Loss, affect, and bleeding hearts

A short while ago I lost a friend.

Jamie passed away from ‘natural causes,’ with a notation on his death certificate stating the exact cause was unknown.

I had not seen Jamie in person for quite a while because I had moved overseas. We did, however, stay in contact by text, messages, and the occasional video chat, although they were erratic and not frequent. After all, we are men and, in general, men are not good at talking… unless there is a reason or topic to be discussed.

I received a phone call from a mutual friend, who told me of Jamie’s death. I was surprised but not shocked. You see, Jamie was not a bronze Adonis, he was more of a rusty Shrek. He was overweight, unfit, a heavy drinker bordering on alcoholism (if not already there,) and a lover of overeating, especially overindulging on junk food.

I, along with many of his friends, on numerous occasions, warned Jamie about his lifestyle and we tried to convince him to change his habits, all to no avail, as time proved. (A far shorter time than I envisioned.)

Jamie’s death has me considering loss. It is something I have grown familiar with as I enter the winter of my life. I have witnessed many losses and know there are more I shall behold before my passing.

With my writer’s mind pondering this, my thoughts expanded to the other forms of loss we experience, the ones we live through frequently, often oblivious to the fact of their happening in the moment and, maybe, for years after.

You see, there are many forms of loss, and I am sure, I am certain, that each and every one of them affects us in some way, at some point.

Mostly we never give these losses any thought. We don’t consider many as a loss at the time they happen. We never ponder how they may shape our lives, even our personalities.

So, I shall in my usual, rambling, semi-coherent way attempt to convey to you my thoughts, and how, almost unconsciously these losses have influenced my writing.

It is said that a little of ourselves finds its way into everything we write, even if we do not wish it. I wholeheartedly agree.

I believe it is impossible to write creatively and constructively without shedding part of one’s soul onto the page. The part of us that bleeds into the ink is the combination of our awareness, sensitivities, experiences, intuitions, perceptions, understandings, our wisdom. All aspects accumulate over our lifespan.

These things do not come to us gratis, they are earned, bestowed by an immeasurable number of experiences, and encounters we endure during our daily lives, and continuous loss is one of those factors.

Take your mind back to your childhood, the earliest memories of your friends. Think back to your school days, your teenage years, who was your ‘Bestie’?

Where are they now?

You lost them, you lost contact. You moved away, or they did. Their lives and their choices took them along a different path from yours.

Your life moved on, you made new friends, and new contacts, had new lovers, maybe a family. Work, a career that placed demands on you? Your social status and your circle took precedence over old contacts. Life’s pressures, illness, travel? They all combined to make your loss an ‘everyday’ acceptable ingredient of living.

Those promises of staying in touch, of meeting regularly faded with the years, the passage of time, and the distances involved.

Your losses became a conventional, established, normal part of life, so much so you never considered these events as a loss.

Yet each one of those people touched you. They left their mark on your being. Some good, some bad, some otherwise. But they all influenced you, making you become the person you are today.

Edmond Locard’s exchange principle, “Every contact leaves a trace” is as factual here as in the forensic world.

As we age, we move from attending birthday parties to engagement parties, and then weddings, births, and inevitably funerals.

You can assess where you are in life by the ratio in which these events occur.

As for funerals, well, the more of those you attend the greater your focus on mortality becomes. They are one form of loss we cannot help but recognise.

But we accept them with, in all honesty, far less stress and mourning than often one thinks about. As hurtful and as traumatic as some will be to us, all the previous losses, those of our friends, our past colleagues, our old lovers, ex-partners, husbands, or wives, and all those we lost without so much as a backward glance, have built an endurance into us, an acceptance of ‘this is how things are’, of this is how life is. Our realisation of mortality and the inevitable recognition of the inexorable passage of time.

This is one factor which enables us to write in a captivating creative manner, in a fashion which enchants our readers, leads them line by line, page by page into our fictitious world of imagination… but, as we know, not all is invented, spread over the pages, soaked into the ink is that trace of us, our authors blood and tears, hopes, fears, rejoices, regrets, and all those thousands upon thousands of losses, whether we recognise them or not, they bleed out of our hearts as we weave our magic with our pens.

Long be it so.

Keep happy, Paul.

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Read ‘Dark Words‘ today, a book of short stories and emotive poetry by Paul White

CQ Magazine said, “Dark Words is the literary equivalent of listening to Leonard Cohen, wonderfully soothing for the soul.”

Dark days come to us all at some time in our lives but they are not the place for us to dwell for too long. They are not our home… To accept and acknowledge the blackest days of our lives often reveals the pathway from the shadow maze of obscure reflection, into the sunlight of possible future.

https://amzn.to/43cjW7T

A word, or two, in your shell-like, if I may.

I hope you liked reading the short stories I’ve posted here recently(ish). If you’ve not read them, take a little time out and enjoy them now.

Many of you know I love words, not just from a writer’s viewpoint but from understanding their origins. The same goes for phrases we find ourselves using frequently.

I wonder where they came from, and often ask myself how such-and-such an expression became an acceptable term, one in common, often daily use.

I am, of course, referring to the English language. One of the aspects that makes it such a wonderful tool for storytelling, poetry, and song lyrics is its flexibility and its ability to absorb words from other languages, and forms of the English language spoken overseas, such as in the USA and Australia, and blend them seamlessly into its lexicon.

Many recent developments in the English language, in terms of neologisms, have emerged as a result of various military and political conflicts of the 20^th  and 21^st  centuries.

War works powerfully on language for there are weapons, military technologies, and strategies, often developed with little publicity during times of peace, which become familiar to the public due to the media, newspapers, radio, TV, and social media, due to politicians introducing new rhetoric to describe and justify their actions and intents.

