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Author Chat - David Wailing

11/25/2015

David, welcome to my blog. I have to admit to being a bit of a fan-girl here as I think I’ve read just about everything you’ve published. Have you been writing from your cradle?

Well, you obviously have excellent taste, Kath! Yes, I’ve been writing books since before I learned to read. I also learned to tell big fat lies around the same time.
The truth is I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing something or other. The reason my homework was late, my exams were failed and I didn’t go to university was because I was too busy working on my own stories. [shakes fist] Damn you, writing bug, you’ve ruined my life!

You look well on it!
Your book Auto started out as a number of separate short stories, sharing a theme. They are science-fiction set in the very near future and alarmingly accurate so far. Where did the idea come from to draw them together and not just publish as a collection but make a real novel out of them?

It was while writing Friend Request, the third short story, that I started thinking about collecting them into one book. For plot reasons, I had to think up some background and work out what was ‘normal’ in the year 2022. That’s when I realised how much scope there was, not just to connect the stories in a consistent way but build on them to tell a bigger novel-sized tale. By that point I also realised that autos themselves were ‘story generators’, as I was continually coming up with plotlines involving them. That’s still happening… I’d have to write a dozen books to use them all.

Auto 2 – the new book. The ideas you postulate have a real feeling of possibility – or is it the way you tell ‘em? Are you really a geek? Any further science-fiction ideas you want to explore?

I’ve tried to keep the Auto Series grounded in the modern world, albeit even more reliant on technology and the internet than we are now. Most adults nowadays have lived through a period of incredible technological advancement, and things which would have been science fiction when we were kids are now commonplace. I think that may be why the Auto stories feel possible. We’ve already experienced so much change, it’s not hard to imagine that self-driving cars, clothes with medical sensors, digital eyewear and autos themselves are all going to be ‘the new normal’ in a decade or so.
I am absolutely not a geek, and the next carbon-based life form to call me that gets blasted out of the space/time continuum by my superlaser!
Right now, I find that the Auto Series is satisfactorily scratching my itch to write science fiction, so I don’t plan to explore any other SF ideas. There’s still plenty for me to get my head around with these stories.

I think we’re catching up on 2022 so fast that you might have a very short shelf-life for an Auto 3! What’s next for you?

By the time Auto 3 comes out, it’ll be in the historicals category!
I’m keen to have a break from this series, which has dominated my life since 2012, and write something different. So my very next project is… another Auto story! But this is just a one-off for a speculative fiction anthology being produced by Lucas Bale. After that I’ll be working on a short novel which will be out next year. I have a few options so can’t confirm any details about it yet.

But you heard it first here, people! A year or so ago you began a new career as an editor. Now that indie publishing is so well established, are you finding it a successful career move?

I really enjoy being a self-employed editor. The secret of happiness is to get paid doing something you’d have done for free anyway! Over the years, I’ve unofficially helped a lot of people write everything from CVs to novels, so it feels like I was always going to end up here.
There were risks, though. I knew that it wouldn’t be as secure as a traditional job, and would involve a drop in income. But there are so many upsides, not least of which is working with lots of fantastic, inventive, funny and bonkers indie authors. They’re my people! If not for places like the Kindle Users Forum where I made so many friends, I doubt it would have been as painless a transition as it was.

Additional info:
Auto 2 was published as an Amazon eBook on Monday 23rd November. Auto, the first book in the series, will be FREE to download from Amazon between 23rd and 27th November.

You can find David's books on his Amazon Author page here. And thank you, Mr Auto, for coming to chat.

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Author Chat - Rosen Trevithick

11/24/2015

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Today I'm handing over my blog to Rosen Trevithick, the lady whose chocolate making book I've been babbling on about for weeks. I asked her to tell me about her journey to chocolate making and here it is.

I’m a chocolatier, and you could be too. For some reason, a world obsessed with chocolate, seems to be populated almost entirely with people who don’t know that you can make your own. Well I’ve got great news for you, you can! (And I really think you should.)

