R. Jackson-Lawrence's Blog, page 8
June 15, 2013
Energize by Thomas R. Manning
Review of Energize (From the Logs of Daniel Quinn) by Thomas R. Manning
Energize tells the story of Daniel Quinn, an ex-soldier of the Earth Star Alliance, cursed with a dark past and demons that continue to haunt him. Five years after being framed for a crime he didn't commit, he is a mercenary and captain of his own ship, partnered with humanities only artificial intelligence. Coerced into a contract he doesn't really want to take, he is forced to make choices that effect not only his future, but the future of a newly discovered planet and the species that inhabit it.
The story is solid and told from the first person perspective, with an easy flow and style that brings the characters and settings to life. Characters are fun and believable and the aliens, though humanoid in actions and emotions, are well thought out with a culture and language all of their own. Actions make sense, and there are no leaps of logic or convenient pieces of technology that often plague science fiction tales like this.
All in all, it is an excellent read and well worth the time I took to read it. I am looking forward to book 2 (Antagonize I think due for November 2013) and will pick it up as soon as it is available.
A good, solid 4* book.
Scoring system5 – excellent
4 – above average
3 – average
2 – below average
1 - poor
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Energize-From-Daniel-Quinn-ebook/dp/B00D8OOYNE/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_t_1_Z8TY
http://www.amazon.com/Energize-From-Daniel-Quinn-ebook/dp/B00D8OOYNE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371296198&sr=8-1&keywords=energize+Quinn
http://thomasraymann.wordpress.com/
My daughter's work
Today I am going to post something a little different. Earlier this week my daughter (aged 7) wrote a wonderful story and drew a picture to illustrate it. She did such a great job with plot, action, suspense, punctuation and everything else that I just wanted to share it and show everyone how proud I am of her. Check it out below!
See what I mean?! She is so clever and she got to read it out in class where everyone clapped. I hope she has better luck with publishing in future than I do!
See what I mean?! She is so clever and she got to read it out in class where everyone clapped. I hope she has better luck with publishing in future than I do!
June 9, 2013
More artwork for Darkest Before Dawn
Okay, so this is the proper blog entry. I have had 2 weeks off from writing and bits, what with the children's school holidays and then going and getting married so you'll have to excuse me. Spent a couple of great days in York after the wedding though and noticed that a couple of things reminded me of Maleton, the fictional city in which most of the second Benjamin Knight book takes place. Having had a bash at drawing my own maps (see previous posts), I decided why not try to add some art to the journal entries, pointing out the strange architecture and things out of time that Ben witnesses in Maleton (these, of course, were not in York and had to be added in by me, the very poor artist).
As always, beware spoilers from reading the diary entries that go with the pictures, but please let me know what you think. Should I include them in book 2 or are they just laughable? Honest answers please!
As always, beware spoilers from reading the diary entries that go with the pictures, but please let me know what you think. Should I include them in book 2 or are they just laughable? Honest answers please!
June 8, 2013
A quick post
Just a quick post for today, I will hopefully do a longer post later tonight or tomorrow to show off some new artwork I've been doing for book 2. I just wanted to post a copy of the review my nephew did for Knightfall. He wrote it on paper, if you can believe school children still do such things, so I entered it on Goodreads (FRAUD FRAUD I hear you cry!). Anyway, posted her as evidence is his report.
Check back later or tomorrow for the proper blog entry with even more artwork!
Check back later or tomorrow for the proper blog entry with even more artwork!
May 28, 2013
Half term week
Hi all
I am not going to be around much this week, it's half term and the kids are at home with me, so quiet time in front of the computer just doesn't happen. Having lots of fun though, got a Badminton set from sports direct (only £15 with a net and 4 racquets - bargain!) and the weekend and yesterday was sunny so out in the garden all day!
Saw the Hangover part 3 on Saturday, my 15 year old enjoyed it but I just didn't laugh that much, the best bit was during the end credits just like in previous films. If you liked the other two it was probably worth it, but if you've seen a couple of trailers don't expect any funny surprises.
If I get chance I will edit what I have done of book 2 this week but I won't commit to doing anymore writing until next week. Hopefully I am on the home stretch now and hurtling towards the end.
I am not going to be around much this week, it's half term and the kids are at home with me, so quiet time in front of the computer just doesn't happen. Having lots of fun though, got a Badminton set from sports direct (only £15 with a net and 4 racquets - bargain!) and the weekend and yesterday was sunny so out in the garden all day!
