The last month has been pretty busy and I have to admit to rather neglecting this blog. Guardian Generations is now available in limited numbers exclusively from my Guardian Sci Fi website. It will not be on general release for another month or so therefore if you are quick you can get an exclusive, dated pre-release  first edition. You never know it might be worth something one day

I have been working on the book website to reflect the publication of Generations. Instead of the ‘Look Inside’ page which used a small flash program to turn the pages of a virtual first chapter I have used Google books and linked to them from my website. The advantage is they show random sections of each book. I have limited it to 20% but it is far better than just one chapter.  Please give it a try and let me know what you think.

It has become time to renew my clive.uk.com domain name and it has doubled in price! I have to say I was a little annoyed but as it is an established website listed on Google etc., I had no choice but to pay up. I have purchased www.cliveosbornerapley.com so I will slowly build that domain name up and eventually shut down the clive.uk.com. I don’t want to be caught like that again.

I have also changed the domain name of my publishing website to reflect the content. The original was www.partnership-publishing.com . It was initially designed to discuss that method of book publishing but it has subsequently evolved to discuss all aspects of publishing a book. The new name is www.publishingoptions.info. The original name will be active for the next six months to ensure the new one is fully Google listed and linked too.

If you have bookmarked either site please remember to update to the new domain name.

I am currently in Scotland so I will be picking up book three once things have settled down here.

Book three word count 9000

The proofs for Guardian Generations have been returned from the publisher. I now have to go through them and check for any errors or changes I don’t agree with then sign them off. Good job it is a wet weekend!

The back cover blurb has also been returned for approval. What do you think?

RAF fighter pilot James Taylor is abducted by an alien craft as he flies his Typhoon over Scotland. He’s unaware that his uncle, Tristan who disappeared without trace many years ago, had been targeted by aliens and is now one of the ‘Guardians’ of space, a specially selected and highly trained race with telepathic powers.

As Tristan’s daughter hurtles towards Earth to find more people capable of becoming Guardians, on another planet and evil scheme to ‘cleanse the galaxy’ of all synthetic life forms is gathering pace. James unwittingly becomes part of the plan, and is tasked with countering the threat of Guardian Artificial Intelligences.

Stardrive technology is in overdrive, space pirates are amassing, and a secret passed down through generations is revealed. But a time-bomb is ticking – is there still time to bring peace to the galaxy?

I have not touched book three for ages. I will soon have to get on with it now Generations is nearing its publication!

My Guardianscifi website is listed on several banner exchange sites. I have been getting some visitors from them but compared to the number of exposures of my banner the clicks were disappointingly few, usually two or three a day.

The banner I was using had been copied from my book cover. I thought it looked good but obviously most people did not and so would not click on it.

One of the banner exchange webmasters happened to say to me “Why don’t you make up a banner from some of your pictures?” I though about it and decided to  have a go. While I was looking round for ideas I read that animated banners work better than static ones. As luck would have it the article included a link to free GIF animation software,  GIFfun. You drag in static Jpeg pictures then adjust the time they are displayed on the screen.  If each picture is in sequence and slightly different you get an animated effect. The resultant file is in GIF format so it can be displayed by most web browsers.

I chose the picture I was going to use, one that had dark areas on either side for good contrast for light text. I chose “Don’t Mess With Me” I cut it down to banner size (480 x 60) Then added the first text using photoshop.

First In Banner Sequence

I then produced the next one in the sequence and saved each one in turn.

Second In Banner Sequence

I then dragged the pictures into GIFfun and adjusted the timing until it looked right.

The resulting banner is displayed below. The click rate has increased to double figures!

It seems I have been a bit lax lately, a month since writing my last blog! Oh well.

Since the last entry I have completed all the changes to Guardian Generations required by the publisher.  The publishing contract has been signed and the formal process has begun. The next stage is a full edit by one of their editors.  If the time scale is the same as with Guardian then Generations should be ready for July/August. I will keep you up to date as the process continues.

Some time ago I wrote a blog asking the question where have all the Honey Bees gone?

Since writing that blog I have purchased a small plot of woodland at the bottom of the garden. So I thought why not do my bit and have a go at keeping bees?

I have to admit It’s a long time since I had anything to do with keeping bees. (My father always kept a few National hives at the bottom of our garden) So I have been doing some research. After all things must have changed a lot over the last thirty years or so (Oh god is it really that long ago?)

Bee keeping methods don’t seem to have changed hardly at all. However the increase in disease, parasites (Verroa) and the effect of pesticides is a serious problem that has all helped cause the decline in the honeybee.

There would seem to be a growing minority of beekeepers that suspect part of the problem is the intensive way bees are kept. The bees are forced to use standard size frames with a wax foundation (in most cases of unknown origin) to guide them in the size and construction of their comb.  All of their honey is taken and replaced by sugar water for them to over winter.  There are various other reasons why it is thought that the way bees are kept to maximise honey production on a commercial basis is the root course for their decline.

If you are interested and want more information go to www.biobees.com (or google ‘top bar hives’)

I have decided not to use the conventional method of beekeeping but return to the old fashioned more natural way. I have purchase the timber to make what is called a top bar hive. The bees are free to build their own comb at a cell size convenient to them. It has been suggested that the smaller cell size hampers the spread of the Verroa mite. There are various other advantages for the bees using the more natural method however the down side is less honey for us!

We shall see .

I will detail the construction of the hives in my next blog.

I have spent most of last week working through the changes to Guardian Generations required by the Publisher.  Most of the issues were to do with the time lines of the story and the linking of the characters.

I had move chapters around so that the events were chronological. I originally jumped from one character to another and back again. However the action was taking place in different time frames. As they were not connected during that part of the story I did not think it mattered. The publisher’s reader thought otherwise!

The second issue was I had stayed on each of the characters for too long. This would apparently have an effect of causing the reader to forget what was happening with the other characters storyline. So I have broken the chapters up and ensured the narrative does not stay too long on one set of characters once the time lines converge.

Hopefully it is now satisfactory, fingers crossed.

Most of the previous week I spent building a shop (e-commerce) website for a friend. www.7designs.co.uk . I have to say I was impressed with the result (Nothing like blowing your own trumpet!    )

I suddenly had a thought, why not have a go at advertising the fact I can construct websites?  So tongue in cheek I have started to put together another website.  www.corweb.co.uk (Clive Osborne Rapley Web! Have I been lucky with the domain names so far or what??)

The website is live now but I still have a few more pages to add. Once it is finished I can sit back and see what, if anything comes of it. I do have book three of the Guardian series to continue with while I’m waiting so there is plenty to do in the mean time. 

Guardian book three: 9000 words.