Tim Rees: Delphian - A British Intelligence Top Secret (Q&A) > Likes and Comments
Thank you, Tim, for providing a synopsis and the links to your books.Please use this one Topic to promote your books for ease of locating them for interested Members in our Group. As you write more books they can be added to this thread.
Would you mind if Members add questions or comments about your books to this thread?
Tim wrote: "One reviewer likened it to Jason Bourne meets Forsyth's The Jackal...."Tim
Another reviewer said Fascinating! More please Tim Rees.”
Curious, are you thinking of another?
Than you, Pam. I'll be thrilled if members here ask questions. Connecting with readers is one of the joys of writing novels. for me, novels are peopled by characters who reflect life and regardless of genre, a reader needs to believe in the drama unfolding and the new perspectives offered... Therein lies the conversation.
Hi Lesle,Sorry to be dim, but another what? :)
Tim, I apologize.
Just wondering if you are thinking about your next novel?
Raw Nerve: interesting that your thoughts of this novel happened prior to President Obama and a female.
Hi Lesle,Yes, Raw Nerve. The idea of Raw Nerve came about after watching Mississippi Burning.was written in 1997. I began writing the novel after watching the film Mississippi Burning. Even as a man living in Wales, UK, the film had a profound effect upon me. The film shocked me into action and I began writing. At the beginning it was mainly through anger. One of my favourite films at the time was Rambo: First Blood. The film was so raw and, as an ex-soldier who’d seen action during the Falklands war the final scene where Rambo breaks down and cries in the arms of his colonel I found deeply moving. So, the plot was simple: he-man hero smashes the Ku Klux Klan.
I secured the services of an agent in New York at the first attempt with Raw Nerve, but apparently it was too controversial... Anyway, that's a story best kept for later. It was many years later (life got in the way) when I had the time to write the next novel, which is Delphian. The only thing I wrote between Raw Nerve and Delphian was a memoir, which was published by The History Press. I didn't realise that by the time I wrote Delphian, traditional publishers were placing a word limit on unknown authors, so my agent asked me to cut the novel from 180,000 words to 100,000 and that was before he would read it.... Anyway, since I have also written The Need To Know Principle and and another couple of novels that fail to fit comfortably into any genre. At the moment I'm working on a science fiction series (currently writing the fourth novel) called Original Earth. However, I do have a couple of stories where I'd like to work with Vincent and Millie again. Definitely thriller storylines. :)
Tim wrote: "the final scene where Rambo breaks down and cries in the arms of his colonel I found deeply moving ..."Found this statement rather awe evoking. That is an amazing scene.
Fascinating that it influenced your creative thoughts.
Just some sharing:
My ancestral paternal family is from Wales originally. I have been researching the period and places they lived in. To find the Parishes still in existences is really captivating.
Tim, I appreciate all your time and sharing with us.
Thank you very much.
How wonderful you have Welsh heritage. Delphian, The Drama Merchant and A Seed Once Sown are set in Wales.Great to meet you, Lesle.
Thanks Tim, this looks very interesting.It may be good to try to add your book into our book of the month,
Hopefully we will have some takers, share reviews, and do a Q and A's.
best
Tim wrote: "How wonderful you have Welsh heritage. Delphian, The Drama Merchant and A Seed Once Sown are set in Wales.Great to meet you, Lesle."
I saw that Tim! Look forward to them.
You as well!
A Seed Once Sown: A Misplaced Adventures Novel andDelphian: A British Intelligence Top Secret
Tim
Is the Delphian above the correct edition? The title is different?
Can I purchase your novels in the USA?
Edited:
I found the Delphian: The Drama Merchant and In Sights: The Story of a Welsh Guardsman on Amazon!
I am one of those oddballs like physical books 🙃
Sean wrote: "Thanks Tim, this looks very interesting.It may be good to try to add your book into our book of the month, Hopefully we will have some takers, share reviews, and do a Q&A's.
best"...
An excellent idea Sean I know I would love it!!
Tim wrote: "How wonderful you have Welsh heritage. Delphian, The Drama Merchant and A Seed Once Sown are set in Wales.."Oddly enough, I also have a significant Welch heritage.
Delphian looks especially interesting. (I have a copy on my kindle.)
Hi Lesle,There is only one edition you can buy, I think. The cover for Delphian is now a hand holding a white mask - Vincent is a master of disguise :)
In Sights: The Story Of A Welsh Guardsman is my memoir. I also wrote an accurate account of my Falklands war experience in The Falklands Engagement, which I set against a love story. It's only a novella, so quite short, but the families are in Wales. The Falklands Engagement is now a finalist in the 2025 Chanticleer Hemingwar Award.