Saw the Hangover part 3 on Saturday, my 15 year old enjoyed it but I just didn't laugh that much, the best bit was during the end credits just like in previous films. If you liked the other two it was probably worth it, but if you've seen a couple of trailers don't expect any funny surprises.
If I get chance I will edit what I have done of book 2 this week but I won't commit to doing anymore writing until next week. Hopefully I am on the home stretch now and hurtling towards the end.
May 24, 2013
Why do indie authors still get such a bad rep?
Okay, another rant here, so I apologise up front if that's not what you're here for. This post is following some twitter comments I have seen recently that have really begun to irritate me. Essentially, it's this - why do indie authors still get such a bad rep? (see how just copied the title there? Author trick to increase word count....)
Does indie music get the same treatment? No
How about indie films? No again
Yet someone writes a book, chooses not to go down the 'traditional' publishing route, and automatically they must be
a. stupid
b. a rubbish writer
c. just looking to make some quick money
d. all of the above
Now, I'll admit, I sent my manuscript first to a selection of agents, looking for a 'traditional' publishing option. I was rejected, and the only two pieces of feed back I had were 'it's too sci-fi/fantasy for what we're after' and 'it's not really the sci-fi enough for us'. The others just sent me the generic thanks but no thanks letter or email.
So, I decided to go ahead and do it anyway, on my own, just like so many other people out there who just want someone to read their work. I paid a very talented artist to design my cover. I paid an editor to go through my book and polish it. Is it perfect? No. Is any book perfect? That's a topic for a different debate.
So, my book is out there, along with thousands of others on Amazon, hoping that someone will think it's worth a read. Now, I'll admit I've read some not very good indie published titles, but I would argue that I have so many more awful books that were published traditionally. The same with music and film. There are so many terrible movies and albums that went through the 'traditional' route, so is every film from Hollywood or album released by a major label terrible? No.
So, back to my book. When I was asked about this, I tried to explain it thus-
'This is my Star Wars, this isn't meant to be Citizen Kane.'
'Ah ha', you shout, 'you think you've written a story as good as Star Wars?' No, of course I don't, that would be ridiculous. What I mean by this is that when I watch Star Wars, I enjoy the story, the action, adventure and humour. Do I care that one Storm Trooper is a good six inches taller than the rest and cracks his head on a door? No, I move straight past it and continue to enjoy it for what it is - entertainment.
All writers try so hard to make their work the best it can be. I have never met anyone who thought 'ok, this'll do, lets just publish it'. Does that happen in traditional publishing? In movies and video games, most definitely. Anyone seen the mummy sequel with the awful CGI for The Rock as the Scorpion King? Meeting a deadline. Anyone have the misfortune to play Battlecruiser 3000AD on the PC? Blatantly not finished but released anyway. And I'm sure we've all read books and found editing errors that were published down the 'traditional' route.
As so many websites keep claiming, publishing is changing, and independent is no longer a bad thing, just like for movies and music. Go out there and read an indie book, I bet it's a hell of a lot cheaper than a 'traditionally' published novel in the same category, and it may just surprise you!
Does indie music get the same treatment? No
How about indie films? No again
Yet someone writes a book, chooses not to go down the 'traditional' publishing route, and automatically they must be
a. stupid
b. a rubbish writer
c. just looking to make some quick money
d. all of the above
Now, I'll admit, I sent my manuscript first to a selection of agents, looking for a 'traditional' publishing option. I was rejected, and the only two pieces of feed back I had were 'it's too sci-fi/fantasy for what we're after' and 'it's not really the sci-fi enough for us'. The others just sent me the generic thanks but no thanks letter or email.
So, I decided to go ahead and do it anyway, on my own, just like so many other people out there who just want someone to read their work. I paid a very talented artist to design my cover. I paid an editor to go through my book and polish it. Is it perfect? No. Is any book perfect? That's a topic for a different debate.
So, my book is out there, along with thousands of others on Amazon, hoping that someone will think it's worth a read. Now, I'll admit I've read some not very good indie published titles, but I would argue that I have so many more awful books that were published traditionally. The same with music and film. There are so many terrible movies and albums that went through the 'traditional' route, so is every film from Hollywood or album released by a major label terrible? No.
So, back to my book. When I was asked about this, I tried to explain it thus-
'This is my Star Wars, this isn't meant to be Citizen Kane.'
'Ah ha', you shout, 'you think you've written a story as good as Star Wars?' No, of course I don't, that would be ridiculous. What I mean by this is that when I watch Star Wars, I enjoy the story, the action, adventure and humour. Do I care that one Storm Trooper is a good six inches taller than the rest and cracks his head on a door? No, I move straight past it and continue to enjoy it for what it is - entertainment.