In major conflicts, such as the two ‘world wars’, the armed forces swelled with civilian conscripts and volunteers. They learned military jargon, and the previously unfamiliar slang of regular soldiers, and brought those sayings back home, continuing to use them in general conversation for years afterwards. Many became so familiar to the population it became accepted as ‘normal, regular peacetime language, often the origin forgotten or never questioned.

For example, during the First World War (1914-18) a rather obscure word spread through the army serving in colonial India. It was an Urdu word, simply meaning foreign(er).

The soldiers began to use it to refer to Britain, their home country. The word is Blighty.

The 1939−45 war (WW2) Saw the word rise in use once more. ‘Blighty’ ‘Old Blighty’ and ‘Getting a Blighty’ became commonly heard phrases once again. The word still appears in most dictionaries of the English language.

Another word from WW2 which is still going strong as a military term is ‘flak’. It is a word based on the German word Fliegerabwehrkanonen – (Fl(ieger)a(bwehr)k(anone),) – flier defence gun.

In the 1930s an adaptation of this word came into general use, spelled Flack. Note the addition of the letter C. (Its introduction is a far too long and convoluted story to tell here). Both words can be used almost interchangeably.

Originally used in a political sense, the word’s primary meaning now is when one is to receive heavy criticism, such as when the Prime Minister receives a grilling in parliament and/or from the media… he is ‘getting a lot of flack’ from – well, from almost everyone, the voters, the newspapers, his own party, other European leaders!

The Iraq war is a perfect example of how new words and phrases carry us into war and through war. The ‘enemy’ is demonised and linked with recent traumatic events.

War is full of events some people would like to see buried. It is said truth is the first casualty of war; news management and propaganda have long ensured this.

‘Axis’ is a word applied to the alliance of the UK, America, French, Dutch, and many other nations fighting against Nazi Germany and Japan during WW2.

In this conflict, it was linked to evil, We were told Iraq was led by an evil dictator, Saddam Hussain, who was part of an axis of evil. It was an axis that held ‘Weapons of mass destruction’ – WMDs.

The Cold War, the stand-off between Communism and the capitalist West, dominated much of the latter half of the twentieth century and was fought through political and economic strategy, and many proxy wars in national conflicts around the globe.

Since World War II, we know any war has the possibility of becoming a total war, with civilians as likely to be casualties as soldiers.

We are now being advised, that through the use of ‘drones’ and ‘smart weapons’ with computerised guidance, the military has the capability of directly hitting strategic targets while leaving civilians unscathed. (Maybe these smart weapons aren’t quite that smart?)

The old favourite, collateral damage, familiar from the late 20th century, has been rolled out again and is happily banded around the media along with its new counterparts, ‘Global struggle’ and ‘Violent Extremism’.

The French reputation sank to an all-time low during the Iraq conflict, so low in fact that McDonalds stopped selling French Fries and replaced them with ‘Freedom Fries’. Kids in the USA no longer French Kissed, but… you guessed it… gave each other Freedom Kisses.

Many new words, terms, phrases, sayings, and idioms roll off the presses, are blasted over the airwaves on TV and radio broadcasts, and zip onto the screens of our cell phones and laptops in a repetitive stream of pumped-up media sensationalism and frenzy.

So powerful is such a constant stream of high-intensity media propaganda that many ‘new’ words and phrases find themselves in regular usage within days. Some fade from the public mind quickly, others linger for longer, a generation or two, maybe. While some become an integral part of the English language forever, forging their recording into dictionaries, books, and public records for eternity.

However, even once a word is indelibly ‘inked’ into the English language there is no guarantee that in, say 100, or 1000 years, that word, term, or phrase will have any correlation to its original meaning, or any plausible route to trace its origin. The English language is in continuous flux, ever-changing, developing, growing, and adapting.

Long may it do so.

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I have recently updated, edited, simplyfied my author website. Please take a little time and browse through the pages as I would love to hear your views and comments. (I’ve not quite got it set up perfectly on mobile/cell yet… but I’m working on it.) This is the link, https://bit.ly/myfictionbooks

Thank you, Paul

Keep happy.

Your website is now irrelevant

NOTE: This is, unapologetically, long post. You will know why once you read it!

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The thing is, I am so busy with various projects I rarely find the time to write anything of substance for these ramblings, and I don’t want to fill these pages with the type of uninteresting drivel I see on so many people’s blogs.

I assume they do so simply to fill their pages with ‘content’, regardless of quality. Something I am not prepared to do.

This post, which I have titled ‘Your website is now irrelevant’, came from a discussion I watched on the BBC last night, or rather during the early hours of this morning. (11^th of January 2022)

The subject of the conversation was regarding the first anniversary of the Capitol Riots in the USA when ‘a violent mob’ stormed the Capitol building as Congress was certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. (The ‘riots’ happened on January 6^th 2021)

Now, the TV program was about the media action/reaction to this event more than the actual event itself.

During this discussion, an editor from Vibe Media, (I did not catch her name), said something which I found interesting enough for me to be motivated to write this post, as it is something I believe we, as indie authors, who self-market our books, try and maintain a strong social media presence, and promote our ‘brand’, should take seriously.

We all know the world, particularly in respect of the internet and communications, is exponentially changing, and this continuous transformation is difficult to keep abreast of.

One of the basic premises of marketing most indie authors have adopted is having an author or brand website.

We use this as our home for all things bookish and publishing. We use it as the solid base from where we promote and market our works. To entertain and inform our readers, to attract ‘new’ readers to our books.

