Category Archives: Work in Progress

It didn’t feel right just to start back up after so long, so I’m acknowledging that I haven’t posted anything in here for months. Then I’m going to write something. Just, you know, to check I still can.

Edit: I started something, I really did. Then something happened, possibly related to the fact that I can’t use the backspace button in Chrome properly any more, because that is, apparently, an improvement, and what I had written (which was going to need an edit, but broadly, I rather liked) was no more.

I’m slightly miffed, but it’s not going to put me off. Just going to go about this a different way.

A little while ago, I was unsure about the wisdom of starting on the next book when this one isn’t finished yet.

(It’s getting there, I promise)

Well, now I’m also writing two books ahead. This is a Good Thing, I have decided, because:

a) I’ve never done that before, it should be interesting

b) I can get stuck in one place or another without it mattering too much, I’ll just go and work on the next one

c) I’m getting more actual writing done. I seem to remember that it’s the actual writing down of things which I enjoy rather than the ‘waiting for feedback’ or ‘damn, the first 13 pages are going to have to go’ parts which aren’t quite as much fun.

d) I have a feeling that time will at more of a premium in the next year than it has been this summer, when I got next to no writing done. I think that I should probably have some strategies in place to tackle that problem. This might be one of them.

Listen, I’m writing. It’s all good.

… but this scene popped into my head fully-formed as I was taking the boys to school this morning.  It would appear that I’ve started on the third book before the second one’s finished.  I imagine this is a good thing, but I’m not certain.  Anyway, this is what ‘A Little Bird Told Me’ looks like right now:

“So, would I have heard of you?”

I stare at her.  I still know nothing about her aside from her name.  She’s, what? Mid-thirties?  Maybe older, I don’t know.  I’ve never been good at ages.  I shrug.

“I doubt it.  We made three albums, back when that was still a thing, and we had one ‘hit’” – I actually do the thing with the waving fingers – “in the UK in 1983.  So, no – probably not.”

“In the Ukraine?”

“UK.  Britain.  England.”

She smiles.

“Yeah, nobody calls it that. I think we know where England is, but UK?  Nope.”

“It’s not England, but – you know what?  Fine.”

I drain the cup. Fourth, fifth of the day?  Jetlag and coffee; always such an interesting mix. I’m ready to close up, but she isn’t.

“Tell me more.  What were you called?  How famous are you really?  Are we going to have groupies tracking you down?”

I want to laugh, but isn’t this the whole point?  No-one knows where I am.

“No groupies.  There never were many; we weren’t that kind of band.”

“What kind of band were you, then?”

“The kind which doesn’t attract groupies.  Or women, much.  The spotty teenage boy market, as far as I could see.  Lengthy, technical songs with earnest lyrics about making the world a better place.  Just at the point when everyone was making short, simple songs about cars and girls. We even wrote songs about that.”

“Could I look you up online? What would I find?”

She actually has her phone out now.  I frown. Didn’t we have the conversation about how bad the internet access is out here?

“I just text my nephew and he does it.  Come on, what were you called?”

I hate this part.

“We’re not there. There’s almost nothing, no Wikipedia, no online discography, nothing.  We sold a few thousand albums and no-one remembers us, and that’s fine by me.”

She’s literally drumming her fingers on the countertop now.

“Fine.  We were called The Undercrawlers.”

“Yeesh.”

I know.  I always knew.  We were called The Undercrawlers because none of us liked the name.  Mark wanted to be Viking, or at a push, The Vikings. Fin wanted to be Tom Bombadil or something.  I thought Us would work, but the other two laughed.  We sat in Fin’s back room – he was the only one from a family well-to-do enough to have a second room on the ground floor for entertaining guests, and it was where the piano was – and argued for days, it seemed.  I don’t remember who suggested it, but we all agreed it was horrible.  So, of course, that was the name we chose.

We weren’t very bright, really.

After a flurry of typing, she’s back.

“You’re right.  He says there are only a couple of mentions – a song called” – she peers at the screen, squinting slightly, and I mentally revise her age upwards a touch – “‘Nobody Loves You’ – no wonder nobody bought your records – and something about a lawsuit.”

That sounds about right. If anyone now knows anything about The Undercrawlers, it’s that we were the band who were sued out of existence by our own record company.  It’s a long story.

“It’s a long story. And really not very interesting. Isn’t it time to close up yet?  I’m a little tired.”

She grins.

“You go; I’ll finish up. I can show you how tomorrow.  Have a good sleep, Mr. Rock Star.

I grunt.  I never was a Rock Star. I definitely thought I wanted to be once upon a time though.

I spend most of that night staring at the ceiling thinking of what happened to Fin, and why it might have been my fault.

Great outbursts of activity as publication date approaches...

