Morning all!

Just a quick note to say The Golden Web: Part 1, my non-fiction investigation into ancient mysteries, is now available to buy. I could do another proof read but I don't think that's necessary. At the moment, the book is only available from FeedARead's website (they're handling the publishing) but it should soon be available from Amazon.co.uk and major booksellers. It is also available from Amazon.co.uk as a digital download but I need to test the quality of the file first (by getting a friend with a KIndle to buy a copy). Once all that's sorted and checked, I'll add a banner to my website and populate the Golden Web page with the appropriate information.

I'll also improve the content on the Golden Web page on this website so that it's more informative. To be honest, you really need to read the book but I'll do what I can.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Tags: the golden web, feedARead

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.

Tags: news

You've probably already noticed this but I've put together a new design for the website. I think I got bored with the old one. I hope you like the new look. Also, a London literary agency has written to me saying that they liked the sample chapters I sent them of 'Faery Engines' and want to read the whole manuscript. It's very welcome news! They may still not want to represent me but it's a big step forward for my first fiction novel. The only problem is, everything in the manuscript apart from the sample chapters is out of date so I have to do a thorough revision of the document. I'm therefore busy, but motivated.

Tags: website

My non-fiction book 'The Golden Web' is nearing publication through Amazon.com. I've ordered a proof copy which should arrive in the next week. Once that's been checked, the book should then be available through Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, both in paperback form and digital download. I'm planning on setting up a website for that book as part of its promotion, along with some advertising in appropriate magazines. I'll also try to submit articles to those same magazines that relate to the book, to generate interest.

I've tried to keep the book light-hearted, even though it puts forward a radical new theory. As an example of this approach, here's the blurb I'll be putting in the description field:

Read More...

Tags: the golden web, amazon

Hope everyone's enjoying their Autumn (unless you're in the Southern Hemisphere in which case I hope you're enjoying your Spring). Just to let everyone know that I've updated/made new pages describing my progress with my Ancient Mysteries story, my fantasy comedy and my comedy scripts. I've also added an article talking about some of what I've learnt through several years of writing. I've already blogged about the subject here but I thought I'd give it its own page. Apart from that, I'm furiously working on several projects and drowning my sorrows over regular rejections with large amounts of tea. I've also been tearing a shed apart. For anyone frustrated and angered about the modern world and the human condition, I strongly recommend tearing a shed apart. One caveat; choose a rotten one. They come apart fairly easily...

Tags: fantasy, scripts

I've set up a new Twitter account. I'm 'oddscribble'. I'm not sure how much I'll use it but feel free to follow me (and I'll try and follow you). I'll add twitter features to this website in the near future.

Isn't it a lovely day?

Tags: twitter

Well, I've been living like a hermit for the last two months but it has produced something. Here's the first chapter of the graphic novel 'Cziltang Bone and the Reality Shifter' that I've been working on. I was going to make it available as a pdf but the file's 60Mb so, instead, I've put in this post as screen shots. Read More...

Just a squidgen of news to tell you that after months of other things taking priority like submissions, television comedies and other bits and bobs, I've finally got started on a graphic novel. After doing the excellent Arvon foundation graphic novel course last Autumn, I've been all fired up to write and illustrate a graphic novel. (I've blogged about the Arvon course here) and I'm still keen. The plan is to spend March to September doing the novel. It's a long time but it's a big undertaking. There'll be about one hundred and sixty pages to draw.

At the moment, I have a first draft of the script and I'm producing sample pages exploring the various different ways I can illustrate the graphic novel. There are many possible approaches. For example, I could paint each page with gouache or watercolour. That is the approach taken (I think) by the excellent graphic novel Blacksad, talked about here. Alternatively, I could pencil draw a page, ink it manually, scan it in and colour it on the computer. That's the approach used by Kazuo Ishiguro for his Copper series, explained here. A third approach is to do the pencil sketch, scan it in, create a vector art black line version of the illustration and then colour that on the computer. Which one is best? I've no idea. I think it'll almost certainly be a trade-off between quality vs time. Beautiful fine art on every page would be good, but not if each page takes a week. That would stretch the time spent on the graphic novel to three years! I need to aim at a page a day.

I'll soon be posting sample work on this site. Feedback is most appreciated!