There are many reasons to create your own chocolate, but the most poignant for me, is the sheer joy you get from the process. The aroma that spreads though your kitchen is divine, chasing chocolate around a slab is relaxing, and don’t get me started on the flavour … Basically, you can customise chocolate to perfectly match your personal taste and, being relatively unprocessed, the depth of flavour is like nothing you can buy.
Using my recipe book, you can make chocolate in less than an hour. It took me considerably longer because, although the internet is full of suggested recipes, very few of them actually work without additional insight. The journey was further exacerbated by the fact that what seemed to work one day, didn’t the next.

So how did I find out how to make chocolate?

It started well. I bought some cocoa butter, melted it, added some cocoa, then some honey and waited for it to set. It was divine. I repeated this five or six times, experimenting with stevia, sugar and agave nectar.

However, making delicious, smooth milk and white chocolate was much more difficult than plain. Naturally, my first port of call was to find out how other people make theirs. You aren’t exactly spoilt for choice if you look up recipes for milk and white chocolate on the internet, but you will find some. Frustratingly, none of them worked for me. Milk powder made chocolate gritty, white chocolate tasted bitter, and ingredients typically separated out in the moulds. The recipes I found online didn’t address these potential pitfalls.

No matter how hard I tried to follow other people’s recipes, the results were never satisfactory. I even watched a YouTube video in which a man effortlessly made milk chocolate using a method that simply didn’t work for me. I felt mocked.
If recipes worked for some and not others, I knew there must be additional factors at work – perhaps there were different varieties of ingredients, speeds of working or ambient temperatures involved.

One recipe did not fit all. Why?

I broke down every part of the process, meticulously labelling experiments ‘A’ through ‘D’ and asking willing participants to taste the results. The typical responses where, “It’s nice, but it just isn’t chocolate’.

Back to the drawing board. Again. Then again. Then again. I started buying wholesale cocoa butter.
Little breakthroughs kept me going, for example finding a way to process powdered milk so that it doesn’t destroy the texture.

The best discovery was realising that you can make white chocolate at home. You just need to combine a very particular type of cocoa butter with my secret ingredient – something divine, readily available and not something I’ve seen used in any other home chocolate recipes.
I spent days juggling not just different varieties of ingredients, but ways of combining and cooling them. For some time I was in denial about the importance of a process called tempering – used when working with shop-bought chocolate to control crystal structure. It sounded scary, and not the sort of thing I could write about in a cookbook aimed at the lay person. This posed two challenges: how to apply to wealth of scientific information about melting chocolate to making it, and finding a way to work the process into a recipe without alienating anybody.

I got around this problem by keeping the recipes relatively brief and providing a detailed introduction and an extensive trouble shooting section.
Writing the book was a steep learning curve, and I have a new found respect for our ancestors, who saw a cocoa bean and not only recognised its potential, but developed the process of turning it into chocolate.

Chocolate Making Adventures, like chocolate making itself, is something you can either dip into or completely immerse yourself within. There’s something for every ability level. It’s not a consortium of hundreds of recipes, it’s an educational tool that will open up infinite possibilities.

Kath had been making chocolate for less than a week when she started adapting recipes and creating her own flavours. In fact, it’s Kath’s experimentation that led coffee chocolate to end up in the final publication.

Exciting, impressive and some-times counter-intuitive, home chocolate making is a skill like no other, which, once you’ve mastered, you’ll want to do again and again.

Thanks, Rosen. You certainly inspired me! You can find Chocolate making Adventures and all Rosen's books on her Amazon Author Page - here.

Just to whet your appetite, here's some of the chocolate Rosen made. Photo courtesy of Claire Wilson who took all the photos used in the book.