• The Cover Reveal will happen on the Facebook page on Sunday night / Monday morning depending on where in the world you are.  Go ahead and like the page if you haven't already done so; I'm now utterly shameless about plugging myself!
• Publicists now on board, agreement signed, questionnaire completed, money handed over (gulp) - I had been wavering about it, but the success of my Facebook campaign (see below) has swayed me - people who have never heard of me are at least interested and intrigued enough to investigate and hit the like button - I think this might work...
• I am an author.  Yes, I know it's not news, but for the last week and a half I have been (only slightly ostentatiously) carrying around an actual printed copy of my book, and now - after all the toil and tears, I feel like I'm an actual, proper author.  I can put the book on my shelf next to the hundreds I have up there, and it doesn't look out of place.  I can show it to people and read it in public and generally behave as if it is a real thing, and it feels right; it feels like it's an actual, you know, book.
• I finished proof-reading it again this morning, and I was taken aback by how I felt as I turned the last page.  I was gripped by the story; reading it as if I hadn't seen it before (which, given the surgery I performed on the third part just before I sent it off to be printed, I hadn't, not properly) and I felt a little like a proud parent - there they were; my characters, beyond my influence now, ready to go off into the world on their own terms.  I feel a little emotional, to be honest.  It'll pass
• It'll pass, because I need to get on with the hard work of getting the book in people's hands.  My strategy has wavered more times than a particularly wavery thing, but I'm broadly sticking to my plan - ebook version first, which takes the brunt of the publicity effort, then print later, as appropriate.  The thing is, I think I'm going to have to make the print copy available more or less from day 1 as well - it'll be really interesting to see what happens there, when I'm not pushing it particularly hard.

One more key thing needs to be done before I can start selling online, though - I need an EIN from the US Revenue Service - this is so I don't pay US tax on anything I sell there.  It's apparently easy, but I spent half an hour on hold this morning before I gave up, and I don't feel particularly inclined to try again today.  Maybe in the morning...

Oh, and I keep having ideas for the next book, but no time to write them down in.  Ah, well; time enough for that, I suppose.

I can't figure out if the checklist is getting longer or shorter; let's see:

• Cover design - latest revisions done, back cover copy sent ...
• Blurb - version 4,972 (approximately) done, and - I'm actually happy with it!
• Publicity - chase the publicist, read the latest proposal: done
• Another call with the publicist - next week, I hope.
• Wrestle with CreateSpace to produce a proof copy - nope; maybe tomorrow, depending on work.
• Author bio - done; including the 25-30 word version.  Think it works...
• Find out if I need to set up another company to do the publishing: question asked; we'll see.
• Figure out a name for this company - I'm toying with Ridgeview Press; what do we think?  (I just checked; I can find one reference to a company called Ridgeview Press.  Hmmm...)

And those are only the things I can remember which need to be done.

Also, I'd quite like to do some writing some time soon...

... or no news is good news, or -

Or, actually, I've been busy behind the scenes.  The Beta Reader period is done now, final (at least, I think they are final) changes have been made, and I'm now working on three fronts, none of them to do with actually writing anything.

The rather wonderful Scarlett Rugers is working on a cover design, which is under wraps for now, but I'm really excited about.

My good friend Philomena Hughes spent an hour last week patiently talking me through a photoshoot; all I have to do now is narrow down the selection of excellent pictures to three which can be used for author bios, website banners and general author pics.

And I'm talking to a publicity company, in the hope that we can find a method of promoting Going Back which sells some books without angering my bank manager more than is necessary.

All three feel like I'm moving in the right direction, but I'd still rather be writing.  I'm now up to three possible concepts for new stories, and I'd like to write them too:

Shore Leave, half-written, but I know what I want to do with it now, and I'm itching to get back to it

A half-formed idea about a bookshop and coffee shop on the far fringes of Western Canada, which I'm thinking of as The Bookshop at the End of the World. I already have some characters sketched out for this, but it'll have to wait.

An even more nebulous idea, which may come to nothing - I'm letting it brew for now.

Now, if I could only get another six or seven hours in each day, I might be able to get all of this done.

PS - if you haven't already done so, could you 'like' the Going Back Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/goingbackbook  Thank you!

That's the filename for the current revision, and it feels like it.  I thought all along I'd get to five drafts, but I was fairly happy with where version four had got me.  Feedback from my beta readers, however, has nailed a few things, particularly about Andrew's character, which make a lot of sense, so I've spent the last week working through it all again.  A couple of key scenes are now quite different, but it does all hang together again.  I know I need to read it all again, just to be sure, but there won't be another full draft - any more suggested changes will be made to this draft; it should all be mainly cosmetic now, I hope.

In other news, I think I'm about to get myself a professionally designed cover.  I read somewhere that if you want people to invest in your book, you should be prepared to invest in it yourself, which makes sense.  The cost of a cover is less than I spend on groceries every week, and if it makes the finished product stand out on the electronic shelves, then it will be worth the investment, I'm sure.

Anyone know the rules on quoting copyrighted lyrics?  It's been suggested to me that a couplet or two might illustrate the point I'm making towards the end, but I fear that might prove ruinously expensive.  I'll ask around...

This is clearly getting serious!  Not just a new website, page but a proper Facebook page for promotional purposes.  Next: investigate Facebook advertising, viagra and start spreading the word.

Going Back: the official Facebook presence