Billy Young's Blog, page 33
January 15, 2010
15th January 2010
I've been writing this week again, working on Banshee 2. It has been slow but I am getting there. There will be the usual work once the first draft is done, as you would expect and then more rewrites to improve it.
There’s still plenty of ice around yet, which is making it difficult when going to the shops. You would have thought our spell of rain that we got would have cleared it all but no. More rain is on the way off of the Atlantic, meaning it will be a bit warmer so it shouldn’t be long before its safe to get around again. It does take me back a few years all this slipping and sliding along, hehehe.
The job hunting is still not going well. You just have to look at the Jobcentre site to see that for yourself. There is very few around my area so the ones that are there are for the east coast or London down south. All good for those that live there but not for me with a family. Well I’ll just keeping looking.
My January Sale at Smashwords.com hasn’t been seeing much in the way of success but there is still time to use those codes. Remember that to get the reduced price you have to enter the code when purchasing one of my E-books and you will get it for $1.
Here are those codes again:
BM99Y -- Winter Journey
LM87Y -- Bublos
WY59T -- Banshee Angel of Judgement
There’s still plenty of ice around yet, which is making it difficult when going to the shops. You would have thought our spell of rain that we got would have cleared it all but no. More rain is on the way off of the Atlantic, meaning it will be a bit warmer so it shouldn’t be long before its safe to get around again. It does take me back a few years all this slipping and sliding along, hehehe.
The job hunting is still not going well. You just have to look at the Jobcentre site to see that for yourself. There is very few around my area so the ones that are there are for the east coast or London down south. All good for those that live there but not for me with a family. Well I’ll just keeping looking.
My January Sale at Smashwords.com hasn’t been seeing much in the way of success but there is still time to use those codes. Remember that to get the reduced price you have to enter the code when purchasing one of my E-books and you will get it for $1.
Here are those codes again:
BM99Y -- Winter Journey
LM87Y -- Bublos
WY59T -- Banshee Angel of Judgement
January 8, 2010
8th January 2010
Hasn’t it been a cold beginning to the new decade and they’re saying it’s to last for a bit yet. It makes you glad for central heating yet still there’s a chill in the air that doesn’t seem to be shifted by the radiators. I think it has to be something to do with the concrete floor of our house. The carpet just isn’t enough in this extreme cold snap to insulate our feet against the cold. And you know what you feel like when your feet are icy. Makes you glad though to not be in a colder clime like Russia. There I heard that it didn’t get above -19c today, now that is cold. The coldest so far here was further north where it dropped to -22.3c last night. I’m glad to say round my way it’s not been quite that bad, about -14c so far.
The other thing that the cold has caused is a lack of salt. My wife and I were shopping yesterday and when we got to the salt shelf there was none. We used ours like so many are at the moment for the path so are very low on the valuable commodity. The supermarket though had none and so we’ll to be very careful with the little we have, saving it only for cooking. No more salting the path to free it of the ice.
Job hunting is very slow though I did phone the Jobcentre about one the other day. Now I’m just waiting for the application form coming through the post. It’s for a new store that is opening in the area. There was little detain on the job itself and the woman on the phone told me almost as little as was on the web page I saw the job.
Remember that my January sale is still on so head over to Smashwords.com and use one of my codes to get my e-books at a dollar.
The other thing that the cold has caused is a lack of salt. My wife and I were shopping yesterday and when we got to the salt shelf there was none. We used ours like so many are at the moment for the path so are very low on the valuable commodity. The supermarket though had none and so we’ll to be very careful with the little we have, saving it only for cooking. No more salting the path to free it of the ice.
Job hunting is very slow though I did phone the Jobcentre about one the other day. Now I’m just waiting for the application form coming through the post. It’s for a new store that is opening in the area. There was little detain on the job itself and the woman on the phone told me almost as little as was on the web page I saw the job.
Remember that my January sale is still on so head over to Smashwords.com and use one of my codes to get my e-books at a dollar.
