Tag Archives: writer mum

1 Oct 2012 · 11:37 am

If you thought The Wrong Stuff was the right stuff… and you’re interested. Location photos.

The other day, a fellow forum user on Goodreads, Ignite, said she’d love to know things about my books like, where they’re set, where the ideas came from, a bit about the cover art… that kind of thing. So, taking her words to heart, last time I was down in London I took some pictures of one of the locations.

The RAC Club features in The Wrong Stuff, K’Barthan Trilogy: Part 2, so here are some pictures of the bits mentioned – or at least, the bits that exist. A lot of the RAC Club in my book is imaginary.

The sight that greets Ruth when she walks into the RAC club

The RAC Club, the view up the stairs to the atrium as you come in. So this is what The Pan and Ruth would have seen as they came in and where they would have been greeted by Club staff.

The RAC Club, from in the atrium, looking down the stairs towards the street entrance.
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This is another shot of the atrium from the first floor but trying to show the glass ceiling. I should think there is very little up there apart from the roof, some water tanks, air conditioning/heating outlets and a lot of pigeon pooh. However, I like to pretend there really IS a roof garden.

The atrium, although we’re actually on the first floor by this time, or possibly the second floor because the atrium itself, above the swimming pool, is sort of mezzanine.

Here’s the view of the atrium, looking down at the fabulous carpet and the display of old car(s). This time it was just the one, I think I have seen a pair before. They can be anything from a vintage motor like the one here to rare road cars, rally winners, historic racers or grand prix cars. The only thing they have in common is that they are always interesting. But this is where the display of historic Lotuses in the book would have been.

RAC Club stairs where Big Merv and Lucy argue

The stairs at the RAC Club where Lucy answers Ruth’s phone call from the police station and argues with Big Merv about going to Paddington Green alone.

Here’s a picture of the view upwards… somewhere at the stop of the stairs is where Sir Robin/The Architrave’s apartments are hidden. Although I have to confess that I based the corridors and rooms upstairs on a different London club.

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Filed under About My Writing, General Wittering

Tagged as author blog, Book locations, fantasy fiction, K'Barthan Series, M T McGuire, Snurds, writer mom, writer mum

18 Mar 2012 · 9:32 am

McMini Says

Some more gems from McMini who is currently hoovering up his supper, or at least, munching it crumb by crumb, at the same speed glaciers move.

He sighed and said, “I have so much to do… I must do driving and eating and measuring and running.“
“That sounds like a packed social agenda.” I said.
“Oh yes I am very busy.”

Then he looked at his toy aeroplane and said.

“That is made in a factory with a machine and then a man puts it in a box and it is sent to the shops for me to buy.” he said.
“Well, yes that is pretty much how everything works.” I said. “Where did you get that from?“
“I watched it on I Can Cook.”

I was quite chuffed that he’s worked out how a factory works from looking at a short segment about packing and shipping bananas.

This morning we were out for a walk and the conversation went something like this.

“Mummy. It’s been raining a lot.“
“Yes hasn’t it? I’m glad it’s stopped now.“
“Yes and the puddles have gone.“
“Yes they have.“
“Where do they go?“
“Well, some of the water soaks away into the ground and some goes up into the sky. It’s the same as the steam that comes out of the kettle when it’s boiling — that’s water too — except there’s not as much so we can’t see it.“
“Ah… I think that’s how rain gets up into the sky, then.“
“Yes, that’s exactly how rain gets up into the sky.“
“Mmm. I see.”

I think he’s probably quite sharp. I quake at the thought of his teenaged years. I will win many arguments when he’s a teenager (not).

4 Comments

Filed under General Wittering

Tagged as an author with children, M T McGuire, McMini, writer mom, writer mum, writer parent, writers

31 May 2010 · 8:04 pm

Erk

My writing is going incredibly badly, not just a little bit out of kilter but oh blimey I think I’m going to have to re-write the first 50,000 words badly.

It does happen with every book I write but I’ve never had a two year old to look after or had my in-laws turn up to stay for an unspecified time until they find a house at the same moment. Usually I have time to concentrate, this time, not.

Hmm… It seems there are finally too many balls in the air and I’ve dropped the fucking lot.