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The Festival of Drabbles

11/9/2015

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This week-long homage to the 100 word story is the brainchild of Michael Brookes and you can see the calendar of events for the week here. There is a Facebook page too, where you can read some of the posts and drabbles we'll be sharing this week.
Drabbles have been around for decades and have recently regained popularity. They must have exactly one hundred words, not including the title and they are a means of trying out little story ideas and making the writer aware of the value and importance of every word. They have to be a real story, not merely one hundred words of description, for example. I remember my first drabble very well. I’d been reading them on the daily free newsletter BOOKHIPPO. We were away for a long weekend and my husband, having set the Satnav, proceeded to ignore it because he knew a better way. There's the result.

SATNAV

“I don’t know why you bought that bloody Satnav,” I complained to my husband. “You just ignore it!”
“It’s giving me the fastest route,” he said. “Mine’s a better one.”
When the voice said “At the next exit, take the turn,” and he blithely sailed on, I finally flipped. “Oh, for god’s sake, turn the sodding thing off if you won’t take any notice!”
He pulled onto the hard shoulder, undid my seatbelt, leaned over to open the door and pushed me out, then drove off.
I rang the AA. “I need a recovery vehicle. My marriage has broken down.”

I followed that up with several hundred more over the course of the next year. My production of drabbles only slowed when I began to write longer fiction. At its height, I contributed to a book of 120 drabbles Beyond 100 Drabbles by my friend Jonathan Hill. You'll be hearing more about this later in the week on Jonathan's blog.

I still write the occasional 100 word story. If you ever feel you've got a short story you'd like to tell, give it a go. Most writing software will count the words for you and it's amazing how much you can say in that short space. It's a lesson to authors not to waste words.

And here’s a more recent one –

Inspiration

James took up painting in his retirement. 'Paint from life,' they told him but he soon ran out of flowers in his garden and trees in the park. 'Use your imagination,' he read. His dramatic picture of racing cars crashing was followed by a news report of a similar collision resulting in a fatality. His colourful 'Burning Building at Sunset' presaged a local hotel fire. His work seemed to predict the future. Terrified, he was about to consign his materials to the bin when inspiration struck. He painted himself handing over the winning lottery ticket. Must remember to buy one!

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Author Chat - Rick Haynes

11/7/2015

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Hi, and welcome to my blog, Rick. Have you always written or is it something you came to later in life?

Firstly, may I extend my sincere thanks for the invitation, Kath.

I was born in Southern England when food rationing was the norm. Coming from a working class family, life was tough, but I really enjoyed my childhood. That has to be down to my parents and I can’t thank them enough. My dad told me a story from his own vivid imagination, every night. I still remember the tale of the dragon; he even made me a sword, but mum was none too pleased when I hacked down her giant sun flower.

I wrote a few poems at school and over the years a few more, probably from boredom to be honest. My reading was spasmodic until I discovered The Lord Of The Rings. All my birthdays had arrived in one day and hooked, I was.

Over the following decades I began to write one or two lines, made a few notes but going nowhere if you know what I mean. I even wrote about 15,000 words of a novel but those pages are hidden in a dusty box somewhere.

After several operations in a short space of time, the walls closed in and I was going nuts. I asked my wonderful wife what I could do, but when she suggested the ironing or washing-up, the thought of Hara-kiri came to mind. Luckily she followed up with the magical words. ‘Why don’t you write a story?’

I was up and running in no time. My first effort was utter dross, but I am very proud of my novella, Bolt Out Of The Blue. The words of wisdom in your review stayed with me and I amended about twenty per cent of the book. One reviewer subsequently posted that it was unusual for any tale to be lacking in cynicism. As that was my initial aim, my smile could be seen for days.

I was even prouder to see my first novel, Evil Never Dies, in paperback. It was love at first sight with the cover and my mind was completely blown away when I viewed the YouTube video.

I love writing. Medieval fantasy is my passion but I write short stories and Drabbles in any genre. My Drabble, Spectral Morning, has recently won an international Drabble competition and that really made my day.

To cap it off, The Portsmouth News carried a three page spread on my life. I had no control over the poetic licence but the main reasons for me commencing writing are all true. They even put my mug-shot on the front page.

My motto is LAUGH LOUD-LOVE ALWAYS-LIVE LONG.

And wherever the writing journey takes you, make sure you have FUN along the way.

