The Brightest Review

Woo hoo.

A blogger has posted a review of The Brightest Light. And it’s a great review. You can read it here. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again– it’s nice to have strangers say nice things about my writing.

Paul pointed out some problems he had with stuff other than the story which I have fixed– well, it will be fixed sometime in the next 48 hours, when Amazon puts up the new version of the book.

But don’t worry about that. The review is fabulous and you should all go and read it. Right now. Seriously.

If you read the comments below the post you’ll see that I’ll also, hopefully, be doing an interview on his blog.

Bella Swan

Okay, this has nothing at all to to with vampires or Twilight or anything else, but there is a swan and she is naked and is dripping wet…. (What are the chances that all that will get me 3 million page views?)

So, anyway, here are some photos of swans…

The Agony and the Ecstasy

After years of slogging away at novels with no reward beyond the reward of actually finishing it’s interesting to release them to the world.

I gave away The Space Between and about 2,500 downloaded it. I was pretty happy with that. But only about 15 people liked it enough to make a donation so they could get their hands on Singing Other Worlds. Some people donated $10. Others donated $2. I was happy with anything that I received. And I think everyone donated for When the Time Comes as well.

But now I’ve put them up on Amazon. The possible audience has grown immeasurably, but getting noticed amongst everything else is difficult. Where do I go to get my books noticed? How do you go from people reading your add to clicking on the link to go and have a look?

Amazon has an option to give a book away for free for up to five days every 3 months. Book 1 was downloaded about 200 times and books 2 and 3 had a few sales after that. Seeing A Different Kind of Heaven is not yet available I’ve been hoping there will be a jump in sales for all of the books when that comes out (which will hopefully happen near the end of next month).

But yesterday I put up The Brightest Light. It’s a stand-alone that is loosely linked the the Tribes of the Hakahei. it’s a fast paced action story with flying islands, flintlock weaponry, ‘magical’ crystal machines that run everything from coffee machines to biplanes and the huge engines that keep the skylands in the air. I think it’s a good story and it’s probably more commercial than the other stuff I’ve written (though still a bit unusual).

It’s been available to the world for a couple of days now but nobody has bought it yet. I don’t even know if anyone has looked at the page on Amazon (they should add that feature).

So now I’ve got to try something to get some attention. I’ve got some short stories on Amazon as well, so I thin I’ll make them free in a couple of days and hope it leads to some sales for the other books.

If you don’t have a Kindle you can make a donation via Paypal (link to that is at www.scottjrobinson.com) and make a note of what book you want.

You can see all my books listed at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=hakahei

So, at least go and have a look and if anything looks at all interesting, think of supporting a struggling artist. Getting books out into the world is great, though it also hurts a bit if nobody buys any. The agony and the ecstasy.

When the Flow Becomes A Torrent

A few days ago, the words were flowing for me. I was writing a couple of thousand words a day– all was going well.

Then, yesterday, I was writing away and I realised ho close I was to the end of the book. So I wrote a little bit more. Then a little bit more. Then, I discovered I had written 7,000 words and had actually joined the start of the book to the end of the book, which has actually been written for a few years. I was done. Finished. Woo hoo.

I then did 2,000 un-words, making the start and the end fit together better. And I was done again. (Most writers will tell you that they finish books and stories many times before they finish them.)

I did a happy dance, then realised there was something I’d left out. And, well, shouldn’t I have put that bit in as well? And that bit there needs to be included. But no. I’ve finished. I’ll look at those bits in the second draft.

So, today, I have a completed first draft. I’ll print it out and go through it with a red pen or a green pen– I haven’t decided yet, but it’s an important decision. Then I’ll give the book to my wife and she can use the other colour. (I usually like to do it in the other order– and I still might– because I don’t like my comments influencing what my wife think.)

A Different Kind of Heaven is currently 65,000 words. It’s shorter than any first draft I’ve written in the last 18 years (actually since my first novel), but I know there will be a lot added, mainly to bring the characters to life a bit more.

But that’s for some other time. Today, I have a first draft and it feels good.

The Writing Loom (or, Who was that character anyway?)

When I was writing and editing The Space Between, one of the things I was really conscious of was weaving the threads together. Scree and Ping were originally involved in the first book so that was another thread I was trying to juggle as well.

It was always a problem. Do you switch between characters fairly regularly so you keep all the characters involved? Or do you stick with one for a while to let the reader get to know them a bit better?

Well, it’s bloody hard to get the balance right. The book was rejected by two publishers (well more than that, but only 2 are relevant to my story) before I decided to self publish. The first one was worried about the long breaks between characters chapter. So I shifted things around. And, yes, the next one wanted the opposite. Or maybe it was the other way around. I’m not sure, but you get the point. So, obviously the thing is to find that bit right in the middle.

One of the recent reviews (I can’t seem to find it now) of The Space Between made mention of the long period we stayed with Tuki after he was first introduced. It was something like eight chapters. So, yes, you got to know him well, but forgot the names of the other character.

