Review of Seeking a friend…

I’m a sucker for apocalyptic stories and so went to Chester’s only cinema (soon to be closed) to watch Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. Premise has an asteroid on course for Earth but this time there’s Bruce Willis to save us. 3 weeks notice and not as much chaos as I’d expect – in fact the film dragged dreadfully in spite of the delightful acting efforts of Keira Knightley and Steve Carell. Long before half way I was urging the asteroid to accelerate and you know what? It did or the astronomers got it wrong and brought impact day forwards a week. Sorry, but this time I was glad the asteroid hit Earth. Well deserved wipe out. It was directed and written by Lorene Scafaria. To be fair it’s intended as a comical romance. A much better science fiction book along the lines of an inevitable end of world scenario is Sam Smith’s The End of Science Fiction published by BeWrite Books, in which a detective hunts down a murderer who thinks he’s escaped just because of the oncoming doom.

Distractions from writing

I am to decorating as a fish is to riding a bike, but I am having to strip old woodchip wallpaper from a spare bedroom. Why? Because I’d like to have a summer house in my garden. My garden is small so I need to be rid of two old sheds. I can’t demolish the sheds until I move garden equipment into the garage. I can’t move anything more into the garage until I move stuff out — including a bed and furniture. Guess where they are going to go?

On my visit to family last weekend I spotted a copy of my science fiction mystery – Exit, Pursued by a Bee. Well thumbed and sitting on a shelf alongside Stephen King and Mark Billingham. My sister has an eclectic reading taste. It reminded me that I hadn’t reminded blog folk about getting their own copies of Exit. So click here!

If you have funds left over, you don’t need much to avail yourselves of splendid quality fiction from BeWrite Books, who have several new releases this season. There must be someone who will hug you for a copy of these. Note their cool new website design.

Prestwick and Bicycle clips

Prestwick – a three plane book, but only one can land – is the first thriller to be launched at BeWrite Books as I arrived. Written by David Hough, it’s a cliff-hanger great read and you can find details here.

Bicycle Clips: Warm pre-breakfast bike ride this morning. 20 Celsius so I didn’t really need my flourescent yellow shower proof jacket. I had to stop and tuck it on top of my panniers. At least it added  to visibility for motorists charging up behind me. Actually there weren’t many. I choose quiet rural lanes so that it is mainly tractors and other cyclists who overtake me. On busier roads I’ve slipped into the habit of switching on my rear LED even in daytime. I use the rolling light mode cos the straight on / off flash seems annoying to me. To my surprise having the rear light on does seem to make overtaking drivers keep back more until it is safer and to overtake farther from my elbow. Maybe they think I must be such an amateur and so keep their distance.

With mixed feelings I’ve finished the first and second draft of  magic realism fantasy, Xaghra’s Revenge. It’s based on the true mass-abduction of the Mediterranean island of Gozo in 1551 by pirates, and the fictional retribution. Immense satisfaction in doing the research on Gozo and Malta, and in the writing. It’s been lacerated by my fellow critquers in the BSFA Orbiters and is being given another close read  by Les Floyd. I’ve sent a synopsis and three chaps to my US agent, but now thinking it might be better published by a UK or European publisher.  I’ve a feeling the Americans know little about the Maltese islands whereas Brits and Germans use it as their sunshine location.

Exit, Pursued by a Bee is still selling online. Also at Borders in Cheshire Oaks and hey, I have a book signing in Waterstones, Trafford Centre, Manchester on Saturday August 15th 1-4pm. There will be sweets. Because Exit has metallic spheres emerging from the Earth, I need spherical silver confectionary. Sadly the nearest I can find are white chocolate Maltesers and Imperial Mints. I wonder if they gather time too? Come along to my signing, even if only for a natter, point and laugh.

New job at BeWrite Books

Amazing! I start work today at BeWrite Books – a magnificent array of novels
from a cornucopia of genres. E-books too, less than the price of a coffee.

It’s going to be strange crossing the desk from writer to publisher – and not
even a self-publisher but in a long-established business. I am proud to be part of BeWrite and look forward to being their administrator and help the authors and  readers to enrich the literary scene.

Come and sample at
http://www.bewrite.net

New Beekeeper

I have a new job, and the press release about to buzz is as follows:

BeWrite Books is delighted to break the exiting news that a new keeper will be tending the buzzing beehive when BB publisher Cait Myers leaves the company after ten years at the end of July for new adventures in far-flung places.

Geoff Nelder – based in Chester, England – is already working along with
Cait as she helps smooth the transition to be sure that BeWrite Books doesn’t falter in its established commitment to stability and reliability. And she’ll remain informally on call for several months to help keep the house in order while Geoff gets into his stride.

But Geoff – an award-winning author in his own right – is already well versed in many of the considerable duties Cait so expertly covered over the years. Qualified to handle accountancy and admin and with a firm grasp of modern technology and publishing practice, Geoff is also dynamic and innovative in the promotion and marketing of books, and a top-notch networker at important publishing events.

He accepted early retirement from his lifetime job as a senior educator recently so is now free to dedicate to his new position the time and energy it requires.

Geoff said: “I’m thrilled to be taking over – It’s a challenge to become the new Cait Myers.  I’ve been involved with, and have closely watched BeWrite’s development over the past ten years. Cait’s input and expertise has been impressive … and so modestly behind-the-scenes.

“We’re all old friends now. In fact, Editor Neil Marr is my daily online Scrabble opponent (it’s our coffee break from work). And, no, he doesn’t always win … he generously allows me success now and then.