Tags: graphic novels

During last month and this month, the BBC have been running a television sitcom or 'narrative comedy' competition. Even though I haven't had much luck with the BBC up to now, I'm still very keen to keep trying. For this competition, the BBC wanted entrants to write a one page description of a narrative comedy idea along with a sample episode of between fifteen and thirty pages. The full details are here at the Laughing Stock website. I've now submitted an entry called 'Just the two of us'. Read More...

Tags: bbc, scripts, comedy

On the other hand, I'm finding it daunting to maintain two blogs. I don't think there's enough hours in the day (and ideas in my head) to supply entries for this blog and 'ollie's thoughts'. I think I'll focus on this blog for now. If I get a sudden rush of inspiration and productivity for ollie's journal, I'll stick it in and add a notification on this blog.

I’ve set up a new site called ‘Ollie’s Thoughts’ at http://www.olliesthoughts.com. ‘Ollie’s Thoughts’ is based around a fictitious character I’ve created called Oliver Thorpe. Oliver also has a Twitter account (@olliesthoughts) and a Facebook page (Oliver Thorpe from London). He’s a lot more ‘wired’ into the modern social networking world than I am!

Read More...

Tags: ollie's thoughts

I've got some feedback from the Cornerhouse theatre in Surbiton about the play I sent them entitled 'Can't see, won't see'. You can read it here: Can't see, won't see. Unfortunately, they won't be putting it on. This isn't much of a surprise since I only spotted at the last minute before submission that they were after family friendly plays!

Read More...

Tags: writing, theatre, scripts

There's nothing like chatting to people about your work to really get you interested in it again. I visited the london expo last sunday at the Excel centre in docklands. During my meanderings around the comic village stands, I struck up a conversation with the owner of the Mogzilla publishing company. They publish novels for a young readership and were happy to take a lot at Copper Book. They couldn't promise anything and didn't take on too many authors at a time, but they were willing to see what I've got. Read More...

Tags: writing, fantasy, news, copper book

When the Arvon graphic novel course finished, I was all ready and motivated to do some comic work. Unfortunately, a very sad event occurred on the way back which I won't go into in a blog. Suffice it to say, that strongly affected the whole of the next week. What I was able to do though was get together an entry for the Jonathan Cape Graphic Short Story competition. The competition had been recommended to me on the course by Hannah Berry and I checked the details on my return home. I had a little over a week to produce a four page graphic short story. Yikes! I decided there wasn't time to think up a new story. I would have to use one I'd already written. In the end, I went for the frog poem I'd submitted to a climate change competition.

Here's what I produced: Read More...

Tags: comics, graphic novels, writing, art

On the week beginning the 20th September, I went on an Arvon Foundation Graphic Novel course (http://www.arvonfoundation.org/) at their Shropshire centre. It was very good. The tutors - Bryan Talbot and Hannah Berry - were encouraging, knowledgeable and lots of fun to be with. The emphasis of the course was on the writing side (since Arvon is for writers) and so we explored story structure, editing, setting, dialogue and character. I think what impressed me most about the course was the atmosphere of the graphic novel and comic world. It seemed far more down-to-earth, relaxed and a collection of enthusiasts than other creative areas. Read More...

Tags: comics, graphic novels, arvon, news

Hello everyone!

This is the new version of my web site. Unfortunately, the old version suffered a terminal crash when WordPress (the blogging engine software) suggested that I upgrade my version of the software. I dutifully agreed. The software upgrade occurred and promptly crashed my site. I tried to apply the fixes. I then tried to install a clean version. I then tried to install the previous version. All to no avail. As a result of this, I've decided to take the opportunity to use a different web creation system. Instead of using WordPress to run the blog and iWeb to create the static pages, I'm now going to use RapidWeaver to do everything. Fingers crossed, it'll produce a better, easier to maintain and more stable site than the previous setup.

This currently isn't the final layout of the site. It's simply a temporary, simple version until the final layout is completed.

All my old blog entries will be recreated on the new site. It'll make a mess of any sense of chronology for events, but most of the entries weren't specifically about particular dates, so I don't think it'll be too big a problem.

Let me know what you think! There'll be a contact page as in the past if you don't know my email address.

Tags: news