Andrew Milner's Blog, page 2

Oh, It is hard work !!!!

The best thing ever as a writer is when someone says something positive about your work. It's so easy sometimes to get disheartened when things don't go as planned... Trying to get an agent for a start it's not just hard but damn impossible. Nobody is interested in taking a gamble on an unknown writer.

Also finding your genre is hard. My first two books were both paranormal romance, the third was paranormal yet my next one which will be called NOTE TO SELF is a chick-lit. Written as first person it follows Emily as she approaches 50 and her husband leaves her. She has to get back into the dating game and after dating some strange men, she has a decision to make. Hopefully its release will be by the end of the year... I have also written children's books and I am now about to embark on a biography of a male to female transgender patient... I'm not sure sticking to one particular genre will suit me because writing gives me an opportunity to be whoever I want to be whenever I want.

I am also a trustee of a charity called Purple Owl which raises awareness of Epilepsy, a true honour as my wife founded it.
 Anyway back to my original point someone said to me the other day; I have read loads of books, some fantastic, some not but yours are just as good as most. Compliment? I certainly think so.
Keep reading, I'll keep writing !!

Helping others

Well it's been a while since my last blog.. About a year actually. I have finished my next book but just having issues with the cover... It'll be out soon enough... However, that is not the reason for my blog. I just wanted to share with you how wonderful my wife is. Despite being poorly, she has epilepsy, she works near on full time and has set up her own charity. Purple Owl is to raise awareness of epilepsy. She's wonderful, determined and clever as well as focused and funny.. I love her immensely. I'm proud to be a trustee of this charity and will do everything to support her in it. If anyone knows someone who suffers from epilepsy tell them to get in touch to see how we can help. Email -Charitypurpleowl@yahoo.com or text/call +44 7752 128212Funny how despite having loads of issues themselves, people still want to help others. 

Little things please little minds

As I say in the title Little things please little minds and this was confirmed for me when I got a follow from Sian Reeves on twitter. To have followers is a compliment in itself but a famous one is amazing. I am one happy boy.I make no secret from enjoying writing books and although the search for a literary agent continues I still enjoy creating characters and stories in my head. Granted not everyone will like them which is why as most authors do, I have rejection emails filling my inbox but my enjoyment is what keeps me going. If I didn't enjoy it I wouldn't do it. The feeling when someone says "I really enjoyed that," when they have read one of my books is amazing.

Currently I am deciding whether to re-release my first two books as one book as when I wrote A FAR REACHING DREAM I had no idea that THE HIDDEN PATH HOME would be written. Although the books were written as standalone books I have to concede that The Hidden Path Home does refer to A Far reaching Dream a little bit.I have started writing a script for A Far Reaching Dream as I would like to approach a drama maker as I think it would make a good two part drama and I must continue with this as it's so easy to get side tracked by life.

NOTE TO SELF which will be my next book is a new genre for me but more will be said in the next few months as I prepare that one for publication and in the mean time I continue to write another one following a lovely chap who is trying to rebuild his life after the death of his wife. Everyone loves a little bit of doom and gloom sometimes, however a happy ending usually helps to combat that.
Anyway
If you keep reading I'll keep writing
Andy

 http://www.andrewmilnerbooks.co.uk

What gives someone the right to take another life?

       What gives someone the right to take another life? We are all human beings put here to look after this beautiful world created for us to live in. It's not hard, it's not rocket science, you don't need to be super intelligent to get this concept. No matter what colour your skin is, what country you were born in or what religion you choose to practice, you are no better or worse than I am. I am more than happy to live my life side by side with my fellow human beings without question. Why then do some people live their lives to hurt other people, to force their views on others, to make other people live to their beliefs. Look, here it is plain and simple. Live your life as you want to live it without hurting one another. Plain and simple, then we can all just get on and enjoy this lovely world.

