The long and winding road of getting published and beyond

The long and winding road of getting published and beyond...

23rd May, 2008

It's getting near that time again. This is my busiest time of the year when I start re-reading my new novel over and over again trying (not always successfully) to weed out all the typos before it gets printed. I should be working on the cover, too, but for the first time I'm a bit stuck for a cover concept. My one rough mock-up used silhouettes but since I already went that direction on the cover of Mind's Eye, I'm reluctant to do it again. Any suggestions for the cover of Freak (I know you don't know the story yet, but have a go anyway!) please email me.

I have to thank Alison Fleming for getting me this mention in the Belfast Telegraph. I've already seen this article posted on the sites of some of the other 'heavyweight' writers mentioned in the article, which can only help to spread the word. So thanks, Alison.

At the moment I'm trying to finish a movie script that I intend to shoot (no budget, but it'll be good anyway) this summer. I'll post when I'm ready to cast and anyone who wants to have a laugh and see how slow it really is making a movie will be more than welcome to audition.

21 April, 2008

I feel I need to draw attention to something that is happening with Amazon.co.uk. If any of you have been to Amazon's Vampire Twilight page recently you will have seen that there is no option to buy the book directly from Amazon. This is nothing to do with me or my printers, Lightning Source. It is in fact an attempt by Amazon to muscle out Lightning Source as the leading POD publisher.

This is because Amazon recently acquired another POD publishing house, Booksurge, and wish to only promote POD books from their own stable. This is unfair and hopefully illegal. LS are now taking legal steps to try to stop Amazon from monopolizing the POD marketplace. At the moment Vampire Dawn and Mind's Eye are still available from Amazon, but when their current stocks run out, who knows?

For anyone wanting to buy books while this dispute is going on I recommend you click on the Used & New link on any of the pages. This will take you to secondary sellers who use Amazon as well. These other sellers are perfectly reputable and quite often much cheaper than Amazon. I have used them on many occasions and have never had a problem.

Having looked at what Booksurge has to offer, I have no intention of giving in to this pressure and switching printers for Freak. Lightning Source still offers much better service and royalties to its authors and I can only hope they win their day in court.

On a lighter note, something like a G major maybe, there is a new review of Vampire Dawn from Vrolok author Nolene-Patricia Dougan. Thanks, Nolene.

******UPDATE******

As of Friday 25th April, Vampire Twilight IS back available to buy directly from Amazon. Let's hope everything's been resolved.

2nd February, 2008

It's hard to believe that I haven't updated since November, though having said that, not much has happened. I was sick for most of December and have done very little in the way of writing. But hey, Christmas is just for eating too much and watching movies anyway, right?

So what can I tell you? Not much. There have been a few rumblings from various film producers about different projects, though I'm superstitious and don't want to say anything until the Oscar is on the mantle.

I recently read a book by another NI author, Ballygowan's own Nolene-Patricia Dougan. Her novel, Vrolok, is a huge saga telling the tale of Vlad Dracula's better (or worse) half, Isabella. It's a very clever book and very enjoyable. I suggest any fans of Dracula, or vampires in general, should give it a try.

One more thing, if you look at the links at the top of the page closely, you'll see I've added a new one - Reading. I'm going to keep track of all the books I read in a year, so if you're interested, you can have a look too.

3rd November, 2007

I know. I'm really bad about updating this page regularly, but here goes...

The first review of Vampire Twilight is in from Dylan at Monsterlibrarian.com, and even though he thought I needed more character development (there are too many characters in the vampire series to go into the kind of detail I did in Mind's Eye, plus too much exposition is BORING!) he seemed to enjoy the book.

I've done my first book signing! On 30th October the staff of Waterstone's and I dressed up as the undead and signed some books. There were some familiar faces (thanks for showing up!) and some new faces (that includes you Eileen and Donna!) and good craic was had by all as you can tell from the photo. I guess posting that BEFORE the event would have been wiser, but hey-ho.

An out of the blue thing happened last weekend. A reporter from the John Daly show on BBC Radio Ulster called me up and we did a live interview. To anyone who heard it, it would be evident that it was live since I didn't even manage to get the title of the book wedged in there, but instead got side-tracked into a discussion about vampire geese and whether or not Gerry Anderson was a ghost. Still, it was an experience and a laugh.

