Pratap Divyesh's Blog, page 40

Short description of the writing process: Beginner’s guide

Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. – Anne Lamott

The above quote is quite true, the beginning is absolutely terrible. The first line is the hardest, because you’ll try to impress your readers with a monumental phrase, which – absolutely – must remain imprinted in the reader’s mind and soul, forever.

Nonsense! The first line will always be, if not catastrophic, “at least” lamentable. You will change it – for sure – at least twice. Trust me! Then you have to finish the first page. You finally managed that? Congratulations! You have taken the first step toward immortality: you are about to become a writer.

How satisfied you’ll be when you go on to the second page: “Wow! I wrote the first one!” You will feel like those guys who go to the gym and after two bicep curls with a heavy dumbbell, they look around for approving glances: “Huh? Am I strong, or what?” From now on, however, it’s easier. You know how it is: it’s hard to make your first million, the rest will come by itself (well, maybe… I do not know… but that’s how the story goes). From now on the gaps will begin to fill: the characters outline, the plot, the features, the emotions begin to form…

You will start to create images for the reader, images that will help you penetrate their mind, creating that “state of well-being” that they have been waiting for all day long.

You don’t need to write down simple phrases, but true “verbal paintings”. OK, let me explain for the uninitiated. Let us assume that, in chapter three, I would have used a “flat” description: “Robert came into the room and saw a bed, a cupboard and a table full of fruits”.

Would this description awaken any emotion in you? I’m sure it wouldn’t. It would have been a description like in a “crime scene report”. Instead, you will find the passage in the book describes things quite differently:

“As soon as he went in, Robert noticed with amazement the huge canopied bed which dominated the entire room. He then saw the wardrobe, the table and chairs, all drenched in the sunlight coming through a wide window.

Clean, fresh air, scented with jasmine and mint could be felt through the room, inviting him to rest. On the table there stood a bowl of fresh fruit which delighted the senses: red apples from the Kingdom of Clouds, big and juicy grapes hand-picked from the hills of Akros, oranges ripened by the warm sun in the Kingdom of Water and all sort of other kinds of fruit that Robert had never seen before.”

Something else, right? Have I transposed you into the room, next to Robert? Already drooling, thinking about the grapes from Akros? Images, images, images… use the details, create the feeling of being there, into the story, sitting at the table with the hero, fighting shoulder to shoulder, suffering with him, laughing together…

Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon. – E.L. Doctorow

At one point, it might happen that an ethical issue arises: can I use elements from other books? I admit, I had the same problem, somewhere around page twenty. I found the answer in an article on Bloomsbury Publishing web page, “guilty” of publishing the Harry Potter series: “Renowned writers’ tips for novice writers.” A writer (I apologize, because I don’t remember her name) said that (I quote from memory) “it’s OK to use elements from other sources – books, movies – as long as you create your own story” because “after all the books written throughout history it is very difficult to conceive something new.” She was right. I thought that all the stories (ancient or modern) have dragons, elves, wizards, animals that can talk, heroes who can handle fire or water, magic realms or giants, just as in detective stories, you can find thieves, criminals, cops, detectives…

Having solved this problem, I found myself before another challenge: finding suitable names for places and characters. Whenever I thought of a fancy name I was checking the internet to see if someone else has used that name before. You’ll be amazed: every word YOU “invent” is already out there on the World Wide Web. Because another madman already thought of it, or because it means something in another language, or because they are actual places or persons, about whose existence you had no clue before. Believe me, after a while you will abandon the research and you’ll try to create strange names, without checking anymore, hoping that nobody has ever thought about them.

When – finally – you’ll get rid of all these anxieties, the story will start to flow and you will end up on page one hundred (how happy I was then!), then two hundred, three hundred… depends only on the imagination that you have and the talent to “split hairs in four”.

Finally you will lay out the last word of the book, as the artist puts his last stroke on the canvas. You will smile and you’ll feel a huge satisfaction. It’s that unique moment, when you reach the Everest of self-gratification and you find it worthwhile, because – isn’t it? – all good things have an end.

Even if you don’t succeed publishing your work, my advice is not to give up writing, because:

You fail only if you stop writing. – Ray Bradbury

Contributed as Guest post by Author I.B. George.

