Books on display ...just horsing around

May at Lost in a Book

 

New books looking good in the library display cabinet, with my other picture books keeping them company and showing their support.

#LostinaBook #BelleExRaceHorseJustHorsingAround 

Unpacking the first print run

Unpacking the first print run... 

Buy now 

#Racehorse #books #lovereading #LostinaBook

ex racehorse

New book available soon

 

Publication date set for 14th April - which is Belle's birthday - I wonder if she knows what a special lady she is...

Belle is an ex racehorse, but she doesn't know what that means. She was born to race, so what now…?

Maybe she's a jumper, a dressage horse or an explorer… she still has the instinct to race whenever she gets the chance; but maybe just horsing around could be fun too.

#exracehorse #LostinaBook 

New book coming soon from Lost in a Book

Exciting times here at lost in a Book - with a new book finished and away at the printers. Soon all the hard work will be printed and bound, and presented as a proof copy - now that's a moment to celebrate!

So how should I celebrate? - Well there may be a bottle of wine involved... but then there'll be announcements to make and a launch to organise.

So what is the title of this book you may be asking...? 

New book to be announced soon 

But what is the best, a full box or an empty box...?

Boxes - the theme of my newest book, but it's not the book I sat down to write, more months ago than I'm prepared to admit... and what do I mean by that? Well simply that this book took longer to write than my average book, especially given that it's a 32 page picture book. But some things just take as long as they take, and why does everything have to be instant anyway...?

So, I'm rambling, because that's what I've chosen to do right now, because I believe that the imagination has to be allowed to meander about a bit if we want true magic to happen.

But where was I? Ah yes, my new book - the book I didn't sit down to write... well technically I sat down to illustrate a book from a story that I'd already written, but the pictures just weren't coming, they didn't look the way they looked in my head, so I started to doodle (the theme of another set of books...) and so I randomly started to draw giraffes, based on nothing more solid that the fact that I'd seen some giraffes at a safari park and thought they were really cool, especially when they tried to bend down to graze, and the their legs were too long, or their neck too short, or some such design fault... anyway, giraffes were in my head that day.

The story was born out of anarchy, in that I stated it in a sketchbook, and just drew loads of pictures of giraffes, and a little boy who was to become Ollie. The story ideas seemed to change daily, leading to some pictures that never made it out of the sketchbook, such as a giraffe playing hide and seek behind a curtain, although the idea of him being hidden behind fabric came out as he held up a sheet  - you'll have to read the book to find out why...

So where did boxes come into it? Well apart from boxes being so much fun, with so many possibilities, I suppose if inspiration comes from all around, then I don't have to look far to see boxes, they're everywhere, in fact they usually form the mobile island that I always said I didn't want in my kitchen - why, because I like space instead of things in the way, but now there is an ever present mobile island, a raft you might call it, of boxes that can't be thrown away because they're the cats' dens, doubling up as beds when cat baskets are just not what they want right now...

But what is the best, a full box or an empty box...?

Well the rather depends on the contents - a full box is full of possibilities, especially if it's a plain box and we're guessing at its contents.  Some boxes can be a disappointment once they're open, we see what's inside, and maybe it's not as exciting as what we'd imagined. So maybe our own imaginations are the best toys of all, an empty box is so much more fun than a box full of something dull, because an empty box really can be anything. 

  

 

So now all I have to do is launch my new book - I'll be doing the usual round of book signings, but really I want to do most of the launch online, selling from

Lost in a Book's own bookshop

And for that I need some suitable packaging, and what better than bright orange envelopes - because I want my books to arrive in style and make a statement.  

 

#LostinaBook

Book launch - new book available now from Lost in a Book

New Book available now!!  

It's new book launch month, and where better to start than in my own online shop.

Order direct from the author and know that the money goes directly into paying for printing my books - I don't pay to advertise, and I do everything except the printing and binding myself because I believe my money is best spent on getting a quality product that I can be proud to sell.

I've got some book signings lined up, the first one being on Tuesday morning 6th September at Clifton Library, York, where I'll also be leaving books in the library display cabinet.

 

#LostinaBook

#Newbook

#booklaunch 

New book

Well I've done it, my 8th book is newly published!!

I picked my books up from the printers on Monday 1st August, so they are available now, but I'm planning a proper launch in September, and already have 2 book signings lined up. 

I'll post launch info here nearer the time... 

 

 

#LostinaBook 

Knitted character from new book

So this is becoming quite a habit - meet Mr G from my new book But What I Really Want is a Box 

 

 

#LostinaBook

#knittedgiraffe 

New book coming soon from Lost in a Book

Coming soon 

New from Lost in a Book: 

 

Being printed right now ready for an August 1st publication:

We all know that children love boxes - Ollie has lots of toys, but all he really wants is a box, because when you have a box you can play anything, all you need is a little imagination...

So what next - a launch is needed.

As  a self publisher I wear many hats, today it has been the publisher's hat, which is a sensible hat, one that didn't distract me as I filled in the important forms and figured out codes - but next I get to put on a launch hat - I think it should be fun and attention grabbing - or, given the title and subject, should it just be a box... and a little imagination...?

#LostinaBook

Trying to Focus on a wet Thursday in Feb...

OK time to focus - no not go and drive a Focus - focus on books! But what to do first...?

Create a book - I'm busy painting characters for my next book, and they're coming along very nicely. They're still just hanging around deciding what to do though...

Sell a book well hopefully you can help me with that - go on, buy a book... you know you want to! I'll even sign it for you - it'll be just like meeting at a book signing... except that we won't meet, and we won't have to go out in the cold - well, I will, obviously, I'll need to post the book. But I don't mind, honestly!

