Category Archives: book release

Stand By Me – movie, River Phoenix, Kiefer Sutherland

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No Merchandising. Editorial Use Only. No Book Cover Usage. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock (1617242a) Stand By Me, Wil Wheaton, Jerry O'connell, Corey Feldman, River Phoenix Film and Television

This movie is thirty years old now, yet still resonates with me. It is the story of four boys, all troubled and disturbed in some way with life and loss. Unexpectedly they set out on a journey to find a dead body, which leads them into all kinds of trouble and danger, yet through it all they stick together.

The movie is inspiring as you watch the challenges they face individually with their familes and face together on the trip. Kiefer Sutherland plays a teenage bad guy, and River Phoenix is excellent as the de-facto leader of the small group.

But the whole story is seen from the point of view of one of the boys as an adult, with a son of his own. Richard Dreyfuss plays this role, and as he looks back, he sees what they gained and lost through this adventure.

Based on a Stephen King novella, Stand By Me is worth a watch, for sure.

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The Last War – a new map

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Map

I’ve just received a new map for my Last War series of fantasy fiction. My daughter drew it for me and between us we located the details of where Khandarken lies along the Catastrophic Ocean. Adar Silva is to the south, also along the ocean and a strong ally for Khandarken. To the north is Legitamia, a country ruled by its own dictator, Barrington the Benevolent. Relations are frosty, especially after the conference in the capital, Gilsigg, resulted in the death of Khandarken’s Leader in Book Three. This is on top of the invasion across the border in Book Two.

To the west is Jiran, a loose affiliation of tribal areas dominated by the Penrhy and Shafoneur families. No one is on great terms with Jiran.

Truth and Treachery, The Last War: Book Three is now out in print, with ebook soon to follow. Come with me on this exciting ride into a sci fi world where nothing is as it seems!

Visit Amazon to have a look –  http://tinyurl.com/hw748dz

Ways to Sabotage Your Writing Career

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There are lots of ways to do it, of course. We all have our favourite. But the lists out there are interesting to study.

One of the best ways is to write in a vacuum. I was part of a writer’s group that took a table at a market fair in downtown Victoria last summer to sell our books. I swear that every second person who stopped at our booth was a writer who was partway through their first book. Would I look at it and perhaps give an edit? Could I sell their book at our booth once it was finished? How did you get a book up for sale on Amazon?

Most of these people were writing in a vacuum and had been for years. They had failed to find themselves a support group for critiques, a party of authors who shared their experiences and information with each other. It can be difficult to do. Showing someone else your work is high tension stuff– what if they hate it? What if they tell you it’s great when it isn’t? Or the other way around – tell you it isn’t great when it really is?

But in reality, it’s the best step you can take as a budding author. Get out there and show someone else your work. Ask for honest feedback, and give the same in return. Your writing will only get better with the exposure.

Have a look at – Don’t Derail Your Writing Career Before It Starts, blog by Anne R Allen at annerallen.com

Robert Dugoni workshop – author encouragement

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R DugoniI attended a writing seminar taught by Robert Dugoni. He’s a bestselling author of police detective mysteries and about 35 people arrived from all over Vancouver Island to hear what he had to say, which turned out to be quite a lot. And it was not only interesting but useful information.

I’ve written a few books now but am still learning and I learned even more on Saturday. Here’s a sampling . When  creating a character –

  • make him strong, along with other attributes he might need for his role such as leadership, cunning, loyal – all great virtues
  • give him an Achilles heel, such as depression, over-stubborn, jealous – any one which will allow him to be vulnerable
  • make him believable so the reader can identify with him, but also larger than life so he can be admired
  • make him sympathetic, where the reader can identify his fault, not pathetic where the reader can’t relate

But the most compelling part of the workshop was the ending. Dugoni reminded us to enjoy writing, and not to get so caught up in the marketing, readings, production of material that we lose the fun of it. Good words to write by.

To learn more about Robert Dugoni, check out his website at http://www.robertdugoni.com/

What do readers want?

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A very interesting bit on what kindle owners read and where they get their information for buying new books.

So, who do they listen to for recommendations? 53% said they heard about a book from friends or family. We are still talking about word of mouth here. Next came websites and blogs at 24%. Bestseller lists was quite low on the roster at 11%.

In terms of social media, facebook is by far the most influential in getting word out on new books, with twitter and instagram near the bottom. It’s interesting because I know a lot of authors spend a great deal of time on some of these sites, so it’s nice to get some information on what works best.

Although there is a huge push on ‘series’ books right now, the information shows that 70% of readers enjoy series and stand alone books equally.

Best of all, kindle owners purchase 8.9 books a month. That’s a lot of reading material. I’m sure it doesn’t all get read, but most of it probably does, and it’s an exciting number for authors to contemplate.

Have a look at the Anatomy of a Kindle User –

http://www.writtenwordmedia.com/2015/09/09/anatomy-kindle-owner/