The Island (Part 1), by Michael Stark, Reviewed.

On 27/10/2015 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Review

This book, as the subtitle suggests, is the beginning of a story. For me, it is, as with so many 'books' in the current market, not what I understand to be a book. It's a scene setter. It follows a marketing technique that's been used in other industries for years but one I feel is …

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Launch of The Methuselah Strain in Hardback

On 23/10/2015 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction

My publisher, Fantastic Books Publishing has published my science fiction novella, The Methuselah Strain in a limited edition hardback version alongside the digital version. The book, all copies of which will be signed by yours truly, is due for launch tomorrow, 24th October at Fantasticon 2015. See the previous blog post, here, for full details …

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Fantastic Fantasticon 2015:

On 22/10/2015 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction

What is it? It's a different kind of fantasy/scifi/gaming convention open to anyone and everyone with an interest in these popular topics. A place to take part, rather than simply a market place (though there are things to buy for those who want them, of course). And if you're a Dr Who fan, you'll find …

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Cut The Fat; Make Your Writing Lean: #Tip 11.

On 22/10/2015 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Word Choice2 Comments

Writers enjoy sharing ideas to improve their craft. Here, I'm looking at ways to trim our writing. Readers will thank us. I'll look at common redundancies and a few flabby expressions. But, reading this post and nodding wisely won't improve your writing. Stay alert to those extraneous words that sneak into text, or they'll slide …

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Cut The Fat; Make Your Writing Lean: #Tip 10.

On 18/10/2015 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Word Choice7 Comments

It's been a while: my apologies. I've been rethinking certain aspects of my writing life and deciding what changes I need to make, and when and where. And domestics have been a little unsettled recently with some slightly changed priorities that have made it temporarily more difficult to get on with my writing. Next Saturday, I'll be at …

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77 Ways to Find New Readers, by Laura Pepper Wu, Reviewed.

On 02/10/2015 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Review5 Comments

I gained this as a free download for reasons I can't now recall, but I would have happily paid the full asking price. Not all the methods propounded in this slim volume are new to me, but many are. And it's good to have the whole collection in one place. One aspect of the book …

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Cut The Fat; Make Your Writing Lean: #Tip 09.

On 29/09/201528/09/2015 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Word Choice

Writers enjoy sharing ideas to improve the craft. So, let's chop the fat from our writing. Make it lean and trim. Readers will thank us. In this series, I'll look at some common redundancies. But, reading this post and nodding wisely in agreement won't cut it. We have to stay alert to those extraneous words …

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Question For the Week: Do Cheap and Free Books Devalue Books?

On 28/09/201530/07/2017 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, opinion, question11 Comments

I was inspired to ask this by a short blog post I came across on ANewDomain, via Book2Book, a daily email from BookTrade. It set me to wondering whether we, as writers, are our own worst enemies. And it was reinforced by another short piece I read a little while ago at Digital Book World …

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Cut The Fat; Make Your Writing Lean: #Tip 08.

On 24/09/2015 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Word Choice3 Comments

We writers enjoy sharing ideas to improve our craft. So, let's chop the fat from our writing. Make it lean and trim. Readers will thank us. In this series, I'll look at some common redundancies. But, reading this post and nodding wisely in agreement won't cut it. We have to stay alert to those extraneous …

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Cut The Fat; Make Your Writing Lean: #Tip 07.

On 18/09/2015 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Word Choice

Most of us who write seem to enjoy sharing ideas to improve our craft. So, let's chop the fat from our writing. Make it lean and trim. Readers will thank us. In this series, I'll look at some common redundancies. But, reading this post and nodding wisely in agreement won't work. We need to stay …

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Cut The Fat; Make Your Writing Lean: #Tip 04.

On 09/09/2015 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Word Choice

Many writers enjoy sharing ideas that might improve our craft. So, let's chop the fat from our writing. Make it lean and trim. Readers will thank us. In this series, I'll look at some common redundancies. But, reading this and nodding wisely in agreement won't do. We need to stay alert to those extraneous words …

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Like Being on TV; only Different.

On 11/06/2015 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction2 Comments

Yesterday, 10th June, I spent an hour in live conversation online with Sally Ember. Sally is a writer and writing tutor who has ventured into the world of Google+ Hangouts in a way beneficial to readers and writers. She invites writers to share their thoughts with readers in her weekly show, Changes. I choose to …

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The Evolution of a Book Cover.

On 02/06/2015 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, charity, ME/CFS9 Comments

Book covers, we all need them, and most indie authors try to design these themselves. Sometimes, though not often, it works. Many of the results are pretty grotty. I have some small experience of illustration and graphics, fonts and typography, from a spell working at a local art college as a graphics technician. I also …

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Trees, by Benjamin Perkins, Reviewed.

On 07/05/2015 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Review3 Comments

I’ve had this book since it was published in 1984. It’s always sat on the shelf to be dipped into. But I now live in a forest, so it seemed the right time to give it a little more attention than I had. I bought the book largely for its superb illustrations. The detail and …

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For All Kindle Lovers.

On 06/05/2015 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction

It takes a little while sometimes. Fantastic Books Publishing put my science fiction novella, The Methuselah Strain, into their store at the beginning of this week and placed it into the hands of Amazon at the same time. I removed my old self-published version, since the new edition is improved and enhanced. After a period …

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