OMG - That took a long time but it's up now - enjoy

Kujira Cover No. 2

Well that was not a lot of fun. I have been obsessed for the past couple of days with the final edit. Of all places, I found myself in an isolated country location in Western Australia called Dwellingup. Despite it being the start of summer, the temperature dropped and I kept myself warm with a wood-fire while I corrected out of place commas, semi colons and quotation marks while intermittently staring in the hot coals of my Jarrah and Karri fuelled inferno. That all ended on Wednesday and I have only just finished. Ironically the temperatures have soared so I am sitting in my living room with the airconditioner on. So as the frantic pace subsides and the dry but cool air of my living room makes me sneeze the moral of the story for me as the tortured writer becomes clear–get it right in the first place.

Mind you, it was a fantastic experience to be under pressure to finish in order to get the final version to a patient reader. In those moments, when I questioned the reason I was actually submitting to the mental anguish and physical pain involved I remembered that someone out there was waiting to read about Mike, Mark and Jon and their adventure in Osaka. It made the characters dance around the corrections. It was as if there were there, making sure that I represented them fairly and accurately by adhering to the conventions that link them to the reader. I felt a responsibility separate the the creative process that created them in the first place. 

Anyway, thanks to Andy for being so patient and if there are others that have been waiting you can now download the most recent version of Kujira on Smashwords for $0.99. I will be loading it up on Kindle in the near future and pending approval, it will be available on Apple, Kobo, etc in the next couple of weeks. I would really appreciate some feedback on this one. If you have the time to rate it or to post a review, I would appreciate it. This is the longest of my creations and the only one with a price. As much as I do enjoy writing my copy edit fees are starting to add up and so I am aiming to recoup at least a percentage of my costs hence the $0.99 price. 

Plans for the follow up to Kujira are now growing in my mind and I will begin putting it together over the Christmas period. I'll keep you posted on this and other projects.

That's all for now

Beerubaroyaji

And now the hard work begins.

The manuscript has arrived.

Dear patient readers,

It's here... the manuscript has arrived.  

"Easy then, just upload it and let me read it", you are probably thinking to yourself.

Well, when I said arrived, this means the original is back with 'track changes' noted ready for me to change them. This is why, despite me paying for a copy editor, I still make typos. Being the world's crappest typist, it is now my job to hack to pieces all the good work I have just paid good money for.

I shouldn't make light of this really, I know I should know better and I really don't try to make a habit of un-editing good work just to make it read more like the way it was when I first submitted it. This time, I am thinking about being methodical and taking the time required to make this work. So... you have to wait just a little bit longer. Rest assured, the edit is just about, capitals, comma's and italics really so the text is pretty much my work. Getting in an expert just makes it easier to read so it is worth the effort to avoid any annoying  distractions. Of course you may still hate my work, or... you may even like it.  In any case you won't be judging me on my propensity to be impatient as a typist rather my style as a writer.

I have an exam on Wednesday, property law (yawn) and will get stuck into the manuscript after that. I am shooting for next weekend.

Bye for now

Beerubaraoyaji

Action and Adventure Free Top 100

Hi Folks

I know the focus of my most recent posts has been 'Kujira' and the copy edit but it is still not quite ready. So... as a distraction, I offer the news that 'Memoirs of a Vending Machine' has maintained a steady stream of downloads and is sitting in the top 100 FREE 'Action and Adventure' Genre at Kindle for the second time since I published it. Nice to know it is still reaching readers and is still quite popular.

I have heard from my copy editor who is about half way through the copy edit of 'Kujira'. She has noted that,

"the story seems to move along well and keeps the reader engaged."

Good for me. It's pretty reassuring that my copy editor doesn't think that my book is crap so I look forward to reading it again once the edit is complete. Glad I did commission the edit though as she has advised that she might just need an extra hour to finish up. That's an hour less chance of there being any seriously stupid typos that plague my writing 'cause I am a terrible typist. Sure it will cost more but what the hell, it might mean a better read for you the reader and in the end, that is what this is all about.