January 1, 2010
1st January 2010
Happy New Year, I hope that it has started well for you all and that the coming year bring you great happiness. Mine started quietly with just me and the family staying up for the bells. Boring I know but as the saying goes, family is everything. As the old year came to the end we all look back on how the year has been. Or at least that is how we writers would like to think of it but really few of us do. There are times in our lives when we do yet for the most part we look forward with a hope that what is to come is better than what has went. Not that it has been that bad, just that it can always be better, right. No matter how good things maybe for us humans we look for more, we want things nicer, we never have enough. It is not greed, it isn’t even selfishness, what it is, is just the drive that keeps driving us to provide for those we love. It is very much what drove our ancestors’ in the hunt for food. Without it would we have the will to continue? I don’t think so. I think I may have had one to many tipples for I’m getting a little deep in my thinking.
Anyways this week I set up some discounts for my e-books on Smashwords.com. This means that if you go there and quote the code when buying one of my books you get it for one dollar. The discount codes last until the beginning of February. You have the choice of e-book formats, so you can find the one that is right for your reader. Here are the codes and next to them the book they are for:
BM99Y A Winter Journey
LM87Y Bublos
WY59T Banshee Angel of Judgement
Anyways this week I set up some discounts for my e-books on Smashwords.com. This means that if you go there and quote the code when buying one of my books you get it for one dollar. The discount codes last until the beginning of February. You have the choice of e-book formats, so you can find the one that is right for your reader. Here are the codes and next to them the book they are for:
BM99Y A Winter Journey
LM87Y Bublos
WY59T Banshee Angel of Judgement
December 25, 2009
25th December 2009
Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you all are having a great day. I’m glad to say I’m the grateful owner of a new pair of slippers, which I really did need. The old ones were starting to talk to me and were really keeping my feet very warm in this cold snap we all find ourselves in. My daughter has done the usual made noise all day but my son has disappeared upstairs with his new games machine (Xbox 360), when I say new it was second hand yet I don’t think he really cares as it was what he wanted.
Chrimbo dinner is soon to be serve so I thought I’d take the time to do my blog with a tut-tut from the wife, though she smiled as she shook her head. We have a friend for dinner, well he had no other place to go and you know this isn’t the time of year to be alone. I know how that feels and it just isn’t something I would wish on anyone. Anyways I’ll need to get back to help put the food on the plate. I hope you all got what you wish as a present and have a warm, loving day.
Chrimbo dinner is soon to be serve so I thought I’d take the time to do my blog with a tut-tut from the wife, though she smiled as she shook her head. We have a friend for dinner, well he had no other place to go and you know this isn’t the time of year to be alone. I know how that feels and it just isn’t something I would wish on anyone. Anyways I’ll need to get back to help put the food on the plate. I hope you all got what you wish as a present and have a warm, loving day.
December 18, 2009
18th December 200-
One week to Christmas and as always there’s the last minute gift to get or the card that you forgot to send. My wife got the present when she was at the doctors today but the card came this afternoon so we’ll need to send it tomorrow. Strange how the post has gotten later over the years, isn’t it. It’s worse, of course, at this time of year though. It’s easy to say that everything is down to the posties not pulling out their finger enough but isn’t it? Yet we don’t really know what it’s like as we don’t do the job and have little idea of how it has changed over the years.
Played Spellforce 2 all week, finishing the main game last night. Now I have the add-on to start tonight, yet I don’t know if it will be worth it. After all the main title was buggy to say the least and I didn’t enjoy it as much as the original Spellforce. Often I felt that it was a poor add-on at best, which shows why I’m a little wary of Dragon Storm. I may be wrong though so I suppose I’ll need to check it out to see.
Played Spellforce 2 all week, finishing the main game last night. Now I have the add-on to start tonight, yet I don’t know if it will be worth it. After all the main title was buggy to say the least and I didn’t enjoy it as much as the original Spellforce. Often I felt that it was a poor add-on at best, which shows why I’m a little wary of Dragon Storm. I may be wrong though so I suppose I’ll need to check it out to see.
December 11, 2009
11th December 2009
The hunt for a job has come to a standstill as Christmas approaches. Not really a surprise as the job market is very quiet at this time year and it won’t improve until after the New Year. In fact it will be the end of January before I’m likely to see it pick up again. Of course I still have to continue the search even though I know there isn’t much of a chance of finding anything.
