David M. Brown's Blog, page 101

Biannual Blogathon Bash #blogathon2: Mini-Challenge Update

Well, so far I’m up to 20 hours on the Biannual Blogathon Bash (#blogathon2 on Twitter) and I was going to leave it there but thought I should push on a little bit more to finish the mini challenges that were on my list.

Mini Challenge UpdatesMini Challenge: Do Follow, No Follow links

Goal: Update any paid links in your last five posts to “no follow”  - Done (admittedly because  I didn’t have any)

Goal: Install the NoFollow Link plugin – Done

Mini Challenge: Photo Collage

Goal: Use Pic Monkey to make a collage – Done

Goal: Upload the collage to the blog – Done (and of course, it’s of some of the cats we have rescued!)

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Mini Challenge: Google Calendar

Goal: Set up Google Calendar – Done (I was already using a couple of different calendars)

Goal: Sync to iPhone – Done (I hadn’t realised you could do this – I was using an app – so this was great news!

Goal: Set up email alerts – Again, I wasn’t aware you could do this so this is fab

Mini Challenge: Picket Fence Blogs

Goal: Register – Done (I was actually registered but used the advice to improve my listing information)

Mini Challenge: Finding Blogger Support

Goal: Join a Blogging Community – Done (I joined Club Content)

Goal: Join a Collective – Done (I joined She Speaks)

 Thank you to everyone for these wonderful mini challenges!

Biannual Blogathon Bash #blogathon2: Mini-Challenge Update | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave

Biannual Blogathon Bash #blogathon2 – Update

For more information about the Biannual Blogathon Bash (#blogathon2), click here.

Blogathon update

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So… progress so far: not bad! For a full overview, see here.

Friday was a bust. We knew we had to collect the cat from the vets and I had to work but I was still hoping for about six hours. Then, two things happened:

We found a leak in the spare roomThe car broke down on the way home from picking the cat up

So, the day was pretty much gone but I did manage to get a couple of hours done despite the mayhem! And Kain is doing really well despite his terrible week, so that’s made me very happy. My Dad has fixed the leak for now too so drama over for now!

Today has been much better and I have made real progress. 27 posts are now formatted and I’ve completed the media library tidy-up part of my challenge. I attended the Twitter party too.

I’m now about 10 hours into the challenge so it’s touch and go as to whether I’ll hit the full 24. I’m down – but I’m not out! The whole purpose of the blogathon is setting aside some time to really make headway on your blogging to-do list and I’m definitely getting there.

How are you doing?

Biannual Blogathon Bash #blogathon2 – Update | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave

Biannual Blogathon Bash – Here’s what’s in store! #blogathon2

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I found out about the Biannual Blogathon Bash (#blogathon2 if you’d like to follow on Twitter) had this idea that it would be fantastic to spend 24 hours over a 72 hour period working on the blog and getting through some of those things that constantly sit on the to-do list. Dave and I merged blogs last month but the problem with merging two blogs is you are bringing together two different formatting and structure styles. On top of that, we went for a complete redesign so everything was different.

Therefore, my to-do list has had one big heavy job weighing it down since then: reformat the posts. I don’t expect to get all 800 (yep, you read it right…) done this weekend but I’d like to make substantial headway.

Blogathon to do listJob number one: reformat at least 100 posts.Job number two: I was originally pinning the books I’d reviewed to Pinterest but I realised I need to go back and look at all the books I did before I started this process and do those too.Job number three: check for broken links. I recently found out about this amazing plugin that helps you detect broken links on your blog, so I intend to install it and fix any.The final job: tidy up my media library. Yes, I am one of those naughty people who upload images with silly names (like IMG76355.jpg) and can never find them again, so I will be fixing that.

I realise I probably couldn’t achieve everything in the full 72 hours, let alone 24, but I certainly intend to do as much as I can and I’ve tried to set a realistic goal for each ‘job’. Below you can see my progress bars.

Blogathon progressNumber of hours I’ve completed (out of 24)  0 of 24Number of book images pinned (out of 50)  0 of 50Number of posts formatted (out of 100)  0 of 100Media library progress (out of 100)  0 of 100Mini-challenge progress (out of 5)  0 of 5Essentials at the ready?

