain, for once in my life I have the time to sit down, in perfect peace with no outside interference, and write to my hearts content.
I’m on the sick with a bad foot so I can’t work around the house, I can’t drive anywhere and obviously I can’t go to work. The kids are at school so there’s no TV on or Space Invader sound effects screamed up and down the living room. The wife is at work so I’m not being constantly reminded of the need to mow the lawn etc. etc.
So here I am, in front of my computer and nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing is forthcoming.
I’m drier than a bowl of baked Saharan sand where ideas are concerned.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh !

Well I did actually complete two whole pages yesterday but that was after a good five hours.
My other problem is that I don’t know much about the whole Gulag criminal hierarchy of that time.
It seems that certain criminal elements were actively used by the authorities to control the other prisoners.
There was a whole caste of professional criminal who were rather like the Mafia. These “Urki” as they were known as, almost ran the camps in the Gulag system. They didn’t work but made sure that others worked so what the system lost in discipline it made up for in productivity.
And then there was another class of convict who was held in even higher esteem called the,
“Vor v Zakone”, which means Thief in Law.
These guys ran the system. They were criminals but their influence ran through the entire chain of administration and they really were the Cosa Nostra of the Russian Steppes.
Who knows about these things?
Nobody, but I had to learn about them pretty sharpish and thus change my characters to incorporate them into the story.
The long term effects of male castration was another topic that reared its (very) ugly head as one of the bad guys was castrated while he served time in a Gulag.
However, I didn’t know that Eunuchs only have a high voice if they were castrated before puberty or that they developed longer limbs than most people due to a lack of the chemical that hardens the ligaments, so that had to be changed too.
It’s been hell, I can tell you. A drought of ideas, a revision of the story due to research deficiencies…
Who‘d be me, eh?
(Nobody if they had any sense…)
Reg :-)

Dienstag, 2. September 2008

Tee suggested that I give the agent a couple of weeks and then write to him again.
That sounds like a good idea so that's what I'll do.
I'll wait until the 12th or so and then send him a reminder. That's about two months so I don't think I'm rushing him.
My weekend was nice, apart from early shift. Earlies of Friday and Saturday and then a 40th birthday party to go to in the evening. We arrived home around three in the morning which meant I'd been on the go for twenty two and a half-ish hours. So Sunday I was pretty cream crackered, however, I soldiered on and invited a mate round for a small Barby.
More beer, more sleep deprivation.
Yesterday, on lateshift, I was living proof of life after death.
Such is life.
I'm going to take it easy for the next few days now and see what happens, writing-wise.
Tara.
Reg :-)

Freitag, 29. August 2008

The weekend has arrived and I'm on early shift.
Bah.
Whatever, on Saturday I'm off to a party so I've decided to take the Sunday off in case I'm somewhat ale-damaged after Saturday's excesses...
Haven't done very much writing recently, not a good thing. Seem to have lost the flame as it were.
Ah well, it'll come back again sometime.
Still not heard from this agent.
I wish he'd get in contact it's been nearly two months; oh alright six weeks but it feels like two months I can tell you.
Anyway, must dash.
Reg :-)

Dienstag, 26. August 2008

Great Scott, is it that time already?
I can't believe I haven't written anything for so long.
How awful of me.

So what have I been doing all this time?
Working in the garden, helping my neighbor with his scaled down version of Lake Baikal, working in the steelworks and helping my good mate Dixie with his new house, (although admittedly I've only been there once, I did however do some work there and that's what counts, right kids?)

Writing wise I seem to have all but dried up. I climaxed in Spain and now I'm wallowing in the soft, contented afterglow of the furious pace I set on holiday.
I will get down to it but there simply isn't enough hours in the day at the moment.
Ah well...

I still haven't heard from the agency I sent my MS and stuff to. I think I sent it on or around about the 12th of July, not sure to be honest. However there must be an answer soon, surely. I'm not sure my Spain-rested nerves need to be shaken back to their pre-holiday state so I'm hoping that a reply, (and preferably a positive one) will soon be forthcoming.

So now you know.
Reg :-)

Sonntag, 17. August 2008

I read an interesting post in a forum from the agent I sent my MS to. In it he writes that the last two months have been all go and that he's had no time recently for anything else but his present clients. He also runs an editing service but there's no alarm bells on that because it's separate to his representation agency.
Anyway, as optimistic as I am, that could be the reason why I haven't heard a dicky bird from him since I sent my 'stuff' all those many moons ago.

Gulag really is moving on now. I put down a couple more pages yesterday and I'm happy with where it's at for probably the first time since I started it.
Sometimes a story takes on a life of its own and you suddenly find yourself in unchartered waters thinking, "How the hell did I get here?"
However, I'm determined that will not happen with this one because I want to get it finished; though that could take a while at my present pace.

After Gulag I think I'll give Von Struck a rest. I've come up with a brilliant plot for another book which I can only describe as being something like a cross between Jurassic Park and War and peace !!!
AND there's Frank to think of...
Oh dear, I'll have to slow down methinks.

Reg :-)

Samstag, 16. August 2008

I'm back.
Spain was brilliant. The food, the people, the booze, scorching days and balmy nights...
We're all commited fans of our Iberian cousins now and hopefully we'll have enough money in the kitty for a sally back there next year.

Anyway, to business.
Gulag was once again stripped of its content and then rebuilt to a new glory.
Actually, I broke into a roll on Gulag and managed to write some good stuff. Obviously it'll have to be checked and re-checked, (George, Ads take note) but on the whole I'm glad with what was put down, (15 pages, double spaced A4.)
I could have written a lot more but the kids wanted time with me as well; so I was forced to leave the haunted icy Siberian wastes to dip into the clean blue warmth of one of the hotel swimming pools...
As I said, Spain was a REAL holiday and All Inclusive is heaven on earth.
In fact, all it needed was for all the waiters to have been barely clad Megan Fox/Anna Kournikova look alikes and it might well have been the Welsh Nirvana my grandad used to harp on about after one too many Best Bitters in the British legion.

Ah well, roll on next year...
Reg :-)

Donnerstag, 31. Juli 2008

Off to Spain today so we're all in a tizzy.
Catch you when I get back; deflated and blue with the dark prospect of work looming like a nuclear mushroom on the horizon...

Why do I always see the unsavoury side of life so clearly?
Tara peeps.
Reg :-)

Samstag, 26. Juli 2008

Can't wait to go on holiday.
Work is getting me down, my finances are hurting my eyes everytime I read through them and I'm sooooooooo burnt out from working 7 days on, 2 days off that you could use me as charcoal for your next barby... (ok, maybe not).

