Good News

February kicks in, tomorrow is Candlemas, or Groundhog Day, depending on your inclination. A key day in how much winter is still outstanding. Shadow or not,  more cold or an early spring, that's tomorrow's care.  To mark the day Iceline has gone to free at smashwords. Click on the link to stay with the action.

Been there, done it.. tee shirt thingy

With three and a bit days left the word count tumbled over the 50,000 mark and the validation screen verified the total (50188).
Result: The Obedience of Fools is a NaNoWriMo winner, 2013. (See picture thingy below)

The story isn't finished, obviously, the tale will continue to unfold over the next few weeks, perhaps a month or two, and then the polishing starts. Check it out at smashwords and keep up with the action, the text will be updated in the next couple of days. 

Obedience of Fools - NaNoWriMo 2013

Alfred Burke was part of an Urban legend, engines retired from service and put into cold war storage, back up for when the worst case scenario became a reality. Others had their own agenda and the legacy of their work creates a threat as real today as when the Black Fives disappeared. A mystery that has lingered like the last wisps of the steam engines he worked with, and just as difficult to grasp, but he knows what happened and that makes him useful and valuable.

He has hidden the secret where it may be found if you know what you are looking for, to see it you must believe, and if you believe you will see it.

Less scrupulous parties want the information and don't care how they get it. Steel and Josie in the thick of it again iAlfred Burke was part of an Urban legend, engines retired from service and put into cold war storage, back up for when the worst case scenario became a reality. Others had their own agenda and the legacy of their work creates a threat as real today as when the Black Fives disappeared. A mystery that has lingered like the last wisps of the steam engines he worked with, and just as difficult to grasp, but he knows what happened and that makes him useful and valuable.

He has hidden the secret where it may be found if you know what you are looking for, to see it you must believe, and if you believe you will see it.

Less scrupulous parties want the information and don't care how they get it. Steel and Josie in the thick of it again in a race to uncover the secret.n a race to uncover the secret.

Click on the link and keep up with the action

Just published - Obedience of Fools

This years NaNoWriMo entrant, The Obedience of Fools has just been published at smashwords.com here, a work in progress and free to download during November. Follow the link and grab yourself a piece of the action

That time of year again!

It has to be true, halfway through September and the Halloween goblins are locked in a bitter struggle for shelf space with the Christmas fairy and the oddly leering Santa who looks like a resprayed Leprechaun left over from a drunken St Pat`s Day where the black stuff flowed like the Liffey through Dublin.

The headlong crash through the Autumn months towards the Christmas season has begun, the slippery slope is oiled and the ball is rolling. Right now, who cares, Grange Four (Work in Progress, tagged not titled) has made a faltering start and will probably be dumped  on the 1st of November when Nanowrimo comes a-calling once more and with it the tense countdown to the witching hour. At midnight on Halloween when the clock strikes and the keyboards start to clatter with the rattling dance of fingers whatever skeletal dance macabre is going on outside will be pushed aside as imaginations the world over leap into their own frenzied state. Woe betide any supernatural beastie that tries to interrupt that moment; it will be death by flash-drive at fifty paces.

Nanowrimo again, 50,000 words in thirty days and at the moment I have either too many ideas or my head is empty. That's what it is all about, if you think about the core of Nanowrimo it makes no sense, everything is wrong, completely and utterly wrong, and that is exactly what makes it right. So absolutely beautifully wonderfully right.

Am I going to do it again, yes, YES, YES!

 So you have a shortage of ideas, spend an hour or two in the pub and listen to the conversations around you. Don't read a book, read two books, maybe three and stare at the ceiling for hours, do whatever it takes to get the imagination working again.

Challenge yourself, if you`re still waiting for that "One day I'm going to write a novel" then make a date. Wine it. dine it, romance it and lavish your time and attention on it.  It will be beautiful and by the end of the month you will ant to spend more time with and see the work done. 50,000 words maybe more, thousands more, a story told and a story to tell of how you rose to the challenge and wrote your novel.

When the dust settles into December and the frost leaves its fingerprints on the windows, the rings on the coffee mug can be counted to track your progress through Nanowrimo you can tell the story of how you went there, did it and got the winner's tee shirt. The one that says it all; 50,000 Words 30 Days and 0 Excuses.

Last year's effort; What You Ask For, is available as a free download. Still undergoing the proof reading and editing. The cover art needs a good look at too, but help yourself, follow the link and if you have any feedback use the contact box on this site or via website at www.cheekyseagull.co.uk.

