Tobey Alexander's Blog, page 6

(WT) The Magdon Generations – influence from basics

And so I share the ideas section of my mind. I’m sat watching The Grand Tour and the Namibian special. The sight of shipwrecks in the desert tickle my imagination.

This may not come to anything however in the space of an hour I have scribbled ideas in my little leather book. I’ve gone from a shipwreck in sand to a full blown secret tomb, history of Namibian language and history through a little research. 

It goes to show how quickly your creative mind can fill with ideas from a simple stimulus or influence. 

I am very much the advocate of noting the ideas. I often have very vivid dreams which for the first few houra/a day I remember but then fade into the ether. Some dreams linger into ideas but with my notebooks if I write a few cues I recall so much more. 

It is something I would massively encourage, making and keeping notes. Not all of the ideas will get used but as I’ve found those unused ideas may well influence future prospects prospects jets. 

(WT) The Magdon Generations – Location Scouting #1

One of the chosen locations for the story will be a hiding place. A place where some rather important artefacts and items will be placed for the story to link back between the “generations” from Origins to the Next Chapter

I spent the afternoon today gathering some more photographs already in the collection to get the imagination pulsing. Of course this is the reality, within the story I will use the artistic licence to add some mausoleums or two, a few hiding places and remove some of the population around and make it a little more isolated than it currently stands.

Here are the source pictures which will give you a view of what I am looking at…..then bookmark this and next year (well 2018) see f you can recognise the fact from fiction in the book.

Images taken using the Moto G4+ mobile phone, no proper camera more an opportunistic affair.

Brainstorming – The Magdon: Generations

Brainstorming project 2017 (for a 2018 release I expect)

Well, this morning while doing my Workout Circuits on the landing (my timing soundtrack playing and Star Wars: The Force Awakens playing on the laptop) I had an idea. Just a fleeting idea popped into my head and all of a sudden the workout was muscle memory and raised heart rate of course, but I was going through the circuits as my brain had its own workout playing out the idea.

I have, for weeks now, been toying with the next project. I drafted the opening to a project under (WT) – Working Title “Reaper” but have failed to fully connect after the first thousand or so words.

Then today I asked myself if I had really done with The Magdon story?

Well, the answer is quite simply NO!

Although the original stories (the five parts of The Magdon Series all foretitled Origins Of The Magdon) chart Archy’s adventures they all happen in the past. Occurring between 1916-1939(ish). Is there still room for the future? For the story continue and bring in a whole new story of characters?

But of course, there are, the whole thing is about family, growth and development so I decided to run with the rough idea and scribble down a brainstorming sheet.

[image error] Brainstorming sheet – The Magdon: Generations (WT)

 

I have shown these before, but today I decided to film myself as I wrote my ideas down. I’ve done a little video of my scribblings which came from the one idea, the one word that will be the WT of this part of The Magdon project…

GENERATIONS

I instantly fell in love with the idea which is good. I don’t think the story has been told in its entirety as The Magdon is a force of mystery through the five-part series. They are in this case the foundations. Once they are told then I can run with larger books I think which will be a stand-alone story for the first phase.

Everything will link back and I aim to bring in some characters from the past as a link but they will be the five pillars of this story which will feed from but seriously grow beyond the Origins aspect.

If you can’t tell I’m rather excited by the story and while the picture of my brainstorm sheet will be shared there are so many secrets on it that I’ll have to make sure you can’t read too much. Of course what is on the sheet is very much my basic ideas. I need to rip open the new leather-bound notebook and start jotting the ideas down “officially” as it were by my standards.

I’ve still got about 11 chapters left to write between Book 4 and Book 5, but I am more than happy I know where they are going, I know that story inside-out by now, and it is just a case of formalising the details and story.

This, however, is a new beast.

In my head, I have a franchise (yes I am well aware I am dreaming as if I am something big) but you know what….while I have faith in my story then I would be daft not to run with it.

In my brainstorm sheet I have set myself some tasks which include:

Location research – I have decided local locations that will be non-specific features (so they need photographing and documenting as I have decided not to place the story in a named place rather “the English town”)
Names – come up with the new character names

So I am aiming to document my research and idea formulating along the way, entries may be short, may be long, may be infrequent but you’ll see this project from start to finish hopefully enough so that you are invested and want to know the next generation of The Magdon Series.

