Month: Jun 2025

Messing With FlexClip

Have you ever heard of a book trailer? They are similar to film trailers and the idea is that the public get very excited and can’t wait for the release. My second novel is very nearly finished and my wonderful editor Esther Chilton is doing the final edit and proofread. I’m not Tom Clancy or Stephen King, so I doubt there will be a hullabaloo in the literary world, but I thought I would give it a go. Neither do I have the backing of major publishers, so it had to be a DIY job.

I then spent a few hours researching free to use book trailer companies (like we all do). FlexClip popped up a few times and so I gave it a go. It was very easy to use, and I was pleased with the outcome. Bearing in mind I am but a simple Yorkshireman. We are renown for being miserable, no idea why, I’m quite happy most of the time. I’m not putting my “masterpiece” 😂 out into the world of social media just yet. I think if it goes out to early my fan will probably forget about it. I would be interested in any comments before it goes public though. Oh! it’s better with the sound up, probably the best bit 😂

Happy Trails, folks x

Do I Need My Book To Sell

People often ask me, ‘How many copies of your book have you sold?’ Which, I suppose is natural. I always give the same answer, ‘I don’t know.’ They seem perplexed by this. How could I not know? I have to go on to explain, I wanted to write a book, if it sells, then yippee! If it doesn’t I’m not going to lose sleep. My debut novel, The Siege of Mr Khan’s Curry Shop, was 20 years in the writing so I’m just so happy that I did it.

My next book took me 3 years, so I am getting better. I recently sent the first 300 words of my upcoming second novel to Writing Magazine for James McCreet to critique. My editor told me I was “brave” he doesn’t pull any punches. For me the first two lines of his summary was good enough. “I wouldn’t be at all surprised to read this at the start of a novel published by a best selling thriller author.” I’ll take that ☺️.

My editor, Esther Chilton, is a Godsend. I am very lucky to have found her as she helps turn an OK manuscript into, what I consider, a good book. So, maybe this second novel will sell and help to eliminate the perplexed look from peoples faces. I’m sure like all things, time will tell. If you have written a book and it’s published but not selling, hey! You have achieved, something so many other people dream of. Give yourself a pat or a high five, or what ever your cultural praise is. I’ve just started playing around with FlexClip where you can create a trailer for your forthcoming book. I’ll let you know how I get on next time.

Happy trails, folks. x

Italy, a Volcano, Capri and Pompeii

As places go I like Italy, there again I like anywhere that’s hot, so not much of a recommendation. The people are great, friendly if you know what I mean. Now Capri, well that’s a different matter. Someone said. “Go to Capri, you’ll love it. It’s a beautiful island. It has cultural and artistic treasures. The ‘Bay of Naples’ with Clark Gable and Sophia Loren was filmed there. Of course that same someone must have told everybody else too!

That’s the moan over with. We could see Mount Vesuvius from our hotel and as you know I do like a volcano, so it had to be climbed.

It wasn’t a particularly difficult climb, nothing like Etna, but the views from the top are worth it.

Then it was time for Pompeii. If you are an archaeologist I can imagine Pompeii is absolutely fascinating. I’m not an archaeologist 😂Aye, it was interesting, there are quite few murals on the walls and we also saw the first ever (so I was told) Fast Food Takeaway.

I had previously thought they had been covered in lava but in fact it was ash. Now that doesn’t sound too bad, I mean a bit of ash? The problem was it amounted to about 20ft deep, and in 79AD donkeys were a common mode of transport, not the speediest of animals. Which answered my question of why they didn’t get away. There was also the fact that they underestimated the eruption, it was very sudden, and with all the ash and stones falling everywhere, the roads were probably unpassable.

So, if you ever get over to Sorrento in Italy, you might want to pop over and have a look. Pompeii is 42 sq hectares, so you need a lot of time or book a tour, and they show you the best bits.

Happy Trails, folks x

Critiqued

When I told my editor I was going to have the first 300 words of my forthcoming novel critiqued in Writers Magazine she said. “You’re brave!” James McCreet does a wonderful job of stripping your writing down to the bare bones. So I offered it up with some trepidation.

But, I am so glad I did. I’ll take his comments on board but overall I was so pleased with his summary. The phrase ‘Keep the Faith,’ springs to mind.

All I have to do now is complete the final edit of Who’s Got The Biscuits (I love the title but may have to tweak it, dunno)

Set in Bradford and Morocco it’s a thriller but with humour. I had so much fun writing the characters and hopefully will be published this August.

Happy Trails, folks x