Andy Farman's Blog, page 5
November 29, 2014
Of Demons and Blue Moons
I have had Fae in my head for about a decade although the girl I see in my head was a guest at a ball at Buckingham Palace back in the mid 1970s.
No, I was not a guest, I was standing sentry in the garden outside.
The story came to me thirty years later during a very boring planning session in an office overlooking that very same sentry box, where I suppose the Queen's Private Secretary thought I was being most industrious, scribbling away furiously as he spoke of Royal protocols.
I have some way to go on 'Shaw' but then Fae will have my undivided attention!
No, I was not a guest, I was standing sentry in the garden outside.The story came to me thirty years later during a very boring planning session in an office overlooking that very same sentry box, where I suppose the Queen's Private Secretary thought I was being most industrious, scribbling away furiously as he spoke of Royal protocols.
I have some way to go on 'Shaw' but then Fae will have my undivided attention!
September 12, 2014
September 9, 2014
Brain malaise
With surprising alacrity, my brain went from 'productive' to 'beach-combing slob' after finishing the 'Armageddon's Song' series. I still have much to do as I am a one man band, and producing the hardcover versions with map content, and also beginning the process of expanding beyond Amazon, is a lot of work.
The hardback is a very different animal to an eBook or a paperback, and publishing takes a period of months, not days.
I am now beginning two books, a prequel 'Shaw', and a supernatural thriller that has sat in my head for a couple of decades.
Anyway, my head's holiday is now over so I am returning to 'the cave' to begin writing once more.
July 29, 2014
Mad SFX Tech on a bike!
My niece, the crazy one who blows up stuff (for Movies and TV) is cycling from Land's End at the extreme south-western tip of England, 900 miles/1450 kilometres, to John O'Groats at the northern most tip of Scotland to raise money for the Buckinghamshire Hospitals National Health Service Trust, next month.
If you wish you can post encouragement on her page athttps://www.facebook.com/helena.brackley or donate some cash to a very worthy cause at https://www.justgiving.com/Helena-Brackley/ or a little of both.
The journey's route can be seen on the link below as a camera crew followed another fund raising ride for charity in 2012.
http://blog.brooksengland.com/wps/lands-end-to-john-ogroats-video/
justgiving.com Helena Brackley
If you wish you can post encouragement on her page athttps://www.facebook.com/helena.brackley or donate some cash to a very worthy cause at https://www.justgiving.com/Helena-Brackley/ or a little of both.
The journey's route can be seen on the link below as a camera crew followed another fund raising ride for charity in 2012.
http://blog.brooksengland.com/wps/lands-end-to-john-ogroats-video/
justgiving.com Helena Brackley
A good read for aviation buffs!
Having emptied my head of almost 700K words over three years of writing, I am reading a few non-military related stories as a form of detox.
Ernest K Gann, a pioneer in the early airline business, tells a fascinating tale or twenty, such as when Gann took off in an aircraft with engines of a new design. He half glided to safety a couple of minutes later, back onto the same runway, with spluttering engines and a cabin full of screaming passengers.The Lycoming engineers put the blame squarely back on his shoulders and the management backed the engineers, on account of them having slide rules, and the pilot being a self-taught ex-barnstormer. He invited them to join him as he recreated the flight, and to their credit the engineers agreed, but he half glided to safety a couple of minutes later, back onto the same runway, with spluttering engines and a cabin full of screaming engineers. Ernest K Gann, hell of a guy!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fate-Hunter-Ernest-K-Gann-ebook/dp/B005ZTBXYI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1406408475&sr=1-1&keywords=fate+is+the+hunter
Fate is the Hunterwww.amazon.co.uk
Ernest K Gann, a pioneer in the early airline business, tells a fascinating tale or twenty, such as when Gann took off in an aircraft with engines of a new design. He half glided to safety a couple of minutes later, back onto the same runway, with spluttering engines and a cabin full of screaming passengers.The Lycoming engineers put the blame squarely back on his shoulders and the management backed the engineers, on account of them having slide rules, and the pilot being a self-taught ex-barnstormer. He invited them to join him as he recreated the flight, and to their credit the engineers agreed, but he half glided to safety a couple of minutes later, back onto the same runway, with spluttering engines and a cabin full of screaming engineers. Ernest K Gann, hell of a guy!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fate-Hunter-Ernest-K-Gann-ebook/dp/B005ZTBXYI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1406408475&sr=1-1&keywords=fate+is+the+hunter
Fate is the Hunterwww.amazon.co.ukJuly 27, 2014
'Of Demons and Blue Moons'I have found an exceptional you...
'Of Demons and Blue Moons'
I have found an exceptional young cover artist.
Sanju R. Nivangune on deviantart.com.
Sanju on Facebook
You will have to wait until publication to see his cover as it is original art.
I have found an exceptional young cover artist.
Sanju R. Nivangune on deviantart.com.
Sanju on Facebook
You will have to wait until publication to see his cover as it is original art.
July 22, 2014
Update and cover art for 'Of Demons and Blue Moons', my roughed out concept.