I am very much a VISUAL creator. In my head, I like to watch my ideas, something like a film (one day I’d love to make a film of my ideas, but that’s a massive dream) so I like to take pictures that inspire me as if they are bookmarks to my ideas in real life. Hopefully, as I go along, I can share what I see, what it inspires and show you in the end what it becomes.

If you’re interested, you can take this journey with me (as long as I remember to share it with you). This will be a novel by definition, as in novelettes which form the Origins Of The Magdon part of this world!

A novel in fiction is defined as being in excess of 40,000 words

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_count

Writer’s Block

This Christmas has been a very demanding affair. As I have saved some leave from work I have got myself some time off after a bout of temporary promotion experience and in the process have been kindly volunteered to attend all the Christmas events at my boy’s school! Panto, Chruch walks, nativities, Fayres and so on………that said it’s been fun.

I did, however, crack open Volume 4 Magdon folder on the old Dropbox and try to pick up the story where I left off.

Two paragraphs in two hours. Yes, I was on fire…NOT REALLY.

Staring at the screen and then to the notebook I’m running for The Magdon series I couldn’t get anything to flow. No use in forcing it, I’ve spent far too long in life trying to force flow the stories and I much prefer to write freely and that way enjoy what I am doing rather than naturally (as I often do) rebelling against something that has become a chore rather than an escape/enjoyment.

Putting Book 4 to bed I then sat down and edited Book 3 ready for a Jan/Feb release.

The edit went brilliantly and made som nifty tweaks to the story which made me feel I was at least being slightly creative.

And then I think about marketing. I’m pants at that! I am experimenting more with Instagram at the moment. I have run Facebook Ads and got nothing for the money I have spent to be fair. I’m looking at employing someone a little more experienced in PR but am juggling money for my 2018 Everest adventure for charity (and personal achievement of course) which will take a lot of saving!

Well, today I tried to write again….Volume 4 Magdon folder open again……………and closed pretty much as quickly.

I sat staring at a blank Word screen and thought what to do.

So I played an old game I used to do with pen and paper. I just wrote what came into my head. Normally on paper I will write sentence after sentence of nothing but things that follow on from one another. It’s an exercise for my brain which draws out ideas without committing to a specific story.

Except my first sentence simply read: Bullets flew through the air in every direction.

I sat and closed my eyes and just imagined it. Oddly an old story popped into my head which I could see as vividly as when I first had the idea in 2003 whilst studying Psychology at University.

First of all I started to wish I could draw as it would make an awesome comic. Then I decided to write an opening scene for the “old story” as I never committed anything to paper.

A nice little opener and all of a sudden, instead of writing my current projects, I rolled out a few pages (1,036 words to be precise) of an introduction to the main character.

A main character I may never do anything with but it was still rewarding. It reminded me I can create, told me I can come up with new things that sit outside of the stories I am currently growing and nurturing.

[image error]Random ranting writing – a brain exercise I use occasionally

I’m still trying to break through this imaginary wall that seems to be blocking The Magdon Series. Obviously I haven’t found the right outlet/attraction yet but no matter what it won’t stop me writing them as I know one day it will catch the right attention, I have faith in the story entirely.

Oh well I suppose this is a rant to just say follow your heart, open your imagination and go with the flow.

To that end I am launching my alter-ego Tobey Alexander as more than just a pen name for books. Due to my work I can’t be openly associated with stories/activities that may conflict with my work so I have assumed Tobey Alexander as a persona. To that end the moto/ethos is ASPIRE TO INSPIRE. Everything I do needs to influence, inspire and motivate someone to do something. Stories, characters, books I produce, adventures I take….all of it must have some sort of positive influence on people, even if it is to just show them to follow their dreams and dare to try something new then it’s worth it.

Pretty much a rambling of an overactive and undewrused brain today!

Something new!

Well, I have been extremely productively busy of late with a lot of work behind the scenes. It has led me onto a new “festive” project which has landed very well on its feet since launch.

This year I was forced to consider the fact I may have to work NIGHTS on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, normally it falls on rest days or else I save having leave during the Summer Holidays and instead opt for the Christmas period…well not this year sadly.

