Month: June 2015

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Six Reasons The Book Is (Almost Always) Better Than The Movie

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It’s not often I agree wholeheartedly with a publishing house, but in this instance I do…

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/6-reasons-the-book-is-almost-always-better-than-the-movie/?sourceid=Y000000013&adbsc=social_20150628_48216466&adbid=10153288064900020&adbpl=fb&adbpr=9122810019

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Review: INTO THE FIRE, by Manda Scott, published in hardback by Transworld Books at £14.99

Michael’s review of Manda Scott’s Into The Fire

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ISBN: 978 0 593 07247 9

I have to declare an interest here. Manda is a good friend. We first met as crime writers, and in more recent years we’ve worked together to take her vision of the Historical Writers’ Association and bring it to fruition. She has also generously given me a bunch of time to answer some questions on her writing which you can read here.

However, I have a firm policy on this blog: I will not puff books for no reason (or just because the writer’s a friend). There are plenty of sites where readers can go for such puffery and nonsense, but here on my website I will only review the books I’ve read and liked. Books I don’t like may well appeal to other people, so I won’t slate them.

Manda started out with crime, but achieved massive success with her Boudica series…

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Is Kindle Unlimited Hurting New Indies?

More from the lovely Jo 😉

Lit World Interviews

I was planning on posting the new TOC how to using Calibre this week, but I’m afraid that I haven’t been able to get to my computer to get the screenshots together this week – so next week it will be – promise. Getting back here today though, it seems that the whole writing world is up in arms about Amazon’s announcement that authors will earn by the page read, rather than by the percentage of a book read when a book is borrowed with Kindle Unlimited. Having vivid memories of starting out as a newbie to self-publishing of how easy it was to get totally confused and thrown off course by announcements from some established authors, I’m really glad that this didn’t happen back then.

It’s a fact that any Indie author out there right now with one, or maybe two books published, is not going to be laughing…

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I’ve Been Busy!!!

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My Beautiful Muse

If you are all wondering why my own posts are few and far between lately, the answer is simple – I’m busy with the last couple of chapters of my current science fiction WIP – The Guardian! So in the meantime you will have to be content with reposts from other people like my good friend Derek Haines for instance. Hopefully you are all benefiting from Derek’s considerable knowledge on the subject of publishing and other writerly things.

Well I’d better get back to it. I have now passed twenty-three thousand words, and I’m currently working on the fortieth A4 page. What with my highly demanding female muse pictured above, aka she who must be obeyed, and the ancient one pictured below, at the moment I’m only allowed a few paltry minutes per day here on my blog. More later when both of them are not looking over my shoulder. Whoops I hear them close by, which means I’ve got to go.

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Thoth, My Other Muse

PS – Which one demands the most. Here’s a hint – one of them is an absolute pussy cat.

😉

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How Derek Haines Reduces His Students To Quivering Wrecks

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I bet that my fellow Englishmen and women will cringe when they view the English pronunciation video Derek Haines makes his language students watch. Take a look for yourselves. Pay particular attention to the way the North American in the video mispronounces certain words. It made me cringe, and laugh at the same time. LOL 😉

http://www.derekhaines.ch/vandal/2015/06/how-i-terrorise-my-students/