Self publishing in the UK - my progress so far
I'm in the process of self-publishing my non-fiction
book, The Golden Web. I'm
following the self-publishing route for the book
because the standard non-fiction publishing route
isn't really available to me. Since I'm not a
television presenter or senior scientist or
academic, it's unlikely a publishing house would
want to commit funds to try and sell my book. I
also don't have any personal connections in the UK
publishing industry so I can't call on any favours
or phone any ex-school publisher friends asking
them to add The Golden Web to their list. That's
okay though, because you don't have to be well
known person to get a non-fiction book published
and sold nowadays. Hooray!
Writers are 'liars and thieves'
Not that long ago, I
watched the British movie 'Tamara Drewe' based on the cartoons
of Posy Simmons. Among the many enjoyable scenes,
one particular quote stood out, spoken by the
author character in the film. He said that 'all
writers are liars and thieves'. It's a harsh
statement but, over the last year, I've realised
that it does have a core of truth. Being an
aspiring writer, or an actual writer depending on
how you look at it, I'm forever drifting into the
thought:
'Should my next idea be very original or conveniently
similar to existing, successful
works?'
Simon's Cat
Hmm... I think I'm
definitely procrastinating here. Maybe I should go
and sit in the reference library? It's cold out
there. Don't want to move. Actually, I can't move
because this conservatory is about four degrees above
freezing. Fine motor control is one of the first
things that go as a person drifts into hypothermia.
Then they get sleepy.... zzzzz. Only joking! Anyway,
that wouldn't make any sense. Why would someone type
'zzzz' after they'd fallen asleep? Then
again, maybe that would be sleep-typing? Perhaps my
sleep typing would be better than my awake typing? Is
my conscious mind getting in the way of my creative
flow? Am I lying in bed at night, my thoughts in
dreamland while my body desperately searches for a
laptop to pen a brilliant opus? That's embarrassing;
as a writer, I'm better off unconscious.
This is definitely procrastinating. I did wean myself
off playing with my new iPhone, well, fairly new, it
was second hand but it's still got its internal
compass, accelerometer and pseudo-GPS. I wish I had
those things, well, I've got an accelerometer but I
don't have an internal compass. Birds do. They've
also got some kind of GPS and they can fly.
So, ranked in terms of ability, it's birds first,
followed by my iphone and then me last. Nuts.
I'm definitely writing a stream of consciousness blog
entry here, like Jack Kerouac but without the magical
atmosphere of late fifties jazz, bohemia, the wide
open plains, friendship, exploration, sadness,
disillusionment and, in the end, an early death. So
this blog entry hasn't got anything in common with
Kerouac's writing apart from its long, unwieldy
sentences and complete absence of a plot. Hmm... need
to work on that. Then again, this blog is probably a
healthier version of Kerouac. It's not as memorable
or inspiring but you'll live longer; sort of a
Beat-writer lite. Low fat Beat-writer. Family
filtered Beat writer. Tory party approved Beat
writer. This is making me nauseous.
What was the point of this blog entry? Oh yes,
Simon's cat; it's good. Time for an EMBED tag...
Lisa Hannigan sings 'I don't know' in a bar in Dingle
This has really got
nothing to do with writing but I still enjoy watching
this video even a year on from when I first saw it.
Enjoy!
RSA Animate on YouTube
Read More...
Climate change - the canary in the coal mine has just died
Unfortunately, I read an article in the Independent at
the very beginning of this year which I think is
of huge significance. In the article, to quote,
'Dramatic and unprecedented plumes of methane - a
greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon
dioxide - have been seen bubbling to the surface
of the Arctic Ocean by scientists undertaking an
extensive survey of the region.The scale and
volume of the methane release has astonished the
head of the Russian research team who has been
surveying the seabed of the East Siberian Arctic
Shelf off northern Russia for nearly 20
years.'
Dr Rupert Sheldrake and morphic fields
Last year, I wrote to Rupert Sheldrake, a fascinating man who developed the theory of morphogenetic fields and is the author of books such as 'Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home' and 'Seven Experiments That Could Change the World', both of which I recommend. I wanted to make him aware of the intriguing research that Luc Montagnier has been carrying out with water and DNA. He very kindly replied and agreed it was very interesting and threw up a lot of questions but he couldn't see on first glance how it could connect to his theory of morphogenetic fields. Here's my reply:
Read More...Happy New Year!
Happy New Year
everyone!
The updated manuscript for 'Faery Engines' is now
complete and is wending its way to the literary
agent. It's been fun to update it; I've learnt a few
more things (I think!) about writing just from doing
the update. This latest version of the fantasy comedy
is now much more character driven than it was before.
Previously, everything in the story was aimed at the
fun ideas. Now, I've made the relationship between
the main characters an important part of the book
with the fun ideas as a backdrop to their
interactions. Hopefully, these changes will improve
readers' enjoyment of the story.
Now the fantasy comedy update has been completed, at
least for now, my next tasks are getting 'The Golden
Web' available for purchase and writing a new script
for the television script agent. I'll post any
important news regarding those projects as and when
they occur.
Have a great 2012!
A.