Marc Nobbs's Blog, page 26

Re-imagining the site

I had a bit of a problem with the website over the summer. It got hacked. Or so Google would have me believe. They told me they detected ‘malware’ and blocked the site from their index and, for uses of Chrome or the google toolbar, stopped readers from even getting here without seeing a big red warning sign.

I couldn’t see that there was actually anything wrong with the site, but I still dutifully followed Google’s advice, did what they asked and finally got the site unblocked. Only for it to get blocked again a few days later.

So I did what any self-respecting lazy arse would do. I deleted the whole thing and opted to start again.

So here it is. A fresh start.

Of course, that means I have to re-publish everything. All the pages about my books, all the art work, everything.

So, I guess what I’m saying is, bare with me while I get things up and running again.

thanks.

Wanted – Beta-Readers who aren't Afraid to tell me it’s Shit

Depending on how long the finished product turns out to be, I’m somewhere between 15-20% of the way through writing Book 2 of the Tutelam Venit series and I’m going to do something I’ve never done before. I’m putting a call out for a couple of beta-readers to help me with the development of the book.

I’ve already got a couple of good friends who read for me and who I trust. They have been, and still are, brilliant. They are sounding boards for me to bounce ideas off and generally pretty damn good at telling me what I want to hear. They know me, I know them. It’s a good working relationship and a good friendship.

But what I’m after this time around is a couple of people who don’t know me as well, but who aren’t afraid to tell me what they think without holding back. I’m looking for someone who will not have been a sounding board and so won’t know where the story is going. What I want from them isn’t a free editing service. The book is still in a first draft form with line-editing a long way off. Instead I want genuine reader reactions to the plot and the characters. I want real opinions, even if those opinions might be difficult to hear. That way, I’ll be able to look at things while I’m writing, make changes as I think they are needed, and craft a better story.

I can’t afford to pay you, but I will throw in copies of any of my books you haven’t already bought and hey, you get to read the new book way before anyone else – that has to be worth something, right?

Obviously, it would help if anyone who’s interested in doing this has read the first book, so if you are interested and haven’t read book 1, I can let you have a copy to bring you up to speed. Once you’re ready, I’ll e-mail you each chapter as it’s completed and then, hopefully, have an informed and informative discussion with you about its contents. This won’t be a quick process, I’ve written seven chapters so far, and my last few books have been up around the 50+ chapter mark.

If you’re interested in beta-reading for me, then drop me a message at marc@marcnobbs.com and I’ll get back to you to discuss it.

Humps in the Road

I’ve managed to get over one of my early Humps in the Road - metaphorically speaking, of course. What am I talking about? Indulge me while I explain.

I’ve always been a fairly ‘linear’ writer – that is to say that I tend to write a story, regardless of its length – from beginning to end, scene after scene. Not all writers work this way. Some will write scenes at random – starting with the most ‘important’ and then fill in the bits in-between once those road markers are done. It was a pretty famous rumour that J K Rowling wrote the last scene of the last Harry Potter book before she’d even finished the first book, although, I don’t know how true that is.

But for me, writing ‘linearly’ works. I tend to see my stories as “films in my head” and films, well most of them, are pretty linear beasts. I like working this way because what has already been written can influence what follows, even if it means a story deviates from its original plan. Yes, I do start out with a plan – a sketch or outline of the plot if you like.

But writing linearly has its disadvantages as well. For example, it may well be that I write a scene that means I have to go and re-write an earlier part of the story to make it fit. This can be an advantage too, as I have no problems with going back and adding bits for foreshadow what’s now been written later on.

But the biggest problem with writing linearly is the Humps in the Road. Think of the plot outline as a roadmap. Start at point A and get to point F via points B, C, D and E. However, in-between those major plot points, you have to take the scenic route. Take time to stop and admire the view, so to speak. But it’s these points in a story that are the most difficult to write. It’s as if each major plot point is at the summit of a hill, and climbing that hill can be hard work. Of course, coming down the other side is hard work too, but a different kind of work - you have to work at controlling yourself and not ‘overwriting’.

Now, for someone who doesn’t write linearly, the humps in the road that you have to climb are not a problem – you just skip from one summit to the next and worry about climbing them later. But for me, a hump in the road can cause you to stop writing for a period – be it a few days, a couple of weeks or longer.

