Another book finished.

I've just finished draft one of The Long summer of war. 72,000 words of pure literary fiction goodness. Show me a happy-ever-after story and I'll show you a fist to face; I'm going back to writing sci-fi.

I really fancy a takeaway; know what I mean?

The boat didn't sink yesterday evening. Actually, it floated perfectly and remained bone dry (except for the water from my wet trainers which doesn't count) all the time it was on the water. The only problem was lining it back up with the trailer to haul it out, which resulted in a nasty scrape down the keel and the fibreglass to one side. All got sanded and touched up this morning, so no problems there.

On Monday I'm off out to buy a few important-yet-necessary items. Namesly: a trailer lighting board; spare wheel; mudguards and fittings and; some kind of security device to stop some scrote from pinching the trailer. Hopefully they won't be rip-off priced.

As it's the weekend I've only written 500 words. I feel guilty for taking days off (even if they are the two days a week that everyone else gets and takes for granted). 500 words is a compromise. Hopefully by Monday 'Long summer of war' will be done and I can get on with something else, in the form of BHTS2 editing. After that I've already got another book idea ready to write (straight sci-fi this time) so I guess I'll be keeping myself busy through until Christmas.

Captain's log, additional

When I say 'tonight' as in the last post, I'd like to point out that I'm not in the same time zone as the server. That means that when it says it is Thursday, I'm already in Friday. Hello from the future, and all that.

Insert post title here.

A lot of today has been spent writing 'Long summer of war'. I want it done by the end of the coming weekend; I'm not too far off. Then it's back to BHTS2 and doing a second draft.

When I wrote BHTS2, everything quickly went up in the air. I found out that I had agent troubles, and what had seemed like a sure sale on 'Bringing home the stars' had faded away as charlatons of the publishing world had meddled and messed. Fast forward on a few months and things are a different story. 'Bringing home the stars' has been printed and awaits the official release date to go on general sale. Deals are being done behind the scenes to ensure that it appears in high street bookstores and more besides. Once all that is sorted, then it is on to the promotion itinery. A part of me doesn't know quite what to expect, whilst another part is secretly quite excited.

It makes it all the more important to have BHTS2 done. A first draft is a major milestone, but it is only a part of the way towards getting a book bublished. I need a proper title for a start ('Twinkle little star' is the James Pattersonesc title I have in mind). Then there is the 'heavy edit' as I call it which is the first pass through the book, seperated by a little time from the creative process of writing it. Usually I have to work at translating some of the hastily typed paragraphs into understandable English. At times it is almost amusing as to what the hell was I trying to say? But a second draft is a good refinement, and it gets closer to publishing quality. I usually give Zoë the second draft to read, and she makes notes then I go to a third draft to refine yet further. Usually, this is the first draft that publishers and agents get to see. I think that's important, as rushing stuff out to these people kind of deadons the impact when you need the impact. I'd rather they saw a polished product than one that, like my old school reports, could be described with the phrase "Nice work, but must try harder" (do Teachers the country over have a book of stock phrases to use on reports?).

I'm also finding that I need to get out of the house more. I think when you spend so much time locked to a keyboard in an office typing away, it's easy to get cabin fever. This last week I've only made it as far outside in the main as the back garden to repair my new boat. But it's a start. I get to take it and put it on water tonight for the first time. Let's hope it floats. Given the recent hot weather, let's hope that there is water at the reservoir to float it in.

When card readers rebel

A little while back, Zoë and I got ourselves into a conversation about what would happen if you removed your debit card from a retailer's card reader before the card reader said that it was okay to remove the card. You know how it is after a couple of beers on a hot day? Well, it became the script for the most recent All over the house strip. Sometimes it is strange to know exactly how the thought processes behind comic strips actually work.

Clicky for direct link to comic strip.

Books, boats, and an annoying ear.

So much for Summer - I think the weather has decided that we've had our alloted summer for this year. The rain started yesterday afternoon, and hasn't stopped since. We even had a massive thunderstorm in the early hours of this morning.

However, rain does not stop work. We've rec eived confirmation that one of the wholesalers has agreed to stock the book. It's more of a formality really, as we send them the information, and they send an email back to confirm that it is on their system and ready. We're still waiting on the other wholesaler, and information from Waterstones. As they are one of the biggest UK retailers, the publisher feels it wise to make sure that they know about the book and that we build up a relationship which means they see the book as something that they want to stock in all their branches rather than just as and when it gets ordered.

The boat is now as good as complete. The last of the good weather was enough to get the sealant work done, and it got covered just as the rain started. Unfortunately, the sealant seems to be white, and not clear as I ordered. This is fine on the top deck and cockpit (which is painted white anyway) but on the hull it sticks out like a, er, white strip between brown and blue. It will need a touch of paint, but with the weather as it is that can wait. It's purely cosmetic though, so there's no rush.

My hearing isn't too hot at the moment. I've had issues in my left ear since a couple of swims in Llandudno baths on holiday. Over the last week the pain has been constant and gives me headaches and neck aches too. Last night I had some dizzy spells which weren't nice. This morning it's better, but far from right. I keep hearing pops in my ear, presumably as pressure tries - and fails - to equalise properly. I'm going to be making an appointment to see the Doctor, just as soon as they are open to take calls at 9:00am.

All afloat on RMS Decadence.

Not a lot has happened as far as 'Bringing home the stars' is concerned. Until the wholesaler contracts are ironed out, there isn't an awful lot to do. The book press release information sheets are done to send to retailers and magazines, but they cannot go out with review copies until such time as the information about where the books can be bought from is finalised!

In the mean time, I've been busy working on my boat. Yes, I did type that correctly. Yesterday Zoë and I became decadent posh people. The boat in question is a very unusual version of the otherwise common Bosun sailing dinghy. Still in production, they were adopted by the Royal Navy and the Sea Cadets, and several thousand have been built. I, however, have bought one of the prototype evaluaters used to show off the then new boat design to prospective customers, including the navy. In fact, my Bosun is number 3, and features (along with number 16) in all of the brochure material of the time!

I bought it from a man in Biddulph and hauled it gingerly north. I never like boats on trailors because of the risk of damage to the delicate parts of the boat. On the way we stopped in Congleton and bought a ratchet strap which helped my fears abate. I must mentaion the nice salesman in Halfords where we bought the strap who was very polite, very helpful and even came out to help make sure that the boat was strapped securely. It was most appreciated, and is always nice to see sales staff going above and beyond the call of duty.

The boat is in very good condition for its age (new in 1963) but does need some work doing on it. The whole keel was replaced by the previous owner and the hull is in exceptionally good condition. However the foredeck and inside the cockpit need a bit of work doing. The fibreglass gelcoat has a few cracks and spalls and I've spent today using polyester resin to repair them. I also bought some high quality (it better had be for £22 per tin - and it isn't exactly the biggest of tine either) yacht enamel in white. The foredeck has gone from dark blue to white, and the interior will follow. Incidentally, the boat was originally a pale green (and this colour did remain inside the cockpit as the interior had never been painted before). However the outside of the hull had been repainted into a dark blue, which I will be keeping as I prefer it to the pale lime green.

Aparently Zoë says that we are posh now as we own a boat and have double barreled surnames (I still use my maiden name for professional purposes, if you were briefly perplexed) we are officially posh. If she says so.