Currently I am re-editing Volume 2 'Advance to Contact' of my Armageddon's Song series and adding maps to both that book and to Volume 3, 'Fight Through'. I am also seeking a professional book cover artist to work on 'Of Demons and Blue Moons'. I am not switching genres, just expanding, and after chatting to the excellent, worthy and recently retired American warrior, Jason Ferguson, who took his collection of Louis L'Amour Western novels to Afghanistan, I may have a stab at that too. SF is also a distinct future possibility.
I will begin 'Shaw', a prequel to Armageddon's Song, next month. I will try writing OD&BM at the same time. The next on the list is a further prequel, one set in Northern Ireland with Pat Reed as a platoon commander in 2CG, and Colin, Oz and Ray as young Guardsmen going through the Depot before joining the battalion. I have yet to think of a title or an ending though.
Next month I will also be trying to move into publishing with Barnes & Noble, Apple iBooks, Smashbooks and Nook as paperbacks, hardcover and ebooks. I would like to try audio books also but I need to somehow find the time to research the nuts and bolts into that.
Next year of course I will begin work on the sequel to Armageddon's Song, 'Armageddon's Anthem', which will be set two years after the point where 'Crossing the Rubicon' ended.
The hunt for a book cover artist
I joined a website called deviantART.com where you can find anything from potters to 3D CG movie animators. Having approached a number of very talented 3D artists and digital painters I laid out the following criteria and now I am awaiting the first samples.Seeking a book cover artistby Trench-ADF, 1 day, 10 hours agoJournals / PersonalGood evening,
I am currently seeking an artist to produce the cover of a
supernatural thriller.
I have been let down a couple of times now by individuals who claimed
to be cover artists, so I have come to Deviantart to ask a few artists
here too.
I make most of my money from eBook downloads and the covers have to be
eye catching in order to stand out, so what would be a thing of beauty
on a bookshelf is not necessarily going to cut the mustard in getting
potential readers to click on the image and read the titles
description. The cover is the Lure and the description is the Hook
etc.
The book will be in hardcover, paperback and ebook, as a supernatural
thriller that will not be suitable for young adults, and it will be a
bit of a departure from the alternative history genre that pays the
bills for me, but if it sells then it can be turned into a series.
I do my own maps and cover designs for the military fiction series but
I am no artist, I have a cobbled together concept of what I would like
to see, based on the first chapter, and although the dimensions are
wrong for a 15.24cm (6") x 22.86cm (9") front cover it incorporates
the main character, the night, a cathedral and a blue moon.
I am aware that the concept I have may not be eye catching enough to
stand out from the crowd, which as I said is extremely important if
you want to sell books from what are pretty much postage stamp sized
images on Apple, Amazon, Nook, etc etc. So colour is important and the
black sky does not necessarily do the business in my very workmanlike
jobby which is posted at. andyfarmansnovels.blogspot.com but it does highlight the blue moon of the story.I will obviously pay for the cover I like and of course the artist will be credited
within the book, but I am asking artists for a rough sketch/visual, first.RegardsAndy Farman
176382@gmail.com
Facebook authors page.
Blog
Amazon authors page.
Facebook 'Armageddon's Song' series page
Linkedin page.
VISUAL CONCEPT (but I am open to suggestions to alternatives.
Too much black sky, but how else to highlight the moon?
As ever, a cover needs to catch the eye. I had a brainwave though, just make the blue moon into a backdrop.
'Amy' would benefit from a more enigmatic expression, one similar to Mia Sara's.
I will begin 'Shaw', a prequel to Armageddon's Song, next month. I will try writing OD&BM at the same time. The next on the list is a further prequel, one set in Northern Ireland with Pat Reed as a platoon commander in 2CG, and Colin, Oz and Ray as young Guardsmen going through the Depot before joining the battalion. I have yet to think of a title or an ending though.
Next month I will also be trying to move into publishing with Barnes & Noble, Apple iBooks, Smashbooks and Nook as paperbacks, hardcover and ebooks. I would like to try audio books also but I need to somehow find the time to research the nuts and bolts into that.
Next year of course I will begin work on the sequel to Armageddon's Song, 'Armageddon's Anthem', which will be set two years after the point where 'Crossing the Rubicon' ended.
The hunt for a book cover artist
I joined a website called deviantART.com where you can find anything from potters to 3D CG movie animators. Having approached a number of very talented 3D artists and digital painters I laid out the following criteria and now I am awaiting the first samples.Seeking a book cover artistby Trench-ADF, 1 day, 10 hours agoJournals / PersonalGood evening,
I am currently seeking an artist to produce the cover of a
supernatural thriller.
I have been let down a couple of times now by individuals who claimed
to be cover artists, so I have come to Deviantart to ask a few artists
here too.
I make most of my money from eBook downloads and the covers have to be
eye catching in order to stand out, so what would be a thing of beauty
on a bookshelf is not necessarily going to cut the mustard in getting
potential readers to click on the image and read the titles
description. The cover is the Lure and the description is the Hook
etc.
The book will be in hardcover, paperback and ebook, as a supernatural
thriller that will not be suitable for young adults, and it will be a
bit of a departure from the alternative history genre that pays the
bills for me, but if it sells then it can be turned into a series.