And, thankfully, I’ve just climbed over one of those humps and it only took me the weekend. Although, stopping to watch the GP down the road and then Murray lose at Wimbledon probably added to the delay somewhat.

I’m glad this hump took a fairly short time to get over. I’m still fairly early in the story, and having just returned to it from my family break, I’d hate to have gotten bogged down so soon. As it was, I’ve just written three fairly important plot points, and I was in the valley between them and the next – which is just as important.

Onwards and upwards now then. Onwards and upwards.

Back in the Saddle

It’s been nine months since I last wrote made a blog entry and for the last six months I’ve done very little writing at all. But, as of this week, I’m back in the saddle (so to speak) and chomping at the bit.

So, what’s kept me away from being Marc Nobbs for so long? Simple. Family.

My wife gave birth to our second child back in January and as any parent knows, those first six months of your baby’s life are hectic with a capital H but at the same time not something to be missed. My little girl is gorgeous (although my opinion in this matter may be biased), bright as a button and my wife, my son and I have been doing everything we can to make sure she’s a happy baby to boot.

And she is. Ask any father and he’ll tell you that the look of adoration his daughter gives him is heart-melting. It’s a look of absolute trust and love – like she knows that you’re going to do everything in your power to make sure no know ever hurts her.

So you’ll understand if I took time out of my online existence as Marc Nobbs to focus on that feeling. Oh, and trying to make sure that big brother doesn’t feel left out or pushed aside by the new arrival has been pretty time-consuming work too. Still, his golf swing is really coming along for a six-year-old and I’m hopeful that he’ll provide me with a decent pension once he’s on the tour. (That’s a joke, by the way – I’m not that heartless)

But, I’m now all set to resume (or should that be to really start) work on book two of the Tutelam Venit series, which is sub-titled “A Tortured Soul”. I’ve written about 10,000 words so far – probably about a tenth of the whole book. I’ve also got the plot sketched out, although as with any work planned in advance it’ll be subject to change as things push on and the characters get their own say in what happens.

The first book, “A Good Man” exceeded all my hopes for it. The response from readers on StoriesOnline flooded in – most of them very positive about the book – and the book very quickly became by far my best ever seller at Amazon & Smashwords and even outstripped the combined sales from all the books I released through Phaze.

But as anyone who’s read “A Good Man” will know, the ending is pretty bleak and the epilogue makes it clear that things will get worse for Paul before they get better.  As the sub-title suggests, “A Tortured Soul” will be a much darker book than its predecessor and I expect that large chunks of it will be quite tough to write. But I’ll plough my way through it as best I can. I’ll revise and edit it to make it the best it can be and release it for the world to consume as and when it’s ready. Hopefully, that won’t be too long a wait.

Bestseller! Sort of.

[image error]I’m delighted to announce that after just a week of its release, Tutelam Venit : Book 1 – A Good Man, is already my best selling title to date.

Sales have been split pretty evenly between Smashwords and the Kindle Store, and at one point, the book was in the top 7,500 titles on the Kindle Store. Okay, so that’s not really anything to shout about, but I was chuffed with it. It’s dropped since, but is still hanging about in the top 25,000.

I’ve seen a small spike in the Kindle rankings for some of my other books too, but since they’ve been published by Phaze, I won’t have access to the sales figures for a couple of months.

Still, to say I’m happy with how the book has been received so far would be an understatement. I’ve had quite a few messages of support and thanks from readers eager to know when I’ll be getting on with writing (and releasing) the second book in the series.

I have to say, that might take a while. I’ve started work on it, but given that this first book took over a year to write, I would expect the second one to take a similar length of time. But we’ll see about that, shall we.

In the meantime, if you haven’t got your copy yet, you can pick it up from Smashwords to the Kindle store.

Released!

[image error] And so it begins…

That’s right, I’ve released Tutelam Venit : Book 1 – A Good Man. [image error]

Yesterday I finished editing the second draft and submitted the book to Smashwords and Kindle. It went live on Smashwords within an hour and I expect it to be available from the Kindle store later today.

It’s been a long old road to get this book written, edited and released. I can only hope that you, the reader, think it’s worth it.

I’ve submitted the book for review at various sites, and I’m trying to set up some interviews or a blog tour to let people know it’s out there. If you’re a reviewer that would like a copy of the book to review, or if you’re an author who’d like to exchange a guest spot on your blog for one on mine and a copy of the book, drop me an email or message me on Twitter (@marcnobbs) or Facebook.