So I've just shot my mouth off about Nanowrimo 2013, opened it wide and inserted one or both feet? The bottom line is the same.


50,000 words, 30 Days, 0 Excuses.

Who's the hero?

The scene is familiar, shelf after shelf of books, brand spanking new books, never opened and straight out of the box. Slowly working your way through the rank and file of literature laid out for your inspection and every one you pick up, you put it back; why?

The Blurb, I can't help it, as soon as I read the words ex-whatever, and it is usually one of the elite special forces familiar to us all I lose interest. Don't get me wrong, I have enormous respect for the standards and achievements of special forces, especially those serving with HM forces at home and overseas. I know they are special, very special.

When the manuscript of Iceline was handed back after the first reader had finished with it he said it read like a combination of Jack Higgins and John Buchan. I took that as a compliment, they are writers I have admired and enjoyed for many years. Buchan's "The Thirty Nine Steps" was on the edge of my mind while I was writing Iceline. I'm not sure how many times I have read it, it isn't a long book, but the action never stops from the moment Richard Hannay hears the tale of his unknown visitor.

Hannay is the key, both to the Thirty Nine Steps and to the way the Grange works, he is you and me! A mining engineer, bored out of his skull with the social whirl and on the brink of chucking the whole lot and heading off in search of another adventure, then adventure kicks open the door and crashes in - come and have a go!

He isn't a trained agent, anything but, but he's quick, intelligent, he has life experience and can handle himself. Richard Hannay is a sort of Everyman hero, you or I could reasonably slip into his shoes and take the journey he does.

That's where the idea of The Grange starts, any one of the team could be you or me, we all have our talents and given the chance to rise to the occasion would probably give it a go and discover something about ourselves we didn't know...

Steel, Langhers, Josie, even Hannah with her finger on the Morse key, none of them have a military background, but they all have that something Jardine spotted and brought out. He created the Grange to develop teamwork and individual thinking. Initiative or whatever you want to call it - he wouldn't call it blue-sky thinking;to him that's a vast blue emptiness with nothing going on. Bill Jardine would consider membership of the Cloud Appreciation Society, clouds are a sign of activity on a grand scale. Just what he's looking for, along with the necessity of paying his way.

A group of ordinary people working in an unusual situation, all it needs to bring out that something extra, and the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

Teamwork, flexibility and initiative, looking for that edge to keep the show on the road. Check out the team at the Grange in the first three Grange Novels, Iceline, Control:Escape and What You Ask For ( WYAF is still in the raw draft stage, free to download.)

Summer/Winter Promo at Smashwords.

Less than a day away; more ebooks than you can shake a stick at Smashwords summer/winter promotion begins at 00:01 Pacific Time. Discount codes available for ebooks on the Smashwords' site.
The Grange Novels, either free or discounted to free when the promotion starts.

Get your discounts here.

Iceline and Control Escape have discount codes at Smashwords. Check in KG94R for Control Escape and SG33N for Iceline. Less than a dollar apiece with the codes.

A bloke in the pub said...

It could have been the bloke down the Pub, the idea behind Control Escape grew out of what could be a modern urban legend. There is a reality behind it, somewhere. The occasional news story of the bright kid who hacks the system of the government or the military, pokes around inside and gets caught on the way out.

It usually happens because of a slip on the way out. Hacking in is less complicated, looking around and leaving no trace of the visit is tough. That's what marks out the best, that you are not certain the hack ever took place until the information obtained pops up where it shouldn't.

Steve Arkwright was good,but left a trace, his concentration slipped and the marker was enough to set the hounds in pursuit. The handler was clever, with his own ideas and a persuasive tongue, his own handlers loosened his leash and let him run a little.

There was a trade off, the handler (Arkwright's Control) had the freedom he wanted but that needed results: no such leeway came to Arkwright. He was kept on a short leash and faced with the added burden of changing his identity, by the time he jumped again, he had a  handful of identities from his handler, and final name of his own choice. Known only to himself but as secure as any he had been given. Arkwright used the system against itself.

He finds himself with new allies when he staggers into Steel and Langhers from the Grange nosing around by the old gravels pits on the other side of the wire.

Find out more in Control Escape, with a discount code at smashwords.com go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/216761 and enter KG94R at the checkout. A thriller for less than a dollar. Can't say better than that!