(Sighs)
Reg :-/

Freitag, 25. Juli 2008

Wow, is it really that long since my last post?
I'm ashamed of myself, I really am.
So, what's been happening in my sad little world then?
Loads actually.
I went out and bought a laptop for my holiday, that's what. We bought a video camera as well but that's another story and nothing to do with my plans for Spain... well a little bit to do with it actually but whatever, I'm wibbling now.
Anyway, the laptop.
My plan:
To write loads of Frank and Gulag while drenching myself in that warm Spanish shadow. I'd love to soak up the sun but I'm afraid I'd just catch a bad case of Red Gingerboy Skinrash so I won't bother.
Anyway, a master stroke of gargantuan proportions say I.
Now I just have to hope I don't caught up in too many all-inclusive Sangria and lager frenzies while I'm shadowing it up on those distant shores...
(Let's not look at my track record on piss-up avoidance shall we; I want to stay positive on this and it will only lead to disapointment and failure if we dwell on the many drink fuelled distractions in my life.)

Reg :-)

Freitag, 18. Juli 2008

I've just had a cracking idea for Gulag.
I can't believe I didn't think of this before and even though I'm not going to tell you about it, I just thought I'd let you know about my little Eureka moment there.
I'm on nightshift all weekend so I'm not all that fired up, to be honest. :-(

My son is on holiday on the Baltic coast with his grandparents at the moment. The house is remarkably quiet right now. No "Transformer" sound effects, no Dinosaurs rampaging over the carpet. No wild machine gun charges up and down the stairs right in the middle of my afternoon kip...
Heavenly peace rules the Jones household, at last.

The other legacy of my seed will be taking the train to Karlsruhe with her mother on Wednesday to a Horse camp, (or something equally account murdering).
So the house is mine, all mine.
I can do the housework in my undies, drink beer WHENEVER I WANT, leave dirty dishes/undies/magazines around the place and noone will care.
(Sighs...)
It's the simple pleasures that make us happy.

Reg :-)

Dienstag, 15. Juli 2008

Britain was great.
We flew over on the Thursday of last week and came back today. I really must make more of an effort to get over and see my family more often.

Anyway, I digress, as ever.
I sent my first six chapters and the one page synopsis to a very good agent of excellent repute last week, and I've still not heard anything from him.
Is that good or bad?
I don't know.
However, he has a very good name and specialises in Sci Fi, fantasy and horror which can only be a good thing.
Fingers crossed again, eh?

Book two is coming on, not much down but the story really is jelling together now. Only time will tell how it pans out in the big picture but, as ever, I'm optimistic. :-)

Frank Delaney is back from the dead now as well. Tee sent me the story while I was away and it's coming on nicely. We've got a lot still to do but softly softly catchy monkey as they say in Finland.

Right, that'll do for now methinks.

Reg :-)

Mittwoch, 9. Juli 2008

My word, have I not been busy on my Blog.

Well, I've heard nothing from the guy I emailed and I don't think that is a good sign to be honest.
I'll write him another and see what happens, the last mail I sent wasn't in the right form for a query letter, (you know, introduction, paragraph about the story, paragragh about myself, thank you and goodnight).
So we'll see what happens then.
I'm off to Britain again tomorrow. It's the Baptism of my newest niece Phoebe on Sunday so we're all flying over.
We're back on Tuesday because I'm on lateshift Wednesday but it'll be nice to see everybody again.
So to that end I won't be here for a while dear reader, (notice I wrote reader there in the singular. Tee, where would I be without you?).
Now I wonder what a pint costs in Britain nowadays.......


Reg :-p

Dienstag, 1. Juli 2008

Weren't Spain absolutely amazing?
The scoreline did not reflect the game at all, Spain should have been three goals up at least. I think Germany only had two shots on goal in the whole game!!!
Whatever, well done Spain.

Nightshift last night and I'm shattered. So it's time for the Land of Nod for Gingerboy here.
Night night children...
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Samstag, 28. Juni 2008

So...
I've sent an introductory email off and still recieved no answer.
I think it lies with the layout of my email actually. I'll give it a week and then try again with a better researched mail of inquiry.
Started on Book 2 again. The Nephilim are out and it's just Von Struck and his guys fighting Lilith and a couple of other creatures of the night.

And that's about it actually.
The footy's been great recently but it just drives home how bad England, (and by default Wales) are in the greater scheme of things.
My own thoughts on the problem are that we've got too many stars and not enough cohesion. Hopefully Fabio Capello can gel the guys together into some sort of team.
Unfortunately, the rot set in at the end of Sven's reign and Mclaren simply let it grow. Capello's going to have to root out the bad apples and lay down a new format.
We should be looking to Spain for our rolemodels; now that is a collection of superstars that's been moulded into a team.
Tara.
:-)

Dienstag, 24. Juni 2008

Friday brought with it a flood of ale and a rejection in the post.
Ah well, nil desper... nil desperan... nil des, oh sod it.

Bah.

However I didn't let it spoil my weekend in Blighty and we had a great time.
I couldn't get over how expensive it was though, Cambridge is bloody expensive.
Three quid a pint !!!
What's all that about, eh?
We were drinking Hobgoblin real ale and it was so yummy I just couldn't stop.
Now I'm broke and grasping for excuses to my wife as to why I spent so much.
:-(


So, onward ever onward, let's see if I can find another agent to spread the word according to Reg...

Stay safe and keep Mum and nobody need know that you're not a virgin anymore.

Reg :-)

Mittwoch, 18. Juni 2008

Still nothing from the postman.
I wonder if they'll get in contact via email? It'd be a lot quicker.
I've been scanning my Spam file but there's nothing there.
Anyway, only time will tell.

Montag, 16. Juni 2008

Friday evening, (during half time for the Holland game) my wife had to take me to hospital. The pain was too much, it went right along my jawline AND across my cheekbone. It was 'moider' as that guy from Hart to Hart used to say.
Anyway, they gave me a couple of painkillers and told me that if it's still hurting on Monday I should go to the dentist. Luckily it hasn't hurt all weekend so no trip to the Driller Killer for me, thank Tarby,

So, still nothing from the Agency. Good, good...

I'm going to scribble a bit more on the Frank Delaney thing now. Haven't done anything all weekend and the keys are calling me... must obey... must obey...

Tara.
Reg :-)

Freitag, 13. Juni 2008

Well, still no answer.
Fingers crossed, eh?

How many times have I chanted that little mantra I wonder...?

I'm a bit on the poorly side at the moment. There's something wrong with my jaw or ear or cheekbone, take your pick. It started with toothache, but all along the right side of my mouth. It was a bit likehaving overly-sensitive teeth but it went right into my roots. The weird thing is, and the main reason I don't think it's classic toothache in the true form of the word, it doesn't hurt when I eat. In fact it gets better when my jaw is moving!!! (I know, I know, cue the 'your jaw never stops moving anyway so what's your problem' joke). The thing is, when it does hurt it hurts right along my jaw, on the hinge (as it were) and my cheekbone. Make of that what you will Nurse, and take your cold thick thermometer out it's starting to hurt !!!
Anyway, I've taken some Ledum and if it doesn't stop hurting by monday I'm off to the Docs for some treatment, or maybe the dentist for some drilling. I haven't made up my mind yet.

