Tim Flanagan's Blog, page 21

Friday Film – Game Of Thrones / The Simpsons

What could be better than mixing Game of Thrones with The Simpsons. This is a Thrones style opening sequence of The Simpsons. Enjoy!

Author Interview – Deb Nam-Krane

Within the Indie Author Hub, you can learn about other authors, their thoughts and opinions, what makes them tick and how their writing process works for them.

This week I interviewed Deb Nam-Krane. Have a look at her profile and books here.

What inspired you to become an author? I see both the world and its potential a little differently than other people, and I want to share what I see. I’ve done a lot of other things: application developer, project manager, part-time teaching, yoga and Pilates instructor and baker. There were things I enjoyed about all of those jobs, but I always found myself looking over my shoulder and trying to fit more writing in. If for some reason I couldn’t write, I guess I’d spend all of my mental energy on my kids (even though it feels like that’s what I do anyway on most days.)

Do you write full time? I write as much as I can given my children and their needs. When I’m not interrupted, I can write for hours at a time, and I really miss that rhythm. It’s pretty easy to beat myself up over that, but I try to focus instead on getting in as much writing in as I can.

How do you fit writing into your routine? By grabbing whatever available time I can find. Usually that’s in the mornings, but sometimes I can get in an hour here or there in the afternoon and evening.

Where do you write?I prefer to write at my desk in my bedroom, but if that isn’t possible, the living room is fine. I do like getting away and writing in the Reading Room at the Boston Public Library, but that’s more of a special treat than a regular event.

Do you have daily word targets? At least 500 words. Anything after that is gravy- so sometimes there’s a lot of gravy!

Before writing, do you plan your books to the last detail? No. I have a general outline that’s fairly specific about where I want people to go and how I want them to get there, but I let my characters guide me around by the nose once I start writing.

How do you decide on your characters and what they will be like? That is the question, isn’t it? I would say that with a few exceptions my characters all have traits of mine that I mashup with aspects from things I’ve read or heard or people I met. There are a couple of characters that were inspired by other people I know, but even they get “polished up”, if only to help preserve their anonymity.

How do you get over the fear of a blank page? I have never suffered from writer’s block. I just put whatever comes to me down on the page. Admittedly, that means I have to do a lot of editing sometimes, but it’s a start. Even if it’s lousy, you can identity how it’s lousy and start changing it into what it wants to be.

How do you target your audience effectively? For this early stage, I’m focusing on bloggers in my genres- Chick Lit and Romance- and in the New Adult category. I am having a great time writing guest posts, and a number of bloggers have also signed up to write some reviews. It’s slow going, but that’s organic growth for you!

What ways do you promote yourself online? I use a bunch of different sites (too many?). My Writing Blog, my Facebook Author Page, Twitter and even LinkedIn. I’m trying now to find clever ways to use Pinterest, first because it’s fun and second because there is a lot of traffic and visibility there. For now I have some boards related to themes in my books, a board for my book and a board for my “Careful You Don’t Outsmart Yourself” blog tour. I’m at the point where I’m still trying to figure out the best ways to use Google +. There’s a lot of potential there, but right now it still seems like something waiting to happen. I also have a newsletter list that I’m trying to build up. As many successful authors have pointed out, this is the best, most targeted way to tell readers who are already inclined toward you about what you have coming up.

How much time do you spend promoting yourself in social media? If we’re just talking about social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, less than forty-five minutes a day. Add on maybe fifteen to twenty minutes for my blog and Pinterest. I’m actively trying to NOT oversell on social media. I’ve gone to a good deal of trouble to make some good contacts there, and I don’t want to alienate anybody by constantly talking about how great I am.

What’s been your most effective way of promoting yourself? Even out of the gate, I would say my newsletter. A couple of weeks before I released my first book I sent an email to about eighty friends and family members telling them that I was going to be publishing soon and asking them to email me if they wanted to be on my newsletter list. About forty people- or fifty percent- said yes immediately. (I have good friends and family!) On the day of my release, as a thank you to those people I made my book free just for that one day and sent them a note telling them that. Within about three hours thirty people had downloaded it. These are small numbers, yes, but that’s seventy-five percent of my list, and for the first day of my first book, that’s pretty good. (FYI, a lot more ended up downloading by the end of the day.) The key to a newsletter, I think, is not to overuse it. I am only going to tell people about new releases and bundling opportunities; I’m not going to use it to sell the same product twice, because that’s just annoying.

What offline promotion do you take part in? One of my early beta readers came to me when I told her I was publishing soon and offered to get her book club to read and review it. I almost fell out of my chair when she offered that. I’m looking now to find more book clubs who will be interested in reading and talking about my book.