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The Reacher Phenomenon

For those of you whose only exposure to Jack Reacher has come from the two films, you are in for one hell of a shock when you come to reading the books. When casting for Reacher began, author Lee Child would probably have had just about every other actor in Hollywood in mind ahead of Tom Cruise. Sure, the movie business these days is a magical world of CGI, but even those computer wizards couldn’t make the 5ft 6inch (on tippy-toes) Cruise become an imposing 6ft 5inch Reacher. Andy Serkis became Gollum, Mark Rylance the BFG, but Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher? Pull the other one. Still, Lee Child was happy enough. And Reacher is his man.

Lee Child has officially come of age, with 21 Reacher novels under his belt. The legend began in 1997 with The Killing Floor, whilst the latest, Night School, was published only recently. During the series we’ve seen Reacher past and present, lone wolf walking the earth like Caine from Kung-Fu, finding trouble wherever he goes (if it doesn’t find him first), or hard-as-nails Military Police major. Reacher has also ventured into first-person POV, which makes for an interesting insight into what makes the man tick.

Of course, Reacher is not great literature. According to those who tell us what great literature is, at least. Stephen King once wrote: It is the tale, not he who tells it, expanding on Elmore Leonard’s theory that the story is the main driving force, not how it is told. Lee Child seldom strays beyond ‘he/she said’ when writing dialogue – another Leonard rule – but the tales he tells are nonetheless compelling. Usually. Yes, the phrase ‘Reacher said nothing’ has become so overused the reader may begin to dread its next appearance, but we forgive it as we are blown along by the force  – and brevity – of the prose. For every Kingsley Amis there is a Lee Child, and that’s how it should be. They both get the job done, just in different ways.

Having been fired from his corporate job at the age of 40, Englishman Jim Grant decided to write his first Reacher novel. The decisions to both set his protagonist in the USA, and publish under the pen name of Lee Child, were brave – especially given the cliché that authors should write about what they know. But then, what awful advice that often is. Of course, Lee Child and Jack Reacher are very much products of this ‘I want it all, I want it now, and I want to achieve it in as little time as humanly possible’ modern world. Few Reacher adventures live long in the memory, but whilst consuming them they are always both satisfying and tasty.

Well over 100 million Reacher books have been sold, and with the movie tie-in there appears to be no end to this cash cow continuing to reel in readers. I’m one of them – hooked a little late, but have since read every novel. This enduring character, with good intentions, a genuine sense of right and wrong, allied to the strength, physique, determination and will to do something about it, is someone we can all root for. Someone we hope might be in our corner should we need him.

Jack Reacher was not the first literary hardman, and he will not be the last. But the strength of the character is thus: with the Thomas Harris creation, Hannibal Lecter, every subsequent sociopathic serial killer was compared to him; so every fictional tough guy with a heart is compared to Reacher. Substance over style wins the day

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Why You Need a Marketing Plan Even With Traditional Publishing

Whether you are self-publishing or signing with a traditional publisher, having a marketing plan is vital for your book’s success. While the importance of an author-driven marketing plan seems obvious if you are self-publishing, it will also have a huge impact on sales if your book is traditionally published. Most traditional publishers will help you with marketing, but, unfortunately, this probably won’t be enough for you to just sit back, relax, and watch your book climb to the bestseller list.

Building an online platform, actively seeking out book signings, promoting your book on social media, and using your own connections to spread the word about your book can make the difference between a success and a flop. These are things that you, and only you, can do. If you have the budget, you might consider hiring a publicist to help you with this.

Ultimately, you are the best person to get out and market your book. And who could be better to promote a book than the author?

Here are 3 links about how to develop a marketing plan and why you should have one:

The Write Life: What’s Your Book Marketing Plan? 6 Crucial Steps to Include

The Creative Penn: Marketing Your Book

Jane Friedman: 3 Things Your Traditional Publisher Is Unlikely to Do

You can also find this post on my blog, Aspire: Begin Your Writing Journey, along with more blog posts and resources to help you on your writing journey.