Tim
Hi PamG. I have heavily edited the second edition of Delphian. I changed the tense from immediate present to past participle. Some readers seemed to find the present tense odd.
Hi Sean. Yes, I'd definitely be up for a Q and A and BOTM for Delphian!!Great. I'm certainly up to answering all questions.
Tim I will check to see if the one I can order is the Delphian cover as you described and order it.
Thank you so much Tim we will love to have this opportunity with you for the BOTM.
I am sure Sean will get with you soon to make the proper arrangements for the Q&A with when it fits into your schedule. We are flexible.
TimI have added a link to your book on the Book of the Month
Well Bi Monthly, we can see what the interest is in that post and arrange a Q A to the end of February.
best
Thank you, Sean! That's made my day. I feel honoured! :)
Tim wrote: "Thank you, Sean! That's made my day. I feel honoured! :)"Tim
If you like to make a comment under out BOTM topic. That would be a wonderful way to start us off! Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
You are our first scheduled read for this year!
We are the ones that are Honored!
Tim We have 20 views and just opening post as I asked if they could wait to post till you had a opportunity to make a statement if you wish!
Here is a quick link:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Good morning Tim!Please check out your profile and let me know if any errors.
Thank you!
I think the team's sorted everything out now. They're very good. When I'd contacted them before (around about a year ago) I got little joy, so thank YOU very much, Lesle :)
Tim wrote: "I think the team's sorted everything out now. They're very good. When I'd contacted them before (around about a year ago) I got little joy, so thank YOU very much, Lesle :)"Your more than welcome!
Hello TimSorry this is so late in the day.
Would you mind terrible if we change the BOTM from Jan & Feb to Feb & March?
I know I will need longer time if is a husky book!
If not I can change it to Feb & March and just state that you would not be available during March.
Sorry for this last minute change but to be fair we really didnt have January to read.
Of course! I thought it was Feb & March.... :)
Tim wrote: "Of course! I thought it was Feb & March.... :)"Thank you Tim!
I didnt want to schedule anyone else in. Appreciate it!
Schedule is fixed and the Librarian sent me this also.Tim's GR author name is 'Tim^^^Rees', with three spaces in between.
If he believes that these are duplicates of his profile, then he should contact https://www.goodreads.com/about/conta... (Author Program / Edit Author Profile) to request merging of the profiles into his. And a solution for preventing the amazon bot from automatically importing his books from Amazon to the wrong profile.
The other two are still out there.
Tim,If you are offering any promotions on any of your books such as free PDFs, free ebooks, discounted price, or other promotions, let us know here in your Author Spotlight thread.
We will add this information to the BOTM Schedule.
Thank you, Pam. I'll have a think. Are there any of my novels anyone would like me to do a free promo on?
Tim wrote: "Are there any of my novels anyone would like me to do a free promo on?"Really thinking about In Sights: The Story of a Welsh Guardsman I actually put it on my wish list.
But I am confused as the one on my wish list is titled:
In Service: The Story of a Welsh Guardsman ??
Hi, Lesle. The hardcover was released under my title, In Sights, but the publisher changed the title to In Service upon the release of the paperback. They didn't ask me. I had huge problems with that publisher, which was only one reason I opted to self-publish the novels.Because The History Press have publishing rights to In Service: The Story Of A Welsh Guardsman, I have no control over pricing nor can I organise a promo offer. I'm sorry, Lesle. I could do a free promo on The Falklands Engagement, which takes the reader through my Falklands war experience, which I've set against a love story, but that is only a short novella.
The Falklands Engagement began life as a commissioned film script, but after I realised the producers and myself were pulling in different directions, I parted company with them and adapted the script to a novella. Currently, I'm in discussion with two separate radio drama producers with regard the novella and I intend to narrate...
Tim that just blows my thoughts on what a publisher is!Would not think it is right for them to make changes like that without your permission.
Do you loose part of the rights when a publisher takes your book on?
Is this one of those things that is hidden in the fine print?
Just sounds wrong to me.
I am still leaving the Guardsman on my wish list and of course as the Hardcover!
Interesting that The Falklands Engagement: Love and war. started out as a film script!
The Radio drama is actually you reading to us? Wow! Seems pretty fascinating.
Btw Tim I really have enjoyed our conversations!
Hi Lesle,I could tell you some stories about the traditional publishers, such as the book being available on Ebay on the day of publication. I phoned the publishing editor and asked what was going on? He said the books were water damaged, so went out the backdoor. I spoke to my agent and he told me it was common practice. Apparently the publishers try to claw back the advance they paid by pretending some stock ws damaged. I don't earn royalties on damaged books. And the editor they gave the book to to edit was useless. On the proofs i saw so many mistakes that I insisted the text was returned to my original draft.