Anyway, the re-publish day is getting closer. Rest assured, I'll make a big deal out of things when I get the finished product up and ready to read.

That's all for now and take care.

Beerubaraoyaji

Sorry - Not Ready Yet

Sumimasen (Sorry)

Hi Folks

I'm just posting to say sorry and I know I said I would post the edited version of Kujira about 2 weeks ago. As soon as it arrives I'll get stuck into the changes and publish it.

Bye for now.

Beerubaroyaji

Kujira -Copy Edit

'Kujira' Gets a Copy Edit

Hi folks

Just letting you know that I sent 'Kujira' off to my copy editor a couple of days ago and I'll be expecting to have it re-published sometime next week. I gave it a bit of a 'spring clean' myself but nothing too radical. It's amazing looking at your own work, months after you have written it. You can look at the text with a level of detachment that allows you to actually pick a typo or a badly expressed sentence and fix it up. In between I have been spending some time familiarising myself with the notes I took at a workshop I attended that was conducted by 'John Harmon'. I mentioned this in a previous post, 'I wish I had Time to Write'. Anyway, I tried to apply some of the plot design theory to Kujira but decided that for the most part I had already done it. If I had followed the plan 'to the letter' I don't think it would have been Kujira anymore so apart from a few small changes here and there and a decent copy edit, Kujira is true to form. - love it or hate it. Anyway, I'll make a bit of noise about it when I do re-publish.

Interesting to see the 'Occupy Wall Street ' protests have spread to Sydney and to Tokyo . People all over the world are fed up. As for Japan, it is not really the image that people expect of the Japanese though. They are usually passive but if you do happen to stir them up and tip them over the edge, watch out. They are also protesting the actions of TEPCO, the company responsible for the nuclear reactors that got smashed by the recent earthquake and tsunami. I'll be watching the news to see how this all plays out. Did you know that land owners who are seeking compensation from TEPCO are required to fill out a 60 page application form ? Anyway, at the risk of turning this blog into a rant I'll post my comments so far but I'll leave it there for now. Watch out for Kujira, coming soon to an electronic device near you.

Later

Beerubaraoyaji

Memoirs - Kinki Karaoke

Jon and Mike or possibly Mark hard at work inspiring the

'Kinki Karaoke' chapter of 'Memoirs of a Vending Machine'.

Hi Folks

This is a photo I just had to post. If you have read 'Memoirs of a Vending Machine' you will be familiar with the 'Osaka Big Luck Snack' a fictional 'snack bar'. In the chapter titled 'Kinki Karaoke', alcohol plays a part in some comical dialogue inspired by moments like those represented in the photo. This is the real Jon and the other guy is the real Mike or maybe the real Mark - not really sure as both Mike and Mark are a mix of a few characters so I'll leave it up to you. 

This is a fascinating photo because, the two foreign guys are wearing traditional Japanese 'Yukata' and wooden 'Geta' for footwear while the locals are dressed in T-shirts and denim - seemed to work though! Below I have posted one of my favourite scenes from 'Kinki Karaoke' . 

Don't forget that 'Memoirs of a Vending Machine' is available at Smashwords and Kindle.