We spend hours creating, editing, altering, and polishing our websites to make them attractive enough to seduce people to buy our books. (Not to mention the costs involved in maintaining a good site.)

These sites are often treated as our ‘babies’. The hub of our author presence on the net, the web, and on social media.

However…

I love a ‘however’, so I’ll say it again.

However…

According to Vibe Media, your website, my website, most, if not all websites, are now archaic forms of internet interaction.

Soon websites, as we know them, will become superfluous.

They are becoming outmoded with every day that passes and will soon be redundant.

This got me thinking… and researching.

Now I agree.

This ground shift is happening, and it’s happening right now.

It’s all to do with effective connection to the masses.

You see a website, any website, yours, mine, theirs, is a static medium.

To get traffic you must attract people to visit your site. This means promoting the site, advertising, posting, and such.

Secondly, you need them to interact, buy, click links, comment, subscribe and, most importantly, and return frequently.

I don’t know your websites numbers, such as visitors, bounces, returners, or how long visitors spend browsing, or even buying stuff.

I guess it’s not as many as you wish, and not often enough, even if you have spent a fortune on learning about funnelling or paying a tech guru to assist you.

Author websites are good for storing a ton of information about you and your products/books, but not good for ongoing engagement in the marketplace.

I mean, when was the last time you found people working their way through your site’s archives and reading the information and posts? (I won’t wait for an answer.)

Taking into consideration you need to write and curate a ton of fresh content, constantly and continually. It’s a lot of hard work, especially when you should be promoting your books and writing the next.

Bearing this in mind, I agree with Vibe.

Websites are no longer the go-to places people look for engaging content. Especially the younger ones, those born since the year 2000.

This age group prefers online media, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr, Live.me, and Facebook.

Of course, there’s more site our younger generations adopt; WhatsApp, Omegal, MeetMe, Yubo, Monkey, Whisper, and so on. These tend to be ‘Chat’ sites, many only known by the Gen X’s and Millennials.

Some of these are ‘self-destructing’, they erase all, (text and images) after a certain time making communication private… and possibly dangerous… I’ll just leave that one here.

So, what is the point of this post from our, the indie author position, and our rapidly becoming redundant websites.

It is for us to accept change is inevitable and to change our ways along with the inexorable shift. (Yep, it all happens so quickly ‘Nowadays’!)

I am taking a leaf out of Vibes marketing strategy. My author website will remain, but only as a repository for information, such as my library and author info.

I will not be promoting it as much as previously. I certainly won’t be spending hours creating and curating content, which after posting about new content, the initial flow of visitors dries up, meaning you need to do the same all over again.

Instead, I shall concentrate on creating posts I can post directly onto the social platforms where there are either substantial numbers of people hungrily devouring its content, or directly onto sites, pages, and platforms where I know my target market is engaging.

The time and effort in doing this will only equal, if not be less than the time needed to housekeep my website, or websites… some I’ll soon be closing, as time is more important to create quality media which will be seen, rather than simply tending to what was once my baby.

Although I doubt William Faulkner could have envisaged the internet, let alone social media, I do think his quote, “You must kill off your Darlings” expresses this concept perfectly, even if we need to interpret it in a new light.

Let me know your thoughts.

Keep Happy, Paul

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While I still have a website! Please visit and browse through my books, artworks & Photography. I am certain you’ll find something you’ll enjoy reading or seeing.

http://bit.ly/paulswebsite

The best time to release your new book

Yesterday I completed another book, making it ready for publication.

Over the previous three days, I have titivated with the internal layout, put the final finickity touches to my tome, trying to ensure I have no orphaned sentences, that the images, I have several throughout the book, are set as I wish and then, once again a run-through for any grammatical, punctuation or other errors such messing about can create.

For the two days before, I worked on finalising the cover.

The book Is now filed away awaiting the right window for publication. (I’m thinking sometime around May.)

The reason, I believe this will be the BEST time for me to release this book.

But is there a best time for you to release a book?

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Let’s look at how this publishing game pans out over the year, and what else might influence when you make your book available.

Publishing your book as soon as it is ready is termed ‘soft publication.’

Your ‘media date’ or ‘hard publication date’ or ‘release date’ can be whenever you think the stars are going to align with your media coverage and the success of your pre-release marketing.

It should be when you think you can sell the most books.

Traditionally, in the UK, new books are published on a Thursday, especially a Thursday between the 7^th and 14^th of the month.

The weeks leading up to autumn are often some of the busiest times for new releases, as publishers jockey to fill bookstore shelves ahead of the upcoming winter holidays.

If you read are a regular reader of my blog on writing, ‘Ramblings from a Writers Mind’ or have any of my books on authorship, you will know I often say, “Copy what the big boys do.”

The reason I say that is, the major publishers rarely do anything by chance. They spend a fortune on strategic planning and market research to ensure they get the right books, in the right places, at the right time to maximise their sales and hence their revenue.

Regarding the release of your next book, you could follow my advice and do the same as the major publishers.

But wait a moment. Let’s think about a few things first.

Some would say, do not release your book anytime between a Tuesday and a Thursday, because doing so will put your book in direct competition with the major publishing houses’ releases.

Suggestions of when is best include weekends, a Saturday will (generally) give you five whole days before the big houses release another title.

Some industry data points to Sundays and Mondays to attract the most journalistic attention.

It may be worth choosing a date early or late in the month, (before the 7^th, or after the 14^th), just after or just before the ‘Monthly Payday’.

Of course, there are other considerations, particularly for books of certain genres.

Romance books do well in early February, and a couple of weeks before the summer holiday period.

Horror works well from mid-November, and through October.