It's fingers crossed as far as the radio drama is concerned, but it looks good. I have two separate producers wanting a little more time. The Flklands engagement swill be dramatised, but I wnat to narrate. :)
Lesle wrote: "Btw Tim I really have enjoyed our conversations!"Me too, Lesle. Happy Valentines Day :)
Tim wrote: " claw back the advance they paid by pretending some stock was damaged. I don't earn royalties on damaged books...."I think I would be adjusting my fine print agreement! lol
Thank you! Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours as well!
I should have added, Lesle, that the friend who alerted me to the books for sale on ebay bought one. It was in perfect condition. :(
Tim, OH My Goodness!You have to be kidding me? They seriously did that?
Why would they not have to prove that the shipment was damaged somehow? They should have to prove they were destroyed.
It baffles me anymore how people scam just to be lazy and make money.
Tim wrote: " I could do a free promo on The Falklands Engagement, which takes the reader through my Falklands war experience, which I've set against a love story, but that is only a short novella...."Would you like to offer this as an option for the readers? We could see if we could get it scheduled for later in the year if there turns out to be interest?
If your interested, place it here with as much detail you would like to share with us:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Thank you!
TimThis is the one I have on my wish list. In Service: The Story of a Welsh Guardsman.
Does this this mean you get nothing from the sell of this edition?
Hi Lesle,In Service, is the paperback edition. It was when the In Sights, the hardcover edition where copies were released at half price on the day of publication. The royalties all go through the agent (whom I'm no longer with). Apart from the initial publication and the books being available on ebay, I don't think there's been any further problems.
So if I was to order the Hardcover above it would not kick royalties back to you?Sorry Tim I think I am a bit lost.
haha... You're lost? I think I'm lost... It's crazy to have the same book with two titles.... I do receive an account of sales over a year - I think it's in October or November... I'm not sure how accurate their account is, but I leave that to the agent. They send him the cheque.The only time I had an obvious problem with The History Press was on the first day of publication when the book (hardcover edition) was available on ebay at half the price. I learned publishers open the back door to buyers - with books they claim are damaged - to try and claw back the advance they paid without having to pay royalties. A friend did buy one on ebay and it was in mint condition.
It's the world we live in.
Tim wrote: "It's the world we live in...."It definitely is!
I had no real idea the unprofessionalism there was with some publishing companies. Guess you really have to do your research thoroughly or do the publishing yourself.
I still think if books are damaged some kind of proof needs to be shared and if they are selling them in stripped/unstripped form you should still get a kick back from that sell.
Otherwise they can keep doing it with no repercussion.
Like you said your friend purchased one and let you know that the book had no damage.
This conversation is very interesting and we are learning the difficulties of publishing, and authors.
Sean wrote: "This conversation is very interesting and we are learning the difficulties of publishing, and authors."Hi Sean,
Yes, my experience with traditional publishing has left me scarred from battle. Another story is about the editor they assigned to the book. When I received the proofs - only weeks before the publication date - my heart sank when I read the first paragraph. I had written: "... whatever the word love meant to the young man I was then, I wrapped the word love around Maria..." The editor obviously didn't like my use of the word wrapped and changed it to applied. So I made a note to the publisher to change it back. On every page I found myself correcting something. And then I noticed an error that would have made fools out of both myself and the publisher. The editor had changed a sentence she obviously hadn't understood. The original sentence read: "... the officers mess orderlies were the waiters..." The editor decided to insert a comma after the word officers, which changed the sentence to ... the officers and mess orderlies were the waiters... Bizarre! Officers being waiters? Needless to say I had a huge row with the publisher and had the whole text reverted to the original. There was no time to put another editor on the job and I'd lost total trust in them anyway. I learned later, the freelance editor had been paid by the hour, thus had made lots of unnecessary changes. Thank goodness I spotted them...
So, now I'm happy to be an independent publisher.... :)
TimGood Evening / Night
I forgot to follow up with this, with us chatting about publishers:
Tim wrote: " I could do a free promo on The Falklands Engagement, which takes the reader through my Falklands war experience, which I've set against a love story, but that is only a short novella...."
Would you like to offer this as an option for the readers? We could see if we could get it scheduled for later in the year if there turns out to be interest?
If your interested, place it here with as much detail you would like to share with us:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Thank you!
Hi Lesle,Of course I can do that. But The Falklands Engagement is not a thriller, but happy to do a free promo. as far as thrillers go, I have The Need To Know Principle and Raw Nerve as other options. In my opinion, A Seed Once Sown has crime thriller elements and there is jeopardy, but the reader knows exactly what's going on... It's more of a discussion-provoking story.
I'll do a free promo on any of my novels, but I can't on the memoir as discussed.
https://www.amazon.com/Delphian-Briti...
Available on KU.