So, here's the thing. I've been a bit remiss lately. I haven't published a blog since way back when. In fact, I think the Rolling Stones were in the charts with Angie, the last time I wrote a blog! Don'tcha just love that song? I used to have a girlfriend called Angie. I wonder what happened to her! Anyway, I've published three books since my last blog. "THREE BOOKS!" I hear you howl at the moon. Yeah, I know. Scary, isn't it? So, which three books are these? You had to go and ask didn't you? The start of a new Private Investigator series set in St, Augustine, Florida. Did you know that St Augustine is the most haunted place in America. The next in the Quigg series (Quigg 5): The Terror at Grisly Park - a police procedural. As well as leaning towards the paranormal, Quigg is up to his old tricks again. And as if that weren't enough to get your laughing gear round, I've put together another poetry book called Summer of my Soul. I know, call me a mad impetuous fool.
What's next? You're asking all the right questions today, Toady. I'm cobbling together a non-fiction book called 'The Writer's A - Z of Body Language', which does what it says on the tin. I hope to get that out by the weekend, and then I'm straight on to Parish & Richards 9: 'The House of Mourning'. You're probably wondering what's going to happen to the characters. Well, here's a few clues. Remember the money (£50,000) that Erin Donnelly transferred into the Kowalski's bank account? Yeah well, if you recall, it belonged to a Columbian drug cartel run by a most unsavoury character called Holgar de Moreno (or some such), and he wants his money back. The trouble is, Jerry's using it to finance her law degree. Also, remember the box of files relating to the Epsilon experiment? Well, do you think Xena and Stick are going to tell Parish about them? And let's not forget that Parish has still got to get that briefcase from the railway lost property storage warehouse. What do you think is in that briefcase? And do you think he's ever going to find out the truth? Then, of course, there's Richards and her search for a decent guy - are there any left? We've also got Charlie Baxter, Jerry, and the squatters on a case, Xena and Stick investigating something, and Parish & Richards up to their eyballs in serial killers. Yeah, I'm looking forward to getting my teeth into this one.
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Here's the thing! Remember that Smash advert? The one where Martians laughed at humans peeling poatoes? (It's amazing what you can find on YouTube - check out the short video below and have a laugh!) Well, you can imagine those little tin aliens laughing at the way we use our language now. I read in a post recently, "I'd like to be liked!". I mean, wouldn't we all? But to go around asking people to 'like' you is a bit desperate, wouldn't you say? What they're really asking for, of course, is that you press their button! Ha! I've had people pressing my button since I was knee-high to a grasshopper! Anyway, I popped along to RedAdeptReviews for my monthly inspection, and do you know what? They're closed! The door was shut, the 'Closed' sign was up, the lock was locked, and the bolts were bolted! Don't send them anymore books because they've got a 900 booklog - 900 books! That's like saying I'll never see the light of day again! Someone threw me in this basement and stole the steps - HELP! Good luck with those RedAdept! So, I suppose you want me to talk about Indie Book Review sites? I'm not going to - can't be bothered! I'm sure there are more scintillating things to talk about other than Indie Book Review sites - like me for instance! You know, when I write I start with a title, or a character, or a situation and then go from there. I don't plan, I have no idea where I'm going. I write a scene and focus on dialogue first - I'm a dialogue person - and then I go back and add description, internal dialogue, check times, facts, locations, do some forewarning, until I'm happy with the scene - this, apparently, is called 'layering' - adding layers, which is a good anology for what I do. I re-read it, picture everything in my head - the characters in the location, what they're wearing, making sure their behaviour is consistent with who they are, have them moving around purposefully, checking that their dialogue matches their personality. Then I move on to the next scene and do the same again. I construct my book scene-by-scene. Maybe I'm a builder instead of a writer, which reminds me of that Star Trek Voyager episode called 'Prototype' when B'Elanna Torres (no, not the footballer who can't score for Liverpool or Chelsea) retrieves a robot floating in space and re-activates it, and then it goes downhill from there because the robot has been programmed to kill the builders - uh oh! Did I ever tell you I received my first rejection letter at 15/16 years of age? I was a right weird kid, I used to listen to Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, The Beatles, David Bowie, and The Rolling Stones, there was also some Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, and other stuff I'd prefer not to mention like Lulu, The Love Affair (Everlasting Love - see below), Gary Puckett & the Union Gap (Young Girl - see below)! I could fill up the Weebly server with brilliant songs from my youth. Ha! Here's a thing... A bunch of us got together (Neds, Fletch, Pete Croft, Stevie Barker, Chris Brown, and Andy Keeble) - we must have been about 14/15. We called ourselves 'The Gang', hung about the park with some girls, and went round stealing apples - we were hard! Anyway, we started a group! Trouble was, my guitar had a couple of strings missing and I couldn't play any chords anyway. Also, I'm tone deaf and couldn't sing any notes in tune. We practised in my front garden playing and singing 'Mony Mony' by Tommy James & the Shondells (see below). The neighbours threatened to call the police if we didn't stop making a damned racket! That was the end of my music career! I look back at some of the stupid things we did and cringe with embarrassment! Oh, there were some girls associated with those songs - I used to fall in love at the drop of a hat! There was Michelle with Everlasting Love, Joyce who had a thing for Andy Fairweather Low of Amen Corner (see below)... I can't remember their names now, but I loved them all. So anyway, I was talking about this rejection letter I recieved from a publisher before you distracted me with a trip down memory lane! It was for a collection of my poems a'la Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. And I wrote about the Purple Rain long before Prince ever did! I've still got them, somewhere, went into the garage to dig them out yesterday so that I could give you a taste of my poetry skills when I was 16 years of age. Sadly, you'll be glad to know, I can't find a damned thing in my garage - its full of books! So, maybe next time! Something to look forward to, keep you on the edge of your seats, waiting, anticipation...
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AuthorHi, I'm Tim Ellis - I write a lot and I hope you enjoy what I write. Archives
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