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A Guide on Determining Your Genre as a Writer

Some of the best writers out there specialize in a certain field. Pinpointing the genre that’s just right for you will usually be the first step towards building a successful writing career. You’ll have to do some research and you’ll also have to do a lot of reading in order to identify the field that speaks to you and that you could potentially excel in.

Understand the Differences between Genres

Many newbies fail realizing the large plethora of writing genres out there. Before doing anything else, you may want to understand the differences and the characteristics that make each one unique:

Fiction: this is one of the broadest and most popular writing genres out there. Literary fiction is essentially a novel that the writer has imagined. The term literary is there to indicate the complexity and the richness of the language. There’s another sub-genre here and it’s called genre fiction. It can be science fiction, romance, crime, horror, erotica, etc. This one is typically considered a lighter read. A literary fiction work comes with an engaging story but the language doesn’t have to be as elevated.
Nonfiction: nonfiction writing is the exact opposite of writing a novel. Such a book can come in the form of a how-to guide (tremendously popular today), it can be published by a university or another academic institution or it can be a tremendously niche piece of writing. Usually, the writer has in-depth knowledge of the subject, which turns them into the authority in the respective field.
Memoirs: this is another form of nonfiction writing that has become a genre of its own. It seems that memoirs are gaining more and more prominence in today’s world with just about everyone from A-list celebrities to people nobody has ever heard about producing at least one in their lifetime.
Young adult books: a fiction genre, young adult books target people in their teens and early 20s. Divergent and Twilight are two popular books that fall within the category. The market is growing all the time and such books have to adhere to a couple of essential rules. For a start, there are no profanities, no explicit sexual scenes and vulgarity in young adult books. Things are rather hinted than directly described when pertaining to something a bit more questionable.
Children’s books: the final field caters to the needs of the youngest readers. Being a successful children’s book author is far from an easy task – you need a lot of creativity and you also have to adapt the language to the respective audience. If you manage to accomplish these goals, however, you can build a pretty successful career.

What’s Your Idea?

To get started with writing, you will have to carry out a brainstorming session. The ideas that you have most often will make it rather easy for you to pinpoint the genre that’s just right.

Sit down and try to develop the book concept that you have in your mind. Do you feel comfortable sharing your own experience with a large group of readers? Do you have a great idea for a book that’s set in an imaginary world?

Don’t try to fit your concept inside any of the genres. Such an approach will be too limiting. Rather, attempt to flesh out the idea itself. Once the book concept becomes crystal clear in your mind, you’ll understand which genre you have a predisposition to.

Understand the Specifics of Each Genre

Now that you have a book concept and a basic understanding of the different genres, it’s time to take a look at the literary tools used in each. There are “secrets” and specific approaches that writers have to employ when producing a text within the respective category. In order to be successful, you’ll have to acquire an intimate understanding of the genre and its specifics.

One of the easiest ways to accomplish the goal is reading the books created by some of the best genre’s representatives.

Remember that the audience you’re addressing knows and understands the respective genre. If your book is off, chances are that people will not bother going through until the end. In order to write for the specific audience, you have to become one of these people.

The more you read, the more you’ll understand the secrets of the trade. Take notes while going through high-rated books. Pinpoint the tone, the style, the complexity of the vocab and even the sentence structure. Every single element contributes to the overall readability of the book and to its appeal.

Stick to a Genre that You’re Comfortable in

Can you switch between genres when writing a book? Sure, you can experiment and have fun with different writing approaches. One thing to remember, however, is that sticking to the same niche will make it easier for you to build a career.

Thus, if you’ll be turning writing into a profession, it may be best to stick to one genre.

There are several reasons why such an approach makes sense. For a start, you’ll be building your reputation in the respective field. In addition, you can do cross-promotion, making people purchase one book in a series after the other.

Being creative is very important but you’ll also have to focus on the business side of things. There’s sufficient evidence that series sell well and they make it easier for writers to build a career in a highly competitive world. Thus, pick a genre that you like and that you’ll be capable of writing multiple books in.

There’s no need to make a quick decision about your genre. Take some time to plan, research and develop your ideas. The period you dedicate to preliminary work will speed up writing and the publication of the book itself. The more effort you dedicate to this first phase, the easier it will be for you to get started on the right foot.