All writers try so hard to make their work the best it can be. I have never met anyone who thought 'ok, this'll do, lets just publish it'. Does that happen in traditional publishing? In movies and video games, most definitely. Anyone seen the mummy sequel with the awful CGI for The Rock as the Scorpion King? Meeting a deadline. Anyone have the misfortune to play Battlecruiser 3000AD on the PC? Blatantly not finished but released anyway. And I'm sure we've all read books and found editing errors that were published down the 'traditional' route.
As so many websites keep claiming, publishing is changing, and independent is no longer a bad thing, just like for movies and music. Go out there and read an indie book, I bet it's a hell of a lot cheaper than a 'traditionally' published novel in the same category, and it may just surprise you!
Something every Indie Author should know
I made an interesting discovery yesterday, and I thought I would share it in case it was as much as a surprise to the wider community as it was to me.
I don't know about anybody else, but when I first published my book on Amazon using the KDP system, I purchased a copy myself just to make sure it was working. This also allowed me the bragging rights to my naysayers to say 'look, someone bought my book!'.
Now, I was a little premature (no jokes please!) when I first published the book. I had just had the awesome cover art back from the designer but I was still waiting or the final edit to come back. Now, I had been through my book so many times, tinkering and adjusting bits, that in my arrogance I imagined that the editor would come back and say 'wow, perfect, I didn't change a thing!'. Of course, that wasn't the case and in fact there were bits on most pages that needed adjusting. There was also the issue of some feedback I had received of the internal artwork being difficult to read on certain devices, so I redid it all as well.
So, back to KDP. I uploaded the improved edited version (at the same time I made it available as a paperback - see, not a complete moron!), waited my 12 hours, and the new and improved version became available. Yesterday, whilst playing with my tablet, I clicked to open my book on the kindle app and found it was the old incorrect original version. Okay, I thought, delete it from the device and set it to download again. Downloaded the older incorrect version. Tried it on my kindle keyboard - same outcome. Tried it on my PC (had to install the kindle app) and yet again, it downloaded the old version.
Now, I understood that one of the benefits of digital publishing was the ability to make changes to the published works and make new improved versions of my books available. Amazon says as much on the KDP site. Now, I didn't necessarily expect my kindle to do this automatically, but surely if I download a book to a kindle device, I should get the most up to date version?
If I was downloading a piece of software or a video game, the same would be true, or it would check and download an appropriate patch to bring it up to date.
I contacted Amazon, and they very helpfully manually updated my account to download an updated version - see email excerpt below
Hello,
I'm following up on the recent phone conversation you had with one of my colleagues regarding your inability to download the updated content.
I've sent the updated version of your title, "Knightfall," to your Kindle library. To complete your download, please verify that your device is sufficiently charged and your wireless connection is enabled. To manually activate the download, select "Sync & Check for Items" from the Home screen menu. The same will apply if you’re using any other Kindle application, as well.
The previous version of your book will be automatically replaced by the updated version.
To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit:
https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/contact-us
I hope this helps. Thanks for using Amazon KDP.
Regards,
So, great for me, but not for my other customers who have already downloaded my book and want the most up to date version. Did everyone already know this? Is it just accepted that 'you bought that version, that's what you get forever'? Or is it just a blip for my account and normally people get the most up to date version?
I don't know what I can do about it, if anything. I have had two reviews that mentioned the formatting and editing and I have commented on the review, offering an updated copy, but so far had no response.
Please comment and share your thoughts below, I would love to know about other peoples experiences of this.
Rob
I don't know about anybody else, but when I first published my book on Amazon using the KDP system, I purchased a copy myself just to make sure it was working. This also allowed me the bragging rights to my naysayers to say 'look, someone bought my book!'.
Now, I was a little premature (no jokes please!) when I first published the book. I had just had the awesome cover art back from the designer but I was still waiting or the final edit to come back. Now, I had been through my book so many times, tinkering and adjusting bits, that in my arrogance I imagined that the editor would come back and say 'wow, perfect, I didn't change a thing!'. Of course, that wasn't the case and in fact there were bits on most pages that needed adjusting. There was also the issue of some feedback I had received of the internal artwork being difficult to read on certain devices, so I redid it all as well.
So, back to KDP. I uploaded the improved edited version (at the same time I made it available as a paperback - see, not a complete moron!), waited my 12 hours, and the new and improved version became available. Yesterday, whilst playing with my tablet, I clicked to open my book on the kindle app and found it was the old incorrect original version. Okay, I thought, delete it from the device and set it to download again. Downloaded the older incorrect version. Tried it on my kindle keyboard - same outcome. Tried it on my PC (had to install the kindle app) and yet again, it downloaded the old version.