Another piece of news is that members of Ballycastle Film Club have made a short film inspired by Mind's Eye called The Siren. The premiere of this 12 minute epic was last night and I was in attendance. The film was very good and a big cyber-pat-on-the-back goes out to Darryl, Andrew, Harry and all the kids who took part. I'll post a link to it when (or if) it's online.

*****UPDATE*****

And, as if by magic, here's the link to The Siren movie.

That's it for now.

9th September, 2007

Vampire Twilight is available online!!! Click here for where to buy. The book should also be available in Waterstone's, Coleraine soon for those of you who live locally.

Also this month I've done an interview for Critical Mick. It was good craic, even if he did like the terrible Life Of Pi.

18 August, 2007

The time is getting very close.... Vampire Twilight should be available very soon. The final proofs have gone to the printer and now all I can do is wait....and try to plug the book everywhere. For a look a the cover, designed by Ron McCann, and to read the backcopy, click here. Thanks to Ron for doing a great job on the cover, and my brother Nigel for posing for the picture and letting himself be made into Kaaliz!!

17 July, 2007

Things have been busy, though I haven't updated this site in two months. The good news is that Vampire Twilight might well be out ahead of schedule (if I can just get a barcode). The cover is almost complete and looking dead cool -- I'll be posting it soon. With any luck, this will mean an August release.

Despite being knocked back by the NIFTC (now NIS : Northern Ireland Screen), I made a little six minute movie over the weekend by roping in my sister and her husband. Luckily we picked the one day in the last month where it didn't bucket down. I've entered it in BBC3's New Film-maker competition. If it wins (or even gets short-listed) you'll all be able to see it on BBC3 next year, and if it doesn't, I'll stick it up here on the site somewhere.

9 May, 2007

Another review has come in from the good people at Bookpleasures. I'd like to thank Norm Goldman and especially Renee Mallett for the review. On a sadder note, something like an F minor maybe, I have to report that I did not get my funding from the NIFTC to make my short movie. Still, the head of production is looking at one of my full-length scripts and hopefully I'll at least get some feedback . Further adventures await....

23 April, 2007

Still no word from the NIFTC about the funding for my short film. Hopefully no news is good news at this stage. On a brighter note, my fellow NI scribe Darryl Sloan has posted his review of Mind's Eye. Check out Darryl's blog and, if you're feeling frisky, buy his new book, Chion. It's a cracking adventure from start to finish, and with a very original story.

26 March, 2007

Ah, yes, another year has passed (I was 33 on Friday) and there's still no Porsche in the driveway ... or even a driveway for that matter, but I will not let this get me down!! :-) Dylan at Monster Librarian has posted his review of Vampire Dawn, which he wanted to read before Vampire Twilight came out this Autumn. In other news, I have written a short, ten minute film, and I'm patiently waiting to hear from the NIFTC if they're going to give me some money to make it. My first step into the movie business, and hopefully not the last

3 February 2007

It's the second month of 2007 already! Doesn't time fly when you're wrapped up in your own imaginary little world fighting the forces of evil? Well, it does for me. Another review of Mind's Eye has come in from Dylan at MonsterLibrarian. Check out his review here.

16 December, 2006

Hello, everyone. I just want to make you all aware of something that I only found out yesterday -- there is a worldwide problem with email at the moment. This means that a lot of emails are being sent and not received and/or bounced back. So if anyone has tried to contact me in the last few weeks and you didn't get a reply, I probably never got your email. Let's hope the boffins sort this one out soon. On the brighter side, I think sales of Mind's Eye are going well, despite the fact that I have a sales rank of 'None' on Amazon.co.uk even though I know I have sold a number of books through them. Another bug on the net, I suspect. Anyway, assuming Skynet doesn't become self-aware, decide humanity really is a waste of time and start crashing every computer on the planet, then sending out Terminators do deal with the survivors, I'll see you all in 2007. Merry Christmas.

2 October, 2006

The first review is in! The good people at Romance Reviews Today have published their review of Mind's Eye. I love this bit. I love finding out what sticks in peoples' minds about the story, and how it speaks to each person. Anyway, thanks to Kathy Samuels and everyone at RRT.