This post is contributed as Guest post by Alice.

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Warning: This Children’s Book Portrays Real-Life

So, I’ve just realised I’m one of THOSE authors who writes books that are ‘inappropriate’ for children.

Who tells me so? Well, my local librarian declined to stock my book in her collection and I’ve had reviewers refuse to review my book because of its subject matter. They obviously know what children should and shouldn’t read. I’m a mother of a four-year-old and read books to my child very day but what would I know? I’m just a self-published writer, so my book is not trade publisher validated as acceptable for kids.

There’s always been controversial books for young readers that divide the reading audience (the adult reading audience, that is). I read an enlightening article recently by Perri Klass, M.D. It is called “The Banned Books Your Child Should Read”. Among others, it cites a list “of frequently challenged books” for children and YA readers. I’ll borrow the well-known examples of Judy Blume’s ‘controversial’ portrayal of a young girl going through puberty in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret and even the hugely successful Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey, which focusses on underwear and perhaps most alarmingly, children not always behaving well. This is just far too much reality for some adults to handle, therefore, it is their job to make sure the children in their sphere are not exposed to it.

Or, is it their job?

Do we underestimate children’s abilities to process and filter information that portrays the less-than-perfect side of life, or, stories that are written with subtexts, to keep parents entertained? Do all books for children need to be moralistic, to be suitable for them to read?

Or, can they just be fun and perhaps even a little bit naughty in some cases? Are parents allowed to get enjoyment from the books they read to their children? Being a parent, myself, I would argue that I’m more likely to pick up a book that appeals to me on some level, as much as there will be a point of appeal that I know will interest my son. It’s a win, win and that dear reader, is what I naively thought might appeal to others when I wrote and published my first picture book, Daddy and the World’s Longest Poo.

It has now dawned on me that I have written a book that divides people right down the middle and provokes some very strong reactions. Primary areas of concern seem to be that there is an image of a poo on one of the pages in a book about poo and the other problem is that I have dared to poke fun at the domestic relations between a man and a woman. Yikes!

In my defence, let me just say that I have road tested this book with children and it resonates best with 4 – 6-year-olds. They appreciate it on the level that it takes about poo and it is written from the perspective of a curious little boy, just like them. And even at that age, most children can identify with the fact that someone they know might spend a lot of time on the toilet. That’s real life and it’s funny.

On another level, parents who read this book to children realise that it does draw attention to a certain quirky behaviour. Some people like being on the toilet because it gives them precious alone time, and dare I say it, in the world of long term relationships and parenting small children, perhaps this even gives the toilet-goer some time away from their spouse, or their responsibilities. (Some time I said, not ALL the time!) My pure intention by satirising this behaviour was to make adults laugh, not to offend anyone. Even the person I wrote it about thinks it’s funny!

I liken this sort of multi-level appeal to almost every single successful animated movie that comes out these days. Sophisticated film makers know that saccharine sweet is not enough to get whole families to the movies anymore. In other words, they portray the quirks of life through characters and storylines that are written on completely different levels for parents and for children. This is so that the parents can bear watching these movies repeatedly and will shell out money for them at the cinema and on DVD. I’d like to give you one good example from the successful Toy Story franchise which seems to be pretty widely accepted by parents, as much as it is loved by children. It’s not on any sort of banned list that I can think of.

To be blunt, there is one scene in which Buzz Lightyear’s wings pop out when he is sexually excited by Jessie, as if he is having an erection. This double entendre is barely disguised and guess what, it does make me a teensy bit shocked every time I see it. It also goes completely over my child’s head and I do not stop him watching the movie, or this scene because it dares to be a bit naughty. I know this scene is included to hopefully make the adults watching laugh, even after the 1,000th time they have been forced to watch it.

So, I would like to leave off this ‘controversial’ blog by asking why we seem comfortable these days with exposing kids to movies written with double meanings, satire and cheeky humour but many still struggle with this type of writing in books?

If a children’s or YA book is generally obscene, or is actively encouraging that immoral behaviour is good, then sure, we do have an obligation to moderate its accessibility to young readers. But if it is drawing from real-life scenarios for the purpose of educating (think Judy Blume), or creating humour (shout out to Dav Pilkey), shouldn’t we just lighten up a little? Perhaps its time to acknowledge that our kids (and their parents) are not quite so much in need of protection, as we might think.

