Proof reading what was all the fuss about?

So, after all the procrastination, I finally got down to my proof reading - and what was all the fuss about?

Proof reading, sat on the sofa with my feet up and the sun coming in through the window, looking for all the world like I was taking an afternoon off... The down side was that I did find some errors, but I'm trying not to beat myself up about it too much... after all it is only the proof copy, and though it would be nice to find nothing wrong at all - it's not the end of the world.

Proof reading or procrastinating...

Ok I'd better get back to the proof reading: I've tidied the kitchen, loaded machines, played ball in the garden with cats, answered my emails... it's beginning to look like procrastination. I'll just put the kettle on, my coffee mug is empty... oh damn it the washing is finished now - that'll need hanging out. arhhh

Author retreat... into my proof copy

Exciting...!

My proof copy for my new book has now arrived, and , after allowing myself the initial pause to enjoy the moment - I'm now going to get down to the final act of reading through and checking that it's error-free before I order my first print run.

So now I'm going to retreat into my proof copy, and try not to get too distracted by all the colour photos of kittens as I go along...

But first...

Here is the first glimpse of the cover.

Still under wraps... just.

Knitting a cat... how hard can it be?

So... the sheep have gone down so well at book signings, that for my next challenge I'm going to knit Basil from Basil and the Flappy Thing...

I've got the wool, the knitting needles are raring to go, so what's missing? Well a pattern would be nice, and once I've knitted the first one, I'll have a pattern for any future Basils, but for now, I'm doing what I do best... winging it!

I'll be posting the results as Basil emerges in wool - that is if I can keep my cats away from the wool long enough to knit it... nothing like a bit of pressure to get a project started!

Deadlines - don't be a slave to them

Deadlines - they cause stress and angst, so sometimes we have to get our own back on deadlines and shove them out of the way...

I've decided that I like bringing out a book at this time of year, usually I'm hurtling towards the deadline of getting a book out before Christmas, but, having well and truly missed that deadline, I'm quite enjoying the fact that I've finished my book, and it's going to be out soon...

...and so that leaves time to enjoy the moment. This morning I saw the first lambs of the season in a field, I came home and played with my cats in the garden for a while - well they are the stars of my next book, and my best ideas often come when I'm not trying to chase them too hard (ideas that is, not the cats).

Doodle Mayhem - a clear case of writer's block?

Doodle Mayhem:

Inspiration... it can sometimes pop up in the form of a daydream, and the trick is to catch that daydream, and craft it into words on a page...

Meet Iver No-Idea - the proof that Eric had a good imagination, even though he couldn't think of anything to write. Maybe this was a clear case of writer's block, where the words wouldn't come, but when Eric started to doodle he unwittingly created a character who then took on a life of his own.

 Iver No-Idea (and you'll have to read the book to find out how he got his name) is a mischievous character with nothing on his mind except play...

The letters on the page are the only thing he has to play with, so he starts to knock them around with his foot, and even pick them up to throw at Eric to get his attention.

Eric attempts to keep Iver No-Idea a secret, but his teacher, Miss Roper, is on to him...



Intrigued...  why not read a free except of Doodle Mayhem on my website.

Random thoughts about characters and where they come from

Characters - where do they come from?

Sheep - what is it about sheep that makes them so appealing in story books?

When I started writing But I'm Not Sleepy I can't remember having sheep in mind at all, I simply wanted to write a bedtime story. Then the idea of not being able to get to sleep started to take over my thoughts, and most of the plot of the story unraveled itself in a swimming pool, as I swam up and down doing some lunchtime lane swimming...  I never count lengths, I simply swim up and down and let my mind drift where it will...

The sheep soon became very real, and it was the obvious progression for a sheepdog to turn up in Lucy's bedroom. Then the sheep became quite rebellious and decided that they were tired of being rounded up...

This is a clear case of characters popping up in a story and making it their own. Next came the cardboard pop-up sheep on my table at book signings, which attracted people's attention - it seems sheep are very popular. Before long I found myself knitting sheep, and I used to say I'd never make characters to merchandise my books - never say never! The knitted sheep went down very well at Christmas fairs, and earned their place at the fairs: form the little tot who said "Baa", persuading her parents that they must buy a sheep, and then ended up buying the book too, to the lady who bought one for herself for her crib scene.  

I even have a spin off book planned which is sheep based - is it any wonder my nearest and dearest are now thinking of me when they see anything sheep related, and sending me all sorts of links to funny sheep stuff...

Writing, characters and inspiration...

The characters in books didn't get there by accident, they had to struggle to be heard in the writer's head. The ones that end up in a book are the characters with the strongest voices, who shouted too loud to be ignored and had to be released ...

Writers - people who hear voices in their heads and call them inspiration...

So what happens when those characters are edited into books...? Well they constantly want to be released into a reader's imagination...

When fiction comes true... on the ski slope

I'm pleased to see that sales of A Face Full of Snow have picked up again, I don't know whether it's the winter Olympics that's spurred on the interest in skiing, or just the time of year - it is after all still the ski season out there, even  if it doesn't seem much like it in York as the sun burns its way through the last of the morning mist... I just hope Iver No-Idea and his dog HB don't escape and pop out of a mobile phone on a ski slope and disrupt someone's holiday, like they did Eric's. 

Of course the chances of them popping up on a phone on a ski slope are now quite high - when I first wrote the story, it was aimed at a printed book, but now that it's an ebook too it could very easily pop up on a mobile phone on a ski slope - strange how fiction can sometimes come true...