I have now made my books available in E-book format through Smashwords.com. I have thought about it for a while since being told about the site but only now decided that it would be a good idea. For one it gives readers the choice of formats and it also opens up another market for my books. It was a lot of work to reformat it to Smashwords standards so they would be able to get the premium distribution, opening up the possibility of it getting onto Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, as well as other online sites. In the end it all comes to giving the customer the right to choose how they wish to view my books and that can only be a good thing, right?
I’ve also been spending a little too much time playing Spellforce 2. It’s not as good as the first one. Three times I hit bugs that have caused me problems. On one occasion it completely crash and the other two times it just froze graphically. For a game to be still so unfinished even after it has been released as an Ultimate pack or Gold edition is at the very least annoying. Still it is playable enough for me to waste many hours fighting my through each map with more still to do.
I have now made my books available in E-book format through Smashwords.com. I have thought about it for a while since being told about the site but only now decided that it would be a good idea. For one it gives readers the choice of formats and it also opens up another market for my books. It was a lot of work to reformat it to Smashwords standards so they would be able to get the premium distribution, opening up the possibility of it getting onto Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, as well as other online sites. In the end it all comes to giving the customer the right to choose how they wish to view my books and that can only be a good thing, right?
I’ve also been spending a little too much time playing Spellforce 2. It’s not as good as the first one. Three times I hit bugs that have caused me problems. On one occasion it completely crash and the other two times it just froze graphically. For a game to be still so unfinished even after it has been released as an Ultimate pack or Gold edition is at the very least annoying. Still it is playable enough for me to waste many hours fighting my through each map with more still to do.
December 4, 2009
4th December 2009
By mid-week I gave up trying to beat the block that has held me locked in an iron grip and decided to lose myself in Spellforce 2. It wasn’t my first choice as I checked out some other games but found they weren’t to my taste so quickly shelved them. Between each I sat staring again at the computer hoping the Muses would visit something on me. Nothing stirred in my mind so in the end I decided that Spellforce 2 with its mixture of strategy and roll playing would be a good way to let the ice that surrounds my mind to melt.
With the festive season fast approaching I think it will be after the New Year before I return to Banshee 2. With the pressures, that we all find at this time of year, lifted I’m sure I will find creativity flowing more easily. Yes I have most of the gifts for Christmas in, thanks to my wife. Actually she usually sees to most of that leaving me only to get her present. As you may already know I got her a Wii, which she already has. For this reason I got her a few other presents to open on the day. Nothing as expensive as the Wii was but still I’m sure she will love the two books and the CD. I also got her a small gold ring with some inexpensive stones set into. The books are from one of her favourite authors, Catherine Cookson; whilst the music CD is Meka’s new album. I know she’ll love them all and it never cost me too much. That is important when the budget is limited and with the job front being so slow I have to keep a close eye on the pennies.
With the festive season fast approaching I think it will be after the New Year before I return to Banshee 2. With the pressures, that we all find at this time of year, lifted I’m sure I will find creativity flowing more easily. Yes I have most of the gifts for Christmas in, thanks to my wife. Actually she usually sees to most of that leaving me only to get her present. As you may already know I got her a Wii, which she already has. For this reason I got her a few other presents to open on the day. Nothing as expensive as the Wii was but still I’m sure she will love the two books and the CD. I also got her a small gold ring with some inexpensive stones set into. The books are from one of her favourite authors, Catherine Cookson; whilst the music CD is Meka’s new album. I know she’ll love them all and it never cost me too much. That is important when the budget is limited and with the job front being so slow I have to keep a close eye on the pennies.
November 27, 2009
27th November 2009
Writers block has held me in its grip all week. Sitting staring at a blank page with the only the lines that I wrote last week on it hasn’t helped. I’ve reread what is there but I can’t seem to find the words to take the tale forward. I’ve even stared at the plot that I have but it doesn’t give me that push to get on with Banshee 2. So the week has stretched itself out yet now I’m at the end of the week I wonder where it has gone.
It’s been a very dark week with all the rain. Flooding has hit many parts of the UK but finally we saw the sun today. It has been almost two week since it showed face in the sky. Thick clouds have made most days so dull that I’m surprise to see the plants in the garden haven’t withered, never mind being drowned by all the rain. Any more and I think we all may be washed away out to sea. It’s not funny yet there has been a lot over the past month. The weather men are saying that it should be drier this weekend, let’s hope.
