The world changes again

As gunfire rings round the squares of Tripoli, you can also hear the chink of glasses in Downing Street and few wiped brows. This was a close one.

Whether there was more secret support of the Libyan rebels which has gone unnoticed by the media or not, it doesn't matter anymore, within the next few days they will have their man and it will have all been worth it. Running wars is probably never a good thing and probably necessary on occasion to get rid of people like Gaddafi and maybe this was the right time politically and all that.

I think back slapping might be worth holding back on. Gaddafi like Saddam was the devil we knew, but do we know what a new devil will look like. I'm not sure we do, western style democracy in North Africa may still be kept far from the door whilst a new leader insists on getting public order in place with the rifle and brutality.

Good luck to the Libyan people, they deserve a better world, I might be an old cynic but I'm not yet convinced they will get one

Working with the Truth

One of the challenges of being an author is working with real events.

Unless you are writing a blog or journalistic piece it is hard to find the balance between truth and fiction.

The riots, phone hacking, Norwegian mad man, twitterati are all prime material for writing. Writers have a real opportunity to challenge and use the themes presented by these events but cant just rehash old stories. Otherwise it's either not original, uninteresting or in the worst case, you end up misusing peoples names and find yourself in court. A tricky challenge, and politics is worse because many of the names are of the household variety

A good example of this is Robert Harris in The Ghost. How to write a book so clearly based on Tony Blair but not mention his name. This is the skill of an author who wants to reflect world events, as we can't pretend they don't exist but rework any ideas into a history that exists only within your book.

I am looking at writing my next book in the world of coalition and post labour government, but how to do that without mentioning the name Cameron or the current incumbents. Perhaps it is simply to change the names but replay some of the events. That feels a little weak. I am minded back to the West wing which wrote for 8 years in a fictional White House. It simply created it's own world without ever feeling that it wasn't a real one, bar knowing that it was just a TV program.

I pick a time period to go back where I can mention true facts and then bring them forward to the books timeline with an artificial history. Once you've gone down the road of fiction you can't then mention the real events. E.G. it would be wrong to mention phone hacking whilst talking of a government that isn't David Cameron. Because it so clearly is interlinked in media history changing one part of it would distort what happened and leave the author vulnerable to accusations. Better to just pretend it didn't exist but use the themes to recreate an alternative scenario with a fictional newspaper and government.

In fact I would avoid mention of any real name in recent history unless it is an accepted fact (e.g. Gordon Brown was prime-minster) or can't be avoided in a story line (you are writing a story around the last days of Labour). There are times when you might want to do it, but always think twice.

Another interesting challenge would be to write a story about a survivor of the Norway shootings. In this case you could mention the event and create a fictional survivor as so little is known about the survivors on a personal level at least in the day to day media world. It would be a great story to make up but one where you have to remain sympathetic to the relatives and true survivors of that terrible day. It would be dangerous to exploit their memory for your indulgence, but at the same time, they say so much about modern life and writers want to reflect that.

I think the author in the world of fiction can do what he likes, but to avoid being accused of copying real life or exploiting very raw tragedy, the best way is to re-imagine events in a completely fictional world.

Time Move's on

Time has been flying by so quickly. I've no idea what happened to June.

Over the last few weeks, I've set up a brand new Writing Site, check out www.writerscave.co.uk
This is great on a personal level for my own writing improvement but also for publishing my name and my writing, plus getting the odd plug out for AVER.

Written a number of short stories and flung them into a number of short story competitions. Whilst I can see the undeniable improvement in my own writing skills, it has returned my any glorious wins. I was hoping for a few credits in the bank to confirm my more confident status but will have to rely on my self for that one it seems for now.

Looking for more opportunities to plug the book out there. Facebook advertising has resulted in a few new connections but little in the way of sales. Suggestions welcome, a place where people would connect to a book online.

Keep plugging away - the right move will come

Back on Line

Been a couple of months since I managed to get this blog turning over.

Well how I filled this vacuum of time?

1) Spent most of it re-editing A Very English Revolution - the old was full of mistakes and I'm especially pleased to know that in the next couple of days it will be out there in perfect form with a little(well lot of) help from friends.