What made you decide to publish independently? What finally made me decide to commit to it was hearing from other authors in my category- New Adult- who were also finding that the age of their characters was a non-starter with an agent or editor. Changing the ages of my characters wouldn’t work for my story, and it really did seem like the choice was publish independently or don’t publish at all. It looks like New Adult is becoming more accepted by the publishing houses, but I’d rather be at the start of something than at the middle or end of it, which is where I think I’d be if I were still pursuing a publishing deal.

What do you think the future of traditional publishing will be? I am writing this in May of 2013. By the time this is published, who knows? Everything is changing so quickly! I think Barnes & Noble is in trouble, and the Nook business isn’t enough to save it. (Neither, I will add, are toys and games.) Their biggest problem is that their online operations are cannibalizing their stores. In three years, I think they’ll be gone. As I’ve said elsewhere, I think that’s going to spark a lot of smaller bookstores, but I think many of them are going to be attached to other venues, like cafes, restaurants or supermarkets. But it’s going to be a long time before anything replaces that.

If we do lose our biggest brick and mortar bookstores, the obvious beneficiary is Amazon. Many people will still want to read a hard copy of a book, and everyone knows Amazon sells them! But I also think there’s an opportunity for the publishers to start more aggressively selling from their own websites. What would be really interesting is if they start giving some kind of space to independent authors, or if we as a group started using more turnkey solutions rather than selling through Amazon. A number of writers have already started doing that. It doesn’t make sense unless you’re already discoverable, but for those who are the possibilities are very interesting.

Is it necessary for authors to have agents these days? I think it depends on what you’re writing. For fiction, no, although once you get to a certain level and you have more possibilities- film rights, translation, etc.- you’d do well to find someone who can represent you in those areas. I want to say that for non-fiction it’s more necessary, if only because some writing won’t be published in its own book but as a supplement to someone else’s work. However, I know some non-fiction authors who have been fed up enough by the lack of control- and loss of income- that they’ve thrown up their hands and go in on their own. Like everything else, I think it depends on what you’re able to handle on your own.

How do you deal with rejection or a less favourable review? Take on the motto that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. You also have to act like a professional. Some people seem to think that because they’re behind a computer screen and keyboard they can let loose. No, you can’t. Or rather, you can, but the internet will remember and well it should. Emily Giffin and Anne Rice have seen their reputations suffer for the way they handled poor reviews and feedback, and frankly it’s kind of shocking that people who have been successful for so long would have such thin skins. If something upsets you, write to a friend, throw things in your bedroom or cry into your beer (or tea). But in public project nothing but calm.

How do you keep yourself motivated? I want to tell my next story and I want to get better doing it. Everyone wants to be recognized in some way, whether that’s a good review or sales, but at the end of the day, we also have an obligation to our story. Are we telling it the way it should be told? Are we keeping our characters’ motivations clear, even if they’re complicated? Is this going to be something we’re proud we created.

What’s your top tip for aspiring authors? Keep reading, writing and learning.

Thank you for being part of this interview.

Friday Film – Jedi Kittens

You can never have enough cat videos!

Fear the power of the cat! Beware the mind tricks.

Lawrence Pinkley PI

“Allow me to introduce myself….

My name is Lawrence Pinkley. I’m a Private Detective.

Have you ever wanted to be a detective? Well, not me. I never intended following in my father’s footsteps, but following his death I inherited the Pinkley Investigation Group, or PIG for short. My father had always been a fan of the 1930′s when all good private detectives were American and wore brown trench coats, white shirts and Trilby hats.

But, we didn’t live in Chicago. We live in Whitby in the cold north east of England.

You might not think Whitby varies much compared to Chicago, but it does. Whitby is your traditional English coastal town. Wet, windy and smelling of fish. Saturdays bring the added sights and smells brought by the market, including more fish.

So, here I am, 18 years old, in possession of an old trench coat and greasy rimmed hat, sitting inside a stale smelly room, waiting for my next case. Every young man’s dream.”

 

The Curious Disappearance of Professor Brown (or, The Pumpkins of Doom)

A Lawrence Pinkley Mystery

Story by Tim Flanagan, illustrations by Dylan Gibson

 

Release date : 6 December 2013

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More to come, including – additional images, sample chapters and competitions.

If you wish to feature a guest post or interview with either Tim or Dylan on your blog please get in touch.

Author Interview – Paul McNicholas

Within the Indie Author Hub, you can learn about other authors, their thoughts and opinions, what makes them tick and how their writing process works for them.

This week I interviewed Paul McNicholas. Have a look at his profile and books here.

What inspired you to become an author? Books.  They can be life-changing.  And after reading a really good book, I am thinking, ‘Wow, I’d like to do something like that!’

Do you write full time? No. I work at a Care Service with adults with some health and learning issues.