The final thing I need to do before I begin is check off the essentials:

Lots of chocolate? Check!Even more caffeine? Check!Understanding husband who knows I’m going to be glued to the laptop? CheckGood bottle of red wine to toast each completed goal? CheckGood luck everyone!

Good luck to each and everyone taking part in the Biannual Blogathon Bash! Don’t forget to join in on Twitter (#blogathon2) and you can also complete my ‘Make Twitter Work For Your Blog’ mini-challenge if you’d like to!  I hope you’ll leave a comment with a link back to your own Biannual Blogathon Bash post!

Mini-challenges | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave

Make Twitter Work For Your Blog #blogathon2

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This is a mini challenge for the Biannual Blogathon Bash, a twice yearly blogging marathon but anyone is welcome to read and use the information. However if you are signed up for the blogathon or you sign up and participate before the end of the blogathon, completing this mini challenge improves your chances of winning a prize.

The blogathon is June 22-25. If you are participating in the blogathon, please do not complete this challenge until the blogathon has started. Don’t forget to follow along on Twitter: #blogathon2.

The Biannual Blogathon Bash (#blogathon2) Mini Challenge:Make Twitter Work For Your Blog

Social media in itself can be a bit of a minefield – and then when you start throwing all the other stuff into the mix, like apps and tools, it gets a bit crazy.  But here are a couple of tools you can use to help get the most out of Twitter when promoting your blog.

Tweriod – This is a great tool to help you figure out the best time to be tweeting to your Tweeps. You can sign up via Twitter and have a report generated with the optimal times for you to be using Twitter. Benefit: send that tweet out when it’s more likely to be seen. Buffer   - Want to promote regularly but not be glued to your computer? Buffer can be used to ‘dripfeed’ tweets into your stream at regular intervals. Even better, you can see analytics on how many people have shared or clicked. Benefit: send updates out regularly without being tied to your PC. Twylah - A relatively new tool and still in beta, this gives you the chance to see your tweets as a magazine style page. You can also tweet using Twylah’s power tweet function to create a specific page for the tweet where related tweets and responses will show up. You can also integrate this within your blog to display your own tweets (see my Twylah page here). Benefit: great way to showcase your tweets within your blog – or your blog within your tweetsSo, my mini-challenge is this:

Find one Twitter tool that will help you get more out of your blog related tweets and implement it for the Biannual Blogathon Bash.  Either get your Tweriod report so you know your best tweeting time, apply for a Twylah page so you can join this great program or use Buffer (the basic version is free) to send some tweets. And if you can use any combination of the three, so much the better!

Did you know: you can run a Tweriod report and then use Buffer to dripfeed your ‘power tweets’ from Twylah? Now that’s the ultimate combo surely?

Results?

Why not leave a comment and let me know how you got on? Or share another tool you found to help Twitter work for your blog!  And why not join our Twitter? Leave the link to your Twitter profile so we can follow each other’s tweets and see the challenge in action!

Thanks for taking part!Feel free to leave your Blogathon post link with your comments

Make Twitter Work For Your Blog #blogathon2 | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave

#Arggghsome pirate names – or not! – and #SundayShorts

Yesterday marked the #arggghsome launch of A World Apart and we had great fun with a blogger competition (still ongoing), everyone competition (still ongoing), renaming our cats and raising money for the RSPCA (still ongoing) and a Tweet chat. One of the most popular tools was introduced to us by author Alison DeLuca, who gave us the opportunity to discover our very own pirate names.

WarningThis is a very dangerous tool – use at your own risk. Don’t come complaining to us when three hours have passed and all you have to show for it is a collection of scurvy sea dog names.  Still game? Okay – enjoy the Your browser doesn’t support iFrames :( Vote for this poll here.Let us know your pirate name!About A World Apart (2012) [image error]

Demetrius makes his first mistake when he lets his best friend Halcyon marry Eleyna, the love of his life, without saying a word. On the day of the wedding, he walks away from the Elencheran town of Dove’s Meadow and joins the army. He makes his second mistake when the pirate Black Iris tricks him into letting dozens of men, women and children die in a fire. Demetrius is imprisoned in grief and disgrace.