22 September, 2006

For anyone who's up early tomorrow morning (Saturday 23/09/06), you can hear my interview with Ronan Lundy on Your Place & Mine on BBC Radio Ulster (92.4-95.4FM, MW1341, Sky Channel 0118). The show is on from 7.30-9a.m. and my interview will be in there somewhere. We recorded it down by the monster's lair in Portstewart -- if you don't know where that is, read Mind's Eye!

12 AUGUST, 2006

Mind's Eye is out!!! Go to the Buy Books page of this website to see where you can get it. In addition to the online stores, Eason in Coleraine have copies on the shelf and I'm hoping Waterstone's will soon have too.

Very little else happening. Getting Mind's Eye out has taken a lot of time and energy, and it's not over yet. I'll be starting the whole advertising & publicity merry-go-round next to try to get as much exposure as possible. So tell your friends and enemies, loved ones and strangers, basically anyone who will listen (and force the ones who won't!). If you think you're work is done when you type THE END, think again, that's when the really hard work starts.

Bye for now. I want to hear feedback as soon as anyone finishes.

23 JUNE, 2006

The website has been given a bit of a facelift and is now, hopefully, more readable/ user-friendly.

So, Mind's Eye is tantalisingly close to being published and I'm getting excited about it all over again -- remember I did finish this book almost two years ago -- but re-reading it, I still really like it and I hope you lot do, too. Mind's Eye is being published in association with Diggory Press -- if you're looking for somewhere to self-publish, look no further.

Freak, my fourth book, has come to a grinding halt -- not for any artistic reasons, you understand, just because Northern Ireland's been having its allocated few weeks of good weather of late and I don't want to sit at my computer when it's so sunny outside. But, since the rains have returned, no doubt I'll get back to it soon. Lots of other things have been holding me up, too, including the prep work for Mind's Eye and the fact that my sister is getting married on the 1st July and my brother is getting married on the 22nd July. So there's a lot of wedding stuff to do, too.

MAY 25, 2006

Yeah, I know, it's been a LONG time since I updated. But, as usual, I have been busy. Mind's Eye has been occupying most of my time of late -- getting the text formatted into looking like a book, and after much fighting and screaming at my computer screen, it is done. So Mind's Eye will be out very soon -- I'll give you a solid date when I get one. I've also been chipping away at my fourth book, Freak. I'm about a quarter of the way through and it seems like a bit of a departure from the other books (it's really tragic so far!), but I'm really excited about it and think it is going to be really good when it's done. The other thing I should tell you is that the website is getting a make-over soon, to incorporate Coral Moon, my company. There will be a Coral Moon section on the new site to tell you all the things I've got going on -- hopefully there will be Coral Moon Films (a movie I'm working on), Coral Moon Books (Mind's Eye and all subsequent books), and Coral Moon Music (yeah, I've written an album and will get round to recording it soon, too), before the year is out. That's it, see you all on the new site!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DECEMBER 29, 2005

Just time enough to squeeze in another update before we all bid farewell to 2005. It's been a long year, hasn't it? So, here's what's happened to me of late. Mind's Eye will probably be out in the first quarter of 2006, despite all attempts from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to hinder me. I had prepared a short statement about my feelings towards them but when I took out all the curse words there were only a few pro-nouns and conjunctions left, so I won't post it. But by hook or by crook I will publish my book! Vampire Twilight is, of course, finished and I'm very happy with it. It's much more action-packed and quite a bit darker than the first book and ends on a real cliff-hanger. All will be resolved in Vampire Equinox. Vampire Twilight may be out next year too, it depends on my finances as I'm going to set up my own little publishing house with my own money. Since finishing VT, I have written the pilot for a sitcom for the BBC -- I should hear about that in a couple of months. I've also started a children's book and hope to finish that in the new year and then look for a publisher. I also completed a full-length movie script -- a supernatural thriller -- which I'll be pitching to American producers in the new year. And finally I've been working on another pilot, this time a drama series for BBC NI. TV is notoriously difficult to break into but I figure I'll give it a go once a year between books. So, that's it I guess. I hope you all had a good time over the holidays and get everything you've been waiting for in 2006.