Now, I understood that one of the benefits of digital publishing was the ability to make changes to the published works and make new improved versions of my books available. Amazon says as much on the KDP site. Now, I didn't necessarily expect my kindle to do this automatically, but surely if I download a book to a kindle device, I should get the most up to date version?
If I was downloading a piece of software or a video game, the same would be true, or it would check and download an appropriate patch to bring it up to date.
I contacted Amazon, and they very helpfully manually updated my account to download an updated version - see email excerpt below
Hello,
I'm following up on the recent phone conversation you had with one of my colleagues regarding your inability to download the updated content.
I've sent the updated version of your title, "Knightfall," to your Kindle library. To complete your download, please verify that your device is sufficiently charged and your wireless connection is enabled. To manually activate the download, select "Sync & Check for Items" from the Home screen menu. The same will apply if you’re using any other Kindle application, as well.
The previous version of your book will be automatically replaced by the updated version.
To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit:
https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/contact-us
I hope this helps. Thanks for using Amazon KDP.
Regards,
So, great for me, but not for my other customers who have already downloaded my book and want the most up to date version. Did everyone already know this? Is it just accepted that 'you bought that version, that's what you get forever'? Or is it just a blip for my account and normally people get the most up to date version?
I don't know what I can do about it, if anything. I have had two reviews that mentioned the formatting and editing and I have commented on the review, offering an updated copy, but so far had no response.
Please comment and share your thoughts below, I would love to know about other peoples experiences of this.
Rob
May 22, 2013
Another author interview
In between all of the ranting I did last night, I forgot to mention that another author interview I did has gone live! I filled it in for Gary Vanucci on his blog - click on the link below.
http://eyeonashenclaw.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-robert-lawrence-interview.html
Gary writes epic fantasy novels set in the Realm of Ashenclaw as well as a cool looking 4th edition D&D supplement set in the same realm. I have just purchased the first book called Wothlondia Rising which is described as a selection of prequel short stories, to set up the world and characters found in the later books.
Visit the website and check out his books at amazon - links below!
http://www.amazon.com/Gary-F.-Vanucci/e/B005E1EIWQ/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gary-F.-Vanucci/e/B005E1EIWQ/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
Wrote some more today, nearly at the end of chapter 7, hope to finish it this week.
Back soon!
http://eyeonashenclaw.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-robert-lawrence-interview.html
Gary writes epic fantasy novels set in the Realm of Ashenclaw as well as a cool looking 4th edition D&D supplement set in the same realm. I have just purchased the first book called Wothlondia Rising which is described as a selection of prequel short stories, to set up the world and characters found in the later books.
Visit the website and check out his books at amazon - links below!
http://www.amazon.com/Gary-F.-Vanucci/e/B005E1EIWQ/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gary-F.-Vanucci/e/B005E1EIWQ/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
Wrote some more today, nearly at the end of chapter 7, hope to finish it this week.
Back soon!
May 21, 2013
Xbox One
I've not posted for a few days as I thought I would wait to comment on the new Xbox, but it's really because I don't have that much to talk about!
So, Xbox One eh? Not the infinity or fusion or 720. Can't say I'm impressed really. I play Xbox in a small 4ft x 4ft room upstairs (the same place I write in fact!). I don't watch TV or movies in there. It's far too small to use Kinect (if for some reason I wanted to) and there is far too much crap on the floor anyway to get up an move around. My son is 15 and he plays Xbox in his bedroom, as do almost all of his friends. How many people have Xbox actually in their living room? Not married people, that's for sure.
They really wanted to push the TV integration and the all in one living room entertainment system. I don't want one! I've got my sky box and blu ray player down there. Even the Halo TV show didn't get me excited, I mean, come on, it's no Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I want a games console to play games on. I suppose Quantum Break looked good, I'll be keeping an eye out for that one (I really enjoyed Alan Wake, very underrated game in my opinion).
Okay, onto the partnership with EA sports - don't care. Partnership with the NFL - DON'T CARE - it's not even football, it's a twisted version of rugby with body armour! And the big game showing - the new call of duty???
And I like how they didn't broach the always online rumour, but they did happen to mention 'cloud based' and 'cloud saves' and a lot of other cloud related things didn't they?