Teresa, (of THAT synopsis fame) seems to be doing alright with her American Agency.
She's had to pay for a critique, which seemed a bit steep to me but what do I know; but there's regular contact, so fingers crossed, eh? (There I go again!)

Reg :-/

Montag, 9. Juni 2008

Well it's off.
Now once again I hold my heart in my hands as the relentless mill wheel of destiny grinds ever onward.
Will my manuscript pass through it unscathed or will it be crushed under its remorseless tread?

Actually I'm hoping for the former of the two choices, but I'll take what comes.

Reg :-)

Still haven't heard from this guy who's meant to be translating it for me.
Now that's a bad sign.

Mittwoch, 4. Juni 2008

Still no stamps.
Bah.
the letter, the synopsis and the first three chapters lie before me like lost children waiting to be picked up by mamma and mamma ain't got the busfare...

Whatever, Frank Delaney's coming on. It's back to me to deliver the goods again so I'm going to fill in a bit about Frank's past and his struggle for recognition as an escaped POW. Something along the same lines as what Bobby Garwood went through on his return to the good ol' US of A.

Check out Garwood on Google, it's quite an eye opener how he was subjected to a very intense smear campaign against him after his arrival back in America. His name is still not cleared and some of the websites about his experiences are extremely anti towards him.

Whatever, it seems America was riddled with dodgy goings on during the Vietnam war. Senator John Mcaine, (who is the Republican Presidential candidate) has also been accused of conniving with the Vietnames Communists during his time in a POW camp. There's a film on YouTube called, "Missing presumed dead". Look it up, it's interesting. Actually there's also a whole rook of films about Mcaine, both for and against him.
Senator John Kerry (D) came back to America after the war and went on the campaign trail with Hanoi Jane Fonda, demonstrating against the war in Vietnam and calling American soldiers murderers! Check out the website, it's an education in itself:

http://www.usvetdsp.com/jf_kerry.htm

The site is very nationalistic but you'll get the message they're trying to convey.

Why is it the Big Boys can get away with it but the little guys get it in the neck?

...because that's life Reggie.

Reg :-(

Mittwoch, 28. Mai 2008

Covering letter?
Check.
Synopsis?
Check.
First three chapters?
Check.
Right, just gotta print it all out and send it off...
oh, wait, I've got no British stamps.
British stamps?
Code red, code Red, code red...
Damn and tarnation, now I have to wait until I get some stamps and that sucks.
You see, what really annoys me is that I'm willing to pay the postage, I'm willing to shell out for their overpriced, unreliable, thief-infested codpiece of a service, but I can't.
We're all one Europe apparently and yet if I want to send a self addressed envelope with the correct postage on it I can't.
What's all that about then, eh?
Come on you dung.brained troop of deranged Brussel babboons, GET IT SORTED !!!!

Anyway, I'll get the stamps together and send the rag off. Wish me luck.

Reg :-)

ps. By the way, this football drought is killing me. Roll on the European Cup, or whatever it's called in English. God I'm so German, it'll be sauerkraut and bratwurst for breakfast if I'm not careful...

Dienstag, 27. Mai 2008

I know it shouldn't, and I try to not let it, but every rejection I get strips a bit more out of my soul.
(sighs.)

Ah well, I've found another agency to send my MS to. They're based in Kent and they look good. I sent them an email to make sure they accept Adventure Horror manuscripts.
They're willing to take a peek so now I'm preparing the covering letter and synopsis.
Let's see where that leads us then, eh?

Nil desper..Nil Desp, ah sod it.
Let's just wait and see.

Reg :-/

PS Frank took a bit of a back seat while I was in the doldrums, (wherever those are?) but now I'm back on the trail.

Donnerstag, 22. Mai 2008

Rejection.
That ever present vulture has once again ripped out my heart with its bloody beak.
The slip read,
"We are sorry to inform you of the death of your literary aspirations and dreams.
Best wishes, The Satanic Sacrifice Literary Agency".
Well, back to the drawing board...

Samstag, 17. Mai 2008

Worked a bit on the Frank Delaney story last night. It's moving on nicely but we'll have a load to do at the end with proofreading and the likes.
My initial qualms about using the Burmese Military regime as the baddies have all but died away in light of the disgustingly callous treatment of their own people by the aforementioned idiots.
There are ships laden with food, medical supplies and clothing waiting for the word to drop off their aid. Unfortunately, the ludicrously distrustfull Burmese Generals think they're warships waiting to invade, and have refused to give permission for them to enter Burmese waters.
WTF ???!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH !!!
How can these over inflated, unashamed, despot clowns sleep with themselves at night? If there is any proof that there isn't a God, then surely we find it in the misery and deprivation that has blighted the lives of millions of Burmese people who have lived under the yolk of oppression, since the military junta siezed power in 1988.

Needless to say, I feel very passionately about such matters and it makes my blood boil to read about this atrocity.
And make no mistake, these are atrocities, these are crimes against humanity. Be it by action or inaction, the end result will be the deaths of perhaps hundreds of thousands of people; and all so the buffoons at the top can sleep soundly at night and not worry about facing an international court.

Sorry about this uncomfortable outburst, but it had to be said. I hope Frank Delaney kicks their collective butts.
Reg :-(

PS. Haven't started on Gulag yet, was too busy with Frank. Will have a go tomorrow.

Mittwoch, 14. Mai 2008

Ug.

Ok, I've decided to drop the Nephilim from part 2, (Gulag).They are far too obscure a set of heroes to be used and I can't think of why they would want to travel from Iraq to Russia.
Well actually I had a couple of ideas, but they were all crap so they are binned. Simple innit?

I'm afraid it's just Von Struck and his band of disillusioned SS in a Gulag with... well I won't go into that in case anybody gets the drop on me.

AND I've Frank Delaney to sort out with some Soldiers of Fortune to take on the corrupt Burmese military.
Right I'm off, UEFA Cup Final in a couple of minutes and I'm for Rangers... which going on my track record for supporting the winning team in these competitions, is not good for Rangers.
Bah.

Donnerstag, 8. Mai 2008

Thursday morning, I'm just contemplating hitting the sack.
The 400€ turned into 500€ for the bikes. I should have known the wife and kids were going to rip me off. Ah well, it's only money right?
How can anybody quantify the happiness of a child?

Quite easily actually but I'll stop right there before you, dear reader, start thinking I'm a heartless... Mmmmmmm.