JULY 9, 2005

It's been awhile since I checked in but this is not because of procrastination, no, this is because I have been hammering away at Vampire Twilight, which I'm very close to completing now!!! The publishing of Mind's Eye, which was supposed to be out by now, has hit a snag (TOTALLY my fault, idiot!) and barring a miracle will probably not see the light of day 'til early next year now. Bummer. A cool thing has happened though, my friend and fellow NI horror writer Darryl Sloan and his colleagues at Midnight Pictures have made a film called Don't Look In The Attic, based on a Ray Bradbury short story. Have a look in the gallery for a very interesting frame from the film.

APRIL 4, 2005

Hello! I have been off the air for a long time, haven't I? Fear not, all that time was not spent procrastinating, because Vampire Twilight is about halfway finished. It's turning into a much darker book than the first one, but when you read it you will realise why it HAS to be. For the last few weeks I have been laid up with some odd illness -- funny that it started when I started reading Stephen King's The Stand: I think I may have psychically contracted Captain Trips. Anyway I've finally got round to putting my TV interview on the website for you all to have a giggle at -- dig that schoolgirl laugh of mine.

FEBRUARY 9, 2005

It's 2005! Yes, I have been very lazy about updating this site but I have been working. My second novel, Mind's Eye, is finished and all being well should be released in May/ June--the more astute of you will see a few little nods and tie-ins to Vampire Dawn in there so watch this space for further details. Determined to get into the movie business, I have also written two screenplays since I finished Mind's Eye. One is a romantic comedy fantasy and the other is a mystery thriller. There are a few avenues I'm going to try with these, as always, I'll let you know if anything happens. I'm taking some time off to record some songs at the moment. I've written an album and got some very groovy software (thanks Mark) so I'm going to record it and see what it sounds like. Maybe I'll even sell them through this site if it turns out to be any good.

NOVEMBER 28, 2004

Not much happening; still no word from BDB about my second book but I have been working on a romantic comedy film script if you can believe that--but don't worry, I haven't sold-out and gone all mushy, this is a rom-com with a twist...a weird twist. Watch this space for developments. The other cool thing that has happened of late is that my Amazon US sales rank has overtaken Amazon UK for the first time. This would suggest that quite a few copies are being sold state-side. If anyone out there has seen a review in the US that I might not be aware of, please let me know. Amazon UK: 89, 349 Amazon US: 43, 846.

NOVEMBER 2, 2004

For anyone who tried to get in on the webchat on Halloween night and couldn't, don't worry--none of us could! With nearly 1,000 people trying to log on in the space of a few minutes, the server experienced something like gridlock and committed suicide under the strain. Hopefully we'll reschedule it for sometime soon.

OCTOBER 31, 2004

It's Halloween! So here's what's been happening: I was interviewed by Alison Fleming for UTV Live and it was shown on Thursday past (28th). Apart from a rather unfortunate-sounding laugh from me, it all went well. I will be doing an online chat with the ISFF tonight at 7.00 (GMT) so drop in.

SEPTEMBER 23, 2004

I met James Nesbitt recently (and he's a thoroughly, bloody nice bloke) and took the opportunity to give him a copy of Vampire Dawn. The star of Cold Feet, Murphy's Law, and just about every film made in Northern Ireland these days, was very interested in the book's subject and the fact that it is set locally. I hope he enjoys it. Check out the photo in the gallery.

AUGUST 30, 2004

My new novel is finished!!!! It's called Mind's Eye (for the moment anyway) and I would say it's like the horror version of The Catcher in the Rye. That got you all curious? Good. Now, just getting it published to worry about. I'll keep you informed.

AUGUST 14, 2004

Romance Review Today has posted a review of VAMPIRE DAWN. Thanks to Catherine McHenry and all at RRT. (ASR 65,456)

JULY 11, 2004

Harriet Klausner, America's #1 reader and Amazon's #1 reviewer, has posted her review of Vampire Dawn at various locations on the net--you can read what she says on my Amazon.com page. I'm also very happy about my Amazon (UK) Sales Rank this week. (ASR 3,645) Thanks to everyone buying a copy.