I think most people who attempt a book have written shorter things in their youth.
Who are your favourite authors?

Without any doubt, J.R.R.Tolkien is my idol. His work changed my life. The genius of the man will live forever. He created not only a massive story, but races of believable people, fantastic plot lines, a world and a language. Wow!

The late David Gemmell has also inspired me. His mastery of heroic fantasy has kept me awake well into the early hours on many an occasion.

I also love the work of Bernard Cornwell, especially his Azincourt series.

Some good books in there!
Do your preferred reading and writing genres overlap?

I would have to say yes and no.

I enjoy reading medieval fantasy as well as writing it. But at the same time I love funny stories; my favourite being, Bob Monkhouse and his autobiography ‘Crying With Laughter.’ I write a few humourous bits and pieces, but Bob was the absolute master of his genre. My attempts are quite feeble by comparison.

I write short stories and Drabbles in almost any genre but when it comes to reading I can be very picky. Simply put, I have so many things in my life to do, that I can only find enough time to read a book that I am really interested in. Second World War Stories are a prime example. I am currently reading about the exploits of the British 6th Airborne landing in Horsa gliders and via parachute at Pegasus Bridge in Normandy on June 6th 1944 – D Day. Having visited the bridge, I wanted to learn more but had never seen the book until recently. Makes you feel proud of our fore-fathers doesn’t it?

I do read all the stories from my local book club, even when our beloved leader, Carol, insisted that we wrote a romantic tale. Romance! Me! She did indeed, but I’m not going to share her critique.

I don’t think I could write romance either. Not without making myself laugh!
What are you currently working on?

I have written about 7000 words of my follow up novel, Heroes Never Fade. Unfortunately the plot line has dried up. I am at the crossroads of whether to continue or start again. With my first novel the words arrived quicker than I could type (I am very slow, unlike you lovely ladies) but this time, poo!

I have also submitted several tales into competitions and have nearly finished a story come travel promotion about a Greek island.

Writing is the nastiest, craziest and most fulfilling addiction known to mankind. At times I want to break free, but naturally, that is impossible.

And finally – any great ambitions, whether connected with writing or not?

It’s a great pleasure to be here, and at my age it’s a great pleasure to be anywhere. As long as I continue to wake up, write and enjoy my life, then thank you very much. I truly believe that writing has saved me from the steep slope of decline.

Of course I would love to sell enough books to cover my initial outlay, yet hearing the words ‘I love your book’ is more important.

I am still a beginner in a tough environment. Yes, I have learnt a great deal, but there is so much more to take in.

My only real ambition would be to have the gift of promotion; to know how to put my work in front of those readers most interested in my genre. I expect most other writers feel the same but if anyone has some good advice, please let me know.

It’s been a pleasure, Kath, and I thank you most kindly for the opportunity.

Thank you, Rick.
And here’s Rick’s Amazon page so you can have a look at his books.

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National Novel Writing Month

11/1/2015

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National Novel Writing Month

Pardon? National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo because it’s quicker to say, takes place every year in November. I joined up last year (it’s free) and managed to write a book over fifty thousand words in length. That was the target, so I was, in the organisation’s terms, a winner. What did I actually win? Nothing really; it’s just a smugness award.

Some while later, I revisited the story and it has ended up at 61,330 words which is acceptable for a novel, though evidently fifty thousand counts. It still lives on my hard disk awaiting my further attention, but it is in essence a finished novel, so for me, last year’s efforts paid off.

This year I have signed up to the site, declared myself a participant and given my non-existent book a title. That’s the easy bit – it’s all uphill from now on! I promise not to inundate you with daily totals (tempting though that is) but I might mention passing the tens of thousands as they are landmarks. And if I make 50k again, you can be sure you’ll hear about it!

The working title? Beyond Recall. I wish I could remember what it’s about…

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Author Chat - David Wailing

Author Chat - Rosen Trevithick

The Festival of Drabbles

Author Chat - Rick Haynes

National Novel Writing Month

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