If not, then you can get your copy of the book from Smashwords here or the Kindle store here.

Oh, and if you are quick, you can get 50% off the cover price with my special Release Week discount code – “HU48R”. This code is good through to Sunday.

Suppose I better think about getting started on the second book of the series now, huh?

Chapter Headings are Go!

I recognise that I'm probably making something of a rod for my own back with this decision when it comes to future books in the Tutelam Venit series, but I've decided I AM going to give the chapters thier own titles.

The response I got to yesterday's post was quite clearly, "Yes! We like chapter headings", so that's what I'm going to do. Actually, once I'd made the decsion, and started making up the titles, it turned out to be a lot easier than I thought. I quickly went back and 'on instinct' so to speak, gave titles to the chapters I'd already edited. Hopefully they do the job I want - which is to say they pique your interest without giving away the plot.

I'll give the remianing 21 (yes, I said 21) chapters that I have to edit titles as I edit them.

So, want a sneak peek?

Of course you do. Here iare the chapter headings of the prologue and first ten chapters of Tutelam Venit 1 : A Good Man

Prologue - You’re Going to Miss Him
1 - Mister not My Cester
2 - The First Day of School
3 - The World Turned on its Head
4 - There’s No Rule Against It
5 - Something in Common
6 - Double Date
7 - Warned Off
8 - What Have I Done?
9 - Routine
10 - Lily

So, did it work? Are you now sitting there wondering what all this means? There won't be too much longer to wait, I promise you. I'm getting through these edits pretty quick, and once that's done, I can set a release date. 

Chapter Headings

[image error]"Reunion" has chapter headings. They're not very good. "Kissed by a Rose" doesn't have chapter headings and neither does "Eternally & Evermore" but what "Eternally & Evermore" does have is dialogue quotes at the start each chapter. I like them. I think they work quite well.

But what about “A Good Man”? Should it have chapter headings? Or should I dig out dialogue quotes like I did with “E&E”? It’s a question I’ve been wrestling with for a while.

Part of me really quite likes to see chapters have titles in books I’m reading. It piques my interest right at the start when looking at the table of contents. I’ve also found it really quite useful when reading e-books that you jump around using the TOC. Chapter headings seems more memorable somehow than just chapter numbers.

But, and here’s the thing, I’m really, really bad at coming up with chapter headings. No, I mean, seriously bad. Hell, I’m bad enough at coming up with book titles, why would I be any better at giving each chapter a name? And “A Good Man” has 47 chapters, plus a prologue and epilogue. That’s forty-nine different headings to come up with.

So, dearest reader of mine, what do you think? Do you like chapter headings? Did the dialogue quotes in “Eternally & Evermore” work? Or would “A Good man” be better served with nothing more than chapter numbers?Tell me what you think. It might actually help me make a decision. You can comment on this thread, or drop me an e-mail.

Editing Update

Just a quick update, sinceI realise it's been a couple of weeks since my last one.

I'm just about half-way through the edit of the book now. Things seem to be going well and I'm pretty pleased with the way this is working out. One of the nice things about having completed first draft of any book, is that you can go back to the early chapters and foreshadow what's to come. That's what I'm doing with some of these. Of course, this is the first of a series of books, and while it would be nice to foreshadow what's to come in the future books, I haven't exactly written them yet, so that would be hard.

Okay, so if I'm honest, I haven't even properly got the plot of the next two books fully worked out. I have a sketch. But it needs some fleshing. I'm not worried, though. It'll come together. It always does (famous last words?)

Busy Week

Last week proved to be a terribly busy one in various ways. Things at work went a bit mad and my "to do" list actually lengthened rather than shortened. And things at home have been pretty hectic too. On top of that, I've been spending what little quality 'me' time I have been able to grab catching up on the latest season of Torchwood. I missed two weeks through going on holiday, and haven't wanted to watch the episodes that aired since I got back out of sequence. The season finale is this week, and I'm only one episode behind now, so I should be able to sit down on Thursday night ready for the big pay off.

So that all means I've done no more editing since my last post and I'm still only fifteen chapters in. Hopefully, that'll change this week.

Oh, and one more thing. I got my Google+ invitation this week. I haven't sat down and worked it out yet, but my google profile for those who might want to add me is here.