Well, no more posts now from me until at least Wednesday next week. I don't think the brain will be up to anything after the festival so it all stops until then.
ALL OF IT.
Every thinking process besides swallowing, chewing, communicating in a very basic manner and listening to music stops forthwith.


Ug.

ps. Forgot evacuation of bodily... oh never mind.
Ug.

Dienstag, 6. Mai 2008

Tuesday afternoon.
Mmmmm, what to do what to do...?
Well actually I've got loads to do, mow the lawn (again), buy the kids new bikes, (a quick 400€ gone there) and then put my winter tyres on (which I should have done 6 weeks ago but didn't get around to it).
Actually I'm just going to mow the lawn again and let my wife sort out the bikes, that's too much of an attack on my wallet for me to be there.
It's right up there with a trip to the dentist for a long, slow Root-canal or an appointment with an African Witchdoctor for some un-anaesthatised circumsion.
I just don't like to be there as my lifeblood flows into the hands of other people, simple.

I think I'll put a few words down about Frank Delaney. He's the main character in a story about a man fighting to unearth proof of American POW's still being held in Vietnam, two years after the war is finished.
I'm writing it with Tee, (Teresa of THAT synopsis fame) and it goes thus; I write a passage, Tee writes a passage, I write a passage, Tee writes a passage, ad infintum... well until the story is finished.
It's a pleasing dalliance and it's nice to get stuck into something more meaty than song lyrics.
The baddies in the book are the CIA (obv.), the Vietnamese communists and the military regime in Burma. The latter was an unfortunately timed choice of villain because Burma has just been on the recieving end of an almighty cyclone that has claimed 10,000 lives. So at the moment Burma isn't really the ideal ogre because the whole planet wants to send aid and assistance, (and rightly so). However, given time, the fickle demon Public will forget their plight and Burma will go back to being one of the Evil Empires of the world again, sadly.
Good for the story, bad for the world, does that sound callous?
I hope not.

So now you know. American soldiers left to die by their own government, Vietnamese communists wanting to sell the men back to America, the CIA trying to hush the transaction up and an escapee and survivor of the camps, with a rich backer, standing in their way. Oh, and a couple of hot babes to sauce it up with. Sounds good to me, especially the sauce bit.

Catch yer tomorrow, just in time for the Rockhard festival... boy that's gonna be hard.
Reg :-)

Montag, 5. Mai 2008

Good grief !!!
Is it a whole week since my last entry? I can't believe how life seems to wizz past me like a drunk stranded on a merry-go-round.
Well, what's happened?
A lot and none of it is good.
Firstly, Liverpool lost to Chelski on the Wednesday. It was a close game, well actually Chelski were better in the first half, but we came back in the second forty five and played the better game in the extra time too.
Ballack was awarded a penalty, Frank Lampard took it and scored, meanwhile Didier Drogba scored two very good goals. We answered with two of our own from Torres, (of course) and Ryan Babel but it was all too late and the Blues won.
The next day was Father's Day in Germany. Father's Day over here means all the Dads, (in fact all the blokes) go out and get whammoed. So, not being one to buck the trend, I did exactly that. Unfortunately my inability to flake when I've drunk too much led to complications later on in the evening and after making a complete buffoon of myself in the town, I misplaced my mobile phone... my expensive mobile phone with all my tel. numbers and nice pictures in it.
Gutted.
A great day wrecked by not recognising the danger signs and going over my limit, again, like I do every time I go out with the lads.
Bah.

On a slightly more positive note, my letter hasn't been returned yet but it is still early days.
Fingers crossed, eh?
"All is not lost" said the General to the scout, "We'll 'ave 'em at Little Big Horn..."
Ah well, tara.
Reg :-(

Samstag, 26. April 2008

Well call me crazy, call me bonkers, smear me up with Marmite and cover me in conkers... but I did it.
I've sent it off again and to hell with the consequences.
Yep, you've guessed it, I sent my MS off to another unsuspecting Agent.
Hopefully the lady in question will see my work for the quality it is and identify straight away the potential therein.

My new, all singing, all dancing one page synopsis, a covering letter that could melt a kiln and thirty pages of white hot, sexual custard vampire action, all in an envelope. Sounds dangerous actually, doesn't it?

Whatever, fingers crossed, eh?
Reg :-)

Donnerstag, 24. April 2008

Right.
I did it.
It took me a while but I managed to finalise the one page, double spaced synopsis !!!!!!
Am I good or what? It really is down to the bare bones of the story and cuts out an awful lot of information that fills the story out but... hey it's done and now I'm onto the Covering letter.
That shouldn't take long, what will take long is the postage to Britain. There's a postal strike going on at the moment so I might not get the quick reply I'd like, (sorry, the quick POSITIVE reply that I'd like).

Ah well, who cares?
I've got the synopsis sorted so that's half the battle, right?



... I wish it was...
Reg :-)

Dienstag, 22. April 2008

... and Tee's gonnna kick my butt.
Bah.
Gutted.
Riise in the 95th minute heads an owngoal.
Gutted.
The one page synopsis, double spaced, is halfway there.
It's only halfway there because I didn't double space it, I one-and-a-half spaced it. I'll work on it a bit more, cut some stuff out, put some stuff back in and we'll see what happens shall we?
There's a postal strike coming up, or it could be on now for all I know, so I have a bit of time before I send it off.

Liverpool vs. Chelsea tonight. Liverpool have GOT to win or Teresa'll have my guts for garters and my large intestine for a washing line. Thank the heavens Steven Gerrard is fit. I'm watching it in a pub that sells very reasonably priced Guinnes, so the evening should be thuper, thir.

Right, I'm off to destroy a rain forest... !
No, don't worry Mr. Sting, what I meant was that I'm going to mow my rather overgown and triffid-like lawn. Wish me luck,
Tally Ho !!!
Reg :-)

Montag, 21. April 2008

Monday evening.
Well, what's going on in my little world then?
A lot actually.
I'm scribbling a new book with Teresa, (of THAT synopsis fame) about Frank Delaney, a man on a mission!!!
I'll tell you more about it when we're deeper, (in our cups? No.) into the story.
Otherwise, all I did this weekend is work like a Klingon, watched the boxing and work some more... oh, and I forgot George's Birthday.
George, Happy Brthday mate.
It's late, I know, but a late Happy Birthday with feeling beats a punctual Happy Birthday without.

Ok, tara, I'll let you know about "Frank Delaney : The Longest Journey" another time, I'm off to bed now cos I've got to be up at 0430 hrs.
Reg {-0 (that's me yawning there on the smiley)

Freitag, 18. April 2008

Teresa told me something that knocked my socks off yesterday.
Double spacing is the form for everything sent to an agent/printing house, everything except the covering letter.
Damn.
How in the name of Satan's colostomy bag am I going to get my synopsis to down to the half of what it is now?
It might as well not be there at all, I mean what chance have I now of presenting my story to a prospective agent when all I have to do it in is ten lines?????
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!
It took me three months to perfect the one I have now.