Introspective works sell best during the Summer, books like ‘Go Set a Watchman‘ for instance, as do many Adventure stories.

Books described as ‘light & airy‘ do well in the Springtime.

Unsurprisingly, winter tales, snowy themes and settings, do well during the winter months.

But there’s more to consider than the seasons.

The premise of your book can be all-important at certain times too.

Check out which television series are scheduled over the next six months to a year, find which have comparable stories, settings, locations, or characters to your book.

If your book is a period tale and a new costume drama is to be released on Television in August, then that program could help boost your sales.

If the new Sci-Fi blockbuster is due out in March… go for it. Major publishers have been known to change the name of a book to align with a mainstream film title.

For example, say a film, a Sci-Fi blockbuster sequel is named ‘Beyond the Far Crescent’, the publisher may alter a book’s title from, ‘From the Planets Shadow’ to ‘The Light of the Crescent’.

Never be afraid to re-title your book to align it with the marketplace, demographics, or current trends.

Consider too Special Calendar Days.

Easter time always sees a boost in Christian related books. Martin Luther King Day, for Black origin works. International Women’s Day, for strong female characters, feminism, and women’s rights. Remembrance Day, for War Stories, or Memoirs, for instance.

In this case, my advice would be, as I so often say, “do what the big boys do. Learn from them. Use their knowledge to compete with them.” It’s a bit like literary judo, using their size and bulk against them.

I admit there are no hard and fast rules, but I do suggest seriously planning when you release your next book.

Look ahead, research, find out what influences will affect your book, and create your strategy accordingly.

To help you decide when to release, or hold an ‘official’ launch day, here’s a rough guide cobbled together from industry data.

January

Self-help; diet; inspirational; business.

If your book fits into this category, you’ll find the media are particularly interested at this time. Mianly because it’s what many consumers are thinking about. Consider New Year’s resolutions, business forecasting/planning.

February

Self-help associated with relationships; debut authors; business; fiction.

If you are a debut, or relatively new indie author, this month is (generally) not so full of new titles, and there may be more promotion, and media opportunities, as a result.

March

Debut authors; mysteries; fiction

April

Women’s fiction

May

Beach reads; women’s fiction; biographies; books on mountain climbing (Good month for indies)

June

More beach reads; women’s fiction; biographies, or nonfiction that appeal to male readers on vacation, or for Father’s Day.

July

Quieter month, better for debut authors; more of what you saw in June.

A suitable time for indies, as there are fewer ‘new releases to compete with.

August

Debut authors; education-related titles; narrative nonfiction by lesser-known writers… read indie authors. (Get in, before next month.)

September

Public affairs and politics; serial authors in fiction and nonfiction; cooking; highly publicised titles by debut authors with mainstream publishers.

This is the main month, traditionally the annual main release month for major publishers. It is an incredibly competitive month and not indie-friendly.

October

More politics; cooking; big nonfiction titles by well-known personalities and writers; higher-end photography books; art books.

Not an indie-friendly month, unless you are releasing an art or photography title, possibly a nice, glossy, hardcover ‘Coffee Table’ tome.

November

Photography; art; gift books; ‘big name’ authors; diaries and journals, and anything you can think of that will sell in the current budget year.

Go for a well-planned strategic, high publicity release in early November through to the last few days of October.)

December

A good month for lesser-known authors. A variety of books are published, including latecomers for Christmas, or titles for people who want to get a jump on the usual January offerings.

Good for indies looking to establish base sales going into the following year.

UPDATE:

Regarding ‘Jack’s Dtis2’, the book I mentioned at the start of this post; I gave it a ‘soft release’ in March, (with a pre-order by invitation only) followed by an ongoing, promotional program targeted directly at my market segment. The book is still selling in good numbers a year later, and shows no signs of slowing down.

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Feel free to browse this site, there are a plethora of posts written for writers and authors of all experiences, and abilities.

I am open to comments and am happy to answer your questions on any aspect of ‘Being Indie’.

Many questions we have about authorship are answered in the books shown below. Both are books of distilled knowledge; they are NOT guides or how-to books but indispensable books for any writers library.

You can download both now, or read for FREE on Kindle Unlimited. Simply click on the links below

https://mybook.to/Authorstuff https://mybook.to/FrugalAuthorugalAuthor

A bit more Rambling…

As always, my intention of posting regularly is not happening; as they say, (whoever ‘they’ are), the highway to hell is paved with good intentions!

Even now, in lockdown or self-isolation or whatever you may be calling it, my life is far too hectic to guarantee I post in any other way than at random intervals.

Generally, my posts tend to be informative, either about publishing or to give insights into writing or ‘being indie’ while trying not to get too technical and academic… hence boring.

This post is not focused on any of the above, it is simply me ‘Rambling away’ about what has taken my time over the past… however long it has been.

So, without further ado this is it.

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If you are a follower or regular reader of my ramblings, you will know I run Electric Eclectic, in its most simple form it is an alliance of indie writers from around the world who, besides promoting their books, are ready to help and aid other writers with their personal and technical dilemmas regarding all things indie publishing.

Several things are happening with Electric Eclectic, the first we are encouraging more authors to join our ranks.

Secondly, we are accepting entries to the Electric Eclectic Novella Fiction Prize 2020. The ‘Prize’ is the winning stories having their books published as paperback and eBooks along with marketing packages.

We are also at the formatting stage of Electric Eclectics latest anthology, one especially written to celebrate the 75^th anniversary of VE-Day. It is simply called VE75.

The Government brought forward the May bank holiday to May the 8^th is to coincide with the VE-day anniversary. Sadly, due to the outbreak of coronavirus, the planned public events are most likely to be cancelled.

