Guardian Generations And A New Website (Or Two)
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.
Achilles Tendon Rupture Update
At the end of eight weeks I had to attend the Hospital for a check up. I was hoping I could finally do without the Aircast boot. I had been increasing the amount of weight I was putting on my foot after the sixth week.
I was concerned that when I took the boot off in the evenings my foot and ankle were still very swollen. The doctor checked the scar and the area around ankle and I asked about the swelling. He told me the swelling was normal and not to worry about it. I then had to kneel on a chair so he could squeeze my calf muscle, this should cause my foot to twitch. This is apparently the way to test for tendon rupture. If the tendon has snapped then the foot will not twitch.
Unfortunately my foot did not twitch. The Doctor was concerned that it had not knitted together properly so the boot had to go back on until an ultra sound scan could be booked.
Just over a week later I finally got my scan. It showed that due to the tendon rupturing for the second time it was healing abnormally. It was this that was causing the swelling at the back of my ankle. I had to take things easy for a further two weeks then start gentle physiotherapy. The Doctors decided the lack of foot twitching was due to the tendon being stiff.
The physio was difficult at first and made my tendon and calf ache. I supplemented the exercises with ever-longer walks. Slowly things returned to normal.
I was finally given the all clear by the hospital Doctors last week so I don’t have to attend any further clinics. (Hooray!)
I do still have to continue with physiotherapy until there is sufficient strength in my tendon for me to stand on one foot and raise myself up onto my toes (I cannot do that yet).
I find that after eight months I am nearly back to normal (How often do you stand on one leg and raise up on your toes?) The only adverse effect is I have a limp for the first few hundred yards or so when I walk. Once the tendon warms up I can walk without a limp. I am also paranoid about it going again so I am very careful.
One moral from my sorry tale? If you feel as though you have been kicked in the ankle, it is very painful and comes up in a bruise. Don’t assume you were kicked and leave it to get better on it’s own. Go to the Doctor immediately. The sooner treatment starts the easier it will be.
Make Sure Your Book Publicity is Relevant!
One thing most first time authors know or will quickly discover is however good your book is it will never be a best seller if no one knows about it.
There are two sure fire ways to get publicity and sell a book.
1) If you are a celebrity and write your memoirs. In this age of celeb culture even if the book is rubbish they fly off the shelves. They are displayed by bookshops in prominent positions, pushed in the papers, magazines and on TV. You cannot fail to succeed.
2) You have already written a best seller or two. Again your book is displayed in most bookshops, pushed in papers, TV etc., etc.,
So what about the rest of us? All that can be done is produce a website (more detail on that here). Post blogs, set up a profile on Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. In short try and get yourself known by plugging away hoping that some day someone will notice.
Many book publishing coaches, marketing gurus and publicists still advise local book signings and readings. I do not think they work in our modern society unless of course you have written a book with a specific local flavour. Most small signings sell four or five books and will get your book on the shelf of a few local independent shops. But without recognition and serious publicity the book will stay on the shelf gathering dust (at least until it comes time for it to be returned).
So what can really be done? Not a lot! Just keep chipping away and hope for that rare lucky break.
That is unless of course you can come up with a killer idea. Even then it might not have the effect you are hoping for. Whatever you decide to do you need to be sure that it is relevant to your book. If the people your killer idea attracts are not the type of person who will purchase and enjoy reading what you have written then you have simply wasted your time.
A case in point is the Naked Blonde Writer. Her killer idea is to read her first chapter in the nude. Great idea you might think especially if you have the looks and figure to pull it off. From her website there is media interest in her stunt and her Facebook fan club is increasing in numbers at an envious rate. However I suspect that a very few are interested in her book or what she will be reading.
I would lay odds that most people watching will not even register what she is saying. So will she sell more books? Probably, more than if she had done nothing but a significant number? I would have to say no. Let’s face it the vast amount of visitors to her website will not be interested in the fact she has written a book. There may even be a danger of putting serious buyers off. I can imagine the thought process now. If she has to do that to sell her books they can’t be very good can they?
Time will tell. If her sales rank on Amazon increases substantially and stays there then she is right and I am wrong
What do you think?
I have to admit it did give me an idea. Why not do a spoof version? If she gets loads of extra traffic then perhaps I could get some of it too. So what the hell (I hang my head in shame. What a hypocrite!).
So here is my answer to the Naked Blonde Writer; NOT the Naked Blonde Writer
Rapley & Osborne Family Trees
Help wanted! I have got stuck with my family trees. I have gone as far back as possible and have now hit a wall (perhaps more a mist of time?) I would really appreciate it if you could look at my trees and see if they relate to your family. Even if you link to the tree way back perhaps you can verify what I have done and push them back a generation or two?
The Rapley family tree goes back to George Rapley 1678 the Osborne one to Thomas Osborne 1705.
If you would like a copy of my family trees to include in what you have already produced you are very welcome. If you have a tree which links into mine please send it to me so I can build it in and get a better family picture.
My trees are here
I was putting the word count for Guardian Generations on each posting so it is with great pleasure I can now inform you ITS FINISHED and with the publisher for review.
Wow two posts in one day. I need to lie down!
Race or Species Are SciFi Writers Wrong?
As a follow on from my previous Avatar post I have been paying attention to how science fiction writers and script writers refer to aliens.
It would seem that the majority refer to alien races. Check out Startrek for instance the term ‘human or alien race’ is common and widely used.
So… are they wrong? I think so. Race to me means an infinitesimal genetic difference. No more than the difference between blue or brown eyes, black or blonde hair. The convention seems to be us as humans consist of different races where the only difference is skin colour or facial features. We are all genetically compatible the same family or species.
Aliens would not be genetically compatible with us. They would have evolved on a different planet and environment therefore an alien would surly be a different species?
If we follow what seems to be the generally held SciFi writers convention then Whales or Goldfinches are a race when they are in fact a separate species. Therefore there is no such thing as an Alien race the two terms are mutually exclusive.
The majority of Science Fiction writers are therefore wrong!
As a member of the Human species what do you think?