The Mirror: Indifferent Beanstalks

Here's a quote from someone who I directed to check out one of my books: "I just read the blurb and it filled me with indifference."

Here's a quote from me after discovering a movie which I thought might be a suitable choice for our family movie last Saturday. "I just read the blurb and it filled me with indifference."

One of the above quotes is genuine, the other is an attempt at humourous mimicry.

I watched Jack and the Beanstalk (2009) in spite of my better judgement; a little voice whispering against choosing it. I heard words like 'been done before', 'no A grade cast members' and 'little chance of this being even good let alone great.' Yet, I watched it and to be fair, it had some good moments. Sadly, it had a lot more bad moments, mostly relating to the writing which was so hit and miss it instigated a bout of motion sickness. Christopher Lloyd and Chevy Chase were in the supporting cast but only because they needed some cash and were between real jobs. There was an overall pall of amateurishness.

That last sentence possibly helps explain why I didn't like Jack and the Beanstalk. It also offers a potentially valid reason why the man who read the blurb for my best novel to date (in my opinion), had the temerity to be honest about his level of interest in reading it. Although he started off saying he didn't like reading romance in any form, I was ridiculously overconfident about the power of Love Sick Love's blurb-did I mention it is without doubt my best literary work so far?

What is of most interest here, as I wind my way with painful sloth towards the point of this post, is that I ignored my indifference and watched the film. I decided to give it a crack. My Twitter mate was not willing to go there, and as someone I know often likes to say, that is the problem.

In my endeavour to sell my work, I have a lot of competition. What is my point of difference? How do I raise my voice above the noise of the crowd? How do I stand out on the canvas of life? Even having a quality product does not ensure success. The cream does not always rise to the top.

I suspect most people aren't like me. They will judge a book by its cover and not read it, or if the cover works and carries them to the back of the book where lies the blurb, they may still pull out of the deal if said blurb leaves them feeling indifferent. Furthermore, if they buy or borrow the book there is no guarantee they will finish it. Finally, once they've read the book they won't write a review. They may not even tell anyone about it unless it was outstanding.

Since joining Goodreads six or seven years ago, I've read and reviewed 326 books. On only five occasions have I decided to give up and not finish a book I had started. I review every book I finish reading. I ask people who finish reading my books to review them, but very few do. Even when it was a condition of several giveaways which I have run on Goodreads, people still don't review. I'd settle for mediocre or even bad reviews if only people would talk about my books.

If only every one was like me. I make connections with authors on Twitter and buy their books, then review them. I've done that on a number of occasions, hoping for reciprocation, or at least a thank you...hoping in vain. I share people's posts, help promote their businesses and their causes. For many of my friends on Facebook, it's one way traffic. I must be mad to expect so much of people.

There's too much to do, too much to know, too much to share, too many books, too many movies and TV shows, too many variations of the same product on our supermarket shelves. There are too many re makes, too much re branding, too little innovation. If I gave you three magic beans in change for your cow what would you do with those beans. There just aren't enough Jacks in this world. Most of us are too comfortable with what we have, and either too lazy or too scared to try new things. Indifference. Apathy. Let's plant those beans and ride that towering beanstalk to the great unknown. Read a book by an author you've never heard of. Write a book review and post it on Amazon. Support a cause just because someone asks you too.

A Dog's Eye: Bibliophilia

Ironically, I was talking about books with too many unknown words being hard to read and therefore
not being read. In other words, some readers pick them up because they're interested in the cover, the title or maybe the blurb. Unfortunately, they usually don't continue reading for very long if they find it too hard. Lexical density is one issue, but a preponderance of complex sentences and grammatical variations used by the author for stylistic purposes can also contribute to such a book being put down by some readers. (for example: the sentence you just read.)

I've advised people, specifically non-native speakers of English and children, not to read books which are too hard in this sense. I said it was ironic because I write such books. If you are unfamiliar with my work, I mostly write neo-classical contemporary literary fiction. Damn! I did it again. What is neo-classical contemporary fiction? The answer to that question is not important.* I've made my point sufficiently well in these first two paragraphs to change tact.

This change of tact (or is it tack?) is made possible because I can write. I can change literary gears as easily as breathing. I can choose common words just as easily as rare ones. I can write simple, compound or complex sentences, and blend them perfectly. I can choose formal or informal language, I can say the same thing in a number of different ways, and I'm wickedly adept at metaphor. This isn't boasting. I'm not blowing my own trumpet. Most writers can do exactly what I do and many can do it way better than me.

Anyway, this post was intended to be a long overdue update on my writing. Love Sick Love was published in 2017. In my mind it stands head and shoulders above all my other novels, but a new book is overdue. I always intended to release a book a year; one every two years at most. I'm happy to report the wait is nearly over. Scorpion's Breath is scheduled for release by Rogue Phoenix Press in December. It is the first book in a planned trilogy called the Callumron series. Book Two, titled The Sorcerer's Tusk, is under construction and will hopefully be released next year; to be followed in 2022 by Book Three: Satan's Choppers. At some point over the next couple of years I will begin work on the first draft of my most ambitious novel to date. I love historical fiction, but I've never written an historical fiction novel, so I'm going to do it. The working title for this book, which will be set on the Australian Goldfields during the rush of the early to mid 1850's, is Holy Ground.

In the meantime, during my house sitting days, I wrote a non fiction manuscript called I Used to be an Animal Lover which has the awesome subtitle: a superficial and unscientific zoological memoir. Sadly, I haven't been able to find a publisher for this manuscript. I suspect it is due to the original presentation which was a 100K word multi genre experiment. Feedback from beta readers and editors who have provided sample edits for me in the hopes of securing the gig, suggest it doesn't work in that format. I Used to be an Animal Lover version 2 is now two books. One a memoir and the other an anthology of short fiction. I have enough information and confidence to do what I said I never would. I have just about lined up all my ducks; editor, cover artist and book producer. I'm almost ready to self publish.