Oh dear.

Taking the plunge

Having discovered the lovely Smashwords is going to charge witholding tax I have been feeling, for some time, that my plan to e-publish my book has been a bit well… to put not too fine a point on it, pissed on. Now though, I have a plan.

So, here’s the deal. I’m going to serialise my e-book for free, starting the last week in July. Anyone who gets bored reading the instalments can buy a copy of the e-book in advance for £2.50 or, if they really want to push the boat out, they can buy a paperback. Incidentally, the free, serialised, e-book will always be available. My aim is to get it printed for a price that will allow me to sell it for £7.99 and send it anywhere in the world for a tenner!

Terrestrially (is that the right word) I’ll try to sell the paperback locally, my local book shops, a signing, publicity in the local papers, radio and if I could swing it, TV, e-mails to friends, family, clubs etc. The angle being stay at home parent with two year old writes and self-publishes book – might add NCT or the like to the list for press releases then.

I’ve thought about Amazon but because they demand you sell it half price I’d have to list it at £15.99 in order to sell it for a reasonable amount and leave room for costs an their cut, let alone actually earn anything from it. It all seems to be a bit artificial to me.

So there we go, that’s the plan… I took a big breath and sent off for the ISBNs today… one for each format of the serialised e-book, one for each format of the sold e-book and one for the paperback.

And yes, it’s a lot of money all this printing and isbns and gubbins and I could end up looking a real idiot. It’s sort of daunting and yet quite exciting too.

On a lighter note, scion pointed at my Dr Who mug today and, unprompted, shouted “Darlick”.

I did tell him what a Dalek was – when he was about 5 months old at any rate – but I don’t remember mentioning it since. Even so, clearly it went in.

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Filed under e-publishing, General Wittering, Other Creatives

Tagged as an author with children, book marketing, creative book marketing, marketing for unpublished writers, on line publishing options, Other Creatives, writer mum

9 Apr 2010 · 1:17 pm

The Value of Re-reading…

Hmm… here I am formatting my book for print, ordering actual bound copies to look at and evaluate and thinking that I am pretty much finished when I discover a massive and pointless continuity error…

I’d never seen it before so I’m delighted (not to mention relieved) to have found it now. I suspect the moral of this story is that you can never proof read your stuff enough times.

On a completely different subject, the p key on my computer has broken. It still types, but the plastic lid won’t stay on so I have to put my pinkie directly onto the strange squishy rubbery mechanism… I guess the moral of this story is not to put your computer on the ground so your mobile phone falls out of your pocket onto the keyboard when you stand up.

Another small disaster was averted, too, yesterday when scion came rushing through my nice clean house shouting “egg” and juggling a real one from hand to hand – he is one and three quarters so this was… alarming. I did manage to rescue it and get it back into the pantry… I also managed to rescue the three other eggs he had dropped into the cereal box. Luckily none of them broke either… so no eggy cereal and no horrible eggy goop stuck, for ever, between the floor boards in the hall!

Points to the little one for manual dexterity, too, he’d unhooked and opened a wire egg basket and opened a cardboard egg box inside it.

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Filed under General Wittering, Good Advice

Tagged as an author with children, author blog, McMini, writer mom, writer mum, writer parent, writing

9 Mar 2010 · 9:18 pm

Kathy Lette says she admires me!

Yeh and even though she doesn’t know who I am, it feels good!

In an interview on the writers and artists yearbook blog she was asked what female novelists she admired and said this:

“All female novelists who are also mothers. We should all just get a Booker Prize for finishing a book.”

The rest of the article is a great read, too – you can find it here but that particular bit made me feel all warm and fuzzy. And next time I am trying to sort out a problem with a plot in my head, while I am trudging up (0r down) the stairs with the latest clean (or dirty) mountain of washing to attend to; followed closely by small, huffing, puffing, scion carrying a large (full) plastic milk carton in each hand (cartons which are making worrying is-that-milk-going-to-stay-put-in-there-or-it-going-to-leak-out gurgly noises) I will think of that and feel part of a weird sisterhood of mother writers!

Mmm… Isn’t that a pip?

So, Kathy Letts thank you, thank you!