2) Re-energised the art of short story writing with some new ideas. Really pleased with the result and entered some competitions. Not expecting to win as such but happy to be getting some good stuff out there.

Checkout www.sgnorris.co.uk for some examples, Black and White Town, The Phone Number.

3) Learning how difficult publishing and marketing can be. This was always going to be a learning curve but didnt realise how steep. Lots learnt though and I am armed and ready for the next attempt.

So over the new weeks should be a lot more on here.

Book Signing - The Inside Story

The book signing - the first opportunity to engage with the public.

Well this was a learning experience, which was one of the reasons for choosing York, so I could see how it works before I start on Leeds, my target market for the AVER.

So how did it go?

Stood in the corner of the doorway was an excellent place to greet the arriving public as they walked through the entrance. It was also a prime position to see them walk on by, avoiding your glances at all costs. Now I remembered why I never wanted to do a sales job. Should I harass, should I stay quiet, or should I stand like a smiling geek until someone feels sorry for me?

Finally some friends arrived to rescue me and my wife and make us feel loved. In the end, the store informed that 5 books was good, and I suspect I sold more books than anyone else in WHSmiths that afternoon.

A good experience but what are the learnings.

1) People like to browse books, before they buy, so an opportunity to browse the book without having a desperate author breathe down your neck may have helped with interest.
2) Go for places where books are sold, sounds simple but the entrance to a store which sells many things other than books, means lots of people can easily ignore you, its not what they came for.
3) Don't park your signing table in front of Vampire books and kiddie books, it was a bit confusing at first why all the kids were trying to stare at us, when they were looking at the 3 for 2 offer on Vampires
4) in addition to point one, have some book information for people to see what the book is about. Also would greatly help if the store announced your presence over the tannoy, to give the public some idea of what you are here for and whether they might be interested.

Next time I see a poor author in a store trying to do a signing with a no-mans land empty space around his desk, I shall step inside and engage in conversation. Might even just buy a book in support of my fellow struggling author

Book Signing

The first book signing is booked for 19th March 2011.

It will be in WHSmiths in York who were the first to take advantage of my availability. The manager chap could have turned me down as he had no obligation to allow a story not specifically about York to be promoted in his store, but given he didn't have writers knocking his door down, I think he saw a good opportunity for his store. Not because he believes I will bring the masses to the store but it still makes him look good.

Produced some posters today which I will drop in to the store tomorrow.

Also emailed the Yorkshire Post in an attempt to gain some publicity. This is the time when I will find out if the world outside my friends and family are interested in AVER, or whether it will remain in obscurity.

The worries over the typing errors in the book still remain, but decided to be upfront and honest about it. No point in pretending they don't exist, but I will promote the story and hope that people buy into that, knowing the production wasn't the same as a mass market paperback.

Looking forward to the opportunity to publicise the book now and really gauge the interest of the book buying public

The First Week

The exciting news of the week has been all about people rolling up to buy the book on Amazon, and those that didn't know about it before congratulating me on the book and wishing me luck.

I am always grateful for the purchases and the wishes.

I pick the book up daily and try to imagine the endless of hours of work it took to put it together, and wonder how I kept up the effort to keep it all going. Hard to imagine now as I contemplate the same again in the next one. The truth of it is, because I'd never written a book before, I never knew what it would take to finish it. Now I know....

So I have picked it up and spot read pages, especially on the tube, shamelessly trying to show it off.

Nightmare is, I have found typing errors, small ones, but errors all the same, and I dare say any body who will get hold of it will comment on that. I have to take that on the chin, my book, my responsibility. Another round of proof-reading clearly would have tidied those bits and pieces up, but these are the problems with independent publishing without access to large support organisations to do this work. So my hope is that despite these glitches readers will enjoy the story enough that they will just ignore it. I never promised perfect literature, just a good story.

Everyone who has read this book has loved it and loved the characters, that is what I will take pride in more than anything else, and thats why I will keep on promoting it positively.

Getting on to Waterstone's this week with a view to arranging book signings and the next round of promotion.