Ah well, back to the drawing board.
Have a nice weekend, I know I won't.
Bah.
Reg :-/

Dienstag, 15. April 2008

Nearly forgot.
I actually spent some money and bought the "Writer's and Artists Yearbook for 2008".
APPARENTLY, so everybody say's, I need one.
Ah well, 17 Euro later and I have one in the post, all thanks to Ebay.
I'll let you know if it's a good read.
Is it Tuesday already?
My life seems to be spinning out of control.
I mean, on the one hand it's good because the kids'll leave home soon and I can have the house to me and my woman. And I'll be a pensioner quicker so I don't have to work blah, blah fishcakes, you get the idea.
However, it is a tad disturbing to see the years racing by and my grave looming ever larger on the horizon.
It's a terrible thing to have to think about actually. At the age of twenty I was convinced that I was indestructable and now, twenty one years later, I'm contemplating death.
God I must be on a downer or something, am I always like this?
No, so snap out of it Reggie.

Right, where was I?
Ah yes, my rejection and the psychological scarring that it involved.
Well...
I'm cool. I'm over it now completely, having last night crafted a new synopsis, (a one-pager along the same lines as the last one from Teresa) and a query letter.
This new agency requires a slightly different form of query letter to the norm so it's taking a bit of time.
But as ever, perseverance is my middle name and I will prevail.

So now you know.
Oh, and a mate of mine has a grandfather who MIGHT translate my MS into German for me. It could make things a lot easier on the Agent front.
Or it could go horribly wrong, only time, (that Michael Schumacher driving my mortal clock) will tell.
tara
Reg :-)

Freitag, 11. April 2008

Well this Literary Agency didn't muck about sending me a rejection.
Straight in there, "Thanx very much but no thanx".
Reading between the lines was the usual "We hate you, we spit on you and will dance a jolly jig on your grave when you do the world a favour and finally expire you sorry specimen".

Do I sound bitter? Twisted? Sad?
Well actually I'm cool with it. It's just a pity cos they were such a good agency.

Ah well, next agency!!!
My mate's bringing some British stamps tomorrow so I'll try and get the next one off on Monday. Just have to have a look at which one to send it to.
I really must invest in that Writer's Yearbook thing that I've heard so much about.

I feel my favourite crutch Booze tugging at my heartstrings but I'm on early shift tomorrow so I won't bother.
Have a good weekend peeps.
Reg :-/

Montag, 7. April 2008

Last night, about three in the morning, I wrote another couple of paragraphs on the, "Vietnam Vet" story thread.
I reread what I'd written and was satisfied.
So why is it, not twelve hours after writing the piece, I read it again and found it stilted, two dimensional and so loaded with cliche that I almost physically cringed at some of the dialogue?

Am I that bad?
Or am I just tired and irritable?
Whatever, it stays as it is and I'll see how Tee gets on with it... he he he...

Nightshift tonight, and tomorrow and then two days off to do the grouting on my wall.
What a nice life I lead. I remember the days when two days off meant one day partying and one day recuperation.
Not anymore though, oh no. Nowadays it' go to work to earn money, to buy materials to do more work.
Where's the sense in that?
Where did my life go so suddenly wrong?
Oh, I remember, the birth of my twins.

I might just bin all this constant drudgery and labour and go to Thailand to open a bar.
A bar in Thailand with gogo girls and exotic ladies of the night, or Jamaica... no Jamaica sounds good. Chocolate coloured babes, long Bacardi fuelled nights and a house on the beach. Nah, my wife would kill me.
Or I'll open a bar in Ireland, the land of the setting Guinness.
No, even better, a bar in Hamburg, on the Reeperbahn. With drunken sailors making it with the ladies and making me rich in the process...
Oh sod it, I'll stay here and finish this bloody wall.
Tara :-(

Freitag, 4. April 2008

The weekend draws upon us once more and I haven't heard a thing.
Not that I expected to but, you know, it would have been nice.
Anyway, what's to report?
Nothing. I had three days off which I spent fixing stone tiles to a wall to make it look like an old country house. Mind numbingly boring work, I can assure you. However the effect when it's finished is very eyecatching.

I wrote a few paragraphs for a thread on Struggling Authors yesterday as well. Teresa, (Mad Tee on the site) started a story and I carried it on.
I don't know if we'll continue along that thread because Tee set the story on a beach, and I turned it into a man looking for proof of long forgotten American POW's in Vietnam but who cares, eh?
It's only a bit of fun, so do what you want with it Tee, I'm game babes.

Mmmm, and that's about it really.
Late shift today and all weekend actually. Well at least I get to listen to the footy tomorrow afternoon with out any kids begging me to turn it off because Kim Possible's on the tv.
Have a nice weekend, because I won't.
Reg :-)

Montag, 31. März 2008

Now I know it's definitely there.
Someone, somewhere is making a decision on my future and there's not a thing I can do about it. I feel as helpless as a dog hearing his owner say, "You know what, I think I'll get him 'Done' today".
I just hope they're not in a bad mood when they do it.

Tee, (of THAT synopsis fame) had some bad news the other day. Her dung eating agent dropped her from his books. I mean what's all that about? First she's the new J.K. Rowling and now, in the sniff of an otter's nose she's practically thrown to the mercy of the literary welfare state.
I dunno, where's the justice in this world?
(There isn't any Reg, unless you're a dung rolling Politician. Lot of animal excretia in today's entry isn't there?)

Right, I'm off to bed. Nightshift does tend to take it out of me, not as young as I once was yerknow?
Sweet dreams Reg.
Have a wonderful day faceless agent who holds the key to my partial happiness in her hand.

Reg :-)

Samstag, 29. März 2008

It's Saturday morning.
I wonder if it's there yet?
There could be someone at the Agency right now reading through it and thinking,
"Cor Blimey, this is a bleedin' winner if ever there woz one!"
(The agency is in London so I envisaged a Cockney agent, hence the attempted accent.)

Nightshift last night.
It was bloody murder, literally !!!
One of the chaps ran over a pidgeon, (well we think it was a pidgeon, it was very squashed) with his Schlackentransporter.
They're seven meters wide, five meters tall, twelve meters long, weigh over eighty ton, and carry a load of up to eighty ton, (the vehicle that is, not the pidgeons) so you can imagine how flat and diskus-like the poor (supposed) bird was!
The driver obviously didn't do it on purpose, he's far too nice, but we still called him a cold-blooded murderer all night.
Who say's the Germans haven't got a sense of humour?