But he can atone. The Black Iris is dead. The Ivory Rose has risen to the top of the pirates and is leading brutal raids on the coast. If Demetrius can capture and kill her, he’ll win his pardon.

And then Demetrius discovers the Ivory Rose is Eleyna. He must decide which will be his third mistake: losing his last chance at a pardon, or destroying the one woman he’s ever loved.

Goodreads Website Twitter Facebook

SmashwordsAmazon UKAmazon USEnter the giveaway

Don’t forget if you’re a blogger with a pirate post you can also enter the separate giveaway here.

Taking part in the treasure hunt? Visit these blogs to find a piece of the puzzle phrase. Once you’ve put it together, enter it into the Rafflecopter for an extra 25 points: CabinGoddess — alchemyofscrawl — BunnysReview — ABShepherd Reinvented Reader — Fresh Pot of Tea — Jess resides here — Library Girl Reads — Karen Toz

a Rafflecopter giveawayNeed more pirates?Argggh-some Launch Party for A World Apart by David BrownA World Apart by David Brown + Giveaway + Cute PirateA World Apart Launch – An Argggh-some PartyArgggh-some Launch Party: Shiver me timbers, there be Pirates in Elenchera!

| Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave

Pircats: An #arggghsome way to raise some money for the #RSPCA

Mr B knows better than anyone that when it comes to our cats, I like them to take centre-stage – and even if we’re celebrating the launch of his new book A World Apart, he’s going to have to accept that the furry ones are going to be just as involved!

We were actually able to rehome four of our boys from the RSPCA and a further two came from a smaller shelter in Sheffield. So, to celebrate the launch of A World Apart, we’re opening up this fun poll. If we can reach 100 votes, we’ll donate £25 to the RSPCA. If we can get over 250 votes, we’ll make it £50. It’s a great fun way to raise some money for a wonderful charity.

First: the pircats (pirates + cats = pircats)

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Pirate names: Pirate John the Fashionably Late and Slashin’ Vinny Bonny

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Pirate names: Decrepit Quinn Barbossa and ”Sharkbait” Randal Straw

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Pirate names: Smilin’ Hubert Straw and Dancin’ Hank Napier

 

About A World Apart (2012)

[image error] Demetrius makes his first mistake when he lets his best friend Halcyon marry Eleyna, the love of his life, without saying a word. On the day of the wedding, he walks away from the Elencheran town of Dove’s Meadow and joins the army.

He makes his second mistake when the pirate Black Iris tricks him into letting dozens of men, women and children die in a fire. Demetrius is imprisoned in grief and disgrace. But he can atone. The Black Iris is dead. The Ivory Rose has risen to the top of the pirates and is leading brutal raids on the coast. If Demetrius can capture and kill her, he’ll win his pardon.

And then Demetrius discovers the Ivory Rose is Eleyna. He must decide which will be his third mistake: losing his last chance at a pardon, or destroying the one woman he’s ever loved.

Goodreads Website Twitter Facebook

SmashwordsAmazon UKAmazon USEnter the giveaway

Don’t forget if you’re a blogger with a pirate post you can also enter the separate giveaway here.

Taking part in the treasure hunt? Visit these blogs to find a piece of the puzzle phrase. Once you’ve put it together, enter it into the Rafflecopter for an extra 25 points:

CabinGoddess — alchemyofscrawl — BunnysReview — ABShepherd Reinvented Reader — Fresh Pot of Tea — Jess resides here — Library Girl Reads — Karen Toz

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pircats: An #arggghsome way to raise some money for the #RSPCA | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave

#arggghsome Launch Party: Shiver me timbers, there be Pirates in Elenchera!

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To celebrate the Argggh-some launch of A World Apart, we’re inviting all bloggers to share their pirate  themed posts for a chance to win a $50 Amazon giftcard! To find out more, visit this post here for the full Argggh-some scoop!  Don’t forget to jump back here to enter the ‘open to everyone’ competition, hosted by the Book Bloggers’ Collaborative and sponsored by David. The Rafflecopter is at the end of the post.