       It's a privilege to be an author, an artist or a songwriter in which you create a world safe for people to absorb themselves into and feel safe. Sure, we all get upset when reading a sad book or listening to a sad song or laugh at the comedy book written to entertain us but these are safe worlds created for us to enjoy just like the real world was created for us to enjoy. Maybe if we think of this world as a book and we just mere characters we might enjoy it more. Yes there's always the bad guy in a book but the good guys always win in the end.
More about my next book in my next blog.
Keep reading and I'll keep writing...
Andy
www.andrewmilnerbooks.co.uk

There's always someone to help with the book.

Sometimes it's hard to know which direction to take the books you are writing. My concern is that I don't want to be one of those authors who people say things about like - "It's the same as his last book".
I've seen reviews of successful authors where it has been stated 'same plot as last book'. I let the idea come and then I listen to the characters because it's them who know what the story is about. Don't ever be scared to step back a bit and let the story develop, this is where you will find the best inspiration.

My fourth book has just about had its first full edit and has now been sent to an agent so fingers crossed. The character who is called Emily Matheson has led me through a difficult time in her life and I now feel that I have a friend for life with her. She is approaching her fiftieth birthday when her husband leaves her. She has had to start her life again after twenty years of marriage.

Emily made me laugh, she made me cry and left me feeling honoured that she shared her thoughts and feelings with me.

I will keep you updated with the progress of this book. 
Keep reading. I'll keep writing. 
Andy

http://www.andrewmilnerbooks.co.uk

It's all in my head !

I sometimes wonder how I manage to write books, not because I think I'm not capable of such things but because life seems to run at a certain pace which is sometimes hard to keep up with. Work takes up a lot of time and then there's time to spend with family and friends and then the general day to day living. However when you feel compelled to write you have to write and the early morning call of 6am is the time for me to write.
I have read my books after completion of thought to myself, "Did I really write that? That's really good." There are so many people out there writing books and if you search you can always find an author promoting his / her book. It's a tough world out there but that is the case with most industries. You just have to keep going.
Why do I write books? I certainly didn't set out to be a writer and sometimes I wonder why I carry on but It's like I have characters in my head battling to be heard.
I have recently finished what will be my fourth book and am at the reading through stages before parts are edited and changed if need be. This brings me to think what next? I usually start writing about anything or one of the ideas that I have but without any sense of direction as I believe if the characters need their story to be told they will tell it. This has worked and from an idea I have started to write a chapter and planned a few more. I write because I like it and it is such a compliment when someone reads a book that was created in your head and says that they liked it.
My childhood in Pudsey in Leeds played a big part in my life and in A Far Reaching Dream and The Hidden Path Home it features heavily. It's lovely to have grown up in such a beautiful place and be able to tell others about it in my books. I will return there in future books.
You can take the boy from Pudsey but not Pudsey from the boy !!
You keep reading and I'll keep writing.
Andy
http://www.andrewmilnerbooks.co.uk
 

THE NEXT CHAPTER

So I have finished writing my fourth book. It will be called NOTE TO SELF. It is about Emily a soon to be fifty year old. After twenty years of marriage her husband left her for another woman. She not only had to deal with that but the loss her dad who she worshipped. I have tried to capture every emotion in writing this book. So as I start my first read through and editing session of which there will be a few, I now start to think of another idea for my next book. I have characters in my head all the time but trying to find where they will fit into stories is another matter. I enjoyed so much writing about Fulneck and Pudsey which are in Leeds in A FAR REACHING DREAM and THE HIDDEN PATH HOME that I may return there for my next one. Indeed in CARD SCHOOL there are elements of Pudsey in that too. Pudsey was my childhood and a place where I feel at home when I visit. It has everything and in THE HIDDEN PATH HOME I relived the old tales told to me as a child about Greenside Tunnel. There are other myths and tales from my childhood which may get a mention or two once I have found the characters to do them justice.
I tried hard to make NOTE TO SELF amusing alongside the serious emotions and once you read the sort of things her mum and friends come out with I hope you'll agree. It's hard to leave characters behind when you spend so much time with them but new ones have to be born.
You keep reading and I'll keep writing.
 Andy
 Here's a picture over Fulneck taken from the Bankhouse Pub, Pudsey.  www.andrewmilnerbooks.co.uk