“My first job, of course, is – with Cait’s kind help – to make sure there’s solid continuity so that the internal change-over at BB doesn’t adversely affect anyone, especially authors and readers. Later, when my learning curve levels, I’m sure I’ll brainstorm with the others and we’ll talk over new ideas to enhance the house. Maybe trying short-run, maybe opening the door to new genres and imprints. We’ll see.

“For now, I’m just happy to be here. BeWrite has always seemed more like a nuclear family than a business, so I feel a bit like I’ve been adopted. Others in the extended family are the authors and readers. I’ll try hard to be as welcoming to them as Cait has always been. She laid out the red carpet to them; I just have to keep it swept.”

BeWrite Books Editor, Neil Marr, said: “Sad as I am that Cait is moving on, I’m tickled pink to now be working with Geoff at the helm. We’ve been friends for years and – not only because he often beats me in online Scrabble – I have unbounded confidence in him as a wordsmith and administrator. Cait is leaving the house she helped create in capable hands.

“We’ll share an interesting future. And I know our warm stable of authors and editors will very quickly take Geoff to heart. Apart from being so darned efficient that it’s frightening, he’s one of the nicest chaps on this third rock from the sun.”

Cait, who is leaving her BB Munich desk for new, international adventures, said: “It’s sad to be leaving BeWrite Books after all this time, it has really felt like a family. I wish everyone the best of luck with their projects and look forward to reading lots more excellent books from BeWrite.”

A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF GEOFF NELDER

Geoff Nelder lives in the ancient and quaint English city of Chester. Born in Germany to British parents, he has lived all but four years of his life in England.

A former high school teacher of geography and information technology, Geoff has had non-fiction books on microclimates in the UK published along with several articles in academic journals such as Weather, Geographical Magazine and the Times Educational Supplement. Geoff is a part-time journalist contributing humorous travel accounts to Cycling World.

His love of teaching and the environment is reflected in his Bachelor of Education degree and Master of Science for climatology, research for which he was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Meteorological Society. More important to him is his family. His physicist wife is invaluable for her love but also helps in the technical aspects of Geoff’s science fiction writing. They have two grown children, whose intelligence and warmth go beyond Geoff’s expectations. Now they’ve started to collect grandchildren, too.

Geoff has had many short stories widely published and won a commendation for a story in the Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Competition. Besides his 2005 released humour novel, Escaping Reality, published by Brambling Books, he won a Prix d’Argent in 2007 and the Prix d’Or in 2009 for mystery thriller, Hot Air, to be published by a Dutch Arts Academy in 2009, and a Science Fiction novel, Left Luggage, is in the hands of an agent. Double Dragon Publishing published Geoff’s Exit, Pursued by a Bee science fiction mystery in 2008.

Geoff is a co-editor for Adventure Books of Seattle, working mainly on Escape Velocity, a print and ezine magazine of science fact and fiction. He has been a freelance editor of novels and short stories for several years. He is also the 2009 short-fiction judge for the Whittaker Prize.

Ends/nm

Kind Cait is holding my hand for a few weeks while she teaches me the administrative techniques. Incredibly looking forward to being with BeWrite after extolling their marvelous books for so many years – just pop along to http://www.bewrite.net to see what I mean. I’m also eager to represent BeWrite Books at Book Fairs in Frankfurt, London, the US, Wigan  & Leigh and at the SF conventions I attend for Adventure Books of Seattle.

Wigan Literary Festival

 

Saturday 25th  April I enjoyed meeting up with BeWrite Books, Cait and Alex, along with Mike Hunt and poet extraordinaire, Sam Smith. The event was to network, something all writers and small press need to do more these days. I manned a table as the British branch of Adventure Books of Seattle. Knowing how difficult it is to sell books and magazines at these events I put my hand in my pocket and visited each table. At the Bewrite table I was spoilt for choice and selected Insatiate Archer by Hunter Taylor because the medieval fantasy theme appeals to me and reflects my own Xaghra’s Revenge novel in writing. At the small press Green Arrow table I bought their anthology and a novella. I  shared a joke at the Lulu press table (the one when their executive, Henry  Hutton, forgot to bring a sample book to his first demo in the UK and so I sold him a copy of Dimensions - ie a Lulu book back to him – hah.) I  found a UK Authors writer to chat to. He didn’t seem to know about the UKAway weeks so I excited him about our weeks in Cyprus.  A wandering photographer agreed to snap me. So thanks to Colin Jones of Parallax Consultancy for the photo on this page. I actually appear a little slimmer when cowering behind my books. Note copies of Exit, Pursued by a Bee, the stunning risque cover art for issue 4 of Escape Velocity magazine and, hello Gary Baker, even your Ardly Effect was on show. One buyer. I’ll keep the money in lieu of royalties for Escaping Reality hah.

As I packed up,  I rushed around to collect my purchased books from Green Arrow and BeWrite, only to forget that I hadn’t paid the gorgeous Cait for Insatiate Archer. I could be done for shoplifting! I emailed her at BeWrite and she said I didn’t have to pay,  just enjoy the book. Wow. It is on my list of books to read and review. My friend Peter Tomlinson, of the Petronicus Legacy fabulous books, recommends Insatiate Archer so I am salivating already.

Look out World

Thanks to Neil Marr, publisher at BeWrite Books, I am smiling, instead of stamping feet in anger. My publisher, Double Dragon Publishing, had ordered 50 copies of Exit, Pursued by a Bee in time for my signing at Borders and to supply the Witchcraft shop in Glastonbury. The printers mistakenly sent me the wrong books – from the Global Policy Institute; France, European Defence and NATO. What did Neil say?

“Maybe it’ll work for you, though, and there are fifty NATO folks reading Exit.”

Hah. So look out for some serious policy changes in the next few months!