Shiver me timbers, there be Pirates in Elenchera!

The Pirates of the Caribbean films made pirates popular and cool once again but my love of these thieves and seadogs began way back in my childhood. I recall seeing pirates in some of the cartoons I loved in the eighties, there was even mention of the Dread Pirate Roberts in The Princess Bride (1987), but perhaps the most striking memory of them for me came with The Goonies (1985).

The Goonies (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This classic adventure story had it all. Some of the elite young talent from Hollywood such as Corey Feldman; there was the Truffle Shuffle (cruel but funny!), the villainous Fratellis, the heroic Sloth (Hey you guys!) and the legend of a pirate named One-Eyed Willie, a name you wouldn’t get away in today’s world of innuendos and euphemisms.

I’ve seen The Goonies many times and it is one of those films that will endure, especially if you first watch it when you’re a kid. The excitement of finding a map leading to treasure, traversing underground caverns and dodging those many traps that One-Eyed Willie left just adds to the excitement and joy of the film. Then there are the climactic scenes when the Goonies locate the pirate ship before their battle with the Fratellis and the arrival of Sloth in a Superman T-shirt, you couldn’t write it any better.

From seeing that film I’ve always felt pirates are cool. Yes, they’re evil but that life of freedom out on the open seas is what is so appealing. I’ve often lamented our need for money to survive, sometimes wishing I could just wander the world without a care in the world. The journeys my characters take in Elenchera are the ones I am unable to do in real life. That said, given the hell I put my characters through I should be more content behind the safety of my laptop. I suspect I put them through such misery because I envy them. I never thought pirates would become cooler than watching The Goonies for the 400th time but then one day I met GuybrushThreepwood!

In 1990 LucasArts released The Secret of Monkey Island, a point and click adventure that spawned three sequels and recently the five-game series Tales of Monkey Island. The first game had GuybrushThreepwood reach Melee Island with the sole intention of becoming a pirate. He is given three tasks that all pirates must complete:- mastery of the sword, thievery and treasure hunting. Guybrush’s adventures eventually lead him to Monkey Island and an ill-fated meeting the fearsome ghost pirate LeChuck.

The Secret of Monkey Island (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Monkey Island games blended great storylines with puzzles and fabulous dialogue. GuybrushThreepwood was an early form of Jack Sparrow but nowhere near as resourceful or as well dressed as Johnny Depp’s creation. Guybrushstruggles his way physically and verbally through his adventures but in the end he always gets the job done. Before I discovered Final Fantasy VII – the game that would change my life and inspire me to be a writer – the Monkey Island games were my favourites. Playing the most recent games, it was a pleasure to be in the company of GuybrushThreepwood again but it is the first two instalments that have the most charm for me.

Pirates have been with me from a young age with those Goonies instilling in me the sense of adventure while the hapless GuybrushThreepwood, seemingly the most useless pirate in existence, augmented my love of these outlaws on the ocean. Including piracy in the world of Elenchera was not a decision I had to mull over for long. It seemed a logical choice. The result of my love of pirates has, of course, been A World Apart.

The second novel in the Elencheran Chronicles takes the reader into the heart of West Elenchera whose lands are in the midst of the stranglehold of colonialism but exploiting the struggle between the colonists and the slaves are pirates. While pirates in Elenchera are similar to the likes of Blackbeard or Jack Sparrow causing mayhem in the Caribbean, they are dominated by two enigmas at this time – the Black Iris and the Ivory Rose. A World Apart will reveal a lot more about these infamous pirate captains and I’ll leave you in the hands of Demetrius, Eleyna and Halcyon to share that particular story.

Hopefully the Black Iris and the Ivory Rose will one day be spoken of in the same breath as Blackbeard, Long John Silver, One-Eyed Willie, Jack Sparrow and GuybrushThreepwood. Whether that happens does not matter. The important thing is that pirates are undoubtedly cool and because of them I have a second novel I believe in.

About A World Apart (2012) [image error] Demetrius makes his first mistake when he lets his best friend Halcyon marry Eleyna, the love of his life, without saying a word. On the day of the wedding, he walks away from the Elencheran town of Dove’s Meadow and joins the army.

