Fridges, Sumurai Rabbits and Red Trousers...

April already. I'm very glad to see the back of March and all the stress of the past few weeks. Now I can make plans *mwa ha ha*

My seven actions this week for Operation Author: 365 Actions to Succeed as an Author have involved lots of real world networking.

For writers, it's very easy to fall into the trap of relying on online networks to spread your message, but, as with any marketing activity, there is no substitute for going out and meeting people. 

To successfully market a product, in the case of writers, a book, you need a good mix of activities. Generally speaking, people need to see, hear about or notice something at least 3 times before they respond to a call to action.

My week started with my leg of the blog tour.  I spread it around the interwebs. I also actively commented on threads about it and helped out my writers who are on the next leg of the tour to find their next 3 writers.

See the Blog Tour here

On Tuesday I went to a Fridge Networking Event at the The Famous Royal Navy Volunteer pub in Bristol.  The event is on the first Tuesday of the month

The pub, affectionately known in Bristol as The Volley, has recently undergone a refurbishment and has an awesome selection of craft beers. It's well worth a visit:  http://www.navyvolunteer.co.uk/

The guys who run Fridge Networking are a really enterprising bunch and I would encourage any entrepreneurs in Bristol to connect with them: https://twitter.com/FridgeNetwork

If you're reading this, and decide to come to the next meeting, come and find me there, I've love to meet my blog readers in person. The trouble with blogging, is sometimes is feels like you're writing to no one!

On Wednesday I went to a Bristol Creatives networking event where creative entrepreneurs in the city heard from a new crowd funding organisation that are launching in Bristol. 

Sally at Bristol Creatives is lovely and really passionate about creative businesses. Another action this week was that I became a member. I'll add myself to the directory as an action next week.

The presenters at the event were Fundsurfer https://www.fundsurfer.com/. Fundsurfer is an innovative new platform for crowd funding and Derek and Oliver that run it are really passionate about supporting independent businesses and in particular, to support the creative industries. Look out for them, they will be having a launch event soon.  Love their Samurai Rabbit logo too!

It did spark an ambitious idea for me: Could I crowd fund the publication of Solomon's Secrets and put on a spectacular launch event involving other creative talent in Bristol?

My next action was to immediately start putting a pitch together.  I sent some copy to Fundsurfer for their marketing. I'll be working on my plans and putting some more concrete proposals together next week before setting up a meeting with them. I'm really excited about the ideas.

My next action was to go to a Bedminster Town Team Arts Led Regeneration Conference at the fantastic Tobacco Factory Theatre.

The Mayor of Bristol, George-red-trousers-Ferguson, opened the event with a great presentation about his experience of breathing new life into a derelict factory and creating one of the Bristol's treasures, The Tobacco Factory. 

As Mayor, he's been making some radical changes in Bristol that have attracted some criticism.  He has a great vision for our beloved city and has really put us on the map. Personally, I have a lot of time for George. Bristol needs some radical action after suffering years of indecision and neglect. Change will always scare people, but in time Bristol will be the richer, culturally and economically, for it.

(Plus, I'm a biased because last year George did buy a copy of my debut novel, The Bronze Box with his Bristol Pounds!)

 

I attended the event with 3 hats on: as an interested resident of Bedminster, an Enterprise Coach for Outset Bristol and a creative business myself.

It was a great event, with some encouraging developments in the regeneration of Bristol, through our powerhouse of creative enterprises. It just makes me love Bedminster all the more!

Lunch at the event was courtesy of Marks Bread and was delicious. https://twitter.com/Marks_Bread

I particularly enjoyed the talking carpet performance by an actor from Show of Strength Theatre Company. They do amazing street theatre and have been doing pop up theatres in shops in Bedminster. 


I met Sheila from Show of Strength and am looking forward to meeting her for coffee soon as I'd love to involve them in the launch for Solomon's Secrets in some way. A bit of guerrilla theatre would be great. I already have a couple of scenes from the book in mind that I'd love to get a couple of actors to play out.

In this busy week, I've also somehow managed to find time to start proof reading Solomon's Secrets.

Tell me what you think: 

If you could recommend one networking event in Bristol UK, 

to attend, what would it be?

The Writing Process Blog Tour

Being a writer can be exhilarating, fulfilling, freeing, frustrating and isolating in varying combinations. Every writer has their own rituals, processes and habits.

It's fascinating to hear what works for other writers and how they view their work and methods. 

What keeps us motivated and drives us to disappear into our our minds and pour our souls out through a keyboard for little or no financial gain?

When Gill Hamer, asked me to participate in this blog tour I was delighted to do it. Like any geek, writers love talking about what we do. We learn from and support each other but also want to open ourselves up to our readers, to help them to understand what makes us tick.

Discover some writers to inspire and entertain by touring their blogs and getting to know them and their creative process.

Here's Gill's response to the blog tour: http://gillianhamer.wordpress.com/2014/03/23/the-writing-process/

This week it's my turn:

1) What am I working on?

I have just finished the first draft of the second book in the Sheridan and Blake Adventure series. The next book is called 'Solomon's Secrets' (blurb and preview: http://bit.ly/P79mZE) and I've just sent it off to the printers so I can get copies to my test readers and editors.