However, Bruno Peek, VE Day 75 pageant-master, told me,

“Even if I must ring around every organisation and individual involved and tell them we’re cancelling, there is something everyone can still take part in regardless. At 3 pm on Bank Holiday Friday, the nation will be asked to raise a glass to toast the heroes of World War II – men, women, children wherever they are. We’re not asking people to raise a glass of alcohol so everyone, all people, faiths and creeds, can join in. It can be done anywhere: in the supermarket, at home. The Prime Minister can even raise a glass from Number 10 if he’s not able to leave Downing Street by then.”

Electric Eclectic is producing VE75 as an eBook, so people can simply download it to whichever device they wish. The book is part of the VE-Day celebrations, so I hope you will buy a copy and help support our military veterans and military families in need.

Apart from my Electric Eclectic commitments, I am working on several ‘Works in Progress’, two books in particular are;

FLOYD, a bloody psychological revenge thriller, while On the Highway of Irreverent Rumination & Delusion contains my personal views on life, living, the state of society and the world in general. I shall let you know when they are due for publication.

Meanwhile, you can read about my Works in Progress and find my published books, including some special editions which are not available from Amazon, here.

Apart from writing, I am a digital artist and photographer, feel free to browse my art website.

Of course, I still have all the ‘normal’ regular home and household chores to attend to. Add to the above, my position as editor of Electric Press Literary Insights magazine and you will see, even shut in my home, I am far too busy to be able to commit to a set programme of posting to this blog.

I started this post with the intention of thanking all my followers and subscribers and regular readers… you know who you are, and to say keep safe, keep well and keep happy.

Please, if you are an author, consider joining us at Electric Eclectic. Email us for more information, EEbookbranding@mail.com

If you are a novice writer or even an established author, think about entering the Novella Fiction Prize.

If you are a booklover, a bookworm, a bibliophile then subscribe to the Electric Press magazine, it’s FREE and it is simple, just go to the Electric Press blog, where you can also read the current edition. 

Well, that’s enough of me for today.

See you on the other side.

Paul.

Do you know Michael J. Elliott?

A simple question…”Do you know?“…but one which can make you double think, one that can make you question your own logic and knowledge.

You start asking yourself “is that the Michael I know?” or “Does he spell his surname with two t’s?“.

Little doubts, little nags, little uncertainties start to creep into you mind.

The same things happen when your read the work of this particular Michael J. Elliott. When you think you have the tale ‘sussed’ along comes a little twist and throws you all to kilter.

Oh, don’t try and predict the ending; even if you are close, you will be wrong, it will be scarier, or harder, or the character will suffer more…or less…before they die…or live happily ever after. That is of course if it has anything to do with that character at all.

This is why I love reading Michael’s stories…this is the Michael J. Elliott I do know, the one who does spells his name with two t’s!

I wanted to take a peek into Michael’s psyche, I wanted to know how a man of his undoubted talent conjures up such spellbinding tales so, I asked him a few leading questions.

You could say that these questions are Choice Cuts!

Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly?

Micheal said: No, I really think you need to LOVE books and writing. It’s an art form like anything else and artists simply wouldn’t create if they didn’t have the drive and the passion.

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Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

Yes! In my first collection, Portraits of Dread, I wrote a story called Defective goods. It was a creepy send up of a well known British comedy show. I named all the characters after the actors from the show or their characters. I was hoping clever readers would spot the connection. In my new collection, Choice Cuts-A Bite from The Dark Realm, I have a story called Penance. It’s about an ancient order of nuns. I have named all the Sisters after famous figures from history. Eagle eyed readers will be able to guess the convent’s secret just from the names. I love throwing in those sort of references in my work 🙂

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Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?

I’ve read a lot of writer’s craft books which have certainly taught me a lot about the “rules” of writing. That has been a big help in my journey as an author.

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What did you edit out of your latest book?

Two stories didn’t make the grade for this collection. The first was titled, Once A Jolly Swagman. It was a ghost story centered around the famous Australian song and poem. I hadn’t finished it but when I went back and re read it I found it just rambled, way too much padding with nothing really interesting happening until the build up. I’ll keep it and give it a good edit so that you may see it in another collection at some time. The other was entitled, The Snow Globe. I dithered with so many options about how the protagonist finds this globe and what it actually does that I eventually decided to cut the story out completely.

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My final question was, what kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

I take a lot of notes and Wilkipedia is my best friend lol. I’m writing Mr Westacott’s Holiday atm. It’s set in two time frames, 1900 and 1970. The setting is Britain. I was born and live in Australia and was a teen during the 70’s so I had no idea of British fashion of the 70’s, the distance between two of the towns in the book etc. I’m very grateful to the British members of #The Awethors for helping me out with these questions.

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Choice Cuts- A Bite From the Dark Realm will be released on Halloween 2016 and is currently available for pre order at Smashwords and Amazon for the special promotion price of 99c (will be $4.99) Also available in paperback for $10.99

Choice Cuts is available worldwide via Amazon on this link http://authl.it/6a0

and from Smashwords here 

Other books by Micheal J Elliot

Don’t let the rain drown your novel

Too many times do I read the same old, same old, scene.

It’s raining, grey clouds overhead. Drizzle, cold wind.

Why?

Because it is a funeral, or someone has discovered a friend’s death.

OR

There is a tempest, heavy rain, thunder, lightning. Gale force winds rattling the windows.

Why?

Because its eerie, a big house, a derelict building, a graveyard. Or the cars broken down on a country road.

OH, PLEASE. Come on. Enough is enough.

I know you want to set the scene, make the reader ‘feel and see’ what is in your mind. But not like this; not again.