 So if you get A Face Full of Snow on your mobile - watch out that they stay in there, and don't jump out and course havoc...

The joy of reading

Being left to my own devices over the weekend  meant that I spent a large part of it lost in a book, which was wonderful... I finished the second half of Bridget Jones's Diary - oh the joy of reading half a book at one go, so often I only have time to read books in small chunks, and even on holiday I can end up too busy doing activities to just disappear into a book for long at a time. So the upshot is, that I now need the second book in the series, even though I have the film on DVD I'm still looking forward to reading the book, and then I'll be ready for the new book in the series, I'm still hoping it'll come out in paperback soon, but might just have to get the hardback version.

Luckily, thanks to getting distracted by buying instead of merchandising last week, I had another two books to choose from, and am now reading A Family Affair by Mary Campisi. I like to read a big cross section of books, and this is just one I came across with an interesting plot - and at 60 pages in it's certainly unfolding with lots of intriguing questions to answer...

I read in an article recently about how good reading is for the brain, keeping it active and agile (no great surprise there...) - so really my weekend of relaxing and reading was as good as going to the gym - for my mind at least... 

Struggling with my promotions hat... which seems to have shrunk...!

Struggling with my promotions hat... which seems to have shrunk...!

It's been two weeks now since I zapped my files off to the printers, and since then I've been trying to be creative in a different direction, namely I've been blogging and putting posts on facebook and generally trying to squeeze my head back into my promotional hat... but it doesn't quite fit, much like a pair of jeans freshly washed - and shrunk!

This is the time when a mainstream author would have a backup team (who presumably all wear their promotions hats every day, and are comfortable in them...). But as a self publisher I feel a bit on my own - even my cats seem to have deserted me in favour of cat baskets and beds about the house.

My mind is now getting distracted by thoughts of designing a new promotions hat... one that will not shrink while I'm busy wearing my author hat or editing hat. It needs to be a design that will inspire out-of-the-box thinking, possibly something flamboyant, but without being big and flappy, it's quite gusty outside today...

Maybe I should take inspiration from Aline's hat in A Face Full of Snow - the one that Eric thought was a alien on her head... It has eyes on stalks, and looks as if it could see round corners to search out new ideas...

World Book Day and the incident of the missing chicken...

It's World Book Day today - sounds like an excuse to curl up and read a book to me...

If I could just stop the characters of my new book trying to give me enough content for the next one, all in the same week...

Captain has finally settled on the chair next to me after bringing a mouse in twice through the cat flap. I usually take mice off them if they bring them in, but he wasn't in any mood to give it up, so he had to take it back outside. Then he finally came and knocked on the kitchen door to be let in - he often knocks, when he can't be bothered to open the cat flap.

At the weekend we had the disappearing frozen chicken incident - when I came home to find an empty bowl in the kitchen sink where a frozen chicken used to be... it didn't take long to find it, it seemed to have been making its own way to the table, as it was on the floor next to the dining table, but I think this was more likely to be Tabby related than a chicken doing its own thing.

My chief suspect is Bumble, who may well have just been annoyed that the chicken was occupying his sink, where he likes to sit. Or it could have been Kryten getting his own back on me for taking his dead bird off him earlier in the week... Whoever it was, it was quite impressive that a cat could lift a frozen chicken out of a sink, and I expect it landed with quite a bang, which probably explains why Steve was a bit spooked...

All in all, I think I would have been more annoyed if they had made off with a cooked chicken, and I would also have been looking for something else for dinner, as it was there were no teeth marks, just a slightly ripped bag.

Cat flaps... never a dull moment.

Cat flaps... what does your cat think?

Have you ever thought about the cat flap from your cat's point of view?

On first viewing they must think we've gone completely mad - making a hole in a perfectly good door, and then flapping it and calling through it, before inevitably giving in and opening the big door...

But what happens when your cat realises the full implications of this new addition to their freedom...? Not only can they come and go as they please, but they can also bring in all sorts of wildlife that they might have been collecting along the way. The cat flap may not have made my life any easier, but it has provided the inspiration for a book: Basil and the Flappy Thing

You could win a copy Basil and the Flappy Thing by sharing your thoughts on what Basil, or your cat might be saying to the idea of being called through a flappy thing in the door.

Competition on facebook

Win a book - caption competition

How to get your cat to use the cat flap... when they'd really rather use the big door.

For a chance to win a copy of Basil and the Flappy Thing:

Pop over to Lost in a Book's facebook page and write in  'comments'  what you think your cat would say to you as you hold the cat flap open and call them in. Then click share.

If you haven't got a cat, or a cat flap, then imagine what you think Basil might be saying to Mr Feed-Me...

I'll post the most entertaining comments on my blog and website, and the best one wins a signed copy of Basil and the Flappy Thing

I will be judging the comments and my decision is final.

The competition closes on Friday 7th March 2014 at 9pm GMT

Competition now closed.

The secret to marketing a book...

The secret to marketing books seems to be finding a way to sell more books than I buy... this would probably be helped by not looking in book shops or online book retailers for inspiration, as it's only going to result in me finding more books I simply can't do without...

So how am I going to sell my books?

I have my online shop where customers can browse and buy....

I go to fairs and do book signings... my next one is at Long Marston near York on 4th May 10am- 4pm

I have my little flock of sheep which were new for Christmas 2013 and were the cause of much entertainment and quite a few sales of But I'm Not Sleepy - the book the characters are from.