Andrew Barrett's Blog, page 9

Everyone should have a Kath

Everyone should have a Kath.

I began Angel666 back in November 2012. I wrote two scenes that had been spinning around inside my head for the better part of a month. One was a cash-machine robbery, and the other was the… Oh dammit, I can’t say.

Anyway, once I’d written those scenes I thought the whole thing would simply drop in my lap. I was very wrong. I went through several possible stories that either would have ended being far too long and involved, or just ‘didn’t have legs’. I scrapped them, and was left with just those two scenes again.

Eventually I came up with a story in which they could be used, and had the faintest glimpse of a possible ending. So I went with it. The robbery scene ended up at chapter 23, the… other scene, was chapter 15. And the rest, as they say, kinda just fell out the keyboard all by itself. There’s another blog that describes better that particular process. Black by Rose blog

But this blog entry is dedicated to a special person called Kath Middleton.

If it wasn’t for her, Angel666 – or as it later became known, Black by Rose, might never have existed. She was the one who listened to my incessant rants and childish lip-stuck-out blubbing about not being able to fashion a story or create the subplot correctly, and she listened as I told her that this character was misbehaving or that character had died when they should be in the next scene.

And she was the single most important part of the whole book; the propulsion unit that finally granted it leave of earth’s orbit. Okay, she helped enormously.

And she continues to do so. She’s read Black by Rose three times. It hasn’t even been published yet. The amount work she has put into this book is astounding, and I just wanted to tell the world (all six of you!) how amazing I think she is.

Kath, thank you.

Black by Rose is especially for you.

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Black by Rose

Black by Rose

This is the new book, in case you missed that little snippet before.

I wrote most of The Third Rule in 2004 and finished it in 2011, so Black by Rose is the first all new one since then. And it was a strange experience. Strange because I’ve always written in private before. It didn’t matter if I didn’t finish it. It didn’t matter if it was garbage because I didn’t have to tell anyone about it. I didn’t need to pressure myself to get it done.

The Negative Effects of Promotion

The negative effects of promotion.

I ought to qualify the following by first of all saying how much of a people person I am not. It’s not that I don’t like people, it’s just that I am ‘not good’ with them. ‘Not good’ depends largely upon what kind of person they are I suppose. But I find my simple life tends to run smoother when there are no people around.

Well, what's happening?

So what's happening in the wonderful world of writing, Mr Barrett?
Ah, well, I'm glad you asked. The answer is: quite a lot. So far this month, I've lowered the prices of all six books of The Dead Trilogy and The Third Rule trilogy to 99 pence each. But it's for this month only (February). And then they go back to their normal prices, prices that I feel the books are actually worth - okay, probably less than they're worth, but all that the fickle e-book market will tolerate. And the prices will stay there. I'm pretty sure that I won't be doing any more giveaways and anymore price-reductions. And that's not because I'm as tight as a camel's arse in a sandstorm; it's because of the commitment you need in order to fully promote the venture. I haven't got the time, frankly.

So How's the New Book?

So how's the new book coming along?
It's coming along very well indeed. I have to be careful because I don't want to spoil the plot for those who haven't read it yet – that would be everyone then! But I also don't want to jinx it by saying how wonderful it is. I'm not superstitious, but you can't be too careful!

It's Been a Funny Old Year

In the words of someone famous: "It's been a funny old year."
This is a gathering of thoughts concerning events that have happened in 2012. A synopsis, if you like. I began the year on a big personal downer – one of the biggest of my life. On the plus side, I had space to breathe. Also on the plus side, I had three good books on Amazon that were selling in drips and drabs. But then, I'm no entrepreneur, what do you expect. Also in my back pocket I had three-quarters of another book. Remember Star Wars? Remember seeing the Death Star out in space, how it looked almost like a globe but it still had the scaffolding up? Well that's how this new book was at the beginning of the year. And it was my mission to finish it.

Character Hell

I was asked why I put my characters through hell. Here's my reply (spoiler).

It's a good question you pose about Eddie, and why I'm so nasty to him all the time. I've heard a few people say they dislike Eddie to begin with. And that is music to my ears. Think how much more satisfying the conclusion is because you've seen him develop into quite an honourable and decent sort before your very eyes, with no gimmicks and no tricks and no sudden jerks to his progression even after all the horrors he's endured. It's all in the master plan, hehe.

It's about time

It's about time!

How long is it since I began writing a brand new novel? I'd guess at somewhere approaching eight years. In the meantime of course, I've co-written about fifteen hours of television scripts and have finally finished off The Third Rule, but the thought of crafting a brand new novel has grown to become quite alien to me. And even a little scary.

Angel is the working title of the new book, and it features our old friend Eddie Collins who's making a welcome return as lead character.

But it hasn't been going as smoothly as I'd hoped it would. And it has taken me a month to work out why.

The Next Big Thing

The Next Big Thing.
A Long Time Dead, Stealing Elgar, and No More Tears continue to do well on Amazon. I have pulled them out of Amazon Select and have decided to upload them to Smashwords to see if we can get them out to an even wider audience.
The Third Rule – Part One: Atrocities, The Third Rule – Part Two: Running Scared, and The Third Rule – Part Three: Sacrifices are now all on Amazon waiting, hopefully, to collect a handful of decent reviews.
So all that leaves a gaping hole in my life. Please, stop blubbing.

TTR goes live!

The Third Rule goes live!
After an inordinate amount of work by several people, The Third Rule has at last gone live on Amazon.
A small part of me wondered if it would ever happen; actually, that's a lie. A large part of me wondered if it would ever happen. And now that it has, I breathe easier again. Well, not much easier because I still wonder if anyone will actually like the bloody thing.