Wouldn't it be great if the agency phoned me up?
Or even left a message on my website or blog... I'm dreaming again aren't I?

I might have Angels in the next book, instead of Nephilim.
Have Lilith trying to start a second War of the Heavens or something... Mmmmmm...

Nah.

Or..? Mmmmm.
Not too sure about Angel mythology.
I'm off to do some reading.

Bye all.
Reg :-)

Donnerstag, 27. März 2008

Well,
before I start I'm going to say a few "Thank You's" to some people.
Ads, Dix,Bob, Joey, Andy, The Chee and Gareth for your input and opinions.
It wasn't always what I wanted to hear but that's what an opinion is all about, right?
Right.
Ads again for being there from the start, insisting that I write something and then tirelessly listening to every single stupid idea I had about the story. Also for the help with the printing and other office supplies... oh and all that beer...
George, who is brainier than Einstein's family tree, with your teacher's eye for terrible spelling and bad grammar, your incisive wit and cutting sarcasm, you managed to catapult me back to 1980, English with Mr. M. Jones. I'm still seeing the Post Traumatic Stress Therapist now.
Richard, for your support, ideas and technical know-how with the website. What a great website, (S.A. I mean).
Teresa, of Shasta fame, who's synopsis made ME want to read my manuscript again and for kicking my butt... but that's another story.
All at Struggling Authors for their occasional, well timed support.
Lastly, but definitely not leastly, my wife and kids for their unstinting belief in everything I do. (wipes a tear away...) I LOVE YOU ALL !!! (runs weeping from the podium)

So, Oscar "Thank You's" all given out, let's get to business.
I sent the covering letter, new synopsis and the first three chapters off today.
Fingers crossed, eh?

It's a very good name in literary representation and I'm probably punching above my weight, which if you knew my beer belly ... well never mind; but I am optimistic.

So it's either Shampers all round, (no, not shampoo Tee) or practise that Hangman's noose thing in a couple of weeks, depending on the outcome.

I rather like Sparkling Wine to be honest so fingers, toes and any other dangly bits crossed, eh?

I hope the Angels are smiling on me on this one, I really do.
Reg :-)

Mittwoch, 19. März 2008

Did I tell you about the synopsis?
Oh, I did.
Well, I've changed it, quite a bit actually, but kept to the original format sent to me by Teresa.
I think it works, but who am I, eh?
Now all I have to do is rewrite the covering letter to fit the new agency, reprint the new and improved first three chapters, synopsis and aferomentioned letter and, after finding some British stamps for the S.A.E., send it off.
Now that it's been proofed and printed I think my turnover in sending my MS's off will be far quicker.
Doesn't sound too confident that, does it?
"My turnover in sending my MS's off."
Mmmmmmmm.
Ah well, reality never hurt anybody, unless your name's Britney Spears that is. (Bad joke, bad karma...)
Right I'm off.
Reg :-)

Freitag, 14. März 2008

Woah !!
Friday already ???
Where did the week go?
Whatever, I haven't got that much to tell you actually.
Teresa sent me a very good rough for a synopsis.
It's an outline of the story and a marketing ploy all in one and it's also something I would never have come up with in a million years.
So a big ´diolch yn fawr` (thank you very much), for that. I'm most grateful.
You can find her Blog at

http://tgeering.blogspot.com/

and that will take you to her website as well, if you so desire.


Ja... und weiter...?
Well that's about it. I spent the week working or being poorly, (self induced I'm afraid) and it's somehow rushed past me like a terrier chasing a rabbit.

They say that the older you get, the quicker time flies so I shouldn't be surprised really should I?

Reg :-)

Montag, 10. März 2008

Actually, it's about 15 minutes into Monday morning but I'm not one to be pedantic about these things.

Friday I wrote a short, simple synopsis and binned it. It was stilted, the timing was awful and my attempt at seriousness with an undercurrent of subtle wit came across like a vicar telling jokes at a funeral.
I decided to do it on Saturday.
Unfortunately Saturday coincided with Wales winning the rugby and when I came home from shift I picked a mate up and we drank the night away in celebration, (although he's English... whatever.)
So, all in all it wasn't a very productive weekend after all.

I know, I know.
I hate me too.
But I'm defo on the right track to get it done this week.
It's all in the mind you see. Mental approach and all that.


Reg :-o

Samstag, 8. März 2008

Friday.
I can't tell a lie, I haven't touched the manuscript, synopsis or covering letter since Frankenscooter entered the sad series of mishaps and disasters that parade under the name of "Reg's Life".
All that stops here.
It's now 0023 hrs and I'm about to conduct a minor stealth incursion into the dark world of SS Division Vampyr...

I'll let you know what happens on Sunday...

Montag, 3. März 2008

The weekend starts here !!!
Well, I'm off for two days now, I go back to work on Wednesday morning, early shift.
However, this time there's a subtle difference. I won't be pedaling like a blown donkey on my old, trustworhty but hard work in a headwind bicycle. Oh no, I'll be cruising in on my new, all insured, all singing, all dancing scooter... luxury lad, luxury...
All good things to those that wait.
:-)
Reg
ps, Next entry will be about my book. I promise.

Samstag, 1. März 2008

Well what a week I've had.
Wednesday I slotted the battery in again and give it another go.
It worked.
I jumped on and whizzed around the village, (I live in a village in case you didn't know, population of 23, four of which are old age geese), in my trackie bottoms, Homer Simpson tshirt and slippers, oh and no helmet.
Thursday I planned my jaunt a bit more and wore normal clothing and safety gear. It rode like a dream and I managed to get 40 kmh out of it; not bad when you consider it hasn't moved under its own power for over 18 months now.
Now all I need is a bit of insurance and I'll be terrorizing Frau Schmidt from number 10, down the road, with loud revving and honking of horns before you can say "Hairdryer"!!

Work, on the other hand, has been a nightmare and I'm not a happy teddy, I can tell you.
Never mind, life goes on with or without you, eh?

Have a spanking weekend, (not meant literally there) and I'll catch you again.
Reg :-)

Montag, 25. Februar 2008

Just came back from watching my daughter at ballet.
I am definitely not a lover of dance in any form. I, myself, possess about as much poise and grace as a lobotomised dodo and have as much idea about the secrets of the physical performing arts as I have of astro physics.
So I find it unbelievable when I watch my daughter, whose DNA stems from my gene pool, prancing and pirouetting like leaping gazelle to the collective gasps of appreciation of the other parents. She stands head and shoulders above the rest of the class and it never fails to move me when I see her petite form move with such a natural elegance and elan.
She makes my day, she really does.
Monday didn't turn out too bad after all.

Reg :-)
Monday.
What a weekend. Action, action, action. We laughed, we cried, we witnessed life in all it's rainbow glory and then Monday comes along and wrecks it all.
Why did God make Monday? It's such a downer day.