Hollywood and television overworked this format years ago. Mary Shelly used it way back in 1817… (yes, I know Frankenstein’s Monster was not published until 1818. 11 March 1818 to be precise! but Mary completed her work in May 1817).

After that, I can understand some writers utilising Mary’s techniques (which she stole anyway!); but that was almost two hundred years ago! Surely you can work your wordsmithing magic without falling back on this old literary cliché?

Let’s take a look at the graveside scene again. This time, dismiss the notion of grey skies and rain.

Try and build that ‘feeling’ you want, let’s say, for this exercise, sadness and sorrow. (Although in another version it could be joy and relief, dependent on your character’s viewpoint).

‘The solemn parade of black clad mourners slowly crunched their way over the gravel and melted into the dimness of the church, passing under the gothic arches of time worn stone’.

Here the tone is set using a few simple, but descriptive words, to create the mood. ‘Solemn, black, mourners, slowly, melted, dimness, gothic, time-worn’ All carefully selected words that imply the general emotion of the procession.

An alternative may be something along these lines.

‘James glanced at Mary, her eyes glistened as tears formed. Small dew-drops of sadness sparkling, reflecting in the sunlight. The scent of yew trees and grass added to James’s sense of numbness as he watched the coffin being lowered into the grave’.

Approaching the scene from an oblique angle often offers the author an opportunity to ‘drip-feed’ the reader, only giving them a small bite sized piece of the overall scene with each sentence. This allows for an element of surprise, or revelation.

Neither of the above paragraphs have fallen back to the old ‘grey sky and rain’ chestnut. Yet they convey the very essence of emotion which one wishes to communicate with the reader.

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Onto the scary stuff!

The haunted house? The killer lurking in the dark woods, the stranded car on that country lane.

Hey, guess what?

You’re right, it’s NOT raining here either! No lightning, no storms and no doors banging in the wind.

So, how to get away from those ‘same old, movie style embedded notions’.

Well, let’s try. Let’s start with an approach to that (possibly) haunted house or old barn.

‘Two huge stone eagles balanced precariously on the dilapidated columns. The bindweed twisting about their talons as if securing them, denying them of flight. Framed between and beyond stood the old mansion house. The bright sunlight reflecting from the walls enhanced the blindness of long lost windows. Empty hollows, gaping holes beckoning us towards them’.

Note the ‘bright sunlight’. This time using the opposite, of what has become expected, to enhance the ‘darkness’, the brooding mood.

Not a raindrop in sight and the clock is not about to strike midnight!

As for breaking down on a country lane, perhaps having to abandon your vehicle to seek help…Let’s attempt to approach this in an unexpected style too.

‘He had been foolish for stopping; but nature would not wait and the hedgerow of holly offered the ideal shelter to hide behind while he answered her call. The car was going nowhere. The tyres just spun in the deep snow. With each attempt they sank lower until now; now the car was axel deep. He was stranded.

In the far distance the occasional puff of smoke drifted upwards into the crystal blue, cloudless sky. Turning his collar up, ramming his hands as far into his overcoat pockets as they would go, he started to plod through ankle deep snow towards the smoke. Gregory guessed it was from a cottage chimney. How wrong he was…’

Here I have constructed the paragraphs to portray a relatively normal situation, feeding the reader small tidbits about the weather, not only to ‘set the scene’, but as miss-direction, so that I can increase the effect of the final few words.

I beg you, if you are about to write, (or re-write), a section of your novel where you have been sucked in by the old ‘rain & storm’ caper, alter it. Dismiss the rain; freshen up your narration, pleasantly surprise your readers with something new and exciting.

Please do not let the rain make your book a wash-out.

Thanks for reading, Paul

Feel free to comment, leave feedback and ‘follow’ Ramblings from a Writers Mind.

Oh, don’t forget to read the new edition of CQ Magazine. It is jam packed full of great ‘stuff’!

https://issuu.com/ramblingawaymagzine/docs/cq4prt1_1_2016

Tips on Creating Settings for your Characters and Scenes.

I was going to call this post something simple, like ‘somewhere’ or ‘place’, but then I thought that it may be a little to oblique, so I ended up with the rather long title above.

Pretty much is the same with content. To make this as comprehensive as possible without (I hope) getting boring, I have had to write far more than I do in many of my other posts. I am sure you will see why as you read through.

Simply put, this post is all about creating a setting, or many settings, for you story. Somewhere your characters can live, somewhere they can go about their business in a way that helps bring them to life, a way that makes them ‘real’ people to your readers. Which is what we all should be seeking to achieve, a sort of Holy Grail for writers!

Let’s take a look at the three basic options we have.

The first is to use a Real Location.

This could be a village, a town, even a city, say Paris or London, or it could be somewhere much humbler like a hotel, a café, your kitchen or maybe a cellar?

Whilst the ‘where’ has to blend into you story while enhancing the readers pleasure, that is not the initial prime concern one should have. If you are using a real setting the most important aspect is to ensure accuracy.

This means research.

Even if you live in the place you intend to feature. Misrepresentation, whether it is a matter of geography, culture, or something in between, will be considered a travesty, it will be a failure in your story.

Make sure, when you include a detail or piece of information, that it is correct, or at least feasible. It must makes sense, be credible and contribute to the image you are portraying.

Go there! If at all possible go to the location, find details, talk to local people. Look about, notice how the buildings stand, what transport is available, what colour is it? Consider the language, do they have a dialect or use slang? What are the most noticeable aspects of the culture?

Now you have acquired this information you have to write it in a way that builds, or recreates that place for the reader. If the reader has never been there you must lead them in, be their guide in introducing them to the place. If they know the place already then your part is to re-create their memories.