Faced with the prospect of nights on Christmas Eve I decided how I had better explain this away to my three children (8, 6 and 2). Stood in the shower (I shall save you the gory details) I came up with a brief story idea which within the space of an hour or two (I had got out of the shower by that time trust me) had developed into a fully-fledged story that I suddenly needed to write.

And so BLUE LIGHT CHRISTMAS was born.

But there was more to come from this venture. Yes, the story was something I needed to write as an explanation to my children as to what happens when daddy has to work on Christmas Eve without shattering the magic of Christmas. It became something I thought should be shared, could be used to bring a bit of a human face to the ever vanishing Thin Blue Line and why not in the process make something for charity.

But which charity and why…well one sprang to mind straight away and I made my approach very early in the story process. Care Of Police Survivors, a charity that supports the families of fallen officers which in today’s world seems to be something that will be needed more and more.

COPs were very happy to accept my offer (all author profits to them) and I even managed to enlist the help of an extremely generous and talented friend who provided me some illustrations. That in itself was an amazing compliment as I discussed nothing of my expectations or desires and just said he could read the story and draw whatever he wanted from the story. His pictures were amazing and complimented the story perfectly.

And so the children’s short story BLUE LIGHT CHRISTMAS took shape and went off to CreateSpace for print.

It gave me a taste for doing something beyond me. Yes the story will (hopefully) reflect my storytelling *ahem* abilities??? but more than that the feeling of giving across my meagre profits was something quite special.

It set me thinking on a new venture….something non-writing related that is very much in the infancy but watch this space for something totally different.

F0r now though you can get a copy of BLUE LIGHT CHRISTMAS and support a very worthy charity.

Competition and charity

Wel I may have been quiet on the blog front but rest assured it has not been without good reason. In my absence, I have been working on a number of things that have totally swallowed my time and I shall (briefly) explain each of them:

A new role in my full-time job with a few extra responsibilities. Only a temporary position but nonetheless a great experience but not without its challenges and extra demands
Entering a short story Halloween competition which was on a massive whim but the end results placed me in FIFTH place out of twenty-two entries of which I am extremely pleased with. I have now released it as an eBook for free which you can get a copy from one of the many eBook sourced HERE
Writing Blue Light Christmas a new childrens book with all profits being donated to Care Of Police Survivors my chosen charity. The story has been illustrated by a friend who has, as I have done in writing the story, offered his talents for free so that all profits can go to the charity
Overseeing the production of Origins Of The Magdon: Vercovicium audiobook which is being so well produced I am scared when it ends!

As I am sure you appreciate these have all taken a lot of time and attention, especially Blue Light Christmas which is penned for a 15th November 2016 release.

Thank yo for bearing with me.

Things in life are sent to test us!

My sincerest apologies for very little in the way of blog posting but to say the last two and a bit weeks have been hell would be and understatement. My oldest son has spent time admitted to hospital for an illness which was originally thought to be Meningitis but thankfully turned out to be something less severe but still, not without its health threatening complications and risks. I have therefore been spending time juggling being a father, working and (crying) half sleeping between long shifts at home or hospital trying to get him better.

That said I have still maintained a line in the world of my stories and my books. So much so that as funds allow I am looking to donate a small quantity of copies to the Queens Medical Centre Hospital as one thing that helped my boy was getting things to read and do once he had been admitted. Once things settle I will see how I can go about doing that and giving some of the patients an escape from the real life things.

In respect of my work on the books I have agreed to have an Audiobook made of Origins Of The Magdon Volume 1 and that process is going extremely well. Of the people who auditioned for the narration one particular stood out above the rest and it is this gentleman who I have entrusted the story to. So far he is doing an amazing job and I am more than happy with the progress so far. We are hoping to get something finished before Christmas and see it released with some new and hopefully successful ways of getting noticed.

I have also started playing with Facebook Ads which bring me limited sales, perhaps I am not using it right, but is I suppose bringing me some exposure. Small steps and all.

With some of my downtime I have found a way to create some more children-friendy representations of my character. I have personified an “older Archy” with a fine young man taking on the physical presence of Archy but I have also created some animated characters to become the face of the brand and story. Hopefully these will become anchors for people, young and old, to slowly come to recognise the story. I intend, throughout vanity or vain attempts at marketing to make some public appearances in character as Older Archy (Em-Con Comic Convention, Halloween and such like)…….anything to just get the name and story seen I suppose!