How do you fit writing into your routine? It depends on the shifts that I do.  I fit my writing in around my work schedule.  But ideas come at any time.  I jot these down or memorise them, so the writing is easier when I get to it.   I am also working on a book project with one of the residents where I work. This is very different to my Jazz book, and is about the challenges of having a long-distance relationship if you have a disability which limits your freedom of movement.

Where do you write? At home usually.  My first draft is done in a notebook which I then transpose onto my computer.  It somehow seems to flow better for me this way. I like to do first drafts in the morning, and transpose and edit at any time.

Before writing, do you plan your books to the last detail? I have a general idea of what I want to say, a theme that I want to explore and how it might begin and end, then I take it from there.  It will change along the way.

How do you get over the fear of a blank page? I have not had that problem lately.  I have found that when the characters begin to drive a story, it gets easier.

How do you target your audience effectively? My story is for younger readers primarily, has a Christmas theme, and also involves animals, and more specifically a cat.  So there are some obvious targets there.

How much time do you spend promoting yourself in social media? I haven’t really started with that, yet, although Aventura, the Publisher, have their methods.

What do you think the future of publishing will be? Perhaps, using more advanced printers, readers will have the clear option of having an electronic version of a book and a physical version. They will print out and keep in physical form the books they really like. People will always like books they can touch.

Is it necessary for authors to have agents these days? I am not sure. It always helps to have someone on your side.

How do you keep yourself motivated? By striving to see some magic in life each day, and knowing that there is so much that we still don’t know, much to explore.  I have to be inspired to sit down and write. In the first instance you have to please yourself and try and be true to what you are trying to achieve. If people don’t like what you do, that is their privilege.  There is always room for improvement, though.

What’s your top tip for aspiring authors? Love what you do.

Thank you for being part of this interview.

Friday Film – How LEGO began

Last week I was I had break so we went to Bluewater, a huge shopping complex just outside London. The kids were desperate to visit the LEGO shop, and I suppose I was too. Actually, it was me who suggested it! Anyway, it is amazing – a LEGO dragon snakes its way from the shop entrance and through the walls inside. There were models made up: the black tower from The Lord of the Rings, some amazing Star Wars vehicles, a Back to the Future Delorean car, a radio controlled truck! It was amazing! I was so tempted to buy some of the big models for myself, after-all, they hold their value or go up in value after the model has been discontinued. I tried to convince myself, but the sensible part of me kept the credit card in my wallet.

My 4 year old is amazing with Lego. She builds, dismantles, builds, dismantles, then builds again without the instructions. She wanted to spend some of her birthday money on some more, so she picked a ‘friends’ set, which is a series targeted at girls. In it was a great four wheel drive pulling a horse box, together with horse and stable. She loves it.

So, that takes me on to the Friday Film – an animated video about the origins of Lego. It’s long, but worth watching.

Write books as if they are lyrics to a song

I recently bought a copy of Bread’s greatest hits. I had forgotten how wonderful some of David Gates’s lyrics actually were, so I thought I would show you the words for the song ‘If’ as an example :

If a picture paints a thousand words, then why can’t I paint you?

The words will never show, the you I’ve come to know.

If a face could launch a thousand ships, then where am I to go?

there’s no one home but you, you’re all that’s left me too.

And when, my love for life is running dry,

you come, and pour yourself on me.

If a man could be two places at one time I’d be with you.

Tomorrow and today, beside you all the way.

If the world should stop revolving spinning slowly down to die,

I’d spend the end with you, and when the world was through,

Then one, by one, the stars would all go out,

and you and I, would simply fly away.

Authors often write long paragraphs of description (and I am no different!) to describe what we see in our minds eye in an attempt to get the reader to see the same place. But, when I looked at Gates’s lyrics, I was surprised by how short they were – no longer than a poem, but they carry so much feeling and emotion.

I often imagine an expectation from potential readers that they want books that provide good value for money, and their worth is often based on the physical word count. But, if we can get our message and story across in less words, the power of them can be so much more effective. In Stephen Kings ‘On writing’ book, he explains how he always looks to reduce his first draft by 10% when he rereads it, pulling in the writing and making it sharper.

Lesson to be learnt : choose words carefully and use high concept words that readers connect with immediately because they stir an emotion the recognize within them.

And don’t waffle.

Or keep writing.

And saying things that aren’t necessary…..

Author Interview – Jim Cliff

Within the Indie Author Hub, you can learn about other authors, their thoughts and opinions, what makes them tick and how their writing process works for them.

This week I interviewed Jim Cliff. Have a look at his profile and books here.

What inspired you to become an author? I’ve always been passionate about stories.  I was an early and voracious reader, and I started writing and creating little stapled-together ‘books’ when I was very young.  My daughter, who’s just turned 5, is much the same.  Along with ‘stuntman’ and ‘helicopter pilot’, ‘author’ was right there on my list of what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I read a lot of crime fiction, but my biggest influence was Robert B Parker, author of the Spenser novels. If I couldn’t be an author I’d like to be a film maker.  I’ve worked in and around the film, television and video industry most of my career, made a short film and written a feature, and if I could actually make a living as a director, that’s what I would be doing.

