A Blow to the Head, and back to work

Last week I had an accident whilst waiting for a colonoscopy which resulted in a serious blow to the head and the eventual cancellation of the appointment.  It will never have a place among my pleasant memories, the afternoon in A&E gave me a lot of time to think.  During that time I admitted to myself that no matter how hard I try, I will never be the next Terry Pratchett...

...no matter what I do I just can't grow a proper beard!

Beg pardon to all of you for that silly bit of naughtiness.  It has been a long week full of stresses.and recovering from all my bumps and bruises, and it's left me prone to attacks of silliness (although it is true that the most I can achieve in terms of facial hair is a rather sparse moustache, so a beard is completely out of the question!).

I have been in a "Poor Me" rut for quite some time, which has also left me with the attention span of a butterfly in many cases.  The last week was just a breaking point, although the blow to the head does seem to have improved my typing ability somewhat.

I mentioned at the beginning of the year that I had joined the ranks of Kindle owners after over a year's deliberation.  Over five months later and there hasn't been a single occasion where I have regretted buying it.  There was an occasion where I thought it wasn't charging properly, but I have since managed to charge it completely and all is well.

What I like most about the Kindle, or rather Amazon's Kindle store, is its way of introducing readers to books they might not have otherwise considered.  When I first started browsing for ebooks most of the free books were old classics, like the Jungle Book, Gullivers Travels and The Illiad, and I assumed that any other books cost money.  However, recently I realised this was not the case after browsing through the fantasy titles.  Fantasy is my first love when it comes to reading, and it appears that I gravitate to the fantasy section on Amazon as automatically as I gravitate to the sci-fi/fantasy shelves in Waterstones.  Currently I won three of these free titles, and I have read two of them.  One of them got me so interested in reading more of the series, and I now own the second installment of the series, which I happily paid for.  The other author's book I would consider reading further, although it was nowhere near as well written.

This fits the ideals that my head was full of when I ordered my Kindle last Boxing Day - albeit an improved version seeing as I still expected to pay something for the books.  Now I can add another author to my favourites, although regrettably not to my bookcase.

Free ebooks are a brilliant new way to gain an author some publicity and also to build up a fanbase for the books they charge for.  Provided they are not terrible writers the download of the free books should lead to downloading of future titles - and the earning of some nice money.

Fantasy novels seem to be the most popular genre, which is fortunate for fantasy readers like myself, and it's certainly appeared popular.  For the authors that have taken advantage and been clever in doing so it works very well.  Worth a try, especially if you are considering independant publishing.

I would advise all Kindle owners who read this and haven't done this already, I would advise trying a few of the free e-books that are out there.  You never know what you might find if you do.

I'm still a little old fashioned and won't stop buying paper books, but if it's made me stop and think then perhaps others will too.

Currently still making progress with my novel, and my main character now has a pet.  Gast can be blamed entirely on the Direwolves in Game of Thrones - I'm very taken by the idea of them - even if he is a cat.  I have left off describing his appearance in the hopes that his rapidly developing personality will  help shape the way he looks, a tactic that has worked before.

Originally I was referring to my main character as the "Lord of the Dead," but I have decided that this title is cheesy and over-used. I was considering replacing "Lord" with "Curator", seeing as the Dead part is very important.  "Historian" is another possibility, but I'm not really committing with anything just yet.  Hopefully as I progress the ideal title will make itself apparent.

Have fun with your writing, but remember to make some time to read.

HC x

Comments

  1. Curator of the Dead is a great title - so intriguing!

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  2. Ah!!! I thought I was the only one who would think so. Thanks Chloe xx

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  3. I agree with Chloe, Curator of the Dead is a great original title.
    I have a Kindle, but I don't want your book on my Kindle, because I want it in print and signed by the author.
    I too have discovered writers I would never of noticed on the High Street bookshelves. I will never stop buying books, and not all of my books come from Amazon. I still prefer to go to Waterstones or WHSmiths.
    Have you enabled the new Blogger widget that tailors your web page for mobile phones? Its really neat. John x

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  4. Curator of the Dead is a great title. All I could offer is Archivist. I've not succumbed to a Kindle yet, partly out of guilt for all the paperbacks I have that remain unread.

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  5. Thank you John (just realised that I cheekily forgot to reply).

    I'm a great believer in buying both electronic and printed copies of books, like I will for Heartstone. I would hate to live in a world where I couldn't buy a book in Waterstones. There is nothing nicer than a bookshop. But the thought of someone wanting my book(s) in printed form is a very nice one - thank you. :)

    I think I have enabled the mobile widget - I'm not sure.

    HC x

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  6. Hi Derek!

    Thank you very much. I had considered Archivist myself and it has been a toss up between that and Curator. It's good to have such positive feedback from people over even the smallest idea.

    I resisted all forms of ebook at first - I have half a library full of books to read still. But I am still reading and re-reading as many paper books as I am ebooks, so the pile is gradually going down.

    Thanks again,

    HC x

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