Monday 13 August 2012

EPIPHANY





A



Well that's it then! No more self delusion. No more beating about the bush. I have
at last faced up to the truth and, in doing so, the proverbial weight has dropped from
my shoulders!
  My small Epiphany came up a back street in Aberdeen - no, dear readers, this is
not going to get sordid!!!  I was engaged with my "day job" of selling advertising space
in small local publications on a commission only basis. Things were not going well. In fact
they were not going at all, so I adjourned to a bar to get off my feet, quench my thirst and to
review the situation.
  I got more of a review than I bargained for. The truth has a way of grabbing you by the scruff
of your neck and dragging you where you don't necessarily want to go. It wasn't just this lousy
day, it was all the other lousy days. There have been two many others where I have traipsed around all
day for what amounted to, as they say in the U.S., "chump change".
  At my age EVERY wasted day is a crime. I have been doing this work to buy me time to
write - but it has done no such thing. I waste time and energy and I barely make enough to cover the expenses.
 Also, I have a bum leg which makes hours a day walking a real problem. By the end of a
working day I am hobbling along like Quasimodo on one of his "not so good days!" So, enough,
sez I.
 I am going to cut my living expenses to the bone and concentrate on writing. I have a part time
job taking disabled children to school. It only takes about an hour of my time a day and I might
just manage on what I get from that alone. Time will tell.
  I think I have made a fair start to this belated writing career. I have a short comic novella set
in Edinburgh out on the ebook format. If it goes well I shall bring it out in printed form. It has started
to sell modestly and already got 2 five star review - snippets of which appear below.
  I have set out an ambitious writing programme which includes another Edinburgh set novel and
a series of Private Eye novels - a little out of the usual - set in Glasgow.
  Well ambition is a fine thing but the "proof is in the pudding" and time alone will tell.
Wish me luck - please. I shall keep you posted. Maybe my "writer's epiphany" will bear worthwhile
fruit, after all!

THE BALLOON MAN IN EDINBURGH - REVIEWS


"Funny, sad, poignant - a beautifully written novella. Quite an achievement"
Catherine K. Favali


"This novella is, indeed, one of life's little gems.......discover this fact
for yourself"
William G. Neill

The photo is of The Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh where some of the action
takes place.

ebook available from Amazon

Link for The Balloon Man directly below


   http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Balloon-Man-Edinburgh-ebook/dp/B008NXTYXK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344957462&sr=8-1

15 comments:

  1. Send me a link and I will put it up on my apology for a blog.

    Hopefully, both my readers could be interested!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wish you all the best on your new adventurous epiphany...and also, congratulations on the wonderful reviews for your novella, they all sound very happy about it!
    Finding the time to write, or for that matter, to be creative in any form, is always a challenge...I'm sure this newly found inspirational freedom will compensate very nicely for having to 'cut to the bone' and in the long run, will bring much success!
    Also, thank you for such a kind comment...it was very much appreciated!
    xo J~

    ReplyDelete
  3. Indeed - you have modestly neglected to set a link to your book even on your own blog.

    I will link too, but please advise as I want to get it exactly right. Is this correct?

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Balloon-Man-Edinburgh-ebook/dp/B008NXTYXK

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Woman On Raft I have just put link on my website.
    Thanks for your interest

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks Lakelander. See the above and don't be so bl**dy modest - a fan!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congratulations on the successful launching of your novella. That's exciting.

    It's great to meet you here. Thanks for stopping by, so I could discover your blog.

    Ah, Edinburgh looks beautifully green.

    xoRobyn

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good luck to you, sir!
    And, I'm thinking you know people like me and my ilk only too well. Because when I read "came up a back street in Aberdeen" I was getting set to rip off an adolescent reply.
    "...not going to get sordid."
    Well played.
    Thanks for visiting "The Place."
    Incidentally, Robyn's a treat to have about.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh I loved your reviews...but oh dear, I don't have a kindle...maybe I can get a friend to download it for me on theirs....I love squirrels and squirrely people
    Chump change...ha ha...that is a well worn saying here
    Go...full steam ahead!

    ReplyDelete
  9. This makes my heart beat faster. I love my work, but lately I've been working in pain (Quasimodo is about right), and I don't want to leave this earth without writing all sorts of stories I have sketched and partially done and crowding file drawers. Can't possibly sink in and write the way you need to do it when I've drained myself all day fixing people's sore backs and no one is there to fix mine. You make me want to pull my picket.

    I've been to the Amazon page, which sent me to the US page, which wanted me to create an account on something called a Cloud Kindle reader -- I'll figure it out!!!!

    May I recommend Lulu.com. Their publication options are near goof-proof, previews are easy, and I've downloaded several e-books from them seamlessly in .pdf, not to mention publishing one which was actually written for diversion in college by my gentleman friend, as a surprise Valentine to him; it was dead easy to use the site. You determine your own profit margin on each publication and no one needs a specialized gadget.

    I had the same twitch about the back street in Aberdeen. It made me think immediately of a very rude narrative which involved the expostulation "Twenty years! Twenty years up Sheffield entries, grabbing onto me ankles..."

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dear Sledpress, Thanks for your very supportive comments and your advice for, hopefully future publication. Sorry to hear about your back pain - the fact that there's no-one there to fix it. I know all about that. Your quote had me in hysterics and wondering just WHAT it was all about!!!
    You are v. kind, as are all my other readers, and I WISH YOU ALL WELL!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Garth Ennis, early in the "Preacher" comic book series, uttered by a fellow who finally saved up enough from immoral earnings to open a detective agency...

      Delete
  11. Couldn't resist this one, so have just bought it on my Kindle, hurrah! :)

    Anne B

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  12. Thank you Anne. As a new -ish writer. I appreciate the support and hope you enjoy it xxx.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank you for leaving me such a lovely comment, I keep thinking abut giving up and that made a world of difference to me. I've been at the book festival the last few days with a few authors, all who ( should that be whom? My grammar is awful) ask the less well known, how are you making a living these days? It's tough out there, very few get to pay their bills just by their books, but here's to you!

    ReplyDelete
  14. A fellow Aberdonian by birth, I will find this novella and read it.

    ReplyDelete