Do you write full time? No. I make videos for businesses – mostly for the web, but sometimes for DVDs or internal communications.

How do you fit writing into your routine? It’s hard.  With two young children and running my own business there isn’t a lot of spare time.  I do a fair amount of driving to film at clients’ businesses, so sometimes I’ll clip a microphone to my lapel and dictate while I’m driving – then transcribe the notes later on.  Actually setting aside time to write is currently very hard to do.

Where do you write? I have an office where I’ll sit and type at the computer, but often elements of what I’m writing will come to me when I’m doing something else, so I find myself scribbling notes on bits of paper wherever I happen to be.

Do you have daily word targets? No. When I’m writing non-fiction I have a date that I hope to have the whole thing finished by, which is sometimes a moveable feast, but for fiction I write when and how much I can fit in at any given time.

Before writing, do you plan your books to the last detail? Not at all.  I have an end in mind (although I don’t necessarily stick to it) and some sense of how I’ll get there, but mostly I let the story unfold and try to solve the mystery as I go. My characters start with fairly broad brushstrokes, but I try to give them each a personality and a motivation, even if it’s only for the scene they’re in.  Then I kind of listen to them speaking to me.

How do you get over the fear of a blank page? I’m happy to say I never really have that fear.  I’ve got far more stories in my head than I have time to write down, so it’s more about figuring out which of them takes precedence.

How do you target your audience effectively? Excellent question.  I’ve got the same issue as other indie authors, in that all the places we go to promote our books are mostly filled with other indie authors and actual readers are a bit thin on the ground!  I don’t see this as a big problem, as authors tend to also be big readers in my experience and many have active blogs or social media accounts where some of their followers might even be readers!  As for reaching the readers directly, that’s why I use the KDP promotions – getting higher up in the Amazon rankings helps make sure that Amazon are promoting me to people who are looking for new books to read.

How much time do you spend promoting yourself in social media? During a free promotion, it’s a few hours work each week, but outside of that I just tend to tweet when I get a new five star review or get featured on a blog.

What’s been your most effective way of promoting yourself? The KDP Select programme has massively increased my sales and exposure. In one month I went from six sales to over five hundred sales and borrows, solely due to a three day free promo where I gave away almost 20000 books.

What made you decide to publish independently? I spent some time sending my book to agents and met with one who got me to make a few changes and held on to it for six months or so before basically ignoring me.  I didn’t really want to start doing all that again, and when I discovered the KDP option I thought I’d give it a go.  I’m so pleased I did.

What do you think the future of traditional publishing will be? I think it depends on how determined they are to stick to tradition.  If they are willing to change with the times and take a more active role in promoting their authors then I absolutely think there’s a place for them. There will always be authors who don’t want to do all the peripheral aspects of publishing such as proofing, editing, cover design and especially promotion so if someone can offer them all that in exchange for a small commission, there’s a market for that.

Is it necessary for authors to have agents these days? I’m sure there are instances where it would be useful to have an agent.  When Hollywood knocks on my door to adapt The Shoulders of Giants I won’t really know how to start negotiating the rights, for example.  I don’t think it’s necessary in most cases though.

How do you deal with rejection or a less favourable review? I’m a fairly positive person, so I am able to focus on the nice things people say and not dwell on the negatives.  Where a review points out some problems with plotting or realism I’m grateful, as it means I might not make that mistake again.  What annoys me is when people give bad ratings for things unrelated to the book.  I had a three star review from someone who hadn’t read the book but wanted to stop getting reminders from Amazon to review it.  Sure, people who read the review realise that person was mistaken, but it affects the overall ‘score’, which is what most people see.

What’s your top tip for aspiring authors? Don’t aspire, write!

Thank you for being part of this interview.

Friday Film – Inspirational locations

Last week I gave you a film that showed the real locations that were being used in the film The Hobbit, all of which were inspirational and visually amazing. However, there are so many amazing places around the world that could be used for a location that would enhance, or provide the basis for, a story.

Here are 10 places that actually exist around the world and are abandoned and begging to be used as a setting for a book (or film!). As soon as I saw this video my imagination shifted into overdrive!

Explore the Tardis

If you go down Earls Court Road in London on Google maps, you will see a familiar blue police telephone box. (Click here to link to the street)

Click on the double arrow pointing to the telephone box and you can enter the tardis!

You can get up close to the central control console and walk up the steps to a viewing platform around the side. Unfortunately there are no rooms to explore, but its fun to be inside! I think this is the version David Tennant rode inside, but I could be wrong.

Enjoy your ride inside the tardis.

Where would you go if you could time travel?