The Big One - World Book Night

One week to go, seven nights from tonight World Book Night will be with us! 

Have you anything lined up yet?

To celebrate;  Iceline, the first Grange novel is free to anyone who wants to offer it a good home here with NL36S for a 100% discount. Bag Control Escape for half price with VK56T here and take both home. Two thrillers for a dollar and a half, Have a good read.

Update - What You Ask For

Just posted the latest version of the Nanowrimo 2012 winner, 

What You Ask For, still free and still available at Smashwords.com. The story continues, and Jessica makes her move. follow this as it progresses and pick up the first two Grange novels at 50% discount through Smashwords Iceline (code SG33N) and Control Escape (code VK65T). 

Iceline - $2.99 - BookBarista

 Iceline - $2.99 - BookBarista. listed on the site as Fiction, thriller, ebooks on line with links to major retailers; Apple iTunes, Kobo, WHSmith, Sony, B&N for Nook, and the home base link at Smashwords.com.
While you're there have a look ay what else is available, a wide selection in all genres.

Play the game, where's Iceline?

Click the link, type in the URL, the simple way to find anything on the Internet, but what about doing it in a slightly more traditional way. Picture the website in your mind as a bookstore; can you find your novel and how close to the store front is it. The pages become shelves and as in the trad store, the shelves are arranged in sections, labelled with the genre and sub-genre of the books on offer.

Most of the time I have to know exactly where I'm going before I start to find anything on the Internet and the strange hieroglyphic string of a URL can be baffling, take the one for Iceline, my novel at Smashwords.com as an example; https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/216309 (I've typed it at various locations for over six months and I still have to check the details to make sure it's right,). Without knowing it belongs to Iceline there's no clue in the URL as to the book title.

Now let's try the traditional way, sort of, we know the store is Smashwords.com, so that's straightforward enough to find; and the first page is the store front and the key to the store is on the top of the page and the left hand skyscraper, that should narrow down the shelves we have  to search. Iceline is tagged as Thriller and Suspense, so click the listing on the left, go to the top of the page and click Epic (0ver 100k words), $2.99 and units sold, and scroll down the page to find Iceline

So, without the URL we're looking for an epic thriller and suspense novel for $2.99 on sale at Smashwords.com on a shelf close to the store front.

Until the end of March there's a discount code  for Iceline (TA34B) valid at Smashwords for 100% off, and to bag the pair of them and come home with a handsome brace of novels the code for Control Escape is BU95A. play the same game with Control Escape, Thriller and Suspense, $2.99, full length (50K words), and run your eye along the listing.
I've just had a good response back from someone who read Control Escape and wanted to know when they next one will be ready.

Take a look for yourself.

Almost there!

The last few hours of Read An Ebook Week 2013, and the search through the catalogue at Smashwords brings one or two things to notice, Iceline and Control Escape have a good showing in the Fiction - Thriller and Suspense categories; Iceline is hanging around at the bottom of page 1 in the units sold, epic (>100,000 words), RW100 100% off listing; page 2 in the full length (>50,000 words) RW100 100% off and Control Escape is over the page at 3 on page 3 in the full length listings. Like the listing says, Thriller and Suspense, Intrigue and conspiracy.  Not long left for this annual extravaganza, don't be the pumpkin, the codes run out  at midnight Pacific Time tonight, March 9th.
Thanks for your interest, grab one or both, bag the brace, enjoy them!

Not Without My Cat - update

Nanowrimo winner Not Without My Cat cleared the checks for Smashwords premium catalogue and is on its way through the distribution channels, already visible at Kobo, here, and before long should be appearing on the other retailers supplied by Smashwords.com,   with the usual list of characters, iTunes, Sony, Diesel, B&N, but it's still with the back room boys. If you're heading for Smashwords, call at Anne's Blog and collect a discount code (valid until 31st March) - it makes the book a freebie. A.M Russell, like myself is one of the many thousands of writers and publishers who have found an outlet for our work at Smashwords, because we care about writing, we enjoy it, and want to share our stories with you, because a story is nothing if you can't tell it to someone, and running with that idea I have a couple of discount codes for  my novels; TA34B for Iceline and BU95A for Control: Escape, to run until the 31st of March.

Not Without My Cat is a science fiction adventure, Iceline and Control: Escape are thriller adventures, follow the links, check in the codes and you'll have three cracking reads, and the discount codes will save you enough money for a really good coffee or three. .