The book is a follow up to 'The Bronze Box', published last year and available in eBook and paperback from Amazon: http://amzn.to/1jd0sDE. 

Set a year after the end of the first book, it's not a sequel but throws my hero; Tom Sheridan, and heroine; Sasha Blake, back together into an increasingly tangled web of conspiracy, rivalled only by the increasingly complex nature of their relationship.

2) How does my work differ from others in the genre?

The best known writer of thriller fiction such as mine is Dan Brown, and in the genre generally there are few female writers. 

There is a tendency for these types of books to be 'men's books written by men'. 

Granted, I have been told I'm more bloke than lady (I drink pints and been known to have public flatulence!) but, I like a good edge of the seat thriller.  I also like thrillers to be multilayered and intelligent with a historic context. 

Kate Mosse is perhaps the best known female writer in the genre. I'd wouldn't mind being compared to her one day!

3) Why do I write what I do?

Like most writers, I write what I like to read. My favourite author is the late Paul Sussman. 

Few people seem to have heard of him, which is a tragedy because his writing is brilliant. His characters are vivid and complex, his stories are full of historic references, so it feels like you are learning something. There are complex webs of conspiracy and satisfying relationships, intricacies and metaphors.

I want to be able to write like that. It's going to take a lot of practice!

I also choose historic references and subject matter that fascinate me, which gives me a great excuse to do lots of research.

4)  How does my writing process work?

It usually starts with a spark of an idea, very often with a 'what if'. The idea will marinate, sometimes for days, weeks, months, even years.

Then I'll have other ideas that will brew away in their own little crock pots. The starting point is usually when I mix a couple of things together that feel like they'll fit. 

I day dream a lot, playing out scenes in my head until I find them satisfying enough to commit to words.

I'll start forming a basic plot structure in my head and draw some initial flow charts on big bits of paper with scenes on post it notes.

When I finally feel like I have something solid I write the first chapter and the last chapter. I then write the scenes that I've been day dreaming and jotting in notebooks and juggle them about to slot them in. This starts to give me a solid story arc. 

I think of it like a map; There's a starting point, a destination and various places I'd like to visit along the route. Next I plan how I'll get there.

I always have a wider strategic view of where the story needs to go and will steer it in that direction, but I keep it pretty fluid as I write. Often a character will start talking to me and showing me where they need to go. I like to prod them, make them uncomfortable and connect them to each other in ways they may or may not appreciate!

I'm constantly reviewing the overall structure and the plan for the story and it will slowly start to tighten up as I settle into it's rhythm.

I then go through rewrites. Involve beta readers.Take chapters along to a writers crit group for scrutinising. More test readers and editors until eventually it becomes a proper book.

*

The next three writers on this Writing Process Blog Tour on Monday 7th April, are a mix of bloggers, novelists, non-fiction and short story writers. They represent a great cross section of different writing disciplines:    
  
A brilliant writer I have recently discovered who writes in the same genre as I do.  Laurence O'Bryan is a tireless supporter of other writers.

Laurence O'Bryan is the author of a series of mystery novels published in 11 languages. The series starts with The Istanbul Puzzle, continues with The Jerusalem Puzzle and then there is, The Manhattan Puzzle, the current novel.

Laurence is working on the fourth novel in the series, The Nuremberg Puzzle. In it the puzzles revealed in the first three novels will be answered. That answer is a shocking revelation regarding why so many people died in the Second World War.

Laurence lives in Dublin. He teaches digital marketing and helps other writers get discovered through his site booksgosocial.com. Laurence lived in London for ten years until his daughter was born.

See lpobryan.com for more

Sandy Bird  - has a blog/journal about her experiences as a Canadian wintering in Florida and exploring the area on her motorcycle.

Sandy is a creative soul who naturally has a talent to create designs and work with colour. As the outside world inspired her, destiny led her to use the creativity that resided within her to design visually appealing messages through print and the web. All the while a hidden writer was yearning to escape. The passion for writing grew over the years in the form of poems and musings until she found her niche as a blogger. 

http://www.thefrozencanuck.blogspot.com

Mirjam Penning ('Penning' is such a perfect name for a writer!) - Is a non-fiction writer and blogger.

Mirjam says:

Slowly I shifted one career for another.

I became an author of non fiction articles about true crime cases. My writing can be defined as 'based on the truth', in the languages English and Dutch. Ive kept a blog since 2006. Currently working on a more professional looking website. An ongoing process.
I got into web content by creating 'simple' websites and editing (web)texts for entrepreneurs. My big project is expanding skills, writing e books and becoming a web content manager.

http://mirjampenning.wordpress.com

Lynne Cobine - Writes fiction and non-fiction and has so far had short stories published. She is a blogger and keen supporter of other writers

Lynne says:
I have a website to help writers to publish their short stories and to raise money for charity.  I am a writer too, and have had articles published online and in printed magazines, but really love creating fiction for people to enjoy.

If you want to discover new writing, and enjoy short stories, this website is a must: http://boxofwords.weebly.com/about-us.html 

Lynne also explains that - Box of Words: is a play on words from the New Zealand expression Box of Birds, meaning very happy.

Enjoy the next leg of the tour!