Would love to hear your views.

This post is contributed as Guest post by Brydie Wright.

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Free Your Mind, and the Rest Will Follow

When I was a kid, about third grade, I used to have to ride the bus home from Church School every Wednesday night.  I hated it.  It was an old style bus ride that literally stopped at everyone’s house rather than in a central location from which we could all walk home.  For some reason, my house, which was pretty much in the middle of town, was one of the last stops.  The students on the bus were kindergartners through 8th graders.  Everyone knows jr. high kids are the worst.  They shouldn’t even have allowed them in Church School because they pretty much are the devil incarnate.

Every time the bus pulled up to the church, I tried to guess the safest place to sit.  That place was, of course, the farthest from the jr. high kids.  Usually I did okay, but every once in a while, my young impressionable mind was horrified by the talking points of these older individuals and their need to push all of the limits of decency post church-ing for an hour and fifteen minutes.

Ironically, it was these semi-human beast people that made me want to write.

One fateful evening, I was stuck in the seat directly behind one of the male and female creatures.  They were deeply caught up in an early teen awkward discussion about school and good vs. bad teachers.  Eventually they got to their writing teacher.  They hated her because she was already like 30 years old and “totally didn’t get it.”  She had the nerve of asking her students to write a story about their dream Christmas gift.  It could be one they wanted to give or receive.

Without actually planning on writing anything of the sort, these two big kids started talking about what they wished they could write.

“I want a giant flying bed pan so I can drop all my waste on her house!”

“I want a giant plunger so when I poop I can plunge it so hard it will shoot out of her toilet!”

“I want to give her the gift of being beaten by the ugly stick so her boyfriend leaves her for the math teacher!”

They went on and on, mostly to dirty for me to rewrite to mixed readership.  For some reason, that conversation clicked in my young mind.  I could and can write whatever I want.  I don’t have to write about a specific GI Joe guy I want for Christmas.  I can write that I want to be GI Joe for Christmas and finally just take Cobra’s hood off and find out what the heck is actually under there.

From that point on, I loved to write.  I would literally close my eyes and try to come up with the most crazy mixed up idea I could.  It was easy to reign it in if needed, but a blast to start out in a whole different dimension.  I still didn’t get great grades, because I never really bothered to edit, but my teachers loved reading my stories.

That’s how I came up with the characters for my book series Sugarbeet Falls.  In the story, a young boy named Xander learns that through an ancient family gift, he has the power to conjure up superheroes to help him through his days.  He learns of this power when he finds himself in the restroom with no toilet paper.  He wishes for a blinded hero who can deftly change a toilet paper roll while offering the victim their favorite magazine.  Poof!  The Bathroom Manager (BM) is born.

Xander fights evil in his town with a whole bunch of wonderful characters and heroes that can only really be found if he clears his mind and thinks for the stars!

Check it out if you have the chance.  Its on Amazon, or www.sugarbeetfalls.com.

This post is contributed as Guest post by Ryan Acra.

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Six ways you can stop procrastinating – and start getting writing done

Writer’s block just could be something else?

Six ways you can stop procrastinating – and start getting writing done

Procrastination was called the ‘thief of time’ more than 300 years ago by the English poet Edward Young.

While procrastination may or may not be the thief of time, it will certainly steal your peace of mind.

Putting things off requires mental and emotional energy.  Most who procrastinate are not at all lazy, they just shift emphasis to different things for different reasons.

When we are writing, is it possibly because we have made the task is too difficult, time-consuming, not your favourite part or just your mind playing tricks.

Why do we do it when it eats up peace of mind and vitality? Putting things off is just that – it’s just delaying action, and the more you do it the more there is to keep track of and worry about.

Already you are wasting time and energy and the stress is building up. You haven’t done any writing or editing yet and the day is drifting.

Gradually, it takes more and more effort to “not think about it”.  Yet the crazy thing is you’re going to have to get back to that chapter sooner or later.

The only difference procrastinating makes is that you have a gradually increasing level of stress and uneasiness and, when you eventually do get around to acting, you do so under pressure rather than from choice.

Here are six steps to help combat procrastination:

1. Take a few minutes to think about something you have been putting off and to feel, just how much stress putting this off has already caused you since you first realised the task needed action.

2. Think about, and feel, how much stress it is causing you – how much time you spend thinking about it (or trying to not think about it), feeling guilty about it, being reminded about it and so on. Again, get in touch with these feelings of discomfort.

3. Think about how much discomfort it will cause you if you continue to do nothing about it for another few weeks or even another a few months.

4. Okay, you have just experienced the uneasiness and unpleasantness involved in procrastinating on this issue, now let’s look at the benefits of taking action. Take a few moments to really feel how good it will be once you have taken action on this and put it behind you.

5. Think about how just how much time and effort this task will actually require. And compare the cost of taking action (in terms of energy, effort, etc) with the cost of not taking action.

6. Now do it. Right now, while it is still fresh in your mind and in your emotions. Or at least begin doing it. Or plan to take action within the next day or so – and make sure you stick to this commitment.

This post is contributed as Guest post by Alison Blackler. You can contact author on her website www.2mindsnlp.com

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WRITING – HOBBY, PROFESSION or THERAPY? by Tony Thorne MBE

In the last decade, things have changed dramatically in the writing and publishing business, and will never be the same again. Anybody, perhaps almost everybody nowadays with any kind of computer seems to be having a go at it! Nowadays then, to some agents and acquisition editors, it must seem that there are far more writers around today than there are readers. Why do they do it? The irresistible lure of possibly doing another Harry Potter?

Perhaps things have become an amateur’s dream of a preferable alternative to a normal occupation? Maybe they’re making it an exercise in self-fulfilment too, a way to express and analyze their feelings about the world. Where they fear it’s going, and the urge to communicate about it to anyone who’ll listen, or rather read. Could be!

Perhaps it’s a therapeutic exercise?

Well, there are easier ways to relieve one’s feelings of frustration when it comes to requiring therapy. You could try beating up your partner… but that can be very expensive, especially in America. In some countries I believe you can buy little clay idols, horribly hideous to behold. With just a little imagination a suitable one of them can be identified with the galling irritation of the moment. Rage and indignation does the rest. Trials and tribulations presumably scatter in the breeze with the dust of the thing as it crumbles in your fist, or shatters under your heel.

Well, I’ve no doubt it works for some people, but if you lead a very frustrating life, it might soon get to be expensive. However, there are more economic ways to relieve one’s feelings when the need for therapy arises. Years ago, to become your own psychiatrist, the minimum you needed was pencil and paper.

Nowadays, a personal laptop, or tablet… or even a smart phone is more convenient, and most of us have one nowadays…or something similar. Everywhere can become a couch and it’s more socially acceptable than talking to yourself… or taking it out on your partner, which, as I already mentioned, can be very expensive.

So, put it all down then…scribble or tap away, unbutton your creative belt and let everything hang out. Develop your expressive urges and have your characters tell your conscience how you feel. Above all be honest with yourself, even if it hurts. It often does, and I should know…this is the voice of experience.

The nearer I got to the top of the heap, in my business profession the more I longed to release my over-pressurized feelings, throw away my collection of emotion-screening masks, insult all the customers, turn my order book in for an axe and hack away at the plastic feet of all the false idols I seemed to be worshiping. I felt disillusion and contempt for the commercial rat-race, and the way it submerged my appreciation of the simpler things in life. I resented the never-ending battle, that constantly seemed necessary, to just stay level, let alone to expand further, and I was filled with remorse at the neglect of my home-life and family. All the time you see my conscience was wearing me down. It refused to believe my contrived excuses and justification for what I was doing. I eventually knew I needed some kind of therapy, so I started writing again.

I should mention that back in the fifties I wrote and sold a few SciFi tales, as an avid Science Fiction fan and participated in several conventions. My rapidly expanding business life however, soon put a stop to those fascinating activities. Eventually in the late seventies I decided it was time to retire from my professional executive life, and went to work for myself as a software consultant. The problem with that was the way it soon took up all of my time again, so in my early eighties I gave it all up and finally retired.

Since then I have only indulged in writing, editing and promoting my speculative fiction output. Now of course, I am ruefully finding the latter, the essential marketing requirement, seems to take up more and more of my time than the writing does. But to continue…

The smaller magazines and genre websites began to take my work, and still do, and I’ve also won a few competitions, and received a couple of awards. Altogether I’ve published over ten collections of speculative stories from macabre tales to science fiction and even some humor. I’ve also had stories published in about nine anthologies in America. My first novel, Points of View, was published in 2012 by Eternal Press in California. In 2015 they were taken over by Caliburn Press in Madison. Wisconsin. The first sequel will be published by them around December 2016. They want the second one too, which I have just completed. They have also acquired my latest collection of quirky macabre stories SPECULATIVE TALES..!

In 2014, with my own self-publishing imprint, Etcetera Press, I self-published my largest book, 358 pages of THE BEST OF THE TENERIFE TALL TALES, selected from my earlier award winning trilogy, which has that most generous introduction by the late legendary, American SciFi author Harry Harrison. We met up in 2007 at a convention in Copenhagen, and he later visited me for a most illuminating week in Tenerife, Spain where my wife and I were on vacation.

He liked my stories, and gave me a glowing introduction to use with one collection, but said I really had to write a novel if I seriously wanted to get anywhere. So that I did, as already described earlier, and now things are progressing well. My very latest effort has been to self-publish an analysis of the coming Artificial Intelligence revolution, in a book entitled, THE SINGULARITY IS COMING. It has become my best selling title. Most people I talk to have never heard of the phenomenon, and yet many scientists and other experts believe it will arrive in less than a decade and change all out lives completely. If you don’t yet know about it you should… and you know how to find out about it, don’t you? i.e. See my website: www.tonythornembe.com.

Last October it was acquired by the IT Books Division of the Chinese Information Ministry Publisher, PTPress in Bejing. for publication in simplified Chinese eBook, hardback, and paperback versions, scheduled for release in June 2016… and it was! So how did that wonderful breakthrough come about? Their Publishing Manager simply found me while searching through the Internet and took it from there. In his own words, “I wanted a follow up to Ray Kurzweil’s book and your book is concise and easy to understand.”

So my own simple secret of success can be revealed as get yourself featured on the Internet, everywhere and as often as you can.

Make sure your name and your essential website URL appear whenever a potential reader enters anything relevant in the search entry box on any browser. Inexpensive experts waiting for you on that remarkable website www.fiverr.com can provide all the facilities and the opportunities you need to achieve that objective. (Yes, it does have two letter “r”s at the end). When you have done all you can, check your website regularly, add anything new, and keep it updated and ongoing, but above all… be patient!

To sum up now, my therapy has brought me close to understanding that if you don’t have the time to be a perfectionist, there can be contentment in accepting adequacy, defined perhaps as the acceptable limit of one’s abilities. I also suspect that the trick is to never give up until you get as far as you truly believe you can, or maybe stop just before that.

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To Oneself – the Author, we talk: Transitioning the writing

“To be or not to be”(William Shakespeare play Hamlet Act 111, Scene 1), such is the soliloquy we use as our opening phrase; to place meaning on the word emphasis: To Be an Author, how it welcomes us to the literary stage.

How our ‘conscience does make cowards’ of us all, for the life of a writer subjects us to such criticism that becomes our driving force, to move the reader towards a cliff edge moment full of passions that ignite, adventures that abound or suspense that leaves a reverberation – the shockwaves of sound. The allegiance that speaks of a legacy to write, how we carefully construct our words, how we labour over the language to ensure it moves us beyond the current place in time.

As an artist who so wants to create, we put ourselves into a position of vulnerability, the accountability and ownership of our words, the message we are trying to release into a world, a choice of medium that wants to educate, to show through our prose such emotion that will distort the perceptions and create an alternative view.

Gary Zukav’s The Seat of the Soul, says it best:

Every action, thought, and feeling is motivated by an intention, and that intention is cause that exists as one with an effect. If we participate in the cause, it is not possible for us not to participate in the effect. In this most profound way, we are held responsible for our every action, thought, and feeling which is to say, for our every intention…. It is therefore, wise for us to become aware of the many intentions that inform our experience, to sort out which intentions produce which effects, and to choose our intentions according to the effects that we desire to produce.

It is here at the transition station from writer to Author, we are pulled up, do we continue our ticket to ride or allow self doubt to position us on a platform that grounds to a halt. The fear that we have invited the prose police into our private world of alliteration, how we have released our very intimate thoughts into a public forum of hungry grammatical bullies that will pull us to pieces word for word, and of a plethora of social search engines that will weave their own web of deceit. The cyberstalkers, haters & hackers who will take great pleasure in walking through your mind with dirty feet.

Our inner voice, that tells us we have a desire to teach others through the medium that speaks of words, that structures sentences and or places lines of rhyme on a page, how this enemy of mind, requires skilful workmanship to turn it into a masterful tool from which we are then capable of critiquing the work as if a Teacher back at school. Edit, proofread, dump, remove adverbs, implement nouns, convey the information, tell your story; bring back the words lost to now be found.

As an author we take the writing to a whole new level that leaves its readers with amazing pieces that capture a definitive image in the mind, lines on the page that have become an intricate part of the machinery that will analyse and critique, process and evaluate to stir a reaction, and bring about a new frequency that will unveil to the reader – the writers voice.

An author must understand their audience well and move them through the province of such style that eliminates a choice of right or wrong, instead bringing in a contextualised language that activates interest and disrupts thought.

An author understands that it is their raw material from which the book is crafted but even more so that to truly master writing is to place literature into a publication that will endure and have the potential to effect change.

The exercise of developing oneself through writing, recognises the prime examples that are chosen as the selected passages; that give way to a great philosophy of which is derived from the experiences of life. The writing is the well versed craft that becomes the result of painstaking, thoughtful application to piece together prose and as an Author make a book of Art.

A Promise and purpose that speaks of your intent will always move a writer into a world of Authors that demands we pack a powerful punch.

This post is contributed as Guest post by Anita Wilson.

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Success doesn’t come easy

I know I have not been as active as I would like on my Author page recently while completing my Intimate Apparel line but it makes me think of focus, dedication and success.

Last weekend while visiting my family in Michigan, and seeing my best friend Tish, I was looking thru a high school scrapbook and came across this keepsake article. No ‘Success doesn’t come easy.’ It reminds me that ‘if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.’ I hope you enjoy this article written by a classmate Marla Rudick (Leung). Its funny the things we tuck away, find meaningful and can relate to years later.

Success Doesn’t Come Easy – What is success?

Success? It is many things. It is the winning shot in a basketball game. It is a 4.0 report card for four years. It is being selected Homecoming Queen. It is a beautiful painting or poem. It can be simply finding who you are.

Success is the growing and development of potential. Potential which each of us has at birth. Success measured by the maturation of individual potential. It can be personal satisfaction or popular glory. Success rests in the soul of everyone alive, but is it the one who knows to cultivate potential who wins in the game of life.

Success is based on the opportunities given to you throughout your childhood. For when adulthood comes, the goal must become a reality. When experience and knowledge blend together, they burst and bubble with achievement and prosperity. Success unfortunately doesn’t bloom overnight. It is a skill developed to a peak; a sport practiced for perfection. It is a personal style full of individual qualities. Success is what you desire and receive in life.

Success never wastes potential as so many of us do. It tries to make the most from every situation. It never sits and stays idle for the shortest period possible. It drives and strives for the best. It beats and pulsates for more glory, and burns with envy and jealousy at the excelled accomplishments of a competitor.

Success begins when you decide what you want and when you plan on how to achieve it. Success continues with any work of praise and encouragement. Success is accomplished when you reach the end of your challenge.

There is no limit to potential. Everyone has the power to be great. Even if it is knowing that your tried and were defeated, then never to test your abilities. Everyone should try to achieve and to accomplish a challenge. Glory and satisfaction are on the same corner as success. You can be anything you want, receive anything you want . . . all you have to do is try!

I hope Marla continues to write and share her deep moving thoughts with others and loved ones. Simply beautiful!

This post is contributed as Guest post by Author Jean Criss .

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