He makes his second mistake when the pirate Black Iris tricks him into letting dozens of men, women and children die in a fire. Demetrius is imprisoned in grief and disgrace.

But he can atone. The Black Iris is dead. The Ivory Rose has risen to the top of the pirates and is leading brutal raids on the coast. If Demetrius can capture and kill her, he’ll win his pardon.

And then Demetrius discovers the Ivory Rose is Eleyna. He must decide which will be his third mistake: losing his last chance at a pardon, or destroying the one woman he’s ever loved.

Goodreads Website Twitter Facebook

SmashwordsAmazon UKAmazon USEnter the giveaway

Don’t forget if you’re a blogger with a pirate post you can also enter the separate giveaway here.

Taking part in the treasure hunt? Visit these blogs to find a piece of the puzzle phrase. Once you’ve put it together, enter it into the Rafflecopter for an extra 25 points:

CabinGoddess —  alchemyofscrawl —  BunnysReview

ABShepherd Reinvented Reader —  Fresh Pot of Tea

Jess resides here —  Library Girl Reads —  Karen Toz

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#arggghsome Launch Party: Shiver me timbers, there be Pirates in Elenchera! | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave

Argggh-some Launch Party: Shiver me timbers, there be Pirates in Elenchera!

[image error]

To celebrate the Argggh-some launch of A World Apart, we’re inviting all bloggers to share their pirate  themed posts for a chance to win a $50 Amazon giftcard! To find out more, visit this post here for the full Argggh-some scoop!  Don’t forget to jump back here to enter the ‘open to everyone’ competition, hosted by the Book Bloggers’ Collaborative and sponsored by David. The Rafflecopter is at the end of the post.

Shiver me timbers, there be Pirates in Elenchera!

The Pirates of the Caribbean films made pirates popular and cool once again but my love of these thieves and seadogs began way back in my childhood. I recall seeing pirates in some of the cartoons I loved in the eighties, there was even mention of the Dread Pirate Roberts in The Princess Bride (1987), but perhaps the most striking memory of them for me came with The Goonies (1985).

The Goonies (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This classic adventure story had it all. Some of the elite young talent from Hollywood such as Corey Feldman; there was the Truffle Shuffle (cruel but funny!), the villainous Fratellis, the heroic Sloth (Hey you guys!) and the legend of a pirate named One-Eyed Willie, a name you wouldn’t get away in today’s world of innuendos and euphemisms.

I’ve seen The Goonies many times and it is one of those films that will endure, especially if you first watch it when you’re a kid. The excitement of finding a map leading to treasure, traversing underground caverns and dodging those many traps that One-Eyed Willie left just adds to the excitement and joy of the film. Then there are the climactic scenes when the Goonies locate the pirate ship before their battle with the Fratellis and the arrival of Sloth in a Superman T-shirt, you couldn’t write it any better.

From seeing that film I’ve always felt pirates are cool. Yes, they’re evil but that life of freedom out on the open seas is what is so appealing. I’ve often lamented our need for money to survive, sometimes wishing I could just wander the world without a care in the world. The journeys my characters take in Elenchera are the ones I am unable to do in real life. That said, given the hell I put my characters through I should be more content behind the safety of my laptop. I suspect I put them through such misery because I envy them. I never thought pirates would become cooler than watching The Goonies for the 400th time but then one day I met GuybrushThreepwood!

In 1990 LucasArts released The Secret of Monkey Island, a point and click adventure that spawned three sequels and recently the five-game series Tales of Monkey Island. The first game had GuybrushThreepwood reach Melee Island with the sole intention of becoming a pirate. He is given three tasks that all pirates must complete:- mastery of the sword, thievery and treasure hunting. Guybrush’s adventures eventually lead him to Monkey Island and an ill-fated meeting the fearsome ghost pirate LeChuck.

The Secret of Monkey Island (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Monkey Island games blended great storylines with puzzles and fabulous dialogue. GuybrushThreepwood was an early form of Jack Sparrow but nowhere near as resourceful or as well dressed as Johnny Depp’s creation. Guybrushstruggles his way physically and verbally through his adventures but in the end he always gets the job done. Before I discovered Final Fantasy VII – the game that would change my life and inspire me to be a writer – the Monkey Island games were my favourites. Playing the most recent games, it was a pleasure to be in the company of GuybrushThreepwood again but it is the first two instalments that have the most charm for me.