The weekend went thus, I worked nights on Friday, (overtime). Saturday was a day to kick back, open a beer and watch all three rugby games on tv. Wales won resoundingly and the 'Whiskey for every try" rule changed gear seriously in the second half as the Welsh ran Italy into the ground.
After the rugby we watched Match of the Day and then we ended the night with a "The Best 20 Rugby Games Of All Time" dvd which just about killed the whiskey bottle.
Yesterday, a nice stroll in the fresh air to clear my head, a hearty nosh up, fifteen minutes with the scooter, (it started by the way, only to die again) and then a relaxed evening in front of the goggle box with the woman.

Then Monday came along.
Bah.
Roll on Tuesday.
Reg :-/

Freitag, 22. Februar 2008

This albatross is starting to smell foul.
Tuesday morning I received a most welcome telephone call from the scooter garage.
The relay had arrived. Taaaa-Raaaah !
I couldn't believe my luck and really I should have known better than to have been so optimistic as to think that was the end of it.

I paid for the aforementioned item and drove home with visions of me, dressed in my biker leathers and a screaming skull helmet, menacing the neighbours at 25 MPH.
With a practised hand I whipped off the plastic casing and proceeded to fit the relay into its connection.
It didn't take long (aprox .3 of a second) for me to realise that I was cutting bread with a candle on this one and that the spacing on the points of the relay were simply too far apart for it to sit right.
It was the wrong relay.
In fact, after taking a picture of the scooter with my mobile and then showing it to the people at the workshop with its documents, we found out that they'd ordered the right part for the wrong scooter... ahem. How on earth they managed to order for the wrong scooter I will never know as I gave them the documents the first time they ordered.

So, dear reader, now you've witnessed a classic example of the famous Rule of Jones, (If it can go wrong, it already has), and you'll now know what I'm up against in life.
Bah.

Reg :-(

Montag, 18. Februar 2008

Monday, and I've the whole day off.
So today I'm going to go through the manuscript like a dose of industrial strengh syrup of figs, and to hell with the toilet paper bill...

Freitag, 15. Februar 2008

This scooter is starting to resemble a dead Albatross.
I charged the battery, put it back in and tried the ignition. Nothing happened so I had a look to see if there was anything obvious.
My mate, (Thorsten) popped round and also had a look.
We found a relay that was warm/hottish to the touch and made a strange humming noise. We decided that it was definitely a problem and would have to be replaced before we could carry on with the diagnosis... and that's when the fun and games started.

The next day I drove to a scooter workshop.
Me : "Have you this sort of relay in stock?"
Scooter expert : "No, I'll have to order one from the manufacturers."
Me : "Ok, how much will it cost and how long before it comes?"
Smug Scooter B@$+@#& : "About 35 €, plus postage. It'll be here in about 6 to 8 weeks."
Me : "Oh."

So now I have to wait 6-8 weeks for the relay (the 35 € relay, plus postage and packing) to come before I can carry on looking for the fault.
Bah.

Ah well, if it's only the relay then I'll have a 2 year old scooter for 35 Euro, (plus P&P).
On the other hand this could just be the prelude to a long drawn out test of patience and nerves.
I hope it's not the later of the two.

Reg :-(

Dienstag, 12. Februar 2008

The bloke who proof read my manuscript is bloody good.
I finally got some time to myself to go through what he'd written and, my word, has he got an eye for the literary landscape.
An added phrase here, a metaphor there and the whole ghastly caterpillar paragraph morphs wonderously into a butterfly of English prose.

Well, ok, he's not that good but it is an eye opener when you see how one word can change the whole rhythm of a line. Damn I wish I hadn't left school at sixteen... (that old chestnut again, eh?)


As for my progress on the manuscript itself? Shamefully I'm only at page 250...
I know, I know.
I hate myself.

But I promise to improve.

Thank you George.
Reg :-)

Samstag, 9. Februar 2008

I wrote earlier about the lady with an agent who is furiously toiling day and night to find a deal for her trilogy.
Well, I've had an idea. Actually, Richard from Struggling Authors had the idea, but it's my Blog so I'll claim it as mine and to hell with the copyright!

I'm going to ask teresa, (her name) if she could give me some pointers on my synopsis.
The thing with a synopsis is that there are no definitve guidelines to say how it should be written and presented. Some Agents want a brief, one page jobby, some require a chapter by chapter account of all the action and others just need a three page summary that glosses over the main points.
So basically it's all down to what information one has about what the agent/publishing house you're going to send your tome to requires.

What do you think? Stay with the synopsis tactic I'm using now, (i.e. spicing it up a bit) or waiting to see if the Lady with the agent can come up with some interesting, world beating pointers?
I'll ask her and see what she say's, it can't harm, can it?
If you're interested her Blog is at:

http://tgeering.blogspot.com/

Why isn't anything easy? The literary path is such a jungle and the people you think are the Tarzans nearly always end up being the Witchdoctor headhunters... whatever that's supposed to mean.

Tara, enjoy Teresa's blog.
Reg. :-)

Dienstag, 5. Februar 2008

I've aquired a scooter.
It has 1250 kms on the clock, and it is off the road at the moment, but it was given to me for nothing and I am most definitely not one to look a gift horse in the face.
It was very dirty and the petrol tank had water in it but, like I said, it was given to me and now it's all cleaned up it looks really good, (for a scooter).

Anyway, I just thought I'd drop that into the conversation to see what you thought.

Recently I read of a lady who has an agent but can't find a publisher. The lady in question has written three books about the same person, (making it a trilogy) and her agent is now furiously writing to one publishing house after another to try to find a deal.
I am so jealous.
I wish I had an agent who did all that for me. Ah well, Nil Desperandum as they say in Angola.

I think I'll go have another look at my new baby to cheer me up. It's amazing what a gift-scooter can do for the morale...

Reg :-)

Freitag, 1. Februar 2008

It's strange, but I'm never satisfied with what I write.
Is this a flaw in my character?
I'm not sure to be honest, though I'd like to think not. I mean I'm as insecure as the next man but I'm not that unsure of myself that I won't shower in the Gym, so I can't be that bad, can I?

Last night I read what I'd written for Gulag, part 2 of my planned trilogy, (hope springs eternal...).
The thing is, I couldn't stop 'improving' it and now I've decided to change it all. I erased the entire text and will start anew when the time comes to do so. Now, of course, I'm thinking to myself that it was a bit rash to completely erase everything, however it's done now and it's not worth crying over deleted text...

Damn, I wish I hadn't done thast now.

Whatever, let's concentrate on getting the first book published, eh?
Reg :-/

Mittwoch, 30. Januar 2008

Apparently, today is the 75th Anniversary of Hitler and the Nazi party coming to power.
It's hard to believe that an event that happened so long ago can still interest the world today, and yet the crimes and atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis have still yet to be eclipsed in their clinical cruellty and state-sanctioned barbarity.

