Alex Laybourne's Blog, page 103

I am currently appearing over at KillerAphrodite.com

Today I make the first stop on my blog tour to the top.

You can find me over at www.killeraphrodite.com where you can peer through a small window into my mind. See what makes me tick, how my ideas come to me and how I learnt to accept them, to use them.

Well, I don't want to give away anything more here, if you want to take a peek, feel free to join me.

ROW80: Considering a Change

I am considering changing my goals of this round, although my original stated intentions may well be vague enough to cover me for at least another week.

I haven't really done much work on Trials and Tribulations (Book 2 of the Highway to Hell Trilogy) although I have had a great idea which when written will close out the opening chapter / section quite nicely. I did write a nice argument scene between the main 5 characters that I found really fun to do. I am still not sure if it will change to group dynamic or to what extent but I am interested in finding out.

The majority of my week has been promoting Highway to Hell focusing my attention on the Amazon links rather than Smashwords as I continue to battle their premium status checks.

I am also busy organizing a (currently mini) blog tour. I have 5 confirmed stops so far but I am interesting in adding some more stops to the tour as I go.

That really is about it for this week. I have the last two blog posts to write today and then it is back to the new novel again.

I hope you all are on target for your ROW80 goals. Thanks for reading

Fall of the Menodykes

Drago relaxed as the warm wind battered his cheeks. The world stretched out below him. To his left the ocean glistened and sparkled like a jewel it was. To his right the forest stretched out for miles, broken only by rivers and the wisps of smoke from the mining and lumber camps. Before him stretched the Orgaal mountain range, the jagged mountain peaks forced him to ascend higher into the clouds, obscuring his view for a moment. Until his eyes adjusted and saw through the haze. Beyond the mountains lay the land of the Menodykes, and it was this that was his ultimate destination.

The Menodykes were a largely peaceful tribe, religious to a near extreme. Every day was devoted an individual Idol, all of whom were reflections of the many faces of one supreme God. Menos.

Drago hated to be away from his family, his wife Thalio and his children Remus and Xanthi, but the needs of the tribe must. Supplies were needed and it had been a particularly barren crop the cycle just gone. Luckily enough the Menodykes had some of the most fertile land on the continent and so Drago's trip would be short. If he was lucky he would be home in time to celebrate his son's birthday. He was turning 13, and that was a big deal. He would be taken out and taught how to wrangle, and would not be allowed to return home until his steed had been chosen. For the Rymbao there was no honour in taking a trained beast. Those caught in the wild developed the greatest respect and bond with their rider and it would serve them well in battle.

With that Drago gave the word, his dragon released a piercing cry giving the order to the thousand man army that flew behind them. As they crested the mountain, the sky grew dark, a long shadow was cast over the Menodyke settlement and the massacre began. It was swift, it was ruthless and it left no survivors. Within a matter of hours the victory was claimed, The Rimbao warriors took to the skies once more, and with celebratory burst of fire saluting the Drago, they headed home laden with supplies, water and materials. It would take a time before the Rimbao had fully expanded into the new settlement, and the first course of action was to establish the outer wall and defenses, but Drago didn't care. His job was done, his mission over…. for now.

It's Promotion Time

Well, Highway to Hell has been out on Amazon for a few days now, I have had a change to get a few links sent out and around on Twitter and Facebook, updated my link file and added the new links to my stories and sneak peaks on Goodreads and Wattpad.

What now.

I am hitting the road. That's right, I am pulling on my walking shows, holding my thumb up into the wind and hitchhiking my way across the blogging scene.

If there is anyone willing to provide me shelter as I partake of this journey I would be more than grateful.

Please drop me an email at a.laybourne@hotmail.com or you can leave your contact details as a comment below.

When Is The Right Time To Post?

This is something that has been bouncing around inside my mind for a while now, a conundrum of sorts.

With the internet the world is becoming a smaller and smaller place, I can spend my time chatting with a night owl in Australia or an American insomniac just as easily as I can talk to the person I share a desk with at work. Plus with all of the social media sites and their email alerts and constant flashing updates windows you can always see if you have missed someones communication attempts. In short, we are all available to each other twenty-four hours a day.

The thing is though, just because we are always within reach, it doesn't mean we are always there. Living in Europe I have been struggling with the fact that the majority of my friends and social network associates are based in America. Not to mention, given my language of choice, the bulk of my potential readers are also based in time zones other than my own.  So when is the best time for people to be not just writing and posting, but spreading the word of their posting.