Pirates have been with me from a young age with those Goonies instilling in me the sense of adventure while the hapless GuybrushThreepwood, seemingly the most useless pirate in existence, augmented my love of these outlaws on the ocean. Including piracy in the world of Elenchera was not a decision I had to mull over for long. It seemed a logical choice. The result of my love of pirates has, of course, been A World Apart.

The second novel in the Elencheran Chronicles takes the reader into the heart of West Elenchera whose lands are in the midst of the stranglehold of colonialism but exploiting the struggle between the colonists and the slaves are pirates. While pirates in Elenchera are similar to the likes of Blackbeard or Jack Sparrow causing mayhem in the Caribbean, they are dominated by two enigmas at this time – the Black Iris and the Ivory Rose. A World Apart will reveal a lot more about these infamous pirate captains and I’ll leave you in the hands of Demetrius, Eleyna and Halcyon to share that particular story.

Hopefully the Black Iris and the Ivory Rose will one day be spoken of in the same breath as Blackbeard, Long John Silver, One-Eyed Willie, Jack Sparrow and GuybrushThreepwood. Whether that happens does not matter. The important thing is that pirates are undoubtedly cool and because of them I have a second novel I believe in.

About A World Apart (2012) [image error] Demetrius makes his first mistake when he lets his best friend Halcyon marry Eleyna, the love of his life, without saying a word. On the day of the wedding, he walks away from the Elencheran town of Dove’s Meadow and joins the army.

He makes his second mistake when the pirate Black Iris tricks him into letting dozens of men, women and children die in a fire. Demetrius is imprisoned in grief and disgrace.

But he can atone. The Black Iris is dead. The Ivory Rose has risen to the top of the pirates and is leading brutal raids on the coast. If Demetrius can capture and kill her, he’ll win his pardon.

And then Demetrius discovers the Ivory Rose is Eleyna. He must decide which will be his third mistake: losing his last chance at a pardon, or destroying the one woman he’s ever loved.

Goodreads Website Twitter Facebook

SmashwordsAmazon UKAmazon USEnter the giveaway

Don’t forget if you’re a blogger with a pirate post you can also enter the separate giveaway here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Argggh-some Launch Party: Shiver me timbers, there be Pirates in Elenchera! | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave

Guest Post: The Ultimate Writing Deadline – Robin Bayley

I’m pleased to welcome Robin Bayley today. Robin is the author of The Mango Orchard and is here to share a very emotive guest post.

The Ultimate Writing Deadline – Robin Bayley

I have always the Douglas Adams quote: “I love deadlines; I love the sound they make as they go whooshing by!” I can’t truthfully claim to be quite so cavalier about them, although admittedly, this article was due a couple of hours ago. But when I was working on The Mango Orchard, I had a very good reason to write as quickly as possible: one of the main characters in the book was very keen to see it finished, and she was ninety eight years old when I began.

The book was inspired by the fabulous stories my grandmother told me when I was a boy. She told me about her father’s adventures in the Americas, about wild jungle journeys, brushes with bandits, hidden bags of silver in a mango orchard and a daring escape from the Mexican Revolution. About twenty years after she had first told me these stories, she showed me her father’s old leather suitcase. As soon as she opened it and I saw my great grandfather’s letters, photos and 1893 Baedeker guidebook, I decided to give up my career, sell my home and retrace his footsteps in search of the bags of silver he had hidden in a mango orchard somewhere in Mexico.

My own journey included encounters with witches (and falling in love with one), drug smugglers, ex-Nazi diamond dealers, bandits and guerrilla fighters, before leading me to the small village in western Mexico where my English forebear had lived. There, I found no silver, but discovered that he had left a secret family behind, now numbering over three hundred. I also discovered that not only had he narrowly escaped from the Mexican Revolution with his life, but that he had also played a part in starting it.