There's just one problem. I don't have any money.

However, this is only a problem of perspective. If I don't have the money to publish I Used to be an Animal Lover now, then so be it. If I am never able to do it, so be it. I'll keep writing, and whether I can publish or get published, or once published sell any books, it's okay. It's not the end of the world. I feel okay. I feel safe, and I feel content enough to not be driven mad by the inevitable frustration which results for people who want everything they want...and right now please. Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. I'm finding the more I relax inside God's providence, the less I struggle and the more I accept what I cannot change, the more peaceful I feel, and the more patient I become.

Lastly, I recently sold my short story, A Place of Refuge, for the fourth time. Guess what I did with the money I earned? I bought some books, and some clothes-but who cares about clothes? The books I purchased have been on my Goodreads 'to read' list for quite some time, so I'm very much looking forward to reading them, reviewing them and replacing them on the list with new books of interest.

Where would I be without reading and writing? In a darker, less interesting, less inspiring place where ignorance usurps enlightenment. A place where imagination, creativity, knowledge and wisdom are buried beneath mediocrity, apathy and blindness. A place such as described by Bradbury in his famous 1953 dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 in which bibilophilia is considered a disease. The owning and reading of books is a threat to society, resulting in the seizure and burning of books .

Thankfully, I don't live in such a place. I am free to enjoy reading and writing whatever I want, whenever I want. Thank God for that. What are you reading or writing? What would you like to read or write?

I was abducted by aliens

While that is a possible explanation for my lack of 'celebrate' posts over the past few weeks or so, it isn't what happened. I've just been busy. Life gets like that sometimes, and although I feel like the last few weeks passed so quickly they might not have even occurred, alien abduction was not the cause.

It was with great pleasure that I noted, only this morning, that one of our celebrate hosts, Lexa, posted on her blog for the first time in four months. So that's what I'm celebrating this morning. Welcome back Lexa, and all the best with your continued recovery.

I also have a new book out. My fifth novel Love Sick Love, was released on Wednesday, and I have already reached out to some of you to ask for help with promoting it. May I also ask now if any of you would be interested in hosting me with a post about my novel, or an interview? Let me know if you'd like to help.

Finally, this week, just last night in fact, I attended an historic event. The first ever rugby league test match to be played in the Northern Territory. Australia defeated Samoa in the quarter final of the World Cup and I was there to see it. Big smile.

How's your week been? Any 'loss of time' experiences* with aliens or otherwise? 

* no offence intended to Lexa btw

Available now

Roughly three years after I began writing it, my most important novel so far, I am proud to announce that Love Sick Love, published by Rogue Phoenix Press, is now available to purchase.

Angus has battled an obsession with sex throughout his adult life. Although outwardly a model husband and father with a respectable life and a well-paying job, he has a shameful secret life which he has become highly skilled at hiding.

Cassy is married to Angus and has no idea about his secret life. In fact, with her own worries she has been pulling away from him, emotionally and physically which is making his behaviour worse. Although she does not know it, Cassy is fanning the flames of an inferno which threatens to destroy their marriage.

Lovesickness: the eternal bane of humanity, the inescapable affliction which we simultaneously crave and fear. For Angus and Cassy, already in the thirteenth year of their marriage, the painful journey to true happiness has only just began.

Love Sick Love is a brutally honest and confronting story of love, sexual obsession and hope.

Get your copy here Love Sick Love

Celebrate the small things: it is finished?

The final edit of a novel is quite painful mainly because you're working on a manuscript which you thought was already finished when you sent it to your editor. You know it's not finished because your eagle-eyed editor will find errors and inconsistencies, but you think it's finished. You've been through 3 or 4 drafts, incorporated or rejected (ie wrestled with) the feedback from your beta readers. You're pretty happy with it, even knowing that for sure it isn't perfect and it is highly likely that you missed some things.

Then the editor and you have some differences of opinion about grammar usage and the effectiveness of some of your metaphors. They might be the first objective reader to say "that doesn't make sense" or "I don't understand that". They might object to the use of certain words and certain non standard syntax and you might feel you're dealing with someone who doesn't understand your work. Perhaps one who doesn't appreciate it.

Armed with an editor's cut, you first of all go through their proposed changes and necessary corrections. Next you read the whole manuscript out loud in as few sittings as possible. (I found this stage really hard, but it is an absolutely vital step.) You try not to feel dismayed as you uncover more errors, like missing words for example, than the editor did. You feel the flow of the narrative, and wince when said flow is interrupted by a clunky construction or an overly verbose metaphor.

Finally, it is finished...ah no. The final proof will be in your inbox before too long and then you'll have to read it again unless you trust the editor and publisher completely. Are you brave enough to do that when previous books went to press with errors, and not just a few of them?

That's where I'm at with Love Sick Love, my fifth novel which is scheduled for release in November from Rogue Phoenix Press It's a great read by the way, so I'll hope you'll buy it, read it and recommend it to everyone you know.

What projects have you thought were finished only to discover they were not? How did you respond?

Celebrate the small things: three words

I've finally been made permanent at work. There's been a huge improvement in class attendance courtesy of an email blitz (the contents of which may or may not have made references to breaches of visa conditions and notifications to the Department of Immigration). I finished the draft of my new anthology, The Devil Wears a Dressing Gown (I need some beta readers btw, if you're interested), and...

After two years in the writing, a lifetime in the making...novel number five, Love Sick Love, is in the hands of my editor, and will be available in November. The cover has just been finalized, and in case you missed it over to your right, at the top, here it is again.

Just a short celebrate post from me today. Have an awesome weekend!