Childhood

I had a great childhood despite my dad leaving when I was about 7. My mum did a fantastic job of bringing up me and my sister. She worked part-time and sacrificed a lot to provide for us. I would only see my dad on a weekend. The thing for me that stands out in my childhood is the area where I grew up. I lived at the top end of Pudsey in Leeds, West Yorkshire and a five minute walk from Fulneck. We would play in the countryside all day disappearing first thing and coming back in the evening. We played football, cricket, hide and seek or just chilled out at the side of the Fulneck golf course. There was a farm at the top of our street that had a mini railway and we would go up in summer and have rides around the fields which would then go under a tunnel. There was a horse in the field called Dandini and a donkey called Patrick. We would do beck jumping down Fulneck valley of which I write about in A FAR REACHING DREAM and THE HIDDEN PATH HOME. Even in CARD SCHOOL I write about playing frisbee down Fulneck Valley something which I did with my own children.

I know I was very lucky to live my childhood where I did and feel sadness for others who had a bad childhood.
We only get one crack at life so why don't we enjoy it? There are some true hidden gems in this country and Fulneck was mine. It will stay a huge part of me for the rest of my life.
http://www.theaa.com/walks/tong-fulnecks-moravian-settlement-421280
I will blog next time about my new book that I am writing.
Keep reading and I'll keep writing.
Thanks
Andy

http://www.andrewmilnerbooks.com

 A view over Fulneck valley

Learning lessons

For most of us our aim in life if is to be good at what we do whether it is being the President of a large organisation, a playgroup leader, an author or a student. The majority of us strive to be good, not necessarily the best but good enough to put us above our peers. As a business leader you want your business to be the best and offer the best service to your customers, the playgroup leader who strives to make the children happy and the parents confident in your leadership, the student who wants straight grade As and the author who wants to have the best seller.When I write a book I have to like the story first before hoping that the reader will like it too. How can I expect people to read and like my book if I don't like it? How can I expect people to believe in my characters if I don't believe in them?I'm not brilliant at writing books by any stretch of the imagination and will probably never see my name up there with the world's best sellers, Agatha Christie, Barbara Cartland, William Shakespeare and J.K Rowling. Val Wood's book The Doorstep Girls has made it onto The Guardian paperback book chart at No.9 a fantastic achievement which I can only try to emulate. However they all started somewhere and were not born the best, they had to work at it just like I will try to. It is the most highly paid compliment that I have ever received when someone says they enjoyed one of my books. I take my hat off to people who work hard to be good and I learn lessons all the time from my girlfriend who pushes the boundaries of being epileptic to run her own business and along with athletes and politicians changes people's misconceptions of what Epilepsy is.

Life is a lesson and I learn all the time. My dream is to have 10 books published. I so far have three published and a few more in the planning stage.

Having the compliment of people enjoying my books is like a compulsion to write more, and write more I will !
Thanks, keep reading and I'll keep writing.
Andy
https://www.facebook.com/andrew.milner.355?ref=hl
https://twitter.com/milnerad

First professional book review

I'm sure by now those who make new years resolutions have mostly quit them. What is it that makes us so sure that we can do things and change our lives just because it is a new year. I always try to be a nice person and help people not because it is January but because I am a human being and we have been put on this planet to look after it and help each other. It's not hard to be civil to each other.
This week I have received my first professional book review and was very pleased when the reviewer said it kept them hooked from the first page. Every author tries to grab hold of the reader and pull them into a world created in the author's head. I am no exception to that. The world of Michael Dawson is not a happy one, unwanted by his Aunt after the death of his parents and very much alone in the world he relies only on himself to get through in an environment alien to him. It is a huge compliment when someone believes in the world and characters that you create.
To watch the project come together is a truly amazing thing as ideas from my head transfer onto paper or word document and become part of a story that people will read. I am so grateful to people who buy my books and take time to read them.
Thank you.
Keep reading and I'll keep writing.
Andy

http://beckvalleybooks.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/book-review-card-school-by-andrew-milner.html