Get Lost in a Book - I could very easily go and light the fire early and curl up with a book that someone else has written - all the work is already done, all I'd have to do is to start reading, and allow myself to slip into the imaginary world that's already been created... hmmm sounds good... but no, I shall go and create something new!

Monday ramblings and book marketing

Monday ramblings:

Well that was a busy, if a little maddening morning, sorting out the mess I made of my blog header on Friday night, when I would have been better employed leaving the computer well alone and reading a book instead...

My marketing team are busy taking a siesta in various sunny and shady places about the house depending on their current preference - the darker their coats, the sooner they seek shade.

So that leaves me tackling the hardest part of writing a book - namely: shouting about it and getting it out to a greater audience.

    So why should you buy my new book?

• Colour photos - if a picture is worth a thousand words, then the word count in this book is immense - with 82 colour photos of cats and kittens, from all the time when they were getting into mischief and I reached for the camera instead of lifting them down...
• Small first print run - this is a print run of just 100 books, and all the books will be hand numbered and signed
• True story - it's all there, maybe a little too much at times...
• Launch price of £7.99 till the end of May.

The Blurb:

I'd like to get a female kitten and let her have one litter," I said to my stunned family when they raised the kitten topic. Not surprisingly a suitable kitten was quickly found...  and Mitzi arrived in time for Christmas, bringing her own brand of fun and chaos, and demanding friendship from our 5 year old cat Cleo.

By summer Mitzi was quite confused, she came into season and started calling shamelessly. But when a hapless tomcat answered her call, she was far from impressed; causing more than one cat flap drama, and a hole in the door where a flap used to be. 

Eventually nature took it its course and Mitzi had kittens. The first few weeks were blissfully peaceful, watching as Mitzi took care of their every need. We had a week of heartache when one of the kittens was poorly, and then not developing properly, and was destined to challenge and inspire us in ways we could not yet imagine. 

Then they grew big enough to escape their box, and the bedlam began... 

The story that emerged from the kitten diaries, written as kittens climbed on me and chewed the edges of my note books... 

Outnumbered by cats

Newly launched today - my new blog Outnumbered by Cats where I'll be posting all things cat and kitten related...

I think my cats have got wind of their forthcoming fame in their own book Outnumbered by Cats, they've turning into little divas, making demands for constant upgrades in their dinner options - no wait, that's just cats being cats - changing their minds, with no regard to the bulk buy I recently did on their current (now no longer current) favourite food...

New book - you saw it here first!

Finally the wraps are off, the editing done and Lost in a Book is proud to present to the world:

Outnumbered by Cats

The true story of how I got outnumbered by cats - bursting with colour photos

The blurb:

I’d like to get a female kitten and let her have one litter,” I said to my stunned family when they raised the kitten topic. Not surprisingly a suitable kitten was quickly found...  and Mitzi arrived in time for Christmas, bringing her own brand of fun and chaos, and demanding friendship from our 5 year old cat Cleo.

By summer Mitzi was quite confused, she came into season and started calling shamelessly. But when a hapless tomcat answered her call, she was far from impressed; causing more than one cat flap drama, and a hole in the door where a flap used to be. 

Eventually nature took it its course and Mitzi had kittens. The first few weeks were blissfully peaceful, watching as Mitzi took care of their every need. We had a week of heartache when one of the kittens was poorly, and then not developing properly, and was destined to challenge and inspire us in ways we could not yet imagine. 

Then they grew big enough to escape their box, and the bedlam began... 

published and available from May 2014

New book finished and sales to report...

I may be a week later than everyone else, but I've got that just broken up feeling. And why am I feeling this way...? Well I've finally finished my latest book, and zapped it off to the printers! It's a great feeling to finally finish a project - next I'll get to see my proof copy in all its glory - now that will put a big smile on my face... :)

Meanwhile, other good news this week included another sale of A Face Full of Snow on kindle - well it is ski season, and with the winter Olympics ongoing, it's a very topical book to read. I think  the athletes all have better trained skis than Eric (or me for that matter...)

What's new in books for 2014

New for Spring 2014 - the book about the cats who constantly distract and inspire me.

They say you should never work with children or animals, well what if your animal has children...?

Well the result was large chunks of time when I didn't manage to get to a computer, let alone do the ongoing blog that I intended, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow, enjoy the moment and write about it later...

What I did have time for was to write kitten diaries - it's easier to write with pen and paper when kittens are climbing all over you, than it is to try to type. And from these kitten diaries - which have paw prints and chewed edges, a book is emerging...

                                                                ...and what's more... it's nearly finished!!

National Novel Writing Month

Last year when my writing seemed to be grinding to a halt, I took part in National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo I did a power hour for every day in November, when  I sat down and wrote, and my word count kept growing. By the end of November I had produced the first draft of a book.

The year seems to have flown by, but now that book draft has matured and is almost ready to publish. So amid the chaos of selling books and knitting sheep (yes that's right I've diversified into knitting the characters from But I'm Not Sleepy), and all the other things that pulled at my time, I have still managed to produce a new book... watch this space!

Apologies to home printer

Apologies to my home printer, and note to self not to take on technology when I'm tired  - or it will win!!

It took me a few days, and a bit of distance from the problem, but I finally figured it out - I added numbers to my pages between printing the odd pages and the even pages, thinking that the numbers would nestle nicely in the footer without taking up any extra space and throwing the whole document into disarray...  they didn't.

But aside from all of that, the editing and formatting of my next book is coming along nicely - and one of these days I'll risk approaching the home printer again to see it all in  print, for final checks before sending it off to the professionals to get a proof copy printed... ready for final final checks.