Dec 10, 2010 by

Charity Anthology: just in time for Christmas!

Help: everyone needs it from time-to-time and Medecins Sans Frontieres provide it to the people in the world who need it the most. Twelve Tales of Healing is an anthology of twelve (and one spare, in case you need it) stories about getting better by thirteen different authors; some established, and some brand new. All profits from the sale of Help: Twelve Tales of Healing go directly to Medecins Sans Frontiere to help them to help those who really need it.

£11.99

It has been published purely to raise money for Medecins Sans Frontiere, in order to help them save lives and improve the quality of life for people whose homes, families, and health have been destroyed by disease, natural disaster and war. They have no political affiliation and do not receive any government funding. Private donations from people like you ensure that they can continue to operate without politics getting in the way of their good work.

Buy! Pimp! Get one for a friend or family member this Christmas!


You’ll get twelve amazing and uplifting stories and one bonus in case you weren’t quite satisfied, and the warm feeling that you’ve just given money to a worthy cause at the same time as getting yourself a pocket full of stories to enjoy over the Christmas holidays.

(My story, if you’re wondering, is called ‘Other Side of the Road’, and is a snippet of the British Sixties, a rocker abandoned by his friends after riots in Brighton)

In Writing
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Dec 6, 2010 by

Motivation Monday, actually on a Monday for once!

Did I mention I lost my keys in the snow? I lost my keys in the snow on Wednesday evening. I’ve been hunting around with a yard brush since, but I figured that maybe they weren’t just outside the front door, as I hoped, and it was time to call the police and see if anyone has handed them in. They’ve got some keys that definitely sound like mine, so fingers crossed.

Publishing: Amazon Reviews are a vicious free for all. Sorry, was that news? The Amazon review system has been abused for years, with authors flagging  negative reviews as ‘abuse’ until they’re deleted, authors anonymously giving their own books 5*, and rivals leaving scathing reviews (well, sometime’s rivals wives). That there are companies offering all this as a paid service was inevitable, and I doubt it’ll be any less likely to be found out by pissed off readers.

Interest-Piquing: The 2010 Bad Sex Award has been announced. Rowan Somerville doesn’t take it in particular good humour, but does attend the ceremony. I can’t say I feel at all inclined to buy his book after that little sulk, but winning the award does appear to have boosted his sales.

InsPiring: Over 300 love letters written by Nabokov to his wife during their 52 year relationship are going to be published. They range from the sublime to the prosaic.

Procrastination: One of my favourite shows at the moment is Channel Four’s Misfits, about a group of Young Offenders who get powers after being hit by lightning. If you can, watch it on 4OD. If you have seen it, have you seen the video extras?

In Monday Motivation
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Dec 4, 2010 by

Authors Online

[poll id=”2″]

There’s been a lot of articles recently about social networking and the impact it has on sales. There’s also been a lot of authors behaving badly. And, frankly, I’m nosey.

I have to admit I’ve never bought an author’s book because of how they’ve behaved online (authors I’ve admired online include Nora Roberts, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson and many others). I’ve admired and applauded them, but I haven’t added anyone to my Amazon wishlist. Sometimes it’s because the genre doesn’t appeal to me, but mostly it’s because me to read pile is already stacked higher than me, and book buying is limited to Oxfam only. If I were to go New Book Shopping for myself, and fancied, say, a Young Adult book, I’d be confident if I bought one of Sarah Rees Brennan’s books that I’d enjoy it, but I wouldn’t go specially.

I can’t say I’ve ever stopped buying books because of the way an author’s behaved online, but there have been times when I’ve been grateful I wasn’t buying that author’s books anyway. I’d gone off Anne Rice long before her meltdowns came to my attention, for example.

I believe in separating the artist from his or her works – Michael Jackson’s music was brilliant despite his personal life – but it is difficult when acquiring their works implicitely suggests you approve of them. Well, financially suggests, anyway. I can see why some people pirate the works of authors they dislike, though I disagree with that approach. If you want to take a stand against something, sometimes that means inconveniencing yourself. I object to the fact that Kraft bought out Cadbury’s, so I no longer buy Cadbury’s chocolate. I loved the stuff, and I’ll accept it as a gift quite happily, but I don’t want to put my money in their pockets.

So, what do you think? Do you stop buying an author’s books if you dislike their behaviour? Do you start buying them if you think they’re awesome? Will you keep buying an author’s books regardless of what they say or do?

In Polls
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Dec 3, 2010 by

How to pay tax in the US (if you’re British). Part Three, getting the most out of your Cheques

Firstly, if you haven’t already you really need to register as self-employed. I wasn’t, and I didn’t really want to be, but if I didn’t want America to take a third of my earnings I knew I better let Britain do it instead. Maybe it’ll reduce the chances of being overcharged by an average of a pound a day, as I was for the past two years. Unlikely, though.

You have to register as self-employed within three months of the end of your first month in business. The online registration is here, or you can call them on 0845 915 4515.

If possible, try and persuade your publisher to send you cheques in £, or pay via paypal. Some will, some won’t; it depends how their finance departments are set up.

If it’s got to be $ cheques (or checks!) request a lower limit on payment. The charges for converting small cheques don’t take into account cheques so small you owe them money.

Now, if you go into your local bank branch and ask about this, you’ll probably get the baffled looks I did. After much research, both online and in person, I managed to get a rough cross section of fees.

Continue Reading

In How To
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Nov 30, 2010 by

Motivation Monday

Are you ready for my excuse? It’s a good one.

It snowed!

Since I moved North, it’s snowed every winter, whereas when I lived in the South of England as a child I only remember it snowing three or four times. This is the earliest it’s snowed during my lifetime, though, and it all harks back to the winters of the 60s and 70s. We’ll have to wait and see a few more years as to which way the fluke runs.

We’re on a skeleton crew at work because people can’t get in, and we got sent home early on Sunday because the weather was so bad. My new wellies have been getting a good workout, and I’m learning that trick of winding my scarf around my face so it’s not too cold to breathe (I still keep steaming up my glasses, though). By the standards of any other country on this latitude we’re such big wusses in this country, but hey, we’re an island. It makes all the difference.

So how does this impact the lack of updates? Simple, really. My working laptop is in the attic of our house, it being a nice office space with few distractions (apart from the internet) and quieter than a lot of downstairs. And our attic is very, very cold right now. Too cold to type.

Also, it turns out America has some kind of holiday at this time of year, so there’s not been a lot going on in terms of news. Even with two weeks’ worth, there’s not a lot for me to throw at you.

Publishing: The Ellora’s Cave lawsuit still rumbles on, with the courts rapidly losing patience with EC. There comes a point where you wonder what they were hoping to achieve with the delays and absences, since all that’s happened is they essentially handed over any chance of a win. Now it’s just a matter of how much they lost by.

Interest-Piquing: Chris Meadows in Teleread about why social networking doesn’t sell books, and Nathan Bransford on the nine circles of writing hell.

InsPiring: 12 ridiculous vibrators (NSFW, obviously).

Procrastion: I’m sorry, did I not mention the snow?

In Monday Motivation
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