I do my own maps and cover designs for the military fiction series but
I am no artist, I have a cobbled together concept of what I would like
to see, based on the first chapter, and although the dimensions are
wrong for a 15.24cm (6") x 22.86cm (9") front cover it incorporates
the main character, the night, a cathedral and a blue moon.
I am aware that the concept I have may not be eye catching enough to
stand out from the crowd, which as I said is extremely important if
you want to sell books from what are pretty much postage stamp sized
images on Apple, Amazon, Nook, etc etc. So colour is important and the
black sky does not necessarily do the business in my very workmanlike
jobby which is posted at. andyfarmansnovels.blogspot.com but it does highlight the blue moon of the story.I will obviously pay for the cover I like and of course the artist will be credited
within the book, but I am asking artists for a rough sketch/visual, first.RegardsAndy Farman
176382@gmail.com
Facebook authors page.
Blog
Amazon authors page.
Facebook 'Armageddon's Song' series page
Linkedin page.
VISUAL CONCEPT (but I am open to suggestions to alternatives.
Too much black sky, but how else to highlight the moon?
As ever, a cover needs to catch the eye. I had a brainwave though, just make the blue moon into a backdrop.
'Amy' would benefit from a more enigmatic expression, one similar to Mia Sara's.Cover art for 'Of Demons and Blue Moons', my roughed out concept.
Too much black sky, but how else to highlight the moon?
As ever, a cover needs to catch the eye. I had a brainwave though, just make the blue moon into a backdrop.
'Amy' would benefit from a more enigmatic expression, one similar to Mia Sara's.
As ever, a cover needs to catch the eye. I had a brainwave though, just make the blue moon into a backdrop.
'Amy' would benefit from a more enigmatic expression, one similar to Mia Sara's.June 6, 2014
Still a little stunned.
Three weeks at number one in the UK Kindle ratings for Alternative History for 'The Longest Night', and the second place for three weeks is the final volume in the series 'Crossing the Rubicon', although those positions are reversed in Australia. As CTR is set in the Philippines and Australia that stands to reason.All the books have new covers and I am working to insert map illustrations into the first three volumes.
Some very nice things said about volume 2 and 3 after an earlier glowing review of volume 1 by the military community forum at ARRSE.CO.UK.
Review - Volume 1 of Armageddon's Song
Review - Volume 2 and 3 of Armageddon's Song.
The series is available at:
Armageddon's Song at Amazon.co.uk
May 29, 2014
Response to the question of bad writing that was posted on another forum.
"I am very glad you are enjoying it. The answer to the puzzle is that my brain was suffering through decades of neglect. I did not finish school but joined the British Army as a boy soldier at 15 and until 2004 my jobs were all practical and outdoors, with not a great deal of creative writing involved (although defence lawyers/counsel for the defense, argued otherwise on a few occasions). From 2004 - 2011 I was responsible for the planning of operations and the writing of the operations plans*. (*plus having a good time on film sets and TV productions, putting on a few extra pounds with the excellent catering of course. Clint Eastwood really is just playing himself BTW!) I am not aware of any critical remarks from senior officers on grammar and punctuation. This probably evidences why they were not 'Superior Officers', just coppers who were paid more (No offence, just a play on an old joke).
I am only now really aware of how incredibly BAD my writing was, as my brain has been slapped up the side a time or three since publishing Volume 1 in 2013 (written in 2002) and Volume 2 (written in 2003). Since May 2013 this old dog has been learning new tricks I would otherwise have learnt in school if I had not run off to play soldier and street cop for forty years, back in 1972.
I am re-editing Volume 1 and 2 and publishing Map Illustrated Editions which are half the size 2-parters, due to the size of the maps adding to the cost of the eBooks on Kindle.
The paper versions will now become rather small print, once edited again, as CreateSpace, the printer, has lowered page maximums to 480 (From 700 back when I published the 665 page Volume 2 in June '13).
The maps are the usual Farman rough workmanship in comparison to the map makers on here, but this is the battlefield in the first book, the opening battle of World War 3, set 12 miles NW of the Czech Republic on a river called The Wesernitz in 'Stand-To'. "
Andy Farman
I am only now really aware of how incredibly BAD my writing was, as my brain has been slapped up the side a time or three since publishing Volume 1 in 2013 (written in 2002) and Volume 2 (written in 2003). Since May 2013 this old dog has been learning new tricks I would otherwise have learnt in school if I had not run off to play soldier and street cop for forty years, back in 1972.
I am re-editing Volume 1 and 2 and publishing Map Illustrated Editions which are half the size 2-parters, due to the size of the maps adding to the cost of the eBooks on Kindle.
The paper versions will now become rather small print, once edited again, as CreateSpace, the printer, has lowered page maximums to 480 (From 700 back when I published the 665 page Volume 2 in June '13).
The maps are the usual Farman rough workmanship in comparison to the map makers on here, but this is the battlefield in the first book, the opening battle of World War 3, set 12 miles NW of the Czech Republic on a river called The Wesernitz in 'Stand-To'. "
Andy Farman