So more than anything it is an apology for being absent but it has not been without good reason.

Become your project…

Wow! The project is growing. The world of publishing is so vast that simply clicking “PUBLISH” on CreateSpace, KDP, Smashwords or Draft2Digital is just one step along the process. In today’s digital age the possibilities are endless and so far I have simply tapped into those possibilities.

Since my last blog entry I have begun the journey into the world of audiobooks and am just waiting to see if the narrator who auditioned best wants to follow through with the project. His voice was perfect for what I wanted and I am hoping by doing a royalty split option it will allow me to have another avenue for word-of-mouth and advertising to get the story told to the world far and wide.

And so to marketing………….I don’t get it! I honestly am trying my best and every day I learn something new.

Having more fun than I probably should be (being a respectable, mature, grown-up dad….oh no I’m just being me)

 

I have employed some traditional approaches which include flyers and leaflets, posters and word-of-mouth. I have tried less conventional in Facebook Ads, silly videos and explanation graphics and posters. One thing I am learning is how many opportunities I seriously miss out on by not being prepared. I bumped into a CBBC presenter the other day and didn’t even have a single leaflet to give him to give to him! How poorly planned was that!?!

So I learned that I must be prepared. Ask me anything about the story and I can talk enthusiastically for hours on end. I just need to engage something to pull people in to ask me those questions.

A friend who knows PR advised me that I am the product, I am the only one who can be the story or else get the attention it deserves.

I took that literally! With a trip to a few clothes shops, I managed to pull together the sort of look I expected Archy to have in my mind’s eye. There are a few extra bits to the outfit but you know what, I suppose he is my (fictional) Great Grandfather so we should have a family resemblance (artistic licence of course). So armed with the fledgeling outfit and a camera smartphone with a timer I played male model and became the face of my own story.

Years watching America’s Next Top Model and this is the best I can do!

 

My funds are minimal (father of three with a recently renovated house etc etc) so I have to do as much as I can on my own. My silly attempt at a viral-type video was self-made, my modelling as Archy self-done, my cover art self-devised everything on this project comes from me, the young Archy pictures self-done with my own children……this whole story and process is a family story and we will continue to do it like this for the whole journey. As others become involved they are welcomed into the family of this series. I would rather it remain a close-knit journey than sell off to the bigger machines that don’t have as much invested in what I/we are doing with The Magdon Series.

So the main thing I have learned is going it alone is a long journey but it remains MY journey. I have compromised so little in getting my story from brain to page to print. Yes of course the big kid in me has loved all of it, especially trying to portray Archy and dressing up, come on who can deny spraying some fake blood, wielding a sword and taking pictures in the sun is a fairly decent and entertaining way to spend my rest days! Better than working I can say that much.

I am no male model, I am no award winning author, I am no ground-breaking parent, I am no graphic designer, I am no PR guru, I am no well trained editor…….YET in all of this I am all of these things. Perhaps not to the shining meng-bucks level but I am taking on every role I can to ensure the product I get out there is the best I CAN GIVE YOU.

This journey is long, it is difficult but hell I will make it as FUN AS I POSSIBLY CAN.

Enjoy the ride.

Adventures and changes

Needless to say, it has been a busy few weeks promoting the first in the series Origins Of The Magdon: Vercovicium but also preparing for the release of Book 2. I know it is difficult to justify releasing the second in the series with moderate sales for the first series but the story is more important than sales. This journey is about the story being told and anything else that comes from that is a bonus.

To that effect Origins Of The Magdon: Valley Of The Kings (Book 2) is set to land on the 8th September and continues Archy’s adventures.

At quite the last minute I decided to change the cover of Book 2 from how I had planned (a simple subtle change to something more distinctly individual for each entry into the series but all following enough of a theme to know they come together! Changing the covers was a big deal for me as I had planned everything around the old cover that suddenly I realised did not quite do my book justice.

So the journey began to create something new and thanks to the contacts I am making online with other authors and (potential) readers feedback was taken and changes made until I managed to create the new finished product of which I am very happy with.

Outside of writing and designing I have spent some quality family time clambering mountains with my son which has allowed a big amount of time to just let the addled brain relax a little. Instead of swimming with ideas they were very much washed away by the natural beauty of the mountain. It was some bonding time allowing freedom, relaxation and reflection thus charging my creative batteries a little.