I tend to try to write a blog post in the morning before work (no during it … honest) and then I post it straight away, but is this really the most productive? I mean sure, blogs are stationary, and anybody who subscribes to my posts gets an email telling them it is there. So again the time of my posting is kind of taken care of. However, I only have a very small following, and would like to have my work read by millions more people so should I not be waiting to actually publish my post at a better time of day.

I have noticed that the twitter world really starts to come alive at around 15:00 my time, which is around 06:00 and 09:00 in the states. Given that sites such as Twitter and Facebook work in real time, I have been holding myself back and only really spreading the word of my posting until after this magical hour has been reached.  But that still means that the initial notifications that are sent have been missed. The networked blogs and the WordPress 'sharing' have already gone out, witnessed for the most part by the friends in the eastern corners of the globe and for the most Europe. (Read UK)

I cannot really complain about my website traffic, as it is holding pretty steady and I am getting some comments and regular readers, but lets face it, we always want more, it is who we are. More readers means more 'friends' and when boiled down, more name recognition for me, and that means my name gets spread and obviously recognized easier down the road.

When do you post? Do you do it when it best suits you? Maybe writing the posts at the best time for writing and posting them later on, its only the push of a button after all.

 

Get in lane for you are on the Highway to Hell

I am sure that many of you will have already seen some of my tweets or wall posts, but I thought it was about time I posted about it. I wanted to wait until today because it would give me more links to use. Purely selfish reasons I can assure you.

It was quite some journey, it has seen me through some interesting times. One job loss, three part time jobs, one new job that causes me more nightmares than this book would give a small child. One birth and one death a couple of birthdays and two Christmases. Of course there were a few breaks in between, but it was never far from my mind. In short, this book is a part of me. A part that I can now officially share with the world.

You can get your copy of Highway to Hell at Smashwords, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Amazon.de

I would like to take a moment to thank you all for sticking with me during this journey, for reading through my ups and downs and for that I am eternally grateful.

 

Thank you and may I be presumptious enough to say Happy Reading

ROW80: A Trip Through The Doldrums

Well, the week has passed and I have not really done anything. My presence on the social scene (network of course… like I have time for a real social life) has been drastically reduced, my writing time eradicated by work and some freelance projects that I just haven't been able to find my normal rhythm with. Thankfully I will finish these articles today and can then get back to what (I hope) I do best. Creating scary fiction tales that will get people talking and make me a household name. (Can you say visions of grandeur?)

While I have not touched Trials and Tribulations (Book 2 of my Hell Trilogy) I have had some interesting ideas about where to take it, some sub plots, interesting characters and a couple of short story ideas that I am interested in expanding on. I have also been busy behind the scenes, building up my accounts on Goodreads, Facebook, Wattpad etc. Posting stories and musings and building up a link file.

I have found the best marketing tool in the world, the book The First Ten Steps by M R Mathias. A great author all around good guy and someone I am proud to call a friend. I am busy following his advice, building up a link file and expanding my network. I actually have a plan for my marketing for once, but I won't spoil it for you. BUy his book and learn for yourself. It will be the best weapon you could ever have to wage war on the Indie Publishing world.

I really want to get back to my W.I.P tonight and would like to see 750 words done by the time I head to bed, but only time will tell. One of my children is sick and so she gets all the attention first and foremost, with writing coming in (as always when it comes to my children) second.

I have had a few issues with the formatting for smashwords and their premium status. My editor formatted the novel for me, but it was rejected so he has revised it and I am now waiting to see what they say. I am tempted to release a short flash fiction collection for Free, to give me an added tool to my arsenal and help get my name on people's lips.

But all of that is information for next time. Right now I am off to make a coffee and play with my son. However, before I truly leave what sort of writer would I be without the (shameless…utterly utterly shameless) plug for my work

 

You can read the first 20% of Highway to Hell  for FREE at Smashwords, or get the entire 96,000 word novel for just $2.99. You can also meet some of my characters, Marcus via my Goodreads page and Richard via my Authors.com blog. I have also just posted a sample of my writing right here. It's just a couple of pages from the middle of Highway to Hell, but hopefully enough to wet your appetite.  You can also find me on Facebook and Twitter should you want to chat.

In Search of Peace

I lie back and stare at the blue sky. It is endless. All around me I heard people talking. A young couple chatting about their life together, making plans and mapping out hopes and dreams that are ultimately destined to fall apart. I see an older couple walking hand in hand. I raise me head from the sand and follow them, the ocean caressing their feet.

A breeze washes over us. A warm rush of air. Nobody notices it but me. I turn around and I see the dark clouds gathered on the horizon, I feel their presence and can sense its approach. I lie back down and for the first time in many years I smile.

