a grim, bleak day in the south west

Added on 23 March 2010

A grim, bleak day in the south west. Perfect novel writing weather.

A Room With No Natural Light progresses nicely. Well, progresses at any rate. I suppose there's a method of novel writing where your write a bit, then make yourself a cup of tea and re-read what you've written, and perfect it as best you can for the moment. Then there's the method where you write as much as you can each day, in a desperate bid to finish, and then take your time at the other end to cut and re-write and polish.

I'm in the latter camp. Each day the word count button is my co-conspirator. I live and work by it. In the last three days I've written around 10,000 words. That's a lot to write in three days, and you might well be thinking, good for you, but I don't want to read them. I always work on the basis that hopefully they'll read well this time next month, and that if they don't, they won't be beyond salvation.

Most other things fall by the wayside when writing at this pace, although I've still managed to squeeze in the time to contact Amazon.com to try to start making the Barney Thomson series available on Kindle. They wrote back to ask for proof that I have eBook rights. Since I'm the writer and publisher I've never made a contract with myself, so we'll have to wait and see how American bureaucracy handles that one.  You'd think they'd get it all the time, but then you'd think there'd be a No Paperwork, You're Just Going To Have To Trust Me button. Those kinds of buttons probably don't happen very often. Not in this bitter and litigious age.

Meanwhile Amazon have introduced Author's pages on all their sites, where the author - or his/her publisher - can upload a biography and/or mugshot; as if this will help sell book. I did this on their UK site last week, and have been gratified to note that I've hardly sold a book since. If the Barney Thomson series were a Premier League club, it would be Derby County in 2007/08. I may have to replace the photo with one of someone else...

Currently fighting the urge to retire. TPCKAM suggests that I become a gardener as it would get me out in the fresh air.