UK Amazon Kindle Forum discussion
Meet the Authors
>
Steve Beddoe
Could have some amazon.uk links, please?
Whoops, here "we" go :-)http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0...
It may well be that my work needs editing so be sure to tell me ;-)
Oh it's always good to know if authors welcome that sort of feedback.And sorry about we-ing in your thread.
No, she isn't.Last night she was spitting nuts at me, Steve.
Steve, may I suggest that you go to Amazon Author Central and spend a bit of time on your author page?A pic, a brief bio and maybe some blog/website links will be helpful for you.
Readers like to be able to see a bit about an author there, it's equivalent to the stuff normally posted on a dustjacket on a book.
I've just taken a look and there is a bio and a pic of me. Yet this appears to be all on the USA site and not the UK. Looks like I'll be going on there and trying to sort it out. Thanks for the heads up on that!*edit* sorted :-)
Sounds like Patti is a bit of a wild one....
Object to that, Will.I wasn't spitting nuts at YOU. I was spitting them in your bed.
I'm not wild at al, Steven. I'm the shy, retiring type.
You only retire after the conflagration is under way, Patti.
I'm a busy bee editing the third book right now. Why did I write such a long book? It's the price I have to pay I guess, if I want people to have a pleasant read (if you can call passages of zombies tearing away flesh as a pleasant read)Fortunately there are not a huge amount of errors, there are some, but not as many as I'd feared.
I will confess that I hate editing, it's a necessary evil and by the end of it I've grown to hate the book.
I cannot promise that I've got them all. Even the tomes in the shops have errors in them so I don't feel so bad about the few I'd missed, just so long as they don't make the book hard going!
Nevertheless I'd still like it if people point them out to me, it does after all make for a better book :-)
Ha! Our MTM McQuire ended up having a four book trilogy cuz her 'third' book got so long.No matter how careful you are, you're gonna miss typos. That's the peril of proofing what you wrote. You'll read what you think you wrote.
It's a good idea to try to get at a couple beta readers before you publish, if you can.
Next time I'll be sure to do that with my sixth book which I really want to write! I have to take time out with that one however just to do this one.It's too late for proof reading with this particular work since it is already published. Fortunately not many people have bought it and those who have, haven't come back to me to complain. Even so I want it to read well, for future potential buyers.
That's one of the problems with me, it looks ok but it isn't, even after going over it at least three times. I get too close to the book and think it's brilliant when I'm writing it. After looking at it in the cold light of day, it's never going to be Salmon Rushdie or even Umberto Eco. But I am hoping that it is good enough :-)
Most of the authors here are big fans of both beta readers and proofreaders, Steve, copy editors too if you can afford them
Steve, do you live close to any writers groups?Always a good source of other eyes, which is what we all need.
That's actually a good idea. I have found one near my locale and have emailed the chap who runs it :-)
Good. They can be very different though, and you need to ensure that you find a group that's very focussed on publishing, rather than endless critiquing of work that never gets put out anywhere.
I hear what you are saying, I have a cousin of mine who talks the talk but never walks the walk. Had I waited for him I'd be on my deathbed before he produces anything worthwhile. I actually asked him to do the covers of my books for me ( he is a very good artist) but after waiting well over three months, I was forced to go right on ahead and create my own via Photoshop. I'm still waiting actually.
If this group turns out to be the same and not put anything out, then perhaps I'd be better off looking elsewhere :-)
The chap hasn't got back to me yet, but then he might still be in work or just got back home and having his tea!
That's me done with editing for the day. I'm using word and I've gone through thirty three pages out of one hundred and fifty one. It might not sound a lot but that's over twenty one thousand words edited. Eighty odd thousand more to go!
What size font are you using to write in?That sounds rather a high word/page count to me. I normally get about 65K from 150 pages
Ariel size twelve. Just enough for my eyes this close to the monitor and not so large that I have to sit back several feet. Bearing in mind that I have page breaks for each chapter. Plus the paragraphs...it adds up.
Off to film some more of Atlantis so my editing has to take a back seat for the next three days.I'm playing the part of a village extra, if you watch the shows that will be transmitted this coming fall, look out for me!
Last week I went to do some work as an extra, it was a pointless exercise. After wardrobe change, make-up and lots of hanging about, I and several others were not used. We'd spent twelve hours waiting only to go home.It wasn't all futile however, I got paid the day's work, plus overtime which all adds up to a lovely sum.
I was also supposed to be turning up there today but I got an email saying that there'd been a change of plans. I wasn't needed.
So I've taken the opportunity to do some more editing today and I'm nearly at the end. Finally I have the third book in the trilogy almost knocked into shape, hopefully it will satisfy the readers :-)
I will probably be finished by tomorrow!