While no bags of silver would have given me anything near the richness of the story I unearthed, the responsibility of my discovery weighed heavily on me. I was no longer an adventurer on a quest; I was the custodian of what I found. It was no longer my story, but the story of hundreds of people, and what I wrote affected how they would be judged by the outside world.

Because it was such a huge story – spanning over a hundred years, two continents and five generations, the most important decision I had to make was how to write the book. Should I write it as fiction or non-fiction? From my great grandfather’s point of view or my own? I decided to write it as non-fiction and took inspiration from one of her phrases: “There are three versions of every story, your version, my version and the truth.” This empowered me to tell the story as I saw it. It was my truth, and I believe that’s all any writer can be asked to reflect.

She read the completed manuscript twice – and the bits with her in, about twenty times. She died just short of her 103rd birthday, just after I had visited her to tell her I had got the publishing deal and that I would dedicate the book to her.

About The Mango Orchard (2012)
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As a child, Robin Bayley was enchanted by his grandmother’s stories of Mexican adventures—of bandits, wild jungle journeys, hidden bags of silver, and a narrow escape from the bloody Mexican Revolution. But Robin sensed there was more to these stories than anyone knew, and so he set out to follow in the footsteps of his great-grandfather. Undaunted by the passage of time and a paucity of information, Robin seeks out the places where his great-grandfather Arthur “Arturo” Greenhalgh traveled and lived, determined to uncover his legacy. Along the road Robin encounters witches, drug dealers, a gun-toting Tasmanian Devil, and an ex-Nazi diamond trader. He is threatened with deportation, offered the protection of Colombian guerrilla fighters, and comforted by the blessings of los santos. He falls in love with a beautiful Guatemalan girl with mystical powers and almost gives up his quest, until a sense of destiny drives him on to western Mexico and the discovery of much, much more than he had bargained for.

Amazon US Amazon UK Goodreads

About Robin Bayley
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Robin Bayley had a promising career in children’s television when, much to the surprise of his friends and family, he decided to give up his job, sell his apartment and follow his muse. As well as uncovering the story told in The Mango Orchard, he has written many articles and was once cast as a drug smuggler in a Bollywood movie.

He is currently working on a screenplay he has been commissioned to write for a feature film.

Website Facebook

Guest Post: The Ultimate Writing Deadline – Robin Bayley | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave

Social Media Examiner’s Success Workshop: Blogging Fundamentals for Business

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Earlier this year I had the amazing good fortune to attend the Social Media Success Summit. I learnt so much that it blew my mind and it has substantially changed my way of thinking about blogging, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. Therefore, when I received an email about the upcoming Social Media Examiner’s Success Workshop: Blogging Fundamentals for Business, my only hesitation was the time it took to find my debit card.

In all honesty, it is a very rare occurrence for my to pay for an online workshop. I have previous admitted my weakness for WordPress plugins, premium themes, Code Canyon etc but it’s much more difficult to get me to part with cash for knowledge vs product. (I know, I know – that’s so contrary but we’ll talk about  that another time.)  But just one session on blogging in the Social Media Success Summit led to me taking pages and pages of notes. My biggest regret is not having had time to implement all the ideas it left me with.

I  actually signed up for any early-bird special and saved $50 but you can still bag a 33% discount until 29th June.

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Here’s what it covers:

How to implement a blogging strategy that helps you attract quality prospects, elevate your industry prominence and improve your sales
Creative ways to craft content that your readers will love to share and you’ll enjoy creating
Unique tactics to launch (or relaunch) your blog with the support of industry experts
How to leverage social media to maximize the reach and influence of your content
How to track, monitor and enhance your blog for a unique competitive advantage

Will it be for everyone? No. But if you blog for business or your blog is tied to your brand in any way (such as for an artist, musician or author), I think this has fantastic potential.

I was so excited to take part in Social Media Success Summit and met some amazing people. I’m just as excited – if not more so – about the Blogging Fundamentals Workshop. I really hope to see you there!

What would you love to get out of the Blogging Fundamentals for Business workshop?What are your blogging goals for the second half of 2012?

Disclaimer: Links are affiliate links. I have signed up and paid for my own ticket to this event.

Social Media Examiner’s Success Workshop: Blogging Fundamentals for Business | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave