Steve Chilton's Blog: Goodreads Author's Blog, page 8

Acknowledgements from my latest book

There are always many people to thank when producing any book, and this is no exception. First and foremost, I must acknowledge Billy and Ann Bland, without whose cooperation the project would have remained just an idea. Billy Bland, whose very aura and reputation worried me at the start of this journey, proved to be a very charismatic subject. He was endlessly polite and honest, however personal my probing became. He always tried to say it like it was and has always produced great quotes wh...

BLOG TOUR for ‘All or nothing at all: the life of Billy Bland’

Over the three days before the book’s publication there is an ‘All or nothing at all’ Blog Tour. Visit the blogs via the links below to find out more about the book and it’s author, and also more about it’s subject and the content of the book. Two blogs will be released on each day of the tour.

On Mon 17 August there are two stops on the tour:

Having seen an advance copy, Paul Foster [@longrunuk] takes us through the process, asking me about the idea, research and writing, and then pub...

Boff and Steve – on writing, lockdown and other stuff

The other day I had a long chat with Boff Whalley, as he is providing one of the stops on the Blog Tour next week to celebrate the launch of my book ‘All or nothing at all: the life of Billy Bland’. His blog post that results from the chat will cover, amongst other things, the Bob Graham Round (and having Billy Bland as a surprise pacer on his own). Here we cover some of Boff’s recent writing output – for book and stage. As he has much more interesting things to say than I have it is in a series...

Protected: Boff and Steve – on writing, lockdown and other stuff

This post is password protected. You must visit the website and enter the password to continue reading.

Book IV, Reveal #6 …………. some snippets of content

There are just two weeks to the launch date for my book ‘All of Nothing at All: the life of Billy Bland’ , which is Thursday 20 Aug. This is the last reveal, consisting of two bits of content.

Firstly, each chapter has a pen and ink drawing on the first page as a lead-in to what the chapter is about. This arose from a casual conversation I had with Mike, a very good friend of mine whom I go ‘way back’ with, as we walked through Craggy Wood, just by Staveley in the South Lakes, when I was visiting...

In profile: Kim Collison

At the beginning of 2020 (before lockdown) I interviewed Kim Collison about his recent Winter Bob Graham Round record*. The interview produced so much excellent material that I was also able to write a long profile of him, which was published over six pages in the Spring Fellrunner magazine.

At the end of the interview I asked him what he thought was likely to be the next challenge for him. In the profile he says that he thinks that probably the Bob Graham is done for him, because:

I know I am n...

Book IV, Reveal #5 …… what was left out of the book, and why?

I can now confirm that the launch date for my book ‘All of Nothing at All: the life of Billy Bland‘ is Thu 20 Aug. I hope you are dying to know what is in the book. But here I want to tell you of some things that are NOT in it, and why.

As I was doing the research for this book, there was a lot of stuff that I accumulated that had no chance of being used – but I filed it anyway. Other material was interesting but off topic. And there were some good images that I chose not to use.

There may have ...

Hills and Heroes – a video chat with elite athlete Paul Tierney

A year on from his Wainwright’s-in-6-days record, I had an extended Zoom chat with Paul Tierney about it and it’s aftermath – and his, and my own, experiences in the hills and mountains. You might find it a bit of light entertainment to pass some lockdown time.

It is on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmBjKZcW_0A (you might have to wind back to beginning)

Please consider: going via an optional (ie you absolutely don’t have to) request to give a little to a charity that I believe in. ...

Thoughts on waiting for my new book to be published

I always find that waiting for a book to be published is a real and tangible frustration for me as an author. It is ALWAYS too long between the last manuscript edits and the holding of a copy of the book in my hands. I know there is due process to go through – the editing, typesetting, proofing, and setting up before printing; but it always seems too long, and I just want it to be over and see the results. And of course (always nervously) to find out what people think of the book.

It has been ex...

Book recommendation #5

Owter is a new book service which helps authors get a better return on their book sales. I will be recommending good running and outdoor books via my page on the site.

The fifth recommendation is Adharanand Finn’s ‘The Way of the Runner’, with its subtitle – ‘A journey into the fable world of the Japanese running’. The blurb says: “As an amateur runner about to turn forty, he [Finn] hoped to find out whether the Japanese approach to training might help him keep improving. What he learned – about...