Yes, I hear you say, Pol Pot, Stalin, Idi Amin and the whole host of monsters throughout the ages have their place alongside Hitler.
However it was Hitler, and the Nazi state, that introduced the concept of transporting their victims to different countries to be murdered in camps built especially for the purpose of killing.
It was the Nazi state that built a whole industry around the business of racial extermination. They used human hair to make socks for U-Boot crews, banked the gold teeth extracted from their victims, worked people to death in factories, quarries and camps and all legitimised in their twisted idealology by the dubious heading of racial war.

Genocide is a crime that crops up time and time again throughout our bloody history but the Nationalist Socialists, and all their plagiarist counterparts, took the act of murder to a new level of depravity.
So really it's no wonder that the terrible events that happened between 1933 and 1945 are so enduringly plastered on our collective subconscience.
The Thousand Year Reich didn't quite last that long but the memory and condemnation of its crimes and brutality, I hope, will.

Freitag, 25. Januar 2008

100 pages down, only another 247 to go...
I'm back at work now and was on nights last night. It was ok... what am I saying, it was crap!!!
Whatever, work is a means to an end, right?
It just seems the means have taken over my end, make of that what you will...
You go to work to have money to have a nice life but the shift system I work has taken over any nice life I might have. Ah well, it pays the bills, keeps my wife in Ebay and my kids in... whatever you keep kids in.

The new synopsis is coming on. I don't know why I didn't try and do this before.
Well, I do but I don't care to discuss my chronic lack of imagination and flare, especially not on a blog that a prospective publisher might read... DOH !!!

Have a good one.

Montag, 21. Januar 2008

Bought a new keyboard today. Nothing swanky mind, just a 12.99€ board and a 5.99€ mouse.
That'll do for me.
Lidl took that old piece of plop straight back, no mucking about. Aldi give you fifty questions when you take something back to them but Lidl gave me my dosh without even warming up the cashier's bottom.
"That the receipt, right, here you go. All the best sir and next time let me offer you my wife for a dirty weekend in Brighton by way of an apology..." Bloody nice chap, I can tell you.
So it's good news there then.

Had a look at my synopsis as well today.
Not the one page, every syllable tested for content and weighed for space synopsis. I looked at the older, longer version.
I'm taking a new tack with it this time around. I've decided to use it to sell the story as well.
What the hell, eh? It can't damage the package that much can it?
Can it?
No, I don't think so either.
So instead of having two pages of lifeless mono-splurge I'll have a three page jaunt around the wild last days of the Third Reich, with vampires and Templars to boot, HURRAH !!!
Oh dear, time for medicine...

Reg :-)

Sonntag, 20. Januar 2008

Still there?
I'm actually a little ill at the moment.
Some virus is sweeping through Germany like a whirling dervish and I, not being one to miss on anything for free, went out and got me some.
The first couple of days were hell but I'm a bit better now. I've got to go back on nightshift on Thursday so I'm laying low for a while.

My new, all singing, all dancing, shoecleaning, tea making keyboard was packed away yesterday. It would start off well but gradually lose coherence until, after about ten minutes of typing, I'd end up with a screen that looked like the residue of a bowl of alphabet soup.
Most annoying, I can assure you.

Ah well, whatever, I'll just take it back tomorrow and cause a scene until I get my money back.
They can't deny an ill man his money back can they?

Yes Reg, they can; it's called the free market. Shopkeepers LIKE denying sick people their just dues.
Oh well....


Reg :-/

Montag, 14. Januar 2008

Nothing went wrong, everything went swimmingly.
We had a great night spoilt only by a hangover from hell the next day.
However, the last residue of my alcoholic programme is now burnt out of my system and I'm hot to trot.

Bring on the manuscript and let's get busy !!!!
I'm back on track, I feel it, so I'll get back to you when I've finished the task in hand.

Samstag, 12. Januar 2008

So, it's the weekend and I'm off for a Birthday drink with some friends.
A couple of chaps are coming down from Paderborn. We'll do some rehearsing, (we're covering some Tenacious D songs at a mate's wedding) and then it's off down town to meet up with some peeps.
I love it when it's my birthday.

Right, gotta clean the house out for their arrival.
The kids are all packed away with friends, (respectable friends, not drinking friends. There is a difference.) and my woman is in a good mood; what could possibly go wrong?
(famous last words...)

Tara, catch yer when I'm over the hangover.
Reg :-)

Dienstag, 8. Januar 2008

Happy Birthday to me.
Happy Birthday to me.
Happy Birthday blah blah Fishcakes.
Happy Birthday to me.
41 today and I don't look a day over 12... ok whatever.
Well, I'm not up to much today. Going out for a meal with my wife and kids and then early to bed; I'm on earlies tomorrow, see?

Last night I had a story read out on BFBS1, the British Forces radio station. It was more of an elongated joke actually but my Mam liked it. In fact she liked it so much she phoned me up straight after it had finished to tell me laughingly how sad I am. I'm not sure if that was a compliment or not. Ah well, at least she got the joke.


Am I going to start on the manuscript today?
No.
Why not?
Because it's my Birthday, because I want to spend time with my wife and kids, because I want to watch my new X Files dvd that was given to me for my special day, because because because... Back off, ok?
I'l start it tomorrow, I promise.
In fact I have already started it so technically I'm not the lazy loser you're insinuating that I am. I just haven't continued with it, that's all.

Oh look, the postman. I wonder if he's got anything for me?

Tara
Reg :-)

ps. Happy Birthday tooooooo meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Sonntag, 6. Januar 2008

You know what?
I had the whole day to myself yesterday and what did I do?
Sleep and read my book.

I'm not happy with myself about that because it really is a step in the wrong direction.
I wonder if I colonically ejected all my fire and passion for writing over the New Year period?
It certainly feels like it.

However, to be honest, the rejection did take the wind out of my sails a tad, (even though I was secretly expecting it.).
Perhaps it really is just not good enough?

Humph.

Reg.

Freitag, 4. Januar 2008

Happy New Year.
My New Year wasn't too happy I'm afraid. I was ill with a case of the trots that morphed me into the human water cannon and on top of that I had early shift on the 31st and the 1st.
Bah.
I hope 2008 goes better than how it started or else I'll be right in the doodoo, literally.

I'm afraid to say that my sickness, (and the obligatory, accompanying selfpity) robbed me of any creative get up and go and I managed absolutely squat since my last entry. Call me lazy, call me a sinner; but damn it I was poorly and even superhuman Welshmen have their weak moments.
Anyway, I promise to stop dallying around and get down to it.
OK?
Right, get off my back then.

Reg