Writing can become so absorbing but what I am learning is that writing the book is only the start. It’s all about marketing and whilst I have remained determined at this time not to accept the contract I have been offered for my manuscript it is still hard deciding how best to get support and momentum for the story. That said those I am connecting with as readers are investing in and enjoying the story which fills me with the confidence that there is something in the story to keep trying to get the world to notice.

I have struggled to find the right “compartment” into which the story fits as I have written it for such a wide-ranging audience. Adults, children, parents, grandparents, mid-grade, teens….everyone can enjoy something from the story and that is how I want it to be.

Someone asked me why I wrote the story and the only way I could explain it was like this:

I remember watching films like Indiana Jones as a kid and wanting to embark on some epic adventure into history. This story arc for The Magdon Series is my way of rekindling that childish sense of excitement and adventure, that escapism from the real world to question the world and imagine the what ifs. This is a story to encourage a sense of fun, excitement and give you that little tingle when you put yourself in Archy’s place and think “what if”. It’s really my mad way of keeping my childhood alive even though I am, supposed to be a responsible adult these days.

What I really need to try and get done is get myself featured and interviewed somewhere so I can be that human face of the story, explain in my own peculiar way why I do what I do and what brought all of this about.

It’s tough, it’s confusing but it will be worth it in the end.

Also in view of Book 2 coming out you can get Book 1 FREE from Smashwords using the code VK43P

Networking!

Well, it has been an exciting few weeks, hence the absence from blogging. Since my last instalment, I have done a massive re-edit of both Footprints On The Other Side and also Origins Of The Magdon Volume 1 and Volume 2 meaning both are now ready for all avenue distribution (which relies on me escaping the Amazon KDP Select agreement on September 4th).

I have learned a lot about “Vanity Publishers” and while I have to say it was an amazing feeling getting a package through the letterbox from a publisher offering me a contract when I did the digging I wasn’t filled with confidence. Taking some advice from a new Facebook group I have joined (link later), it seems that it wasn;t all as gloriously rosy as I would have first believed.

In the end, I have decided to remain in the go-it-alone way until a proper publishing house takes hold of the story or else I make it on my own without having to fork out thousands of pounds to get…….well I’m not entirely sure what I get (except 10% less royalty than I do now and a very fuzzy sounding marketing strategy).

So what has changed then?

I have joined a few groups on Facebook, but the one that seems most beneficial and supporting is Scribes and Bibliophiles which is a new group but has helped me make some supportive connections. It offers a medium for chatting out ideas, concerns, methods and madnesses along with platforms to share posts or accounts/webpages.

I know the journey ahead is long and each time I do something I try a new twist or a new way to increase my exposure and target audience participation. At the moment I am running an interactive giveaway and while it’s not exactly taking the internet by storm I hope that the more people share it, the more may join and start #hashtagging and taking pictures to help #TheMagdon proliferate the social media world a little.

 

The current competition – with a twist

 

I’ve made approaches to some media outlets, some Agents and at the moment nothing has come from these but each try is another effort made by me to break through the wall! I have even contacted the English Heritage Press Office about the fact the story is set on one of their sites and seeing what we can do for each other, if anything, to boost exposure for both of us. Yes, I know my little book hardly has the weight and standing of The English Heritage, but I have to try.

At the moment I am awaiting a delivery of 1000 leaflets, I am going to start sharing about in various places locally but also ordering more copies of the book to give away to people. I think I have learned that to market yourself requires money too (but not £1,900 to get less out of it and still make as much effort in the background).

I’m doing some partnership work with a Jamberry Nail consultant to see how we can help each other boost some interest and custom each way and who knows it may or may not work.

All the feedback I am getting, through connections (which are biased) but also independent people who enter the Magdon story, is coming back good, so I know there is a market out there. Yes, I dream big, but I have so much belief there is a place for this series out in the wider world means I have got to do everything I can, right or wrong, to get seen.

I know every author has their own project they believe in, and I take none of that away from them, I applaud every self-published/independent author for taking that leap into the world and hope we can all break through the walls of the big publishing houses one day.

So ret assured I have not given up, I have just been trying (and erroring) at various ways to get seen, get heard and get known.