Finally, I can get on with my sixth book and this time I will be doing it a bit differently. I'll be writing, then editing as I go. A hard lesson I've learned m'dears. Once I'm done with that book I will probably ask you lot to give it a good going over to find the flaws. Once it satisfies all, it'll be published :-)
My hubby and I were cast as extras in the film The Last King of Scotland when they were filming in Uganda. We were meant to be hostages. We did the costume fitting and all but we didn't actually make it to the filming. We were meant to be there at 6am on a Sunday morning. Unfortunately, the Saturday night was our leaving Uganda farewell party and we were still drinking and partying at 6am. Oops.Several of our friends appear in the film, though. A number of our students as well.
Steven wrote: "Last week I went to do some work as an extra, it was a pointless exercise. After wardrobe change, make-up and lots of hanging about, I and several others were not used..."Way back when, I worked as an extra-in-waiting for The Right Stuff. Didn't make it on-screen, but I got three days of pay and some very nice craft service. It was a bonanza for a college student living on $100 a month. Highly recommended.
Shame you didn't appear in the film Patti, there's a form of immortality right there, you could show your great grandchildren the film and say, "there I am!"Lance, the work isn't that rewarding in terms of money, sure it is fun when there's filming to be done and watching how the scene is set up is always interesting. But if I were to rely on it full time I'd be penniless. The jobs are few and far between. Having said that, I've put my name down for work with another casting agency. Hopefully between that and the one i'm with, there may be further work on offer, we'll see how it goes.
I've finished the editing of my final book in the trilogy and it looks good. Hopefully future readers will agree with me :-)
Now I can finally get on with my sixth book about a serial killer. Armed with my knowledge over the last few weeks, it should be a whole lot better a read once its published!
Free for a few days, so if you like zombie chow down, please d/l and enjoy :-)I will also take feedback, good or bad so please take the time to let me know what you think.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0...
Btw Will, I got a reply from the writer's group that is nearby and they are not for me. Whilst they might be a bunch of decent people they are more about the talking than doing type of thing, if the email I had from them could be judged.I have decided that maybe constructive criticism of my works would be best served via this group or others.
There's a few like that about.Have you seen the short story competition from my local group? I've posted a thread in the author zone section
haha, pardon me but I really enjoyed the chitter chatter going on here.... what fun!!!
Of course she is. We have nothing but entertaining banter in our group. ;)
I have just learned that the casting agency has put me forward for a part in Wolf Hall :-) Apparently there's going to be a couple of months worth of work there, which is nice!
Will you be playing the wolf or the hall?
Probably the wolf who will huff 'n' puff and thence, no hall :-)
I hope not! I would like a lot of work twixt now and Xmas pretty please.The only problem with having all this work (should it come up) then I will have to be writing in the evenings and by then I'm shattered :-)
Oh, I know the book. Haven't read it though.She hasn't read mine though. Fair dos.
Thanks Kath. You just made me spit vodka n coke on my iPad.
Never been accused of that before.
psml, lady in the boardroom and a hooker in bedroom...
an Ps Steven I hope you up to date with our English history for that role?? It was a rather interesting period of English history, what with King Henry 8 th chopping off people s heads.... haha
The Tudors were something else back in their day but there are other rulers who make them look like liberal reformers :-)I have been asked to return to the set of Atlantis this coming Tuesday, they must really like me!
Not only that, I have been asked if I would play the part of a dark ages priest in a castle location next month.
If this carries on I think I'll be at the Oscar ceremony in about two years!
I've just learned that Damon Lewis the star of Homeland will be filming the show. It'll be interesting to see him at work and I wonder at what sort of a person he'll be :-)
I am primarily a horror/fantasy writer and as of right now I have five books published on the kindle.
Three of them belong to a zombie trilogy. To be honest they are generic and don't add anything to the zombie mythos. I did find them fun to write and I'm hoping that others will find them fun to read. I'd gone over the first two in an attempt to edit out as many mistakes as I could find, I cannot promise that I've got them all but I'm hoping that the ones that are left (if any) won't detract too much from your reading enjoyment. So buy the first two if you think that they are ok but don't buy the third! I'm currently going over that one in an attempt to edit it into something acceptable for all :-)
The other two books that I have out there, one is a sword and sorcery collection of short stories, very much in the Conan mold. I wanted to write something like that since no one appears to be writing those types of tales nowadays.
The final book I have is a children's story and it is one that I have a fondness for. Y'see, I took my boy to see Toy Story when he was a wee lad and I remember thinking to myself whilst watching it that I'd love to write something like that. After going through one plot line after another I hit upon this one.
Christmas Eve and the little folk are preparing for a long holiday after Santa goes off to deliver the presents that the little folk have worked hard all year to make. Disaster strikes and they find themselves crashing down to earth. The book is of their adventures in getting home.
Out of all the books I've done so far, this is one that I enjoyed writing the most. Yes, it is for children but as I said in my blurb, adults might get a kick out of it too!
Right now I am thirty five thousand words plus into my sixth book, a serial killer on the loose and the desperate attempts by the police in tracking him down.