To do this you must ‘show’ them, give strong sensory detail, get them involved and interested, especially in places unfamiliar. Make them feel they are getting to know it and you have them feeling you are portraying it accurately.

Don’t be afraid to use dialect. I would not recommend attempting to write a dialect, a least a phonetic representation, as this shouts doom! But be aware of such in dialogue; for instance what do the people in this location call a long sandwich? Is it a Sub…or a Hoagie, a Hero….maybe it a Baguette?

Getting ofay with the vernacular could make or break your story. But be careful, a misplaced slang word can throw you readers sense of place haywire.

Remember, not every story will fit into every setting. As with the characters and the plot the setting should be a living part of the story, it should interact with everything else on the page. If you tale is not working here, try a new location, or place a new section of the plot in this setting. If you have a disconnect you work may just collapse.

Now we move on…

The Fictional Location.

Here, wherever here may be, you are in total control. Nothing can be here, nothing can exist without your consent. This is you world where you can construct anything you like to be part of your story, even if it is a far-fetched creation.

But let’s start a little simpler. If you need to create a school or a restaurant or some regular societal value, you have no worries if somewhere similar exists, because ‘yours’ is purely fictitious.

A simple example could be an underground railway. If you have no idea of how the London Underground operates, so what? You can design and create your own public transportation system, one that fits into your plot, one that works with your characters schedules. It does not have to be an accurate representation of anything from the real world.

Please do not allow these facts to preclude your story from remaining realistic in terms of how certain types of place operate on a general basis. You still have a duty to your readers to portray a believable scenario.

The location may be best suited if, say for a town, it can be placed near somewhere in the real world. Possibly south of Huston, or just over the Tyne river outside of Newcastle. This will aid your story in finding its cultural roots.

Now the third of our three.

A Fictional setting in the Real World.

This is a far from unusual tactic employed by authors. There are many novels set in small fictitious towns which are then placed in a real counties or countries.

If you aim to do this then your town should be, at least in its initial appearance, similar to real towns in that region. This is to create believability. Yet by creating your own town as a setting you have almost as much freedom as you would with one set in a total fantasy.

Another benefit is that the townsfolk and/or your main characters can have specific feelings or views about this setting. Such as ‘it is haunted’ or ‘or it is a dying town’. No one can refute this, because the place does not actually exist.

This format works well when creating locations which do not exist, within one that is real. For example you may need to have your characters meet in a bar. Create a bar rather than using one that is real. This solves and can also absolve you from future problems. 

Of course one area that fake settings placed in the real world are great is in the realm of fantastical realities. Think vampires, ghosts and Harry Potter! Here one uses the real world to disguise something hidden or a secret.

Let us go a little further.

You are writing a romantic novel and in all good tradition and faith you choose Paris as the main setting of the book. It would therefore be wise to assume that, most of your readers will have a strong conception, a healthy mental image of Paris before they read a single word of your novel.

If the words ‘the Eiffel Tower’ are spoken your reader will automatically conjure up a mental image. The same goes for ‘the Statue of Liberty’. All you need to do is paint the picture of how, at that particular moment, the city lights refract from the River Seine. Now your reader can picture your character in that setting.

Now consider that your novel is in a fictional city.

Firstly you will need describe the city in far more detail, including the landmark ‘tower’ your character is to propose on. This will take a lot more writing, which is not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you need the word count!

Also it is not always to your benefit if the readers are familiar with the setting. After all many readers perception may be based on, or limited to, the ‘picture-postcard’ vision of a city and it is possible that you wish to portray a very different side of that metropolis.

So your descriptions will have to be vivid enough to dispel false perception while constructing a new mental image to bring the reader closer to the one in your own mind.

While in a totally fictitious location the reader can bring no preconceptions with them. You will, therefore, have a blank canvas on which to paint your words.

To wind all this up…

If you are to set your location in an actual place, a real setting, then detailed knowledge or meticulous research will be demanded. The payback for this is that a romantic novel set in Paris has far stronger ‘shelf-appeal’ than one set in a fake city. A place no one has heard or knows of.

The same is true if your novel is set in New York, New Deli or cruising along the Nile. Choose a place lesser known and the majority of your readers would not have heard of it anyway!

In writing, particularly in the case of a full length novel, it is evocation of place and atmosphere. It is almost impossible to deal with these as separate elements. Place can and does determine atmosphere. For example where else could Stephen Kings ‘The Shining’ have been set? It had to be that isolated, snow-bound hotel on a mountain.

Some writers have the tenacity and patience to craft meticulous settings, they build amazing and entire worlds. Others approach by the minimalistic route, sprinkling few, but highly suggestive details into the narrative.

It matters not what genre, or what style you use your story will take place somewhere. A small room, a foreign country, another planet. Your setting can be a backdrop or a character itself.

But take a while, take a look. If most of the novels in your genre are set in a particular kind of location, say a shed, a farmstead kitchen or a city tower, that is a good indication that is what readers of that genre expect, possibly demand.

It does not mean that you have to stick with tradition or stay with the norm. That is your decision, to go with the run of the mill or similar, or do you strive for something new? Maybe you will compromise, add that slight twist?

Whatever you are writing consider the scope you have for creating the right setting. You may want to have a small room or you might want your novel to spread across galaxies, even the entire universe.

Whatever you choose I hope that in some small way this has given you an insight to possibilities not before considered.

Oh, just before you leave I would like to say you can check the setting and locations I have used in my books by visiting my website at

http://paulznewpostbox.wix.com/paul-white

Thank you for reading yet another of my Ramblings, Paul.