When they arrived at the snack bar, Tsuyoshi was a little overwhelmed at first, not knowing exactly where to sit such a loud and rowdy bunch of foreigners. The bar had become more crowded since Mike had been there earlier and Tsuyoshi seemed a little preoccupied with all his other customers.
Two young, attractive Japanese women in their early twenties were now also working the bar in addition to Tsuyoshi and there were another two working as waitress for the folk sitting at tables. Smiling politely, Tsuyoshi sat the boys in a corner, off to the side, at first paying them little attention. One of the waitresses came over to take their orders. Happy to be in each other’s company, their mood was lively and flippant. Jon was the first to speak.
"I love you," he blurted in his most refined Manchester accent. Not expecting this, they all smiled, embarrassed, then waited to see how the waitress would react. She stood silently poised, smiling, pencil in hand held a couple of millimetres above the order book but obviously confused.
Jon, sensing that his brazen remark was not being taken in context, tried again, this time ordering a drink in Japanese. He had studied a little Japanese while at university in England and felt reasonably confident that he could negotiate this simple task. He remembered that big in Japanese was ookii and that beer was beeru. He strung the two together and, adding a little Samurai theatrics to his accent demanded, "Ooki beeru arimasu" The waitress maintained her silence.
The other three glanced at each other, while Jon smiled. Embarrassed, he tried to pretend that everything was still okay. Still smiling, the waitress didn’t flinch. Mark, the wild Canadian, who had told the others stories of a previous trip to Japan while they walked towards the bar, took on an air of confidence as he motioned to the waitress and smiled. The others watched on, jaws agape, intrigued by this development. He immediately caught her attention and she turned to him, cocking her head ever so slightly to the side while changing her expression to one of polite anticipation.
"Ano ne," (Umm) he began. Her expression quickly changed to one of relief. "Dai jocky yotsu onegaishimasu," (Four large beers please) continued Mark.
"Dai jocky yotsu," (That's four large beers) she repeated.
With a short and succinct "Hai," (Yes) from Mark, she smiled at each man in turn, twirled elegantly in the opposite direction then walked off to the bar.
"Well, that was impressive!" exclaimed Jeff in a toffy English accent.
Jon, obviously outdone, sat silently stewing, while Mark sat beaming, explaining to the others that Jon had confused the waitress by simply stating that there was a big beer somewhere. 

BTW: I have spent the last couple of days on 'Kujira' and am about half way through another self edit. Glad I did 'cause it is full of typos all provided absolutely free of charge. When I am finished, I'll run it by my favourite copy editor for a fee and then upload. Don't worry Andy, you get the first coupon.

Cheers

Beerubaroyaji

Kujira update.

Kujira means whale in Japanese.

Hi Folks

It's been a while since I posted on my blog. I've been out of action with some kind of work or study or hobby related RSI injury so not much writing lately. I think a three hour written exam may have just been 'the straw that broke the camel's back'. In any case,  I couldn't move for two weeks and was laid up on my couch in pain for the duration. It took six weeks before I could use my arm for anything useful and a couple of months later, it still needs a rest every now and then. 

Anyway, now that I have your sympathy or at least some level of understanding or possibly just your attention, I need to explain the Kujira update. I have left Kujira, my longest novella, unpublished on smashwords for quite a while now. I noticed that someone had viewed one of my posts titled 'Kujira-It's Back'. That was posted quite a while ago and I unpublished the book soon after posting with the view to a huge edit before publishing again. Well I have been at it again but as I have explained above, life has just gotten in the way for the time being. I've been writing recently but I really want to spend some more time on developing the characters a little more. The three main characters Mark, Jon and Mike appear in  one of my other short stories, 'Memoirs of a Vending Machine' available on smashwords. If you intend reading Kujira, you ought to make sure that you have had a read of Memoirs first. Expect Kujira to be re-published towards the end of the year.  

BTW: I had promised to publish a "How-to-do a Rubik's Cube ebook. It is written but it is taking time to get the author to get the accompanying photos organised so that the book loads properly in the varying formats available. Still a work in progress but you can expect it to be published by the end of the year. 

Oh... and I managed to pass the exam that destroyed my arm in case you were wondering.

... and another thing. I decided not to charge for 'Memoirs of a Vending Machine' and the downloads continue. One thing though, If you do happen to read it for free and you like it, please let the world know - especially if you download on kindle. I could do with a few good post-edit reviews to counter the shitty pre-edit reviews.  

Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu

That's all for now

Later

Beerubaroyaji