Anyway, rant over. I know I'll be buying one, mainly for the exclusives, but I'll be buying the PS4 too. I have both machines now and they are both fantastic, they both have great exclusives and they both take up far too much of my time. I'm far more excited for the PS4 at the moment though, and if things don't sway me at E3, I'll be transferring my cross console games to that (I played all the Mass Effect and Assassins Creed games on the 360 just because that was the console I played the first one on).
Writing wise (yay for those of you who come here for that reason!) I had another good day today, cracking on with chapter seven and I have done basic editing of chapters 1-6. When the second book is finished, I will be looking for beta readers, so if anyone out there is interested, sign up to the newsletter or email me and I will be in touch.
Ooh - nearly forgot to talk about Dr Who at the weekend! Fantastic, best episode all series, and redeemed some of the quite frankly terrible episodes we've had since xmas. They made Clara make sense and be less annoying, which is a fantastic achievement considering how much she has annoyed me this series. Can't wait for November, will be going to the cinema to watch it all unfold.
So, Xbox One eh? Not the infinity or fusion or 720. Can't say I'm impressed really. I play Xbox in a small 4ft x 4ft room upstairs (the same place I write in fact!). I don't watch TV or movies in there. It's far too small to use Kinect (if for some reason I wanted to) and there is far too much crap on the floor anyway to get up an move around. My son is 15 and he plays Xbox in his bedroom, as do almost all of his friends. How many people have Xbox actually in their living room? Not married people, that's for sure.
They really wanted to push the TV integration and the all in one living room entertainment system. I don't want one! I've got my sky box and blu ray player down there. Even the Halo TV show didn't get me excited, I mean, come on, it's no Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I want a games console to play games on. I suppose Quantum Break looked good, I'll be keeping an eye out for that one (I really enjoyed Alan Wake, very underrated game in my opinion).
Okay, onto the partnership with EA sports - don't care. Partnership with the NFL - DON'T CARE - it's not even football, it's a twisted version of rugby with body armour! And the big game showing - the new call of duty???
And I like how they didn't broach the always online rumour, but they did happen to mention 'cloud based' and 'cloud saves' and a lot of other cloud related things didn't they?
Anyway, rant over. I know I'll be buying one, mainly for the exclusives, but I'll be buying the PS4 too. I have both machines now and they are both fantastic, they both have great exclusives and they both take up far too much of my time. I'm far more excited for the PS4 at the moment though, and if things don't sway me at E3, I'll be transferring my cross console games to that (I played all the Mass Effect and Assassins Creed games on the 360 just because that was the console I played the first one on).
Writing wise (yay for those of you who come here for that reason!) I had another good day today, cracking on with chapter seven and I have done basic editing of chapters 1-6. When the second book is finished, I will be looking for beta readers, so if anyone out there is interested, sign up to the newsletter or email me and I will be in touch.
Ooh - nearly forgot to talk about Dr Who at the weekend! Fantastic, best episode all series, and redeemed some of the quite frankly terrible episodes we've had since xmas. They made Clara make sense and be less annoying, which is a fantastic achievement considering how much she has annoyed me this series. Can't wait for November, will be going to the cinema to watch it all unfold.
May 16, 2013
The numbers are in....
So, my three free KDP select days are over, and the figures are in as to how many people downloaded my book during the last three days. It's a good amount, and I am pleased to see so many, but at the same time I am a little disappointed. I think I was expecting thousands for some reason, and I've no idea how many are normally downloaded and I know how many other books are also free, so more fool me I suppose.
Anyway, I'm sure all these words here are just boring you, so lets get down to the numbers!
US 176
UK 124
Germany 25
France 1
Japan 18
Canada 9 (I was expecting an American or UK type number?)
Total 353
Roughly 117 per day
So, that's 353 new potential readers, reviews, maybe even fans. If anyone has any experience of how many readers this translates to, or any other words of wisdom, please do comment and let me know what you think.
On a lighter note, it's only 5 days until the next Xbox announcement (infinity or fusion or whatever it's called), but they're going to have to try very hard to beat my excitement for the PS4, especially if it does end up needing an always on internet....
Anyway, I'm sure all these words here are just boring you, so lets get down to the numbers!
US 176
UK 124
Germany 25
France 1
Japan 18
Canada 9 (I was expecting an American or UK type number?)
Total 353
Roughly 117 per day
So, that's 353 new potential readers, reviews, maybe even fans. If anyone has any experience of how many readers this translates to, or any other words of wisdom, please do comment and let me know what you think.
On a lighter note, it's only 5 days until the next Xbox announcement (infinity or fusion or whatever it's called), but they're going to have to try very hard to beat my excitement for the PS4, especially if it does end up needing an always on internet....