JUNE 25, 2004

It's been almost a month since I posted so here are a few things to titillate you. For those of you who enjoy a good laugh and aren't offended by excessive swearing, I suggest you check out my interview with Duke DeMondo (yes, THE Duke DeMondo!) at his weird and wonderful site Mondo Irlando. The first Vampire Dawn Review is now online at Eternal Night - Thanks to Steve and Lesley Mazey. There are also a couple of new piccies in the Gallery for those of you whose dartboards are falling apart. My new novel is getting close to completion, so someone tell me to stop procrastinating and get on with it! (ASR 74,547)

MAY 28, 2004

Well, sales of Vampire Dawn seem to be going well. I base this on the fact that my Amazon Sales Rank is staying around the 50,000 mark, which I'm told isn't bad, and the fact that Waterstone's in Coleraine sold out very quickly and have ordered a load more! I'm still waiting on magazine reviews but the I have had some nice emails from satisfied readers who loved the book. Thanks to all of you who took the time. (ASR 52,719)

MAY 15, 2004

It's been a month since I last posted but not a awful lot has happened. I postponed doing publicity for the book for many varying reasons but over the next week or two you won't be able to turn around without seeing something promoting Vampire Dawn. For those of you locally, Eason, it seems, are not going to be stocking the book. Don't even get me started on the whys and wherefores but Waterstone's (in Coleraine on the university campus) WILL be stocking it and should have copies of it sometime this week. On another positive note, the International Science Fiction Federation has made me a patron, which is very cool. Check them out. (ASR 52,097)

APRIL 16, 2004

Vampire Dawn is for sale! I've added a new page listing all the places you can Buy Vampire Dawn online, hopefully this list will get longer as time goes by, but the big guns are there to start with. For those of you who live locally and are wondering when the book will be in shops all I can say is we're working on it. I hope all of you drop me a line and tell me what you think of the book.

APRIL 6, 2004

The final proof has been approved by the publisher. That means that the book now exists on paper! Over the next couple of weeks it should pop up on Amazon and in bookstores. Vampire Dawn has also made the Bestselling Advance Orders list at US online bookstore Shocklines. Good news.

MARCH 18, 2004

The final correction sheet is away! It's now a matter of 3-4 weeks before Vampire Dawn will be on sale!!! Exciting stuff.

FEBRUARY 21, 2004

Guess what, folks? The book has been put back to April/ May but I don't really care because the cover is ready and I love it, so nothing's bringing me down. For those of you in the U.S. (or anywhere else for that matter) I should mention that BDB are having a spring sale at the moment so you can pre-order the book at a discount direct from them.

FEBRUARY 2, 2004

I know what you're all thinking: Wasn't that January that just ended, so where's the book? Well, certain things have happened and certain things have not happened, putting the book back to a March release. Hopefully all will run smoothly from here on out - but keep all protruding body parts crossed for me just in case.

JANUARY 21, 2004

I've been interviewed for online horror/ sci-fi/ fantasy site Eternal Night. You can read the interview here.

JANUARY 5, 2004

Happy New Year, everyone! It seems like a long time since anything happened but this week I was asked to write the back-copy (that's the bit on the back cover of the book) and as far as I know, we're still on course for a release this month. I'll keep you informed.

OCTOBER 25, 2003

BBC Radio Ulster (FM 92.4-95.4) interviewed me a couple of months ago and will be airing the interview tomorrow (26th). The show is called Your Place And Mine and is on from 7.30-9.00am - so set those alarm clocks!

SEPTEMBER 6, 2003

I was organizing some advertising and publicity for Halloween and emailed my publisher to confirm the release date. They told me the book is scheduled for release in very early 2004. More waiting.

JULY 15, 2003

I redesign the website using fewer colours after being told more than once "It's a bit sore on the eyes". My publisher sent me a cover to consider, but I didn't like it - hopefully we'll agree on one soon.

JUNE 12, 2003

I get extremely annoyed, irritated, angry and a few other adjectives that can't be used, because a certain element of my book was used in the series finale of Buffy. Everyone will think that's where I got it, but I wrote it months ago! Great minds think alike maybe, but it still makes me mad. Grr, Arrgh! Damn, I've done it again!

MAY 28, 2003

The website goes live after I teach myself web-design AND create the site in two days (all glitches are intentional).

MAY 24, 2003

We have agreed on the title Vampire Dawn. It reflects several aspects of the story (that I'm not going to let you in on), and I think it is catchy and memorable. Now, just the cover to sort out.

May 7, 2003

I signed a publishing contract with Black Death Books. The book should be out late 2003/ early 2004. It is untitled at present (they didn't like my title), but we hope to come up with a title that we both like very soon.

"Wicked men obey for fear, but the good for love."