Category: EDITOR

Lotus: Can you escape from the Labyrinth?

This week: my new book, Lotus, a rant about Formula 1 and Who Killed JFK?

As promised, the title announces a new book, to be published in the next 2 weeks. If you receive the free newsletter, you will know what that book is.

My new book, Lotus
We have all seen the impossible staircase of M.C Escher; you know, the one where you go round and round but never go up or down? Escher’s Staircase was the working title of my new book. Here is my first stab at the blurb:

“Robert Lath dies in the trenches of World War One. But he wakes to find himself on a never-ending flight of stone steps. No matter how hard he tries, he cannot reach the top or bottom. Then a face appears and offers him a choice; a choice that might damn his soul.

A friar, helping a time-traveling werewolf, a merchant spaceman, a painter, a monk, a private detective and a Medieval knight all battle against illness, seemingly the result of a game with Satan, and human frailty to find salvation but are they all the same man? Continue reading “Lotus: Can you escape from the Labyrinth?” →

Is it taking me longer to publish books?

Ordo Lupus and the Temple Gate Front Cover today

Actually, I know the answer, it’s a rhetorical question, but readers keep asking me this question, so here is how I do it. Other processes might be better so please tell me what you do; I am eager to know!

When I first starting publishing books, independently in 2006, nobody had any interest in my books at all. Apart from one short story, which a few kind souls told me had merit, I could get nobody I knew to read my stuff, not friends or even family.

By the time of completion of my first draft for Ordo Lupus and the Temple Gate, things had changed. Several people were now interested and I felt lucky to have three readers of the manuscript (MS) before publication. This helped me a great deal to improve the book although I really had to bit the bullet because I needed, among other things, to cut 15000 words from the overlong manuscript. This resulted in a big improvement so I had learned that readers of your pre-publication MS, beta readers, can be a very useful part of the writing process. Continue reading “Is it taking me longer to publish books?” →

What WIP are you working on now?

Here is an update of what I am doing. If you are a writer or reader, tell me; what have you been up to?

New Book Covers

I have had new covers designed for The Ice Boat and The Man Who Recreated Himself. Tell me what you think. Thanks to those who have helped me; you know who you are. New covers for Infinite Blue Heaven and the Short Stories volumes are on the way.

The lovely new cover says it all about this book. A lonely man searches for love in some of the remotest, as well some of the most urbanised, places on Earth. There is a coldness in his heart that he doesn’t seem to be able to fill. The covers for Volume 2 and the Boxed Set are of the same design.

I love this new design! The tunnel looks like a key-hole to me and that represents the idea that, in some way, James Brennan has the key to the future of man. The butterfly symbolises metamorphosis.

The Ordo Lupus and the Temple Gate – Extended Edition sale

The giveaway of this book was quite successful, with about 300 copies downloaded. What has been great is that I sold 3 copies since the sale ended! Continue reading “What WIP are you working on now?” →