Seven indispensable sites no Author or Writer should be without.

As you will know, the normal style of my posts are to bumble away rather randomly about various topics or subjects which are playing on my mind at any given moment. This post is not one of those. I believe, at certain times there comes a point when a more direct approach serves better. This post is one of those! I hope you find it informative and useful. Please let me know, thank you, Paul. No matter how an experienced writer we are we always, I will say that again, ‘Always’ need help, assistance or guidance at some point during the writing, editing, publishing or marketing process. Over the years I have been writing I have amassed a collection of various sites which I find invaluable. I have mentioned some of these in a previous post, http://wp.me/p5nj7r-8h & have also shared Melanie Rockets blog http://wp.me/p5nj7r-86 which I hope you will take a look at as it contains so much useful information. I have not however, until now, shared other sites which I use on a frequent basis. These are a rather eclectic collection covering a wide range of topics, not all are directly connected to the actual act of writing, but all are indispensable as far as I am concerned.

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So here they are, in no particular order!

How many syl-la-bles I enjoy this! It is primarily an educational site for teaching poetry, but take a look at all the helpful pages like the Syllable counter, syllable dictionary, English grammar, How to count syllables, poem workshop and teaching resources. I am certain you will find some things more than helpful and keep returning as I do. http://www.howmanysyllables.com/poem_syllable_counter_workshop/

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Author It. For all with eBooks this is a great app. It creates a ‘short link’ from your books ‘ASIN’ so when a potential reader clicks on the link it takes them to an intermediate window which shows the national flags associated with each Amazon server. The reader just ‘clicks’ on the relevant flag and is directed to the correct countries Amazon site for purchasing your book. So no more searching and listing a whole host of links, this one does the lot! I recommend you check this out. Helpful Authl.it is brought to you in association with the Kindle Users Form. Authl.it is designed to make linking and promoting Kindle eBooks as easy as possible worldwide. With our system you can easily generate a single link to direct your readers to the Amazon store for their country or region. http://authl.it/

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. Writing World. SO much I could say about this site, it is just a MASS of info. Apart from comprehensive info about writing, from beginners to experienced, this site has information on dealing with rejection, writers block, writer’s life, time management & so much more It also covers Genre writing, children’s writing, flash fiction, non-fiction writing, travel, memoires and more. There are inclusive articles on Syndication, freelancing columns, journalism and…..lots more too! Publishing, social media & reviews & releases. And that is just for starters! This is a MUST site. But do not just take my word go take a look yourself! http://www.writing-world.com/rights/rights.shtml

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Freelance fees. What should you charge for an article in a magazine, or for public relations or maybe for digital media? Do you have any idea? What about cancelation charges or fees? Bet you have not thought about that. Well these folk at London Freelance have and it is all shared with you right here. http://www.londonfreelance.org/feesguide/index.php?&section=Welcome&subsect=All&subsubs=All

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Writers Workshop. Established in June 2005, The Writers’ Workshop is the world’s leading consultancy for first time writers. They offer professional feedback on your work, run courses, host events, provide a mass of free advice, and – when you’re ready – They can use their extensive connections to find the literary agent who is right for you. I need to say no more! http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/agents-advice.html

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QR code generator. A bit of fun and another great way to get interactive with your potential readers, use the QR code on the back of your book to get readers to view the trailer for you next novel. Or simply link it to your website or author page. It is up to you. http://www.qrstuff.com/

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Add this. A host of smart website tools for WordPress. Take a look and choose your weapons! https://wordpress.org/plugins/addthis/faq/

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These are all sites that I use on a frequent or regular basis. I have found each one advantageous and effective for my needs, so you could say they are ‘tried & tested’ by Moi!

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Thanks for reading, I am open to all feedback and comments. I welcome new followers so don’t be shy at pressing that ‘Follow’ button! Have a great day, Paul.

A piece on the noble art of writing ‘Flash Fiction’.

Basically flash fiction is a short form of storytelling.

Trying to define it by the number of words is a futile exercise. Purists may give a figure of 100 words, but that is arbitrary at best.

For most a story of under 1,000 words can be considered flash fiction, some even stretch this number to 1,500 words.

What is generally accepted is that ‘flash’ is an extremely short medium in which the writer must tell a complete story. Fragmented tales are not tolerated.

The challenge is to tell the tale in a way that every word is absolutely essential, discard all words which can be considered superfluous, leave only the gleaming white bones of direct narrative.

Ernest Hemingway stated this wonderfully in his (over-quoted) dictum referencing an iceberg: Only show the top 10 percent of your story, leave the other 90 percent below water to be conjured.

Although it is a rather worn and overworked cliché it is one that should be born in mind when writing flash fiction.

Flash fiction is not a new phenomenon created by social media or the internet, it is an ancient writing form which has existed for millennium.

Some other names for this form of writing are: Sudden, fast, quick, postcard, minute, furious, and even skinny fiction!

The French often term this as ‘nouvelles’.

In China, pocket stories, minuet longs and palm-sized writings are frequently used terms.

I have also heard flash fiction referred to as ‘smoke stories’. A reference that it only takes as long to read a flash story as it does to smoke a cigarette!

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I know that this is a very short post in comparison to most of my ‘Ramblings’, perhaps it should be called a ‘flash blog’?

Thank you for reading this, enjoy the rest of your day.

I the meantime I shall leave you with a little ‘micro fiction’ piece which was inspired by the aforementioned Mr Ernest Hemingway.

‘Colt45. Used only once. Includes 5 shells. Sale due to recent bereavement’.

© Paul White 2015

Why not mosey over to my other blog ‘Further Ramblings’ and read some irreverent ruminations.