The sky grows dark, the sea that had been so calm grew choppy, sand kicked up and swirled through the air in mini tornadoes dancing with each other over the sand.

All around me people began to scream, the whispers of love and life replaced by the shrieks of horror and dismay.

I rose up, the cloud rose higher and higher billowing upwards into a giant mushroom shape.

The noise was deafening, buildings groaned and collapsed to the floor, windows shattered and cars were sent tumbling down the roads like misshapen bowling balls.

The world around us grew grey and everything froze. The air, the people, even the crumbling buildings seem to stop and take a few moments just savor the occasion. That was then the first pressure wave of the blast hit us. The sand was blown from the beach in a wall, trees were ripped from the ground and everybody was thrown to the floor.

I looked over at the couple who had been sharing the day with me and they were already half melted by the heat, their bodies dissolving as if they were made of Styrofoam and being covered with Acetone. Their bones and skin were melting, their arms stretched to the ground, their faces elongated, their hair first smouldered then caught fire. I looked at the others, the elderly could stood hand in hand, their lower body gone, their torso's sinking into the frothy pink sludge that had only seconds before been propelling them through life.

Another wave of pressure hit and they all exploded, a shower of red mist, rubberized bone and organs filled the air and was scattered to the wind.

I felt it all, my body burnt, the skin reddened. It felt as though I stood in a pottery kiln and while all around my the world became brittle and fragmented I simply cooked, covered in the right glaze to make me even stronger.

I reached into the back pocket of my jeans. The material had begun to burn, flames engulfed me but dared not touch my flesh. I pulled out the battered old photograph. Its sepia image so faded by time the faces were almost unrecognizable. It gently stroked each image, the last memories I had of my family. The paper flickered, caught fire and was gone in the blink of an eye. I threw back my arms and cried out, begging for the suffering to end, and darkness over took me.

When I opened my eyes the sky was burning, and all around me the earth had been reduced to rubble. The ground beneath my feet was dry and cracked like an African river bed, my feet burned, the soles blistered and raw. My whole body was red and glistening. I walked the once busy streets naked, my clothes incinerated as was everything and everyone else around me. I fell to my knees and cried. Not because of the pain, I felt no pain, not any more, but because after so many centuries, death would still not come. The curse of being an immortal was permanent, and there was no escaping it.I turned around and looked back at where I had sat. I saw my family, my wife, my two daughters. They stood together, side by side, their bonnets covering the heads, dresses pulling their waists thin while artificially making their hips wide.

I hear them call my name, their voices echo in my mind wherever I roam. I promise them that I will find a way to join them, to end my misery, but all I can do today is once again turn my back on them and walk away.

 

 

If you like this story please check out my novel Highway to Hell at Smashwords where you can read the first 20% free http://www.smashwords.com/profile/vie...

ROW80: All Quiet on the Western Front

Well this will be a very quick update. I have not written a word in a week. I haven't had time to promote Highway to Hell at all. Work has been crazy. It has chewed me  up and spat me out several times over. I have at times even been questioning if I will continue writing. I really hope I don't act on that question in those stressed out moments.

I plan to get some writing and some real promo work done this weekend. Although the promo may have to wait until the Smashwords approval has been received for their premium status as that gives me a wider range.

That really is it for this week, I hope to get some flash fiction up later today and feel free to check out some of my older flash fiction at wattpad.

 

Thank you.

Is Writing Good For Us?

A while ago I read an article in a magazine that said people who sit and think about working out, about weightlifting or running burn more calories 'at rest' than those who thought of non-physical activities. This study seemed well researched and tested, with large survey groups all sitting wired up to machines and given specific tasks and things to think about while they sat. The results did seem conclusive and when you think about them, it makes sense.

I want to know does this apply onto to working out. I mean it is clear that the issue at hand is that thinking burns calories. So where does that leave us writers.

Let's face it, every movement the body makes burns calories, when we type we are moving our fingers, just look at your forearms the next time you are mid flow on your novel or next blog post. See those muscles flying around, contracting and relaxing. That is the same principle as working out. Albeit to a lesser degree. There must be some calorie burn there right.

Then what about our brains, if thinking about working out helps to burn calories, then watch about thinking how to take 5 main characters, lead them through the many different multiverses of Hell and save all existence as we know it? If that doesn't cause a mental sweat I don't know what will.

Sure, we won't be burning Tour De France style calories, or really notice any difference in our over all fitness or wellbeing, but hey, in a body conscious world where every calories can be crucial, any extra thrown out of the door are always a  good thing right?

Besides what better excuse could you give when confronted with the phrase "Are you behind that computer again" (or any variants thereof) that to say. "It's fine, I'm working out."