After reading the review I had another go at rearranging the chapters. I’m not sure if it fixed the problem. Or maybe I over did it. Either way, that new version has now been uploaded to Amazon. I haven’t had any reviews since then so I’m not sure of the verdict. In fact, I’m not sure if I’ve sold any copies since then.

Oh well.

Book 4, A Different Kind of Heaven, is moving along. I’ve nearly finished the second of the three threads. Then all I have to do is work out how to weave them all together. Damn. But that’s for another day. For now, it’s just writing.

Go With the Flow

A Different Kind of Heaven is moving along nicely now. There were a couple of days recently where I did 2500 and 3000 words which allowed me to finish one of the three threads completely. This was the thread involving Meledrin and Tuki and the all important contracts (if you’ve read When the Time Comes you’ll know what I mean.) So I was feeling great.

But now, I’m working on another thread so it’s almost like starting a new story. And this story is more complicated than the last one, because I now have to give thought to how the two stories intertwine. It doesn’t happen often, but often enough that I have to pause every now and then and think… Well, I have to have this scene taking place at this time because I need it to be over before Meledrin gets in contact with the Hakahei…

Argh…

But of course, that makes it more fun as well. And keeps it feeling like one story, instead of just having characters wandering around doing their own thing and not influencing others at all.

And it is also very exciting because the story is drawing towards a conclusion, finally. The ending is already written– it was written years ago when the series was originally only two books– and I love the way the final confrontation works. So I can’t wait to link what I have now with that ending.

It won’t be long now. 20k words, maybe. Probably less. I just have to increase the action. Then increase it some more.

I’m itching to write all the time now so I’ve got to go with the flow. As a writer I think you’ve got to take advantage of momentum whenever you can. It’s just a matter of finding the time amongst the other things I’m supposed to be doing. (You know, those things that allow me to stay married just a little bit longer : ) .)

So, work to do today, before I get to some writing, hopefully, then to my daughter’s kindy to take along her birthday cake. Stop distractiong me.

The Good Things About Living in a Shed

You may or may not know, but I have a wife and two young kids (2 and 3 years old). You also may or may not know that I live in a shed. It’s a pretty big shed (and we’re getting an extension soon– hopefully before the 3rd kid arrives in 3 months), 3 car bays, but it’s still a shed.

There’s one room, about 3 metres square (about 10ft for those of you who like that kind of thing), and that’s where our 2 kids currently sleep. Then there’s a kitchen, made up of various cast off pieces of furniture– a desk, an old kitchen cupboard and a very nice side board thing we bought of ebay for $93. There’s no sink or running water. Then we’ve got a dining room, lounge room, play area for the kids which also has a desk my wife uses for making cards. And the main bedroom is just a bit more of the shed with some wardrobe strategically placed for some privacy. And that’s it. All of that, in a 9m by 6m shed. (My parents own the shed and we use the shower they have in their laundry and their kitchen sink when we need to.)

That’s not a lot of room to accommodate 4 people on a regular basis. Not much at all. But you know what. It’s enough. Obviously it enough because we’ve been here for nearly 3 years.

And now, when, if, we ever get out into a real house, I know I won’t be going for the lavish mansion that my soon be be literary fame (go and buy my ebook from Amazon– http://www.amazon.com/Space-Between-Tribes-Hakahei-ebook/dp/B00744AMGC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333535394&sr=8-1 — or in fact, buy all 3 of them) will make possible.

I think the never ending search for bigger houses might have something to do with the all the problems with today’s youth. (Oh, that makes me sound intelligent.)

The kids have got their own TV and computer in their rooms. They have phones and whatever else. Parents can be in the same house as their kids but not actually be supervising them. They can go whole days without any meaningful interaction.

Try that living in a 9m x 6m shed. Not going to happen.

Sure, it might be nice to be able to read somewhere quiet occasionally or, more importantly, write somewhere quiet occasionally. But in the shed I get to watch the kids play, and help them with the lego every five minutes. And read them books all the time. Or play cars– you try resisting a 2yr boy who says, “Can someone please play with me.” It’s nice to be able to talk to my wife while she’s cooking dinner (I mean while I’m cooking dinner, obviously). In the shed we are a part of each others lives. Yeah, we all get a bit grumpy sometimes. But that is more than made up for by the fact that at any moment my 3yr old daughter might try to tickle me. Or my 2yr old son might poke me (I should never have taught them that). It’s made up for by the fact that they love to show my wife and I what they are doing– drawing, writing, making cars, building houses, reading, playing dress ups, playing the ukulele. We are a part of all of it and that’s a wonderful thing.

Do I intend to buy a one bedroom house (when our other house eventually sells so we can get some money)? Not on your life. But it won’t be a mansion either. It will be something that lets us be a family. And that can never be a bad thing.

Oh, and it will also be something that has running water.