It’s been a very dark week with all the rain. Flooding has hit many parts of the UK but finally we saw the sun today. It has been almost two week since it showed face in the sky. Thick clouds have made most days so dull that I’m surprise to see the plants in the garden haven’t withered, never mind being drowned by all the rain. Any more and I think we all may be washed away out to sea. It’s not funny yet there has been a lot over the past month. The weather men are saying that it should be drier this weekend, let’s hope.
November 20, 2009
20th November 2009
It’s been a bleak week and not just because of the weather. I’ve been troubled with writers block, only managing a couple of hundred words. I suppose it isn’t a surprise with being made unemployed again. Yet at the same time I was expecting to be made jobless, so you would have thought that I’d keep the wind in my sails. Regardless of the reason I’ll get through it, with any luck soon and get on with my next story.
One good thing of the week was that I got the missing serial code for Spellforce 2. If you’ve been following my blog you will know that I got the game last year but the serial on the box was the wrong one. The shop I got it from refused to replace it or give me back my money. When I got in touch with Trading Standards, they gave me the run-a-round, refusing to help. I then contacted the makers of the game and though they did send a nice email promising that they would look into the matter I never heard back. I sent some more emails but still nothing. Well this week I tried another search of the net for the serial and found one that worked. Now I can play the game when I want rather than it just gathering dust.
I also joined Twitter this week after joining another site FReado. Freado is a little like Authonomy but more geared for readers. I put up a section of Bublos hoping to gain interest. The site talked about Twitter being linked to them so I thought it a good idea to see what it was like. I’m still at the finding my way around stage. Other wise I’m not sure I’m doing it right but still we all have to start some where.
One good thing of the week was that I got the missing serial code for Spellforce 2. If you’ve been following my blog you will know that I got the game last year but the serial on the box was the wrong one. The shop I got it from refused to replace it or give me back my money. When I got in touch with Trading Standards, they gave me the run-a-round, refusing to help. I then contacted the makers of the game and though they did send a nice email promising that they would look into the matter I never heard back. I sent some more emails but still nothing. Well this week I tried another search of the net for the serial and found one that worked. Now I can play the game when I want rather than it just gathering dust.
I also joined Twitter this week after joining another site FReado. Freado is a little like Authonomy but more geared for readers. I put up a section of Bublos hoping to gain interest. The site talked about Twitter being linked to them so I thought it a good idea to see what it was like. I’m still at the finding my way around stage. Other wise I’m not sure I’m doing it right but still we all have to start some where.
November 13, 2009
13th November 2009
Friday the 13th and my internet went on the blink, don’t you just hate that? I do. In the end I had to delete my software before reinstalling. It didn’t go smoothly though. After searching for the disk I had to download it with another computer but it wouldn’t install. Each time I tried it would just hang there doing nothing. In the end, after another more fruitful search, I got it back up. What caused the problem in the first place I will never know but reinstalling seems to have fixed it for now.
It’s been a wasted week as I have done nothing more than read a book, which I still have to write a review for. Scarecrow by Darren G. Burton kept me glue for several days. I also went to the interview at the jobcentre, I don’t sing on for over a week. I got the letter today telling me how much I’m entitled to; of course they are taking money off till December because of Tax Credit rollover. Though the rollover is good, it comes in a lump sum and never seems to go far enough. This leaves a few very tight weeks ahead but as always we’ll get through it. As usual the government gives and then it finds a way to take it back, at least from those that need it the most. Or am I being unfair?
It’s been a wasted week as I have done nothing more than read a book, which I still have to write a review for. Scarecrow by Darren G. Burton kept me glue for several days. I also went to the interview at the jobcentre, I don’t sing on for over a week. I got the letter today telling me how much I’m entitled to; of course they are taking money off till December because of Tax Credit rollover. Though the rollover is good, it comes in a lump sum and never seems to go far enough. This leaves a few very tight weeks ahead but as always we’ll get through it. As usual the government gives and then it finds a way